After the thunderstorm, accompanied by copious amounts of rain, passed over us yesterday evening, we enjoyed a very calm and restful night, which resulted in another early start this morning. By 0600 we’d weighed anchor and enjoyed a beautiful sunrise as we set sail from Koh Lanta. Koh Lanta was also the first inhabited island we’d seen in Thailand, with stilted houses fringing the shoreline, but unlike Indonesia, the stilts weren’t in the water.

Fortunately, although we had extremely confused seas with a horrible swell on the beam, the wind picked up around 0730, allowing us to motor-sail the rest of the day at speeds of anything from 6 to 7 Kts. It was close to 1100 by the time we reached Koh Phi Phi, made famous by “The Beach”, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and our intended anchorage for tonight. However, we decided to press on instead and, by 1530, we were anchored off Koh Nakha Yai, a stones throw from the quarantine anchorage, where we have to report at 0700 on Monday morning. Shaving a day off our sail allows us to enjoy a well deserved rest day tomorrow and get Paw Paw ready for any inspections, etc. We were surprised, however, to find other yachts and “gin palaces” in the anchorage, given that we’ve been the only yacht in every anchorage thus far and the only yacht we’ve seen out and about since entering Thai waters.

As our sail progressed northwards, though, not only did the seas start to settle, but the scenery became increasingly beautiful with the most striking monoliths, jungle-clad limestone islets and tropical paradise islands, surrounded in turquoise waters, but, best of all, the temperatures cooled, making life a little more comfortable onboard.

We did, however, have to maintain a constant lookout and navigate between the numerous fishing pods, which were extremely difficult to see at times, given the colours of some of the flags which were camouflaged against the colour of the water.

Regardless, it was another wonderful day of doing what we love!