Elaine, on the other hand, finished her review of all our emergency equipment and expiry dates thereof, resulting in yet another list of items that need to be replaced. The issue, however, is finding new supplies, which is becoming increasingly difficult. What is extremely annoying is that our newer EPIRB, which was bought specifically so that the battery could be replaced, is proving to be the most troublesome item, as we’ve now discovered the battery can only be replaced in the UK or in the US; fat lot of good that is to us! Fortunately, its expiry date will coincide with our arrival off the African coast, where we’ll have more time to either replace it, or ship it to get the battery replaced. With all the shipping delays occurring right now, we’re not prepared to take that chance this close to our planned departure date.
The remainder of our day was passed enjoying an afternoon matinee, followed by a nice long chat to Elaine’s folks in Ireland.
Given the number of tropical depressions circulating in the area, though, including Dianmu, which had moved well into the Bay of Bengal and another low depression sitting over Thailand’s lower northern region, compounded by the fact that the region is also coming to the end of the annual typhoon season, which whips up west-moving storms from the Pacific Ocean into the South China Sea, we had yet more rain overnight and all day yesterday. What we didn’t know is that Thailand is about to enter its traditional wettest month of the year, October, and here we were thinking it was about to improve. Grrrrr!
Regardless, it was watermaker day, although we’d already filled all our water containers with rain water in preparation for our next laundry day. Elaine also finished all her notes on the Maldives rally, as well as started to collate her To Dos List for all the pre-arrival formalities, completing a few as she progressed, including making initial contact with the Maldivian agent.
Video calls from Elaine’s sister in Ireland and from Justine in England wrapped up another very wet and soggy day, although it was lovely to catch up on everyone’s news.
We were, however, rather disappointed to wake up to more rain showers this morning, since the forecast last night had, once again, indicated sunnier skies. The attached photograph, which was not enhanced at all, of the clouds over the National Park and the colour of the water, indicates just how menacing the weather was this morning. Nonetheless, we had no choice, but to weigh anchor and head south, since neither of us felt comfortable remaining in the Ao Po area with the COVID-19 cases on the increase and getting far too close to us for comfort, besides the fact that we needed to hire a car again for another upcoming hospital appointment and after noticing on our last outing that the car we’ve been using was not cleaned and we have no idea who in the area has been using it besides ourselves, we felt it best to move.
So, by 0800 we’d weighed anchor and motored south with the wind on the nose. By 1030, though, the sun had peeked through the clouds adding a dash of cheer to our day, the decks had dried out and we could see fishing boats back out on the water. We’d hoped the forecast was wrong again, but in our favour this time, but, by the time we reached Chalong Bay we had to standoff to let a rain shower pass over. Then, after circling around to check depths and orientate Paw Paw to the numerous shallow patches, it was 1330 when we eventually dropped the hook, just in time for the next rain shower.
While this is not our favourite bay or area, there is a decent car hire and the large Villa Market grocery store is within walking distance, making it more convenient. Also, during Roy’s reconnaissance this afternoon when he went to book the car while Elaine had a nap, he found a few more useful shops, cafés, restaurants, etc, so we’re definitely not going to starve! Returning with a jelly coconut for Elaine’s sundowner on the foredeck this evening was a nice surprise too.
