Monday 3rd October to Tuesday 11th October
Royal Langkawi Yacht Club
 Our flight from the UK landed about 2 p.m. in the rain - well it is still the wet season. Carillon was a bit musty but we didn't have mould growing anywhere so a few hours with the air-con soon dried her out. Everything was fine, all the systems worked, unfortunately with all the rain our leaky cupboard was very wet but we still have to come up with a solution for that.
We fitted the repaired wind generator which now runs almost silently which is a great improvement. Apparently there was a manufacturing fault which caused a clunking noise for every revolution of the blades. The new parts for the aft aircon were not quite so successful - the new controller is either faulty or incompatible but either way it doesn't work so will have to go back to the UK for checking. The boat is pretty much ready to sail so we just need to wait for the weather to improve. By the 10th and 11th it's not looking too bad so we decide to go around to the Hole-in-the-wall anchorage on Langkawi on the 12th then head back up to Thailand.

Wednesday 12th October
RLYC to Hole-in-the-wall
We left the RLYC about midday after checking out and buying last minute fresh meat and veg. We tied alongside a fuel barge in Kuah Harbour to fill up with diesel. It was the same price as the Yacht Club (about RM2 per litre) but easier to go alongside and leave again. Had a very uneventful motor to the Hole-in-the-wall anchorage on the east side of Langkawi.

Thursday 13th October(06° 25.3'N 099° 52.04'E)
Hole-in-the-wall
Had a lazy day finishing a few jobs.

Friday 14th October(06° 25.3'N 099° 52.04'E)
Hole-in-the-wall to East side Ko Tarutao
Another uneventful motor with no wind. Left around 10 a.m. and arrived about 2:30 p.m. and tucked in behind the island of Ko Laen off the east coast of Ko Tarutao. It was very sheltered and we could hear a thunderstorm rumbling around over the mainland.

Saturday 15th October(06° 42.5'N 099° 40.2'E)
Ko Tarutao to SE side Ko Lanta
No wind again so motoring. We'd had some minor repairs made to the sails while in Langkawi so took the opportunity to hoist them and re-thread the reefing lines while it was quiet. We could see a big storm building up to the SW so decided to drop the sails. Just got them snugged down when the storm hit and wind and torrential rain swept over us. Unusually the wind stayed in after the storm had gone through but the sky still looked a bit unsettled. We put the sails up again but kept a wary eye on the sky. We'd originally planned to stop at Ko Talibeng on the coast but since we had time to get to Ko Lanta and knew it was a safe and sheltered anchorage we went on and anchored in 5 metres just off the town of Ban Ko Lanta.

Sunday 16th to Monday 17th October(07° 32'N 099° 06.1'E)
Ko Lanta
There was no rain overnight but a big storm with lots of wind came through just after daylight. It seemed to go on forever so we decided to stay put today. When the rain stopped we went ashore to have a look at the town. It's quite a cultural mix - we could hear the mosque from the boat, there was a Buddhist shrine at the top of the pier and halfway down the main street what seemed to be a Taoist temple with a ceremony taking place although we didn't manage to find out what it was for. All the people were friendly with lots of smiles and greetings. It was possible to buy  basic supplies so we topped up the petrol for the outboard motor and bought a fish to cook for dinner. I'm not sure what sort of fish it was but it was very tasty and only cost 76 Thai Baat.

Tuesday 18th October (07° 32'N 099° 06.1'E)
Ko Lanta to Ko Phi Phi
Nice bright start to the day so seemed like a good time to head for Phi Phi. Not a lot of wind but enough to sail although it was coming from in front. Could see a storm developing to the SW but it drifted away behind us but then another one developed ahead so we put a reef in the main and wound the headsail in to a smaller sail. We had about 33 knots of wind maximum and masses of rain of course. Unfortunately the wind was coming from where we wanted to go so we sailed as close to our course as we could on the assumption that once the storm had gone past the wind would die and we'd be motoring again so we could then head for Phi Phi. We arrived late afternoon and anchored in about 12 metres on the west side of Tonsai Bay.

Wednesday 19th to Friday 21st October (07° 43.8'N 098° 46.3'E)
Ko Phi Phi Don
Superficially there doesn't seem to be much change from when we were here in May but close up much of the post-tsunami debris has gone (although there is still quite a lot left), there is renovation work going on here and there but at Thai speed i.e. fairly slowly. Some of the shops in the main street look a little more substantial and more bars and restaurants seem to be open.
We found Andrew from The Adventure Club who had organised the underwater dive cleanup. He told us they had cleared all the superficial rubbish from the area close to the beach by about August. Stuff still appears out of the sand every now and then so he organises a dive about once a week to clear it as it appears. Eventually no more will appear. The government still haven't made known any plans for the redevelopment of Phi Phi so no major building work is taking place apart from The Cabana which is repairing and renovating it's resort in the centre of the main beach. Enormous tour boats come each day filled with day trippers so there must be money going into the local shops which has to be a good thing.
We stayed here a few days to wait for the weather to improve and to enjoy a few good meals ashore. We booked a dive to Hin Daeng about 30 miles to the south where we're told you can see manta rays and whale sharks but it didn't happen - probably because there weren't enough people to make the trip worthwhile for the dive shop. Maybe we'll try again on the way back to Langkawi at the end of November when it's high season and there will be more people about.

Saturday 22nd October
Ko Phi Phi Don to Chang Ko Yau
 Weather much better this morning. We motored out of Tonsai Bay and were able to sail towards Ko Yau Yai. We plan to anchor in the channel between Ko Yau Yai and Ko Yau Noi which should be sheltered from almost everything. The wind died in the early afternoon so we motored the last few miles. According to the pilot book the approach to the channel between the two islands is quite shallow but then it opens out into a pool about 8 - 10 metres deep. We registered 2.8 metres under the keel at the shallowest point at pretty much high tide but inside the channel there was plenty of water. There are fish farms on one side of the bay and ahead of us is a very long jetty which seems to be used mostly for the ferry across the channel between the two islands. There are some large sharp looking rocks in the middle of the channel but they are well-marked so no problem there.

Sunday 23rd October
Chang Ko Yau
Took the dinghy to the jetty to see if we could find the town. The jetty was the usual design with concrete steps that don't quite reach the water at low tide. We went alongside a fishing boat to clamber on to the steps. On the jetty were numerous motorbike taxis hoping for a fare. It's a kilometre or two into town so we took one of the motorbike taxis. 20 baht each which doesn't sound much but the guy looked so pleased it was probably double the price the locals paid. The town was very quiet and very small. There was one street with a few shops selling fruit and veg and various useful items of hardware and that was about it. We managed to buy some chicken for dinner and some curry and rice for lunch then tried to find a motorbike taxi to take us back but there didn't seem to be any. Unfortunately the heavens opened so we found ourselves sheltering in the local 711 store. When the rain stopped we started walking but then a motorbike with a sort of sidecar stopped and took us the rest of the way.

Monday 24th October
Chang Ko Yau to Ko Phanak
A beautiful wind this morning but directly from where we want to go, still, it's a shame to waste a good wind so we sailed anyway and took a long tack out and a long tack back. As we were heading for the northern tip of Ko Yau Noi we could see a very dark bank of rain heading towards us so we anchored in Ao Muang at the northern end of Ko Yau Noi to avoid it. When it had passed we decided to motor on to Ko Phanak. It was about 10 miles and should take just under 2 hours. All went well until we were a few miles away when another dark rain bank headed for us. This one we couldn't avoid so we put the covers up and the wet weather gear on and motored through it. Wind speed touched about 22 or 23 knots and visibility went down to a couple of boatlengths but it passed over fairly quickly to enable us to find a safe anchorage off the west coast of Ko Phanak. It rained pretty much the rest of the day and through the night but was a bit brighter in the morning. The consolation was that we were able to collect quite a lot of rain water to top up the tanks since the water in Phang Nga Bay has too much silt in it to be able to use the watermaker.

Tuesday 25th October
Ko Phanak to Yacht Haven Marina
We know there's a hong somewhere on this side of Ko Phanak but we couldn't find it. We were just preparing to leave when we saw a group of people in canoes heading for the shore. Guessing that they were going to the hong we jumped in the dinghy to see where they went. The entrance was well hidden and the tunnel quite narrow in places with barely enough space to get through in the dinghy but the hong when we got there was very pretty. It was totally enclosed (although open to the sky) and the tunnel was only accessible at low tide so we only had a few minutes to admire it. As it was it was a tight squeeze here and there getting out again. If we come back we'll definitely use the canoes instead.
We motored the last few miles to Yacht Haven Marina and dropped anchor just by the entrance. We don't need to be in the marina itself since for a small fee we can use the dinghy dock, rubbish disposal services and showers. We went ashore to register with the marina and hire a car for tomorrow to check in and do various bits of shopping.

Wednesday 26th October to Saturday 29th October
Yacht Haven Marina
With the car we got to all the places we needed to go. We needed to buy some teak to make fiddles for the galley work surface in preparation for our trip out to Chagos next year, we needed to have a new rope tail put on the main halyard and wanted to have new covers made to allow us to enclose the cockpit in the event of bad weather not to mention the usual food shopping. The covers could take a while to get done so I think we'll be coming and going from Yacht Haven for fittings at various times during our month here.
The marina is being extended at the moment so we while away a few minutes every now and then watching the work. They have an interesting way of dredging. There's a barge in the bay with a digger at each end. The digger at one end is being used to dig the mud out of the seabed while the digger at the other end has it's digging arm jammed into the seabed and is used to anchor the barge. When they move the barge the diggers paddle it along using the digging arms like monster punting poles. 

Sunday 30th October
Yacht Haven to Ko Phanak
We're having 2 shops quote for the new covers, one came yesterday but the other can't come until Wednesday so we'll spend a few days in Phang Nga Bay. First stop is back to Ko Phanak since it's fairly close and we'd like to have another look at the hongs on the east side. There's virtually no wind at the moment. We get the occasional rain squall but apart from that it's pretty neutral. Anchored off the southernmost hong and pumped up the canoes. These hongs are only accessible at around half-tide. The southernmost one dries out if the tide is too low and if the tide is too high you can't get under the roof into the hong. There's quite a long dark tunnel which smells strongly of bats. It's quite an art trying to hold a torch and paddle a canoe at the same time. You tend to bump into the sides quite often. This hong has two parts to it, you enter the first hong from the tunnel then there's a narrow channel through to a second hong.
The northernmost hong has no tunnel but you have to paddle around and through rock arches some of them quite low. Again at high tide you can't get under the arches but you can tie the canoes on the outside and walk through a passage that passes over the top of the water access. 
We spent an interesting half hour or so exploring the northern hong but then had a long difficult paddle against the tide to get back to Carillon. We bought some prawns from a passing fisherman for dinner. We knew they were fresh because they were still moving.

Monday 31st October
Ko Phanak to Ko Hong
Decided to motor a mile or two north to Ko Hong for a change of scenery. The anchorage is in a circle of islands so well protected from all directions. There is of course another hong in Ko Hong although this one is accessible at all states of the tide indeed at high tide the tourist boats anchor right inside it. Inside this hong there is another tunnel to a much smaller hong with a further access to another small hong. Again these are only accessible at half-tide. When we first went in we were on our own and it was quite charming however as we came to leave three boatloads of tourists had arrived and canoe after canoe full of tourists paddled by Thai boat boys came through the tunnel, took the inevitable photographs and were paddled out again.
In the afternoon a big storm came through with 2 sunsail charter boats running ahead of it and one in the middle of it heading into the anchorage. We had heavy rain for some hours and rigged up various ways of using covers as rain catchers to see which worked best.

Tuesday 1st November
Ko Hong to Yacht Haven
Well, back to Yacht Haven, we anchored on the south side this time to be further away from the dredgers.

Wednesday 2nd November
Yacht Haven
 The man came to measure for the covers. The dodger and bimini have been on the boat for almost 8 years now and the stitching is giving out in many places and the fabric has shrunk and is almost beyond rewaterproofing in places. We want to be able to enclose the cockpit so the on watch crew can keep dry without having to huddle under the edge of the dodger so the new covers will include a replacement for the existing dodger and bimini, a bridging piece to cover the gap between the two and side curtains. When the whole lot is in place it will be possible to zip it all together to make it weatherproof. Hope it works!

Thursday 3rd November
Yacht Haven
There is a Gibbon Rehabilitation Centre on Phuket which we went to see. They are mainly young gibbons whose mothers had been shot by poachers and the babies sold to be used as tourist attractions in restaurants and bars. The aim of the centre is to teach them how to survive in their natural habitat and try to get them to pair up and produce young so they can be released as a family unit. This gives them a better chance of survival. It takes many years before the centre feels that a family unit can survive in the wild. Some of the gibbons can never be released. These are the ones that have been maimed by unscrupulous owners or have contagious diseases such as Hepatitis A which could be transmitted to other gibbons. These gibbons will be cared for for the rest of their lives.

Saturday 5th November
Yacht Haven
Today we went on a fishing trip. We've been trailing lines at various times since we started sailing Carillon but so far haven't caught a thing so we decided to go with the professionals and see how it was done. For the morning the boat trailed 4 lines so we carefully checked out the lures, the boat speed, the tactics and learnt quite a lot we think. During the course of the morning we caught 7 skipjack tuna each about 2 kilos. If we can do that on Carillon we'd be more than happy. In the afternoon we did some handlining and caught a few quite small fish but still enough to make a meal. When we go to Chagos and can't go shopping for 3 months some fresh fish would be very welcome. On Carillon we reviewed what we'd got (which was almost everything we needed) and worked out what we still had to buy so next time we go off sailing we can try it all out.

Sunday 6th to Monday 7th November
Yachthaven

Tuesday 8th November
Yachthaven to Khao Sok National Park
Since the weather is not very good for sailing we decided to pay a visit to Khao Sok National Park which is about 100 miles or so north of Yacht Haven. We paid a bit more for a car that was not quite so much of a wreck as the others we'd hired since we'd be doing quite a lot of driving. The road went north over the Sarasin Bridge then through Khao Lak. Khao Lak suffered badly both in loss of life and damage to property in the tsunami. The wave came 2 kilometres inland and there are still obvious signs of damage. Here and there along the road are signs saying things like "I can't go on any longer, please buy my land"  It will be some time I think before Khao Lak recovers fully.
We arrived at Khao Sok about mid-afternoon and went to a guest house we'd selected from our guidebook 'The Rough Guide to Thailand'. It was called 'Our Jungle House' and had a quite isolated spot in the jungle just by the river. We stayed in a tree house (although not quite so far off the ground as the last tree house we stayed in and this one was accessible by steps). The whole place was in shade for most of the time so relatively cool. The restaurant did excellent curries and the manager was very friendly and helpful.

Wednesday 9th November
Khao Sok National Park
Went for a walk through the jungle to the Ton Gloy Waterfall. After the first couple of kilometres the track became quite narrow and steep in places but quite shaded so not too hot.We had a steep clamber down to the waterfall at the end. There were plenty of leeches along the path and despite wearing trainers and socks they still managed to bite. They're not harmful, just a bit disgusting. We could hear gibbons calling while we were walking but didn't actually see any.

Thursday 10th November
Khao Sok National Park
One of the highlights of Khao Sok National Park is the Cheow Lan Lake, an enormous reservoir formed by the building of the Ratchabrapa Dam in 1982. It's full of the same spectacular karst formations as Phang Nga Bay only bigger. It's possible to stay the night in raft houses on the lake so we drove to the dam, hired a boat and boatman and went off to find the raft houses. The trip took about an hour and the houses were tucked away in one of the far fingers of the lake. They're government run so fairly basic but adequate. The boatboy/guide took us for a trek to a famous local cave which has a river running through it. He advised us to wear shorts and trekking sandals and not to take the camera unless it was waterproof. Well the trek there entailed wading across 4 or 5 rivers but when we got to the cave we found that we would be following the river all the way through it. In some parts we had to climb down small waterfalls, in others swim a short length between narrow walls holding onto a guide rope and the rest was wading along the river bed trying not to slip over on the rocks underfoot - all this without dropping the torch! it was of course pitch black without the torch. We emerged into sunlight again after about an hour through a small cleft in the rocks where the river finally came out into the open again.

Friday 11th November
Khao Sok National Park
Went out early in the longtail to see if we could spot some wild life. We saw mainly birds including hornbill and kingfisher also a pangolin clinging to one of the many dead trees sticking up out of the lake. The boatman took us back to the dam where we'd left the car and we returned to Phuket.

Sunday 13th November
Yachthaven to Chang Ko Yau
The covers will be made by Canvas Creations but they can't come to measure up until next week so we'll go sailing for a few days. Headed north of Ko Yau Noi to what looked like a pleasant anchorage in the Ko Phak Bia Islands a few miles east of Ko Yau Yai. As we rounded the northern tip of Ko Yau Noi there was an enormous thunderstorm NE of us which appeared to be moving northwards. We watched most of the afternoon as it appeared to be curving around us obscuring points of land we'd passed an hour before and almost following our track. It eventually headed off to the west towards Phuket. The anchorage at Ko Phak Bia was a bit exposed for the unsettled weather conditions so we went into Chang Ko Yau (the channel between Ko Yau Yai and Ko Yau Noi) again where we knew it was well protected. There were thunderstorms rumbling around us for most of the night.

Monday 14th November
Chang Ko Yau to Ko Dam
Went have another look at Ko Pak Bia and found there were one or two government laid moorings in water deep enough for us so picked one up for a few hours. A lovely little beach with shade from trees and rocks but very popular with tour groups we discovered as boat after boat full came and deposited people on the island for a few hours. We were heading for Krabi but it faces SW and was still a but exposed to the prevailing weather so we anchored in the Ko Dam group of islands a few miles west of Krabi where we hoped it would be a little more sheltered. We found a white beach with government laid buoys in about 9 metres of water so decided to pick one up for the night. It was perfect until just after dark when would you believe a thunderstorm blew up from the south. Reasoning that they tend to go through fairly quickly we stayed where we were and watched it carefully. It was blowing the usual 20 - 25 knots just in front of the rain and gave us the usual torrential downpour as it went through but the buoy held and later there was the usual clear starry night.

Tuesday 15th November
Ko Dam to Yacht Haven
Canvas Creations are coming to measure for the dodger on Wednesday afternoon so we have to get back to Yacht Haven. We go south of Ko Yau Yai hoping to take advantage of the winds but as usual they're uncooperative and on the nose so we end up motoring a lot of the way. The tide taking us up to Yacht Haven isn't until the afternoon so we don't get back until just after dark.

Wednesday 16th November
Yacht Haven
We have to go into the marina and the office tells us slack tide is about 1:00 p.m.They prefer that boats go in and out at slack tide because the tide runs so fast and it's easy to get out of control in a confined space. The berth we've been allocated is well inside in one of the narrower parts of the marina and the boat we berth just on the other side of has an enormous bowsprit projecting well out into the manouevering space. We manage to turn around the bowsprit but then the breeze starts pushing us past the berth. Luckily the marina staff are used to this and the chief boatboy zips round in a RIB and pushes the stern back in the right direction allowing us to slide in safely. Being in the marina gives us the opportunity to top up with fresh water since we can't run the watermaker in the silty waters of Phang Nga Bay. The dodger is duly measured for so we're free to go off sailing again.

Thursday 17th November
Yacht Haven
We're going to stay in the marina today to clear a few jobs that need lots of water and power then go sailing tomorrow.

Friday 18th November
Yacht Haven to Ko Yau Yai
We're going back to Krabi since the NE monsoon is beginning to set in and it should be fairly sheltered. We leave the marina around 9:00 a.m. with a bit of help from the chief boatboy and his RIB to avoid the enormous bowsprit and anchor outside until we're ready to go. We don't want to leave until early afternoon because we'd have too much tide against us. The winds were fairly light but we managed to sail about halfway to Ko Yau Yai then anchored in a small bay near the southern tip.

Saturday 19th November
Ko Yau Yai to Krabi
There seemed to be a good wind in the morning so we sailed down the E coast of Ko Yau Yai then headed for Krabi - well as near as we could get since the wind was coming directly from Krabi. A surge of the NE monsoon came through today so we were beating into 20 knots of wind and dodging around the storms as they came over. We put one reef in the mainsail and as we got closer to Krabi the wind got stronger. We decided not to put the second reef in since we were almost there but it was quite a windy sail the last few miles. We looked at the three bays at Krabi and thought the main beach at Ao Nang looked the most sheltered although it was also the noisiest with enumerable longtails roaring back and forth to the other beaches.

Sunday 20th November
Krabi
It's a miserable day, very overcast with drizzle. We stayed where we were and Steve got his diving gear on and went under Carillon to replace the propeller shaft anode which had dropped off sometime in the last few days. We went ashore for dinner and found when we came to leave that a small swell was working into the bay making it difficult to get the dinghy off the beach. Lyn got thoroughly soaked much to Steve's amusement before we got away from the shore and back to Carillon.

Monday 21st November
Krabi
We moved a couple of bays along to Tham Phra Nang to get away from the noise of the longtails at Ao Nang beach. The drivers must be deaf living with the noise levels all the time. This is a very pleasant beach although some of the longtails still come here with tourists but not as many as at Au Nang. There is an upmarket resort on the beach that only allows access to it's own guests and has notices to keep the riffraff out so the longtails have set up little stalls selling drinks on the beach. It's possible to walk through to the next beach from here where most of the rock climbing is done. Krabi is a big centre for rock climbing since the karst formations lend themselves to climbing at all levels so there are always lots of people wandering around in shorts and harnesses carrying lines with carabiners inspecting the various rock faces for possibilities.

Tuesday 22nd November
Krabi
The weather is still unsettled and there are storms around the horizon. We think this bay is a little exposed to where the weather is coming from  so move to the next bay north which is a little more sheltered from the south. The disadvantage is that this is where most of the longtails come to so there is the constant noise of unsilenced engines echoing around the cliffs.

Wednesday 23rd November
Krabi to Yacht Haven
Tomorrow we have to check out of Thailand because our visas will expire. We have also arranged for Canvas Creations to come to measure for the new bimini. We have a leisurely and uneventful motor cum sail around the southern tip of Ko Yau Yai then up to Yacht Haven.

Thursday 24th November
Yacht Haven
Hire a car this morning to go to Au Chalong at the other end of the island to check out. Immigration is quite crowded and there are three other boats checking in when we arrive. We have to hang around for about an hour or so before all the formalities are complete. We bought a few more items for our fishing gear from the fishing shop in Au Chalong then to the supermarket to stock up for the next week or two and finally to the woodyard in Boat Lagoon Marina to pick up some teal to make a support to stow the second outboard on the pushpit. Just as we get back to the boat Muzza from Canvas Creations calls to say he's ready to come on board to measure for the bimini. We were hoping he might have had the dodger ready but his girls had been too busy abd hadn't finished it yet. We decided whilst chatting with him that the bimini frame which we'd never been particularly happy with could be altered and the new covers made to fit it and the easiest way to do it was for him to take the frame away with him so we loaded Steve, Muzza and the bimini frame complete with existing cover into the dinghy to go ashore. It looked a bit like a turtle with a blue back.

Friday 25th November
Yacht Haven to Ko Nahka Yai
According to the pilot book there is a pearl farm near Ko Nahka which can be visited but when we got there it looked pretty deserted. We anchored in a sheltered bay close to a jetty just as it started to pour with rain. The channels through these islands close to the east coast of Phuket are quite shallow with many isolated rocks.

Saturday 26th November
Yacht Haven to Ko Racha
Left fairly early to make use of the wind to get to Ko Racha. It was a wet and stormy day but a good sailing wind. We set up all our new fishing gear and towed the line although we kept it quite short since the local longtails like to cross very close behind and we didn't want to lose it. It was drizzling gently and we were standing by the mast watching the rain pouring off the front of the sail and working out the best way to catch it (trip to Chagos in mind, catching rainwater means less watermaker time means less generator time means less fuel used) when there was a strange rattling noise from the back of the boat. Suddenly realised it was the fishing line being pulled out the reel. Saw a big flash of silver way behind the boat and realised we'd got a fish. We rushed back, Steve started reeling it in while Lyn rolled up the headsail to slow the boat down then rushed around to find something to put it in when we'd got it on board. It was far too big for our buckets. Very slowly we got it to the back of the boat, Lyn climbed on to the swimming platform to get it on board, picked up the gaff, thought what on earth do I do with this and put it down again. The swimming platform is only a few inches off the water so she was able to grab the tail and the fishing line and pull the fish on board. It was flapping around a bit but we managed to get it onto the deck and tie a rope around the tail so at least it wouldn't get away. Next stage was the all important photo ( see right) then we popped it into a dustbin bag until it had quietened down a bit. We forgot to weigh it but we measured it at 80cm and enough fish steaks for about 5 meals.
The anchorage at Ko Racha was a little bit rolly but not too bad until the middle of the night when a swell rolled straight into the bay making it very uncomfortable. Regretfully we decided to leave first thing in the morning.

Sunday 27th November
Ko Racha to Ko Lanta
Wind on the nose of course so we were beating into about 20 knots of wind towards Ko Lanta. Fabulous sail, blue seas, blue skies. Towards lunch time the wind died so we motored to a bay on the west side of the island near the southern tip and anchored off the Pimalai Resort at Hat Khlong Chat. There was a slight swell but not too uncomfortable.

Monday 28th November
Ko Lanta
During the day a big storm blew up out at sea causing a large swell making the anchorage very uncomfortable. We motored around to the east side of the island and anchored off the village where it was flat calm and very sheltered. 

Tuesday 29th November
Ko Lanta to Ko Muk
No wind today so motored towards Ko Muk to check out the anchorages there. Spent about half and hour watching a fishing boat lay a net and bring it in again with no fish. There are so many fishing boats here there can't be many fish left to catch. We're not trailing our line now since we have more than enough fish to last us to Langkawi and there's no point in catching them if we're not going to eat them.
At Ko Muk there are two anchorages on the west side and one on the east. The nicest one looks to be on the east side at the southern end of the island off Charlie's Resort. Swim ashore to have a look around and meet up with a friendly barman. There is a bakery at the resort and he kindly lends us the money to buy bread before it sold out since we weren't carrying money in our swimmers. Swam back to the boat and came ashore in the evening to have a drink and dinner. Don the barman introduced us to Russell who runs a small resort just behind Charlie's and who used to own the Frog and Toad pub on Lantau which was frequented by most Hong Kong expats at one time or another. Russell was the founder of the Frog and Toad 'Mud Olympigs'.
Princess Divers are based on Ko Muk after having their operation on Ko Phi Phi washed out by the tsunami. Charlie also had a large resort on Ko Phi Phi which was completely washed out by the tsunami. He's currently waiting for the government to make a decision on the future of Ko Phi Phi before rebuilding. We booked a dive to Ko Rok with Princess Divers and found the dive leader had worked with us at the dive camp on Phi Phi.

Wednesday 30th November
Ko Muk
Went out to the diveboat first thing. We'd arranged to leave Carillon on their mooring in case the weather deteriorated while we were out diving. It took about 2 hours to get to Ko Rok where we noticed more buoys had been laid since we were there earlier in the year. Most of the buoys at Ko Rok were too far into the coral to be of any use to yachts but there seemed to be 3 or 4 more laid in deeper water. We did 2 dives which were pleasant but not spectacular but it was nice to be underwater again. On our way back we could see another storm just south of Ko Muk and the swell was increasing again. By the time we'd washed the dive gear and got back on board it was not long before dark and we'd reluctantly decided to stay where we were and put up with the swell. By about 8:30 the wind had increased to 20 knots and was blowing directly on shore so the anchorage was becoming very unsafe. We'd checked out the anchorage on the east side the day before and still had the track on the chart plotter so thought the best course of action was to use it to go to the more sheltered east side of the island. When we came to lift the anchor waves were breaking over the bow so just lifting the anchor with it snubbing the windlass every time the bow rose in the waves took a bit of care. Having lifted the anchor we were able to follow the track avoiding the shallow patches and rocks and eventually anchored in not flat water but considerably calmer water. Another yacht went further along the coast beyond where we'd stopped but knowing it was shallow and not having seen it daylight we stayed where we were.

Thursday 1st December
Ko Muk to Ko Bulan
Overcast and drizzly again with no wind. We motored south and checked out the anchorage on the SE corner of Ko Phetra but the swell was working around both sides of the island so that was no good. Next potential anchorage was the narrow channel between Ko Bulan and Ko Khao Yai. We'd anchored at the mouth of this channel earlier in the year but hadn't gone in very far because it seemed very shallow but Rosemary and Robert on Duesa had assured us that the channel was just about deep enough to go all the way through the channel and that there was a deeper pool well inside and very sheltered. Heart in mouth we watched the depth sounder go down to 1.9m, 1.5m, 1m, 0.9m, 0.6m (depth under the keel) then start increasing until we found a large pool with 3.7m under the keel where we anchored. The islands are uninhabited apart from birds and monkeys. The occasional longtail comes through the channel but apart from that it's very quiet and peaceful.

Friday 2nd December
Ko Bulan
Wet and uninspiring so stayed put.

Saturday 3rd December
Ko Bulan to Hole-in-the-Wall, Langkawi
Nice breeze from the right direction so sailed for Langkawi. The breeze lasted until about lunchtime by which time we were only a few miles from hole-in-the-wall watching a rainstorm sitting stationary over the anchorage. We slowed the boat and waited for it to move away then motored into the anchorage.

Sunday 4th December
Hole-in-the-wall
Still have a day in hand before we need to go into the marina so stayed here.

Monday 5th December
Hole-in-the-wall to Royal Langkawi Yacht Club
Motored around to the Yacht Club and berthed without too much trauma.

Tuesday 6th December to Friday 9th December
Royal Langkawi Yacht Club
Tidying up the boat ready to leave her for a month while we return to the UK for Xmas.