But first, the dinghy

Being tight-arsed Northerners, we really didn’t want to spend money on a new one. Highfield doesn’t price their tenders in the same bracket as those in novelty shops (the ones sold alongside floating flamingos, rubber doughnuts, orange armbands, and the types of chicken we served to our visitors on Christmas Day). These are expensive, heavy, and disappointingly prone to getting knocked around, reducing the value of a brand-new acquisition to scrapyard prices.

We were inclined to keep patching up our old one, but with our grandson arriving with his girlfriend in mid-January, we thought it prudent to buy one that wouldn’t fall apart when loaded up. So, we placed the order with Cholamark, shed a tear, then went bonkers with new chaps to protect it. We agreed on a pickup date of 27th December at the beach near Chalong pier.

The oldy

And the newy

We sold our old dinghy to a local sailor with whom we have stayed in touch, and he remains gushing with enthusiasm for his purchase, which is both great and disappointing. I knew we should have kept it.

New Year in Patong

Of all the places around Phuket, we determined that Patong would deliver the best display. It’s mad at the best of times, so our decision to go there for New Year’s Eve didn’t require much thought.

We muscled our way in near Patong jetty to get a front row view. It wasn’t hard, given that we were the only ones there. Then, after a walk around town, a beer at a seafront restaurant, and a take-out pizza to munch on while watching the fireworks, we set ourselves up for an evening of pyrotechnic entertainment on bean bags on the deck with a bottle of champagne on ice.

Santa still around

Patong Beach

Trees

Chaos

The entertainment started earlier than expected when a boat, arriving later in the day and parking just off our bow, decided, in an act of bell-endery not often matched by the daftest of people, to launch fire lanterns off the back of their boat. No harm done, apart from to the environment, thanks to the gods of good luck rather than the saviours of poor judgment.

The main show was, of course, the fireworks and here’s a short video to illustrate the madness of Patong on New Year’s Eve.

That went on, and on. And when that was over, some enterprising lantern vendor was walking up and down the beach flogging them to the New Year party people. Lanterns launched skywards from the south of Patong Beach, then the middle, the north, and back again. Lovely to look at – shouldn’t be doing it – and not so great if the wind changes. Which it did, at around 0100. Then, rather than drifting serenely over the hills to land somewhere called not my problem, they started heading towards Jamala. Worse still, many of those heading our way had barely enough fuel to stay in the air. They crashed around us to the left, right and behind us. One came very close to hitting our mast, which would have provoked a complete shit show, and one came near our new dinghy. Fortunately, nothing but our nerves scored a direct hit.

If that wasn’t enough, one of the ferry boats broke down to the side of us and was drifting towards our bow. Fortunately, two longtail boats came over to tame the chaos by pushing them away, relieving them of their passengers and calming our worry. And then, when it seemed safe, we went to bed at around 0230 – surprised that we still had it in us.

Unexpected Visitors

We wanted to find a good place to pick up Jake and Maya. Seasoned sailors can board practically anywhere, but for those not used to it, getting on a dinghy from a beach with waves crashing onto it can jangle the nerves a bit. We had to find a calm one not too far from the airport, so we headed up the west coast of Phuket to Nai Yang and found it was the perfect spot to pick them up – and only 5 minutes away from Phuket airport.

For a practice run, we picked up a couple of girls. Ella is the daughter of friends in the UK and just happened to be around here when we arrived, so we invited her and Iona over to spend some time on Jamala. Nobody died, and everyone had a good time

Dinghy ride

Relaxing on board

Paddleboarding

And kayaking

Paddleboard yoga (I do that all the time, of course)

Sunset at Nai Yang

And an unexpected meet-up at night

Bang Tao

The anchorage near the airport became a little rolly, so we headed slightly south to Bang Tao, which offers better protection from the swell. It’s a lovely place to stop. The Lazies, on their way further north, came along to see us there, too.

Horses out for a stroll

Horses having a chat

Elliot inspecting our new dinghy

Another reason for coming here was the inevitable extra provisioning for extra people. There’s an excellent fresh market not too far from the beach, so we headed over there to stock up.

Crisis of decision

And with that done,  it was time to head back to Bang Tao to pick up our longer-term visitors.