Fish caught by light bulbs and chill lounge music

The first mate Dont was kind enough to interact with our kids throughout the sail trip. Last night he took the dinghy over with John to a fishing boat in our cove to drop off soft drinks for some of the crew. There were about 20 fishing boats in the cove. Many of them were banded together in groups of four or five, all with their bows facing the same way. The boats were about 40 or 50 feet long, brightly painted in light blue or aqua with orange or red trim, all looking like miniature paddle wheel boats without the paddle wheels. Other fishing boats had long booms stretching out 40 or 50 feet on both sides of the boat, about 20 feet above the water. These boats had light bulbs attached all along the booms. I understand the lights are used for night fishing, and all manner of fish are attracted to the lights and so into the fisherman's nets.

On the way to dinner Dong brought the kids to the local 7-11 store, which are everywhere, to pick up some banana pancakes for dessert. The Thai-style pancakes are a special treat and there are little pancake stands everywhere, consisting of not much more than a fancy wheelbarrow cart with one heat plate to cook up a crepe. The crepes are filled with bananas and Nutella, folded and cut up into squares - very tasty.

It was a restless last night on the boat as the winds picked up with light rain falling. The anchor chain clanked against the hull, the halyards hummed in the breeze, and the lines bashed and battered about. Catheleen and I both slept well with earplugs and the careless responsibilities of passengers. The skipper and crew, on the other hand, felt the weight of responsibility for the boat and all aboard and so did not have a restful sleep. I later heard they were up top a few times throughout the night to check that the anchor wasn't dragging, wrapping the lines and what-not. After breakfast we sailed over to another cove and then hiked up to a small waterfall. I say hiked because that is what the skipper was expecting, based on his last visit. It turned out that nothing stays static here for long as an asphalt road and stairs had been built since. It was just as well since I was in flip-flops. The water was cooling, and we all enjoyed putting ourselves into the flow of the waterfall. John was concerned about the anaconda situation but he was assured that we wouldn't see any big snakes in the little stream.

I knew lunch would be special when we arrived in the Haan Yuan cove and started our way up the bolders and cliffs to the Bamboo Huts. We first passed a bamboo tattoo hut. Next up the bolders was a juice hut, and then we passed a hot-rock massage hut. After walking up along wooden walkways made with rickety sticks for posts and leftover wood for planking, we arrived to the sounds of chill lounge music in the air. With a large poster of Bob Marley on the wall, I knew this place was a bit different. In an open area there were some people lying down on mats and pillows enjoying a juice smoothy or just meditating. There were others at tables having something to eat or staring into the sea. With all the tie dye, sarongs, and young & tanned people around, it did have the feel of an updated and international dropout scene. I was told that there are many backpackers and other guests who stay here long term. Some are involved taking or teaching yoga or meditation. We had lunch on the floor on pillows at a short table, and enjoyed a great meal. This is the first time we've had brown rice rather than white jasmine rice with our meal. It was actually reddish in colour and worked well with the Masaman curry and other dishes. We were served by Burmese staff, some of whom wore yellow paste on their faces. I inquired and was told that the yellow paste is traditionally used for sun protection, and is also used for show. One young man was wearing the paste on his face in stripes like I imagine a Native American warrior might look. After lunch and beach time we popped champaign that the captain brought along for our final voyage, had a toast, and then left Mae Haat with a strong breeze on a starboard tack for our way back to Koh Samui. We had a great time on this sailing trip and I was sad to see the trip end.