Finally we had made it back to Phuket in Thailand and were on our way to Boat Lagoon Marina which is on the East coast of Phuket, and well placed for the airport which meant just a short taxi ride for our friends arriving the following day.
The water in Sapam Bay where Boat Lagoon is situated is shallow and to make things even more interesting, the lagoon in which it is built was originally a tidal flat at the head of a shallow, meandering two-mile creek named Klong Tha Rua. This means getting in is tricky – especially for a boat like ours with 2.2 metre draft.
The good news is that the Marina provides a pilot at no extra cost who will meet you at a pre-arranged time (approaching high tide) at the first channel marker and will steer your boat through the shallows all the way to the marina.
We arrived a little early for our 3 pm appointment and were welcomed by a huge downpour of rain.
Fortunately, by the time our pilot, Mr Nom, arrived just a tick before the allotted time, the rain had eased off a little.
Having done minimal research before getting there I had no idea that the distance from the first marker to the entrance to the marina was such a long way.
The pilots know every last millimetre of the route and gently steer the way through an obstacle course of sand banks and deeper pools, sometimes near to the poles that mark the channel, sometimes further away.
After a few minutes the odd mast and a few roofs appeared above the trees. Then we puttered past the entrance to where the super yachts tie up at The Royal Phuket Marina, passed a ramshackle fisherman’s hut and suddenly Boat Lagoon Marina came into view with its trademark lighthouse (the marina office) signalling that we had at last arrived.
Finally we were at the marina and Cap’tn Birdseye (Jonathan) did his best docking yet.
Boat Lagoon Phuket is located in Koh Kaew on the northern outskirts of Phuket Town and is like a big village as it surrounded by a group of condominiums, a resort, serviced apartments, restaurants, shops, a bank, laundry, a fitness centre, services such as dentists, massage and hair dressing salons, a supermarket, offices etc as well as great boat hauling facilities with three travel lifts and every kind of boat service from riggers to painters, electricians to engineers.
It was great to be there at last and just in time to greet our good friends from Brisbane the following day.
Salty tales from Bali Hai on Sunday 