Visa run stories

(On our way down the Malacca Straits, having left Thailand, we reminisce about sailing those "visa runs" in the last 8 months, below. We are currently taking a break in Port Dickson and will soon be at Puteri harbour, Johor State, Malaysia, when we will write about this latest awe-inspiring trip…)


A “well-trodden path” for yachties in SE Asia is the route between Phuket and Langkawi! At Phuket Customs, the register requiring you state where you came from has reams of replies: ‘Langkawi’, and vice versa in the Langkawi Customs record. Having done the trip ourselves about 8 times – between three and five days each way, we know the passage quite well but there are nevertheless a couple of optional routes to take, and on each route there are a number of optional island anchorages (often weather-dependant).

Sometimes we approached the task with determined set to the jaw, left at dawn daily and sailed / motored until the closest appropriate stop to sunset, always relaxing enough to eat and enjoy the sundown views at our new anchorage then collapse into bed to repeat the next day. (It is a really bad idea to do this coastal passage with overnight sailing because of the proliferation of fishing nets, fish traps and unlit fishing boats.) However, this strategy was most often avoided as being miserable and taxing, and replaced with a passage plan set up to cover sufficient miles in the day to allow more enjoyment of the “road trip”. Here, then, are some pictures of these road trips that occupied a good part of our last 8 months…

Our road is changeable. Often in this region the days are utterly windless and we motor along on oily calm seas: beautiful in their colour and showing the shoals of huge jellyfish to best advantage, but the heat can be oppressive and when there is no wind, unwilling crew (here Sandy and Ros…. and Irene) force the boat to stop and abandon ship!

At other times the winds were favourable, seas had only a pleasant roll and surge and we revelled in the sailing. Then also, there were times when big systems covered the area and we had to adopt an unplanned jaw-set and bear it (grinning generally did not come into the picture with the bearing part) as we bounced and rolled and rocked and slammed in horrible water for the whole day: the previous plan of reaching island X thrown out as we could not cover that distance in these seas or the wind was from the wrong direction, so think about another option and get on with it...!

Mother Nature is masterful at showing who is really in control… one day the weather report said 7 knot winds from the west; as we were heading east this was perfect for the code zero sail so up she went and out went two fishing lines (new ones: now with five lures on each line… even though we can only eat so much fish!!). The code zero, however, is a very large and fragile sail and needs to be taken down, stroked and gentled (takes some time and effort on the part of both Ketoro crew) at the slightest disruption of her environment. Picture one blissful hour and a suitable, pot-sized tuna, smiles all round as we seized the day. Picture the next 30 minutes, as they included the following… Irene on helm, two fishing trawlers approaching from port-side and on course to cross our path - ahead or astern or collide? (Which of these can only be determined when they are much closer as they appear to change their minds, course and speed quite often - but never to take the avoiding action!); storm moving up rapidly from astern so we must take the big code zero sail down; two fish strike, one on each line; storm goes over us and the trawlers, completely obliterating them from our vision and our radar picture… the day had seized us! We emerged from this interlude to have to deal with the subsequent grumpy and unsettled sea… but triumphantly bearing several fish!

Fishing boats: love them, hate them. They set up a glow along the horizon at night, and trail traps and nets for unlucky yachts during the day (well, they are for fish but many yachts have had ropes/nets wound round their propellers and rudders… as we admitted to in a previous blog). Here are 7 of them sharing 2 anchors… and our anchorage. That's when we hope the weather stays fair and anchors don't drag…!

Longtail fishermen: not so much the love them (flags and fishing nets aplenty, and they are fond of speeding across a yacht’s bow believing that the bad spirits on their boat will fly off onto the yacht) until you buy their wonderful fresh prawns for dinner!

A favourite stop-off is a marine reserve, Ko Rok Nok (in the background of the 7-fishing boat photo) where a French Survivor series was filmed. We tie up on mooring buoys set by the National Parks Authority (to ensure anchors are not dropped onto the reef) in the bay formed between the two islands, and enjoy a snorkel to check the mooring lines…. and the little ecosystem of fish that live around the lines. Mooring buoys are a real bonus but we have learnt not to take for granted that the Authorities have put the buoys at appropriately deep places: snorkelling one spot with a buoy to do reconnaissance for future use, Irene nearly bashed her head on high coral structures simply falling back into the water from the dinghy… a depth not suitable for yachts, clearly! This photo shows us attached to a mooring ball at Ko Racha Yai, the sun setting behind us and potential storm brewing… an occasion when we put our faith in the ball’s placement and hope that the lines are regularly checked and replaced!

The Butang Islands are west of Langkawi, a frequent stop for us as they provide lovely snorkelling, particularly around one area where we tied on for the night with Sandy and Ros on board and enjoyed the solitude, clear seas, beautiful islands and fish. We subsequently heard that this mooring was the site of a tragic story: a few years ago a couple were asleep on their boat here when Burmese escapees off a Thai fishing boat boarded and killed him; they left in the dinghy and she sailed the boat trying to get help, eventually sailing into one of the fishing boats before they would pay attention to her or assist her.

Recently at Rok Nok we set off in the dinghy for a snorkel, and saw a man waving for our attention on the smaller southern island (unoccupied); picking our way to him through the reef, he indicated to us that he needed a lift off the island: with “a friend”, indicated by a flick of his arm. So the dinghy wended its way parallel to the beach as he walked along; we saw the friend arising…. And then two more, teenagers, lifting their bodies from their burial places in the sand! They had clearly been abandoned on the island: difficulty in communicating prevents us from knowing why, but three of them were clearly drunk or drugged; however, the first fellow was relatively fine and cogent, explaining that they were from the fishing boats, and it was only when they were all on the dinghy (Irene remaining on the island to make space) that their “condition” became apparent. Oh well, Rolf (growling menacingly that they wash sand off their bodies first) dropped them off at the other island near the National Parks Authority Office… and we will never know how/if the they got back to their boat.

Sometimes the sailing day was not too long and we are able to visit beautiful spots before or after the 9 to 5 rush of day-trippers… here Wendy enjoys Maya Beach, Phi Phi Ley (where the movie “The Beach” was shot). Later in the day, there are at least 20 speedboats and longtails here at any time, disgorging their visitors onto this beach, which is merely a tiny strip at high tide, with the throngs rubbing sweaty shoulders with one another.

Sometimes the planned visit does not work, even though you are there at the right time…. As far as Wendy and Rolf are concerned, Emerald Cave (a beautiful hong) is in here somewhere but it was impossible to get the dinghy in due to the unsettled sea state and John and Irene swam in to verify its existence.

After anchoring (and snorkelling to check the anchor is set) we will often go on shore, if we are not tired (in which case a swim will suffice). At some islands this is a challenge: you can find idyllic beach landing spots… but you must choose your tide carefully, or you could be stranded!

Here, we had to leave the dinghy far out and wade in (hoping fervently that the dinghy anchor or rock-tying will hold) but we have also watched people dinghy in at high tide, leave the tender on the beach to enjoy shore facilities and later returned to a dinghy high and dry… with sea access denied by the sharpest, roughest rocks and corals.


Once a month these stops have a focus: Haircut time (for which we choose an appropriate beach at low tide) and then of course the trip ashore may have another focus: food and drink! Some of the beaches have really great bars (frequently Bob Marley type), and those on tourist islands have a wonderful evening atmosphere with seating at rough tables or dug into the sand, numerous candles, fire-shows and fireworks.

Some islands offer a chance for a walk, for example here on Ko Tarutao, a beautiful densely wooded island and former penal colony for political prisoners … this pier was a long walk keeping them safe from the crocodiles! The British Army was called in to help dismantle the prison in 1946 when the prisoners were discovered to be running their own anarchic society on the island, including some piracy forays from this island base.

The end of the day frequently comes with magnificent sunsets, often accompanied by sea eagles returning to their nests and cicadas starting their calls along with many birds settling down for the night, making the 6 to 10 days and nights of the Visa Run round trip something to look forward to.