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My Personal Sailing Adventures - with land trips on the side: I had my eye on a Monet but settled for a Van Gogh (Stranded in Paradise Part 3)
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It took us ten hours to get from Ko Lanta to Ko Phi Phi. The drive shaft was wobbling like hell the whole way. Our average speed was just three knots with the wind and choppy swell coming from the direction in which we were headed.
We were towing our new super size Queen Mary tender which obviously slowed us down considerably, however we had managed to get Thumper (the outboard) on deck, so that helped a bit I guess.
Queen Mary and Thumper parked
near a sunken longtail which
reminded me of a whale
The Chief Engineer regularly returned white faced from the engine room checks, a prophet of gloom telling me how bad it looked, and providing an extensive litany of the serious damage we could be causing, saying he's going to need a tropical holiday after this leg.
So, in between bouts of Rod sweating it out in the engine room we took a holiday on Ko Phi Phi. We were told by lots of people before we arrived that it's a rat race. And compared to the serenity of Ko Muk and the laid back peace of Ko Lanta it is. Every day hordes of tourists come in on the ferries and the narrow walking streets, shops and restaurants are chockas between ten and four (and this is the quiet season). After the day trippers leave there's a bit more room to move but still plenty of action.
We played at being tourists on and off for ten days - snorkeling, drinking cocktails and even shopping. There's is a place selling dresses printed with famous Impressionist paintings. I had my eye on Monet's Water Lillies, but they didn't have my size so I settled for a Van Gogh instead.
We were anchored in about 12 meters and could swim over to where the tour operators take the punters for snorkeling trips. The water is a perfect temperature and a clear as clear turquoise, and there are more fish in your face than you can poke a stick at, although the coral is fairly degraded.
The weather was glorious and sunny for the whole time we were there. I suppose you could call it a voluntary stranding in paradise.
The Chief Engineer discovered and replaced a second broken engine mount. Obviously faulty merchandise. Then he managed to reduce the drive shaft wobble after endless hours of trial and error in the engine room, and we set off for a last overnight anchorage at Ko Yao Yai before heading in to Boat Lagoon at Phuket.
It was an uneventful 16 miles, again at an average of three knots, but with very little swell. This time we towed both the Queen Mary and the Thumper, sacrificing even more speed. We figured it's such a drama getting the 47 kg Thumper on and off Yana de Lys, we'd probably be in terminal danger before we could use the tender as an tow vessel if we ended up in trouble...
The final leg of 13 miles to the entrance of Boat Lagoon was even easier - no swell whatsoever, totally benign conditions. We are safely parked in the mud at Boat Lagoon. Finally.
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