Join us in rebuilding a 35 years old 12m sailing catamaran on a beach in Phang Nga, Thailand

Infos

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  Description

  We are a Swiss-Italian and Thai couple.
  Luca is retired from an adventurous life and now, with the help of our Burmese worker Sawsaw, is rebuilding his sailing catamaran 'Namaste' on which he sailed to Thailand from the Med 40 years ago.
  Elle, who used to cook onboard is looking after the open house, the 2 guest bungalows, the Thai/Italian kitchen and the garden.
  
  *** March Update:
  Because of heat, humidity and coming monsoon rains we'll be closing down our Thai beach workshop after a very successful 5 month operation... and we have had many very helpful and friendly wawayers!
  
  **From May we are going to spend the summer in Europe, in a very old partly restored house in Istria, Croatia.
  If you are a good mason, a carpenter or an all-rounder, you would be very welcome to help us out with some restoration.
  Contact us for more details!
  
  Well be back in Thailand from October!
  
  
  Our Thai house is 50m from the beach on the fringes of a National Park and we use the work shed of the catamaran on the beach as our BBQ and sunset bar. The 4 km long beach is practically deserted, there are a couple of street food places and a nice and cheap Thai shop and restaurant within one km. The village on the main road is 3 km away and the nearest small town, an important fishing harbour, 12 km from there.
  There are buses to lesser tourist resorts like Khao Lak, Khao Sok, Ranong (about 100kms) or to Phuket, Krabi or Samui Island which are 200+kms away.
  Probably because we are far away from busy civilisation we love to have friends and guests at our (literally) open house.
  We often welcome travellers in a very relaxed way and we love beach parties. We are foodies and appreciate the company of people who love experimenting good food without many restrictions. We hope you do too.
  We have some water toys on the beach, a bicycle and a 4x4 pick-up for excursions. Motorscooters can be rented in town, as can local longtail boats to nearby deserted islands

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  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Jardinage

  Bricolage et construction

  Aide à la maison

  Entretien général

  Aide informatique/internet
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  Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

  Apart from living in an almost wild tropical surrounding on the Andaman Sea and working on a boat on a deserted beach, you will be able to learn basic Thai, about Thai customs and history...and especially Thai cuisine in a culturally open and international setting.
  If you are interested, you can always ask Luca to tell you about some of his past and future adventures.

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  Aide

  Depending on your particular skills you will be asked to help and participate in the restauration work on the boat: painting, woodwork, composite (fiberglass), mechanics, electrics and more. If you are a good writer or computer wizard you will be most welcome. Also, we'll ask you to help Elle in the garden, kitchen and house.

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  Langues

  Langues parlées
  Allemand: Courant
  Anglais: Courant
  Français: Courant
  Italien: Courant
  Thai: Courant

  Cet hôte propose un échange linguistique
  Luca has been travelling for a large part of his life: as a young tour guide taking tourists round Europe from London in his twenties to overland trips to India and Africa later, and sailing his catamaran NAMASTE from the Med, through the Red Sea to India, SriLanka and finally Thailand. 25 years ago, on his catamaran, he spearheaded Biodiversity Research in the nearby Burmese Mergui Archipelago. Elle came onboard as a hostess and cook... She is Thai, also speaks English, is always good company and is learning Italian.
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  Hébergement

  We have separate accomodation in two double rooms and a single on the first floor of our converted, traditional southern house with a shared bathroom. Don't expect luxury.
  The two cabins on the catamaran are also being adapted for sleeping, if you like the sound of the waves!
  Alternatively and if you like more privacy, for a specially reduced price, you could stay in one of Elle's two bungalows on the lagoon near the beach which she occasionally rents to travellers and friends.
  We have a common breakfast at 8am, a light lunch at 1pm and dinner together at 7pm
  You can use most facilities and jump in the sea or into Luca's small exercise little pool when you feel hot.
  In the 'winter' season (November to April) we do not need air conditioning as there is always a breeze from the sea or, at night, from the mountains. We are lucky that there are few insects and even less dangerous snakes.
  Just beware of mosquitoes and sandflies on the beach at sunset. Moskito nets are available, but we normally sleep without, with open windows and a fan.
  
  We normally have a varied continental breakfast incl. fruit, cereals, yoghurt; often homemade bread and jam, with coffee or tea.
  For lunch normally a Thai noodle or rice dish.
  At dinner Elle cooks delicious Thai or Italian dishes . We often organise BBQs on the beach and we also have an outside thatch roof 'sala' with BBQ and pizza oven next to the main house.
  After some negative experience we have decided not to accept special needs as they disrupt the quality of food for all the others and Elle's creativity.

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  Autres infos...

  Work is 5 hours a day for Monday to Friday. You are expected to, in turns, help Elle washing and tidying up. You can use our washing machine for your clothes and linen. On weekends Friday afternoon to Sunday night) you and we are free and you should take your meals and sleep outside and take advantage by visiting the nearby islands and national parks. There are also some very cheap options like trekking and camping at a waterfall nearby.
  We like to explore ourselves and often go off-road in our 4x4 pick-up. A fat wheel bicycle is available and motorcycles can be rented for cheap in town.
  Our nearest neighbors are a very nice Muslim family.
  Like in most of Thailand nakedness on the beach is not allowed. Otherwise we live a very free life.
  Our special offer to volunteers is the high quality food, including some of the best seafood straight from the nearby fishing villages.
  Elle, whom many consider a Thai MasterChef, also cooks very good Italian. She has a few stray dogs around the house that she loves to feed. She also loves to go fishing with a long net at sunset.
  gardening or going to the fresh market in the morning. She is very allergic to smoke, so if you do, not in the house.!
  Luca, plans and supervises work on Namaste and other projects.
  He doesn't walk well, but loves watersports, adventure and 4x4 exploration.

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  Informations complémentaires

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    Accès Internet

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    Accès Internet limité

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    Nous avons des animaux

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    Nous sommes fumeurs

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    Familles bienvenues

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  Possibilité d’accueillir les digital nomads

  We have two good wifis at our place, and an office. Digital nomads are welcome, also to help us develop our own communication.

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  Espace pour garer des vans

  We have room for a couple of campers near our house or on the beach.Also camping is possible. An independent shower/toilet is available.

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  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Plus de 2

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  Nombre d'heures attendues

  Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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