The Coconut Telegraph Issue 23

I was lucky when I arrived in Bangkok as the flooding was just starting and getting out of the city was not a problem. I had arranged for a minivan to meet me at the airport to take me to Cosmos Composite and pick up my new wave ski and two sea kayaks. During my layover in London, I confirmed that everything was okay. At the airport, my driver was nowhere to be seen and the man who arranged the minivan had a dead cell battery. Eventually, I contacted Khun Prasit and he told me that his driver could not come as the road was washed away and the van could not move. So, he came himself to try and sort things out. Although he had not planned to drive to Ranong, Khun Prasit felt responsible for me - so he drove me to Ranong himself.

We arrived later in the evening and went directly to the pier. I dumped the three boats and we went to Tinidee Hotel for the night. I showered and crashed, having come directly from Ottawa non-stop. But sleep took some time as the Ice Bar beside the swimming pool was thumping out big bass tones that shook the hotel. Not the best for such an expensive place. But I made up for it by eating like a trooper at the breakfast buffet!

Tim Morch at Aow Yai, Koh Phayam

Made the slow boat at the last minute, threw the boats on the boat and proceeded to Koh Phayam. With the island in view, I called Clay at South Star and he told me he would meet me at the pier. Clay arrived, a tractor came behind and everything went across the island nice and easy.

When the boat approaches Koh Phayam, there is a glaring barren land on the northern end of the island that has been decimated by loggers. This is becoming a huge problem on the island and if the people do not stop this activity there will be no more jungle in a few years. It is truly a sad state of affairs.

There were waves when I arrived and I was eager to test my new custom, carbon fiber waveski from Cosmos Composite. It is a total rocket ship, delivering speed and agility far superior to my last waveski!

The sea kayaks are a pre-production version of an RTM model that never went into full production. It seems the market favours the sit-on-top and plastic models and the fiberglass boats were cancelled. But lucky me, I got two of the last units from my friend Laurent who used to work with RTM! It is called the "Tooka" and seems to work quite well.

Click HERE and enjoy this edition. I am off to the Philippines for two months to sea kayak with Ian Taylor - reports to follow later.