Sat 1st stayed with Dee and Mark. Nice place, good for my weekends ashore. Good meal and meet the German guy with theYoga teacher wife. Need to let him copy some movies.
Sun 2nd Picked up Maya for Bfast at 0830 then tried and get the bits’ for the mizzen. But a public Holiday so all was closed. Need to get back to Rebak as the engines were due to be delivered at 1130. Weather was really bad and it was touch and go as to canceling the ferry. Any way we went out about 1130, Wind died down in the PM and the Motors were delivered about 1400hrs.
Mon 3rd Prepare PP and relax in Rebak
Tue 4th Prepare PP and relax in Rebak
Wed 5th Check out Rebak and head south to sail round Singa Baser. Anchor for the night. Jib and Motor from Rebak. 12.4 NM, Sea was choppy, wind was brisk, both from over the starboard Stern side so a bit of a wallow with a little rock and roll as well. Maya was concerned about being SS but was fine, well maybe a little queasy but not sick. Dropping anchor was quick and easy with the new winch and I hope it works just as well the other way Lol.
Thur 6th First use of new Anchor winch!!! Sooooo Sooooo nice. Have enough power and no problems. Wash down gun works well. Maya asked if it was ok to get the boat deck wet :-) . Headed for Telega ( 11.4NM) and check out of Malaysia. Checking out went smoothly but a few problems with the Outboard. Had to get Farid to come and take it to repair / overhaul so it meant a night in Telaga anchorage. He returned it at late afternoon which was good as I didn’t expect it untill tomorrow. I got some exercise rowing though.
Fri 7th left Telaga at 0800hrs heading for Ko Boulon. Even though it's meant to be the south west monsoon the wind was of the port Fwd (NW) so using the motor as well as the Jib / Mizzen combo . All was going well and we were just clearing into Thai waters when the prop hit something and PP lost power. A bit to rought to pull the motor and we are on a lee shore so decided to make a long run on sail only to Ko lipi. As luck would have it the wind was right and we made a steady 4 to 6 knots getting in to Ko lipi an hour before dusk. (40.6 NM). Had to raft the Dingy to the side of PP and use the 5Hp to take us in to the Bouys there. It took a while but we made it .A bit too dark to grab a bouy so dropped anchor. Not a very pleasent intro to sailing for Maya but she did well. kept her cool and helped loads. it was a little blowey so I stayed on anchor watch and catnapped on deck listening to the Rock and Roll and karaoke from the bars on Lipi.
Sat 8th Woke up on deck at 0400hrs, weather OK. Went below and slept to 0615. Up and secure PP to a Buoy using the anchor rode. Pulled up the chain and breakfast. Start to repair the Motor. Turns out the prop drive had sheared but no damage to the Engine its self. Had a new Prop though so able to quick change that and drop the motor back in the well for a test run. All OK. . Decided to stay here the day and one more night. Give Maya a taste of Ko-lipi Island life and Papaya salad. Nice Snorkel and swim.
Sun 9th Up 8'tish. b/fast and of the bouy. heading for Ko Bulon Le. 32.4NM. Wet and windy day again. got to the anchorage there and allready 15 Fishing boats in the prime area so anchored in front of them. A little exposed to the swells but not too bad a night. next time i'll try and get a bit further round.
Mon 10th Up Anchor at 0730. Heading for Ko kradan, a very wet and windy day. Had 3 squalls pass over us and it got very wet / windy with Minimum vis for a short time untill they moved on. Maya wanrted calmer waters for a night so instead of anchoring off Kradan i decided to try the channel between Ko Talibong and the mainland. Getting in to the channel between the mainland and Talibong was very duanting. Tide was low so very shallow and the swells / waves were running at +/- 2m. So we actually surfed on big wave and PP touched 15knots. I held the line ok though and she did not broach. Which, if I’m totally honest, was more by luck than judgement as I didn’t expect to get picked up like that. Finally got in to calmer waters and dropped anchor at 1630. We had a few breakages in the gally and Maya cut her foot( toe) quite badly so she decided to leave PP in Ko laanta and go on to see her german friend.
Tue 11th Up Anchorat 0740 heading for Koh Laanta. Weather is still wet and overcast but the wind has dropped. Nice motor sail past Kradan and Ko Muk. Some good anchorages there and if we had more time yesterday or I knew the area better we would have been more comfortable anchoring there for the night and also avoid the unintentioanl surfing.. Got in to Ko laanta at 1530 hrs. ( suddenly realized that we were on Thai time so had been getting very early starts Lol- Which is just as well really given the weather). Dropped anchor at 1600hrs and headed in to the jetty. A few issues with the out board as a hose had broken, presumably when we surfed yestereday, and water had got in to the fuel. Found a nice B&B for Maya that did Veggy food near the jetty. Her foot was hurting
Wed 12th Up at 0530. Very rough. Tidy up around the boat and see if the weather drops enough to get the dingy in. At 0700 weather OK so use the weatherwindow to get to the jetty. Breakfast with Maya and minibus to Krabi for Immigration / customs. No issues checking in. Maya left to go see her friend and I headed back to Koh Lanta. The weather is going to be bad for a few days yet so I’m thinking of getting a hire car to finish my trip to Phuket..
13th Hire a pickup and head over to Phuket.: very wet day. Sleep in YH. Check on Dive equipment
14th Load pickup. Got back to Lanta at 1630. Put every thing out on PP and shower. Busy day. Eat then go to see if the bar is open.
Sat 15th Finally got the Pick up handed in and back out to PP by 1130hrs. Up Anchor at 1200 and head for Kradan @16NM. Made good time, drop anchor at 1615hrs.. Used the motor to leave Lanta then used Jib and Mizzen ( off and On) getting between 4.3 and 6 knots. ( 7.5K in a squall but I had to drop the mizzen in a hurry then) . Anchored in 9m Water just of the tower in Kradan. 18 Fishing boats here already. Nice and shealtered (so far). G&T and a can of Chill Mackerel and Crisp bread, washed down with a bowl of mushroom soup. (and another G&T). Going to head for KO Petra if all is well in the AM.
Sun 16th: Up anchor at 0800. Sail on Jib only. Making good time 4.5 th 6.5 kts . Sea is on stab /aft beam ( about 110deg.) makes for a rolling motion.. made Ko Petra by mid day , decide to push on to Ko Bohlon or Taruantou if the weather holds. Got hit by 2 bad squalls.. had a real issue getting the jib in on the 2nd one because I left it too late. ( furl early!!!). another touch of the 7 1/2 Knots!! Drop anchor in 6m @ 1745hrs (44NM/10 hrs) in the small bay by Ko Laen in the lee of Tarantou. Fresh water shower, another soup and G&T and an early night. Been a long day on deck..
Mon 17th. Up Anchor 0800hrs. Motor and Jib out of the anchorage and then used the Jib to the turning into the Ferry boat channel to Kuha. Thn furl jib and Motor due to changing wind / Islands. Into Kuah and drop anchor at 1700hrs. On the trip down nearly ran over 2 fisher men in their small boat. Not sure who was more scared!!!. Them or me?. Set the anchor and head for the RLYC for a shower and beer.