Satun
Wildfox
Anthony Swanston
Tue 12 Sep 2023 06:37
I jump on the ferry, five minutes walk from the marina to complete my obligatory visa run. Less than 90 minutes takes me to Satun in Thailand. Against all the odds the hotel staff are waiting for me at the terminal with my car.
Next day I head off to PSS shipyard to see Des and Ked Kearns who are just about to finish the rebuild of Cariad. The owner was there a couple of days before my arrival coming from his base in Singapore. Flights were complicated so he just chartered a private jet. As you do. The work is nothing short of phenominal with 50 people now fully engaged. The boat is technically a bonded warehouse and to break the bond will have to come to my marina in Langkawi. Anyway the crew will need me to show them how to tie up.
It really is rainy season and there is not much going on in Satun so I drive about exploring. First a huge cave where it is too dark to take many effective 'photos, home to one of the worlds largest stalagmites at 17 metres tall and 6 in diameter. Next a national park where I call a rhino a hippo and it has nice walks but as soon as I get into the forest it starts to pour down. Proper torrential tropical rain. And then a waterfall. All the signs are in Thai, nobody speaks English and they are a bit surprised to see me. But then this is off the beaten track Thailand.
Back in Langkawi and my passport is nearly full; tricky to renew from here. The marina has about 20 boats doing sunset cruises but some of them insist on getting themselves festooned with balloons. When these escape and deflate they are mistaken for food by the wildlife. They block the intestine and the creature dies a slow and horrible death. The marina is home to (apart from fish) monitor lizards, otters and overhead are white breasted sea eagles. I gather together a pressure group and the marina management are now calling a meeting with the charter operators and bringing in the Department of the Marine to read the riot act.
Maybe I was born to be a revolutionary...
