Yachties tell of escape from tsunami

New Zealanders Geoff Plimmer and Pat Robertson were on their 12m yacht Duetto at anchor off Phuket when yesterday's tsunami struck. Mr Plimmer, from Whangaparaoa, north of Auckland, described the couple's escape in an email message:

"The first indication that something was happening was shortly after 9.00am local time when all the boats in the bay started swinging on their anchors rather violently.

"We were anchored with about 100 other boats at Naihan Beach on the southwest coast of Phuket. The beach is probably over half a kilometre long and covered with nice white sand and hundreds and hundreds of umbrellas and deck chairs.

"I went back down below assuming it was just the turn of the tide. A few minutes later I heard a lot of yelling and came up on deck just as the boat anchored next to us swung alongside.

"There was nobody on board but fortunately we were able to save it from doing any damage and managed to squeeze a fender between us.

"Just as suddenly it took off the other way and, when I looked around, the beach and all the brollies were gone. It was all under water and there was debris floating everywhere.

"People were running along the road above the beach blowing whistles and there seemed to be chaos everywhere. Time to get out of there.

We got the anchor up in record time and took to sea. I looked behind and there were yachts dragging, dinghies adrift and water swirling around in all directions. We weren't very sure what was happening and weren't waiting around to find out.

"Strangely enough there was no wind - in fact it was a very nice day."

"We motored out of the bay and when I looked at our speed we were doing nearly eight knots through the water and only four over the bottom." (That would indicate the yacht was fighting a four knot onshore current. - ed.)

"We decided to head off around to Ao Chalong Bay on the other side of the Island and it was not till we were well on the way that we started to get information over the ship's radio what had happened…

"I have the TV going now and we are seeing live pictures of the damage. The water which is normally very clear around here is a dark muddy colour with rubbish everywhere. There are still strong currents going in both directions and it is a bit like being in a river in flood.

We are now anchored in a sheltered little corner at the entrance to Ao Chalong where [if] any further tsunamis come in we can get out to sea and in the open quickly. It is probably about three miles into the beach but we have been told there has been a lot of damage there so we feel we are much safer out here."