After the fiasco on Monday of finding a large corroded hole in the stainless steel piping contraption which connects the raw water intake to the generator through the bulkhead and with arrangements finalised to collect the newly manufactured one, we enjoyed a lazy morning onboard. Rain overnight, which fortunately was not accompanied by the severe thunderstorms we were experiencing at the Yacht Haven anchorage, provided lovely cool temperatures, affording Elaine the opportunity to do her stretch exercises on the foredeck and, after breakfast, we received a phone call from Keenan, who was back home after successfully completing his Airbus A320/321 IOE training. It was lovely to hear him so enthusiastic about his flying again and that he was thoroughly enjoying flying this particular aircraft.

By then it was time for Roy to meet Derek, the Grand Ao Po marina manager and a fellow South African, who had offered to take Roy back to the engineering shop to collect our new contraption.

When Roy returned we were both relieved and delighted that an exact replica had been made and it fitted perfectly, all for the price of $60USD, together with a huge dollop of kindness and helpfulness from Derek, something we are truly appreciative of.

Afterwards we dinghied back to the marina to enjoy a delicious lunch at the Port of Call restaurant, but forgot to take photographs of our main courses as usual, before returning to Paw Paw to complete the installation, clean up the mess and re-stow everything. Sweating profusely in the heat and humidity, we eventually got Paw Paw put back together again just in time for sundowners and for Roy to enjoy a chat to Craig, off Il Sogno. After a light dinner and cooling off on the foredeck under the starry night sky, with the Southern Cross clearly visible again, we retired to Elaine’s cabin to watch a movie.

This morning, Roy once again combined his exercise walk with a trip to the closest shop for bread and eggs; there’s always something we forget, following which we returned to the Port of Call restaurant for a morning coffee, bid farewell to Derek, dropped off our garbage and weighed anchor; our destination, Koh Phanak and what beautiful scenery awaited us. The Ao Phang Nga National Park is really quite spectacular and we were delighted to eventually visit it.

Unfortunately, en route, Roy noticed that our helmstation roof had shifted slightly and was leaning towards the stern; the downside of a haulout! So, while he readjusted and tightened everything down, after using the boom to lift the roof and reposition it, Elaine enjoyed a swim off the back of Paw Paw; something she’d been dying to do for a number of days now. However, she’d no sooner dried herself off and was in the middle of helping Roy fasten some nuts and bolts, when we received a visit from the extremely polite park rangers, apologising profusely, but informing us that the National Park was still closed and we were not permitted to stay. They were kind enough, though, to allow us the time to finish our repairs and pointed out an alternative anchorage a short distance away which we could use instead. With that, we ended up in Chong Koh Yao, somewhere we had planned on visiting anyway, but it was a real shame that the park was still closed because we were so looking forward to exploring the “hongs” there; something to look forward to in the not too distant future, hopefully!