Thursday 16th November to Wednesday 13th December
Langkawi
   We arrived back in Langkawi after 5 months away to find Carillon safe and sound but a little musty with the odd patch of mould here and there in the galley area. We had originally planned to spend a day or two in Langkawi then go up to Thailand but we discovered the rules for entering Thailand had changed and there was quite a lot of confusion about what the new rules were. It seemed that to stay longer than the 30 days allocated to tourists in general we had to get a 60 day visa in advance since we would no longer be allowed to simply leave and come straight back again without one. It also seemed that after 3 months in Thailand we would have to leave and not return for another 3 months but we're still not sure whether that applies or not. Since we wanted to be in Thailand until mid to end of March we decided to delay our departure until mid December. We had to be there by about the 20th December to meet Lyn's brother Dave and nephew Chris who would be visiting for a few weeks.
     Since we had to stay in Langkawi for a while we decided to get the generator and engine serviced. This should only have taken a day or so but with getting spares etc it stretched to a week or two. In the meantime we decide to have a new cover made since the old one was getting quite shabby and had never fitted very well. We found a delightful New Zealand couple also in the marina who were prepared to make it for us. The end result was perfect, we now had a sun cover that actually fitted and worked well. We also paid a visit to the aviary in Langkawi to have a day away from engines and covers and all things nautical.
   Once the mechanics had finished with the engine and generator Steve needed to replace one of the joints to the water lift which was leaking. After a bit of a struggle he got the old one off only to find that between the manufacture of our water lift and the new part the design had changed and the new part didn't fit. It wasn't possible to put the old part back since it was damaged beyond repair so we contacted the agent in the UK to see what we could do. They offered to sell us a complete new water lift at a very big discount since our broken part was no longer available but it would take a week or so to ship it to Langkawi and by then we were running out of time. We discussed the problem with our mechanics who were fairly confident they could patch up the old connector with fibreglass and simply seal the connectors to the old water lift to at least get us to Phuket so we could have our new water lift shipped to Phuket. This is what we did and to date the old water lift is still in place and working perfectly well and the new one is taking up storage space in the forward cabin still, it's good to know that when we do need it we've got it.
   We had to make a trip to Penang to get Thai visas since that was the nearest embassy but that done on 13th December we checked out of Malaysia and set sail for Thailand.

Thursday 14th December to Tuesday 19th December
Langkawi to Phuket
   Since the weather was pretty calm we decided to head for Ko Phetra for the first overnight stop. Ko Phetra is a long steep narrow island with sheer rock faces on both sides running more or less North South. As long as there is no swell from the west it gives pretty good shelter from the prevailing North Easterly winds. We spent a quiet night there then headed more or less for Ko Rok giving ourselves the option to go to Ko Talibong or Ko Lanta if the winds were unsuitable for anchoring in Ko Rok. When we arrived at Ko Rok it was fairly calm so we picked up one of the government mooring buoys for the night. Previously when we had stopped at Ko Rok no one from the Country Parks had come near us but the new government must have issued orders that visiting yachts would also have to pay the Country parks fees. On Ko Rok this comes to 400 baht per person which for the two of us was 800 baht. The islands are quite attractive but not always a safe anchorage so in future we'll probably stop at Ko Lanta.
   The wind was blowing very strongly in the morning when we left for Phi Phi and we had quite a lively sail in 30 knots of wind with 2 reefs and half the headsail rolled away. Previously when visiting Phi Phi we had anchored in Tonsai Bay which is very crowded and noisy so this time we decided to try the bay on the north side of the isthmus instead. You can't anchor close to the beach because it's very shallow but further out it was fine. There are coral heads around the edges of the bay but there is good anchoring in about 10 metres.
From Phi Phi we went direct to Yachthaven Marina on the NE of Phuket Island. The marina is in the process of being extended so they found a spot for us on one of the new pontoons. Work is still ongoing so we spent a couple of interesting afternoons watching the contractor's workmen manoeuvring large concrete blocks into the pontoons getting thoroughly soaked in the process.

Wednesday 20th December to Tuesday 26th December
Yachthaven Marina
   We had a relaxing few days in Yachthaven tidying up the boat to make space for Dave and Chris, completing one or two more jobs and generally chilling out. We took delivery of a dive compressor so we could actually dive from Carillon if we wanted to without having to rely on dive shops to fill the tanks for us. It runs off electricity so we need to run the generator while using it but it means we can run it downstairs without having to lift it out on deck. Since it's quite heavy that's a bit of a plus. We also took delivery of the new waterlift but won't fit it until the repaired one fails.
   On Christmas Day we had a delicious Thai meal in a far more upmarket restaurant than we usually eat in then went to Phuket's famous Simon's Cabaret in the evening.
   Boxing Day was spent rushing around provisioning the boat with the perishable goods ready for Dave and Chris. Their flight was due in at 6:25 p.m. so we got there in plenty of time to meet them. An hour later there was still no sign of them and we were starting to wonder what had happened when Dave appeared to say that Chris's bag had gone missing. A few minutes later Chris turned up to say he'd sent them to have another look and they'd managed to find it so all was well.

Wednesday 27th December to Saturday 13th January
Cruising with Dave and Chris
Wednesday 27th December
Phuket
   Today we took Dave and Chris for a tour around Phuket. We visited some the buddhist temples of Wat Chalong, Wat Phra Tong and one which I don't remember the name of but which has an enormous reclining buddha on the roof. We also visited the cashew nut factory which is more of a retail outlet than a factory but has some very charming ladies urging you to try the various goods and of course to buy those which take your fancy. As usual we came away with far more than we had intended to. Next stop was a local restaurant overlooking Rawai Beach for lunch where Dave and Chris had their first taste of genuine Thai food as cooked in Thailand.
   Chris wanted to have a ride on an elephant so off we went to the elephant stables where Dave and Chris were mounted on the elephant's back and taken for a ride through the jungle. We had a moment of panic when they got back when Dave discovered he had dropped his camera somewhere along the route but Chris rushed off on foot with one of the elephant handlers to try and find it and not long after returned triumphant.
   A gentle cruise along the west coast to look at the tourist beaches followed. The beaches have the most beautiful soft white sand but most of it is covered with sun loungers and sun umbrellas. We finished on Surin Beach in a restaurant facing the sunset for dinner before returning to Carillon.

Thursday 28th December
Ko Phanak
   We left Yachthaven late morning and had a leisurely sail to Ko Phanak. We had to motor the last hour or so since the wind died but arrived in time to pump up the kayaks and for Chris to try one out. The tide was too high to get into the hong so the decision was made for them to get up early the next morning to paddle into the hongs.

Friday 29th December
Ko Phanak to Ko Roi
   Bright and early in the morning we put Dave and Chris in the kayaks and armed with head torches they paddled through the tunnel into the island to view the hongs. There are many hongs in Ko Phanak but we only know the location of 3 of them. There are 2 close to where we were anchored so those are the ones they visited.
Having seen the hongs we motored up into Phang Nga Bay to the island of Ko Hong then to James Bond Island, so called because it was used as part of the setting for the film "The Man with the Golden Gun". It's less spectacular in real life and rather full of souvenir stalls but worth the visit. From there we went further north to visit a village on stilts but disappointingly it turned out to be one vast souvenir stall so we sailed across the bay to a small island which on previous occasions had been covered in fruit bats but they had either gone hunting or changed their habitat since there were none there this time. Just south of the island was our anchorage for the night just off Ko Roi. This is a pleasant little bay with a yellow sand beach sheltered from the NE with space for 4 or 5 boats.

Saturday 30th December
Ko Pak Bia
   Before leaving this morning we went ashore to the little beach and discovered an arch in the rocks leading into another enormous hong. This one was mainly sand and vegetation rather than water and covered most of the island. Inside we found monitor lizard tracks leading into the undergrowth. Having fully explored the hong and the island we returned to Carillon just as the first longtails full of tourists arrived. It was time to leave so we went on to the tiny island of Ko Pak Bia. This island is mainly beach and has some reasonable snorkelling areas. We picked up a government buoy and Dave and Chris did their first bit of snorkelling. The visibility was just about ok and there were plenty of fish to see. We decided to stay on the buoy overnight although it did get quite windy in the early hours of the morning.

Sunday 31st December to Wednesday 3rd January 
Krabi
   This morning we headed for Krabi. We planned to spend a few days here since it's a friendly backpackerish place. We arrived about midday and anchored at Tham Phra Nang off a sandy coconut palm fringed beach. We went ashore to decide what to do for New Years Eve. A couple of the restaurants were putting on dinner with a cultural show but we didn't really like the look of them so we decided to have dinner on board then go to the beach. On the beach there were many people milling around and every now and then there was a sporadic burst of fireworks. All over the beach there were enormous paper lanterns lifting into the sky. They were about a metre high with a large disk of paraffin wax attached to a wire frame at the bottom. It need 3 or 4 people to hold the lantern then the paraffin wax was lit and as the air inside grew hot the lantern floated gently upwards.
The night sky was full of pinpoints of light rising higher and higher until they disappeared from view. On the beach a boy of about 10 to 12 years was giving a fire show spinning a rod lit at both ends around and around.
   The next day Dave and Chris spent the day exploring Ao Nang and shopping for souvenirs. While there Chris decided to have a shirt made which they promised would be ready in 24 hours (well maybe 48) and booked up a rock climbing session for the following day.
   The next morning we went to explore the little advertised but quite spectacular Diamond Cave. We had to find the attendant to turn the lights on for us but once inside we could admire the majestic rock formations. Chris spent the afternoon rock climbing. Krabi is renowned for it's rock climbing sites and has routes to satisfy all levels of climber.
   The next morning very early Steve and Lyn caught the bus into Krabi town to stock up on provisions. We found an excellent market with a wide variety of very fresh fruit and veg. On our return Chris picked up his shirt from the tailor and we set off for Phi Phi.
   We had a gentle sail towards Phi Phi stopping at the Bamboo Islands just to the North for lunch and some snorkelling. The water was very clear but swimming to the reef was a bit traumatic with speedboats screaming flat out every few minutes through the gap between Carillon and the reef.  Late afternoon we headed for Phi Phi and picked up a mooring in Au Lohdalum on the NW side of Phi Phi. Later in the evening a swell started rolling in from the west making things pretty uncomfortable so we put dinner on hold, dropped the mooring and motored around to Tonsai Bay on the S side of Phi Phi which was sheltered from the west.

Thursday 4th January to Saturday 6th of January
Phi Phi
We went ashore to have a look round and see what had been rebuilt since we were last there. Despite lots of noises about redeveloping Phi Phi with more upmarket resorts and building a bit more infrastructure it looks as though exactly the same type of scruffy buildings and services are being thrown up as those that were there before they were all wiped out by the tsunami. Tonsai Bay is full of noisy speedboats driven by cavalier boatboys and the souvenir shops nestle cheek by jowl all selling much the same things at 50 - 100% more than at Krabi or other resort areas on Phuket. Despite all that it does have it's own buzz which is quite appealing to most backpackers.
   Having spent the morning on Phi Phi and booked up a trip for Dave and Chris to go snorkelling with sharks the following morning we motored to Phi Phi Lei where Dave and Chris took the canoes ashore to the beach used in the film 'The Beach'. The bay was pretty crowded with big tourist boats, speedboats and longtails all disgorging their tourists onto the beach and into the waters in the bay so we left to moor on the S. side of the island where the snorkelling was good.
   We'd returned to Au Lohdalum for the night and were up before the crack of dawn to get Dave and Chris ashore for their snorkelling trip. The sharks are at their best early in the morning so they had to be at the shop by 6:15 ready to go. When we went to pick them up later the trip was obviously a great success. They had seen black-tipped reef sharks and the guide (Andrew, owner of The Adventure Club) had taken a video so they could re-live the experience. Andrew is very knowledgeable about sharks and marine life in general so was able to answer any queries they had.
   Next morning we had a fairly gentle sail to Ko Racha where Chris would be doing a PADI Openwater scuba diving course.

Saturday 6th January to Thursday 11th January
Ko Racha
We arrived at Ko Racha around 2:30 and went ashore straight away to see about booking Chris's course. The dive shop on Ko Racha is run by Raya Divers who we've dived with many times before. We found that all the staff we'd met previously had moved on but the staff there now were just as friendly and helpful as before. We discussed with the instructor when he could start and when we said as soon as possible she said 'ok, how about now?' so within half an hour he was in the water doing an introductory dive. The course would take about 3 days and most of the time would be one to one with a blonde Finnish dive instructor - can't be bad.
   Chris was kept pretty busy the next couple of days. He had to watch the course videos and read through the manual doing short tests at the end of each chapter in the evenings then spend the days with the instructor either doing theory or in the water learning the practical stuff. At the end of the course there is an exam but I don't think he had too much trouble with it.
   In the meantime Dave, Lyn and Steve had a walk around the island, Dave did a bit of snorkelling, Steve and Lyn spent a day diving, Dave found a few jobs on the boat to keep him busy and we generally just had a relaxing few days.
   On the last day of his course Chris had his exam marked and passed with no trouble so in the afternoon Lyn and Chris went for a leisure dive with Raya Divers. Since we now have a dive compressor and 2 complete sets of dive gear we are able to dive independently of dive shops so the following day with Steve as backup in the dinghy Lyn and Chris did a couple of dives together, one on each side of the bay. It was very pleasant easy diving and nice not to have to constantly watch where the dive guide is. In the evening Chris did a night dive with Raya Divers and was able to gain his first module credit to go towards the Advanced Diver qualification.
   Since time was moving on and Dave and Chris had to fly back to the UK on the 13th we left Ko Racha on the 11th for Nai Harn Bay on the southern tip of Phuket.

Friday 12th January to Saturday 13th January
Nai Harn Bay
Friday was spent sorting out the packing and making sure nothing was left behind. When everything but the immediate essentials was safely packed we took Dave and Chris ashore to explore the beach area, buy the last essential souvenirs and imprint the memories of the tropical paradise securely in their minds.
   The flight was at 10:30 in the morning and it takes about an hour to the airport by taxi so to be on the safe side we had asked the Jungle Resort to book a taxi for 7:00 a.m. The taxi didn't show up so we walked the 10 minutes or so to the main taxi rank and hoped there would be one there that early in the morning. There were actually 2 so no panic, Dave and Chris went off to the airport and we returned to Carillon - it all seemed kind of quiet.

Sunday 14th January to Thursday 18th January
Nai Harn Bay
   We had a liveaboard dive trip to Burma booked for February 4th and had both decided our wetsuits were seriously in need of replacing. We had a recommendation for a shop selling custom made wetsuits at a reasonable price and took ourselves along there for measuring up. The first fitting would be Wednesday the 17th and they should be finished a few days after that. The other thing we wanted to do before the dive trip was a Nitrox course. Nitrox is an air mix containing a higher percentage of oxygen and a correspondingly lower percentage of nitrogen than normal air and without going into all the technical details it allows you to dive for longer (but not deeper) than breathing ordinary compressed air. Since on a liveaboard dive boat you would normally do 3 or 4 dives a day it seemed like a good idea. We had been told that Nitrox would be available on the boat. We decided to stay in Nai Harn Bay until the first fitting of the wet suits then go back to Phi Phi to do a Nitrox course. We would like to have done it with Raya Divers but they don't have a Nitrox facility on Ko Racha.
    We sailed back to Phi Phi and anchored again in Au Lohdalum. It's much quieter than Tonsai Bay and has fewer speedboats and longtails buzzing around. It also doesn't have the noisy bar that plays loud music over the bay until the early hours of the morning. It's disadvantage is that it's very shallow near the beach and great care needs to be taken going ashore near low tide. There is a channel but it's not particularly well marked so going ashore at night can be quite difficult.

Friday 19th January to Monday 22nd January
Phi Phi
   There is only 1 dive shop on Phi Phi that does Nitrox courses and that is Harlequin Scuba. We made our way there when we arrived on Thursday and arranged to start the course the next afternoon. They gave us some text books to read that evening and the following morning. When we went back the following afternoon we watched the course videos and did the intermediate tests and the final exam. It all seemed pretty straight forward. We both have dive computers which can be programmed for Nitrox use so it was all pretty easy. On Saturday we did 2 dives using Nitrox. It didn't feel any different but the instructor did a comparison of the bottom time allowed on my computer breathing Nitrox and his computer breathing air to demonstrate that I could have a longer dive.
   The next day (Sunday) we did a couple of leisure dives but dived the same sites as we had done the previous day. Judging by the number of dive boats and divers it would seem that the two dives we did were the ones most dive shops did most days. The coral was surprisingly good but the visibility was quite poor. We did however see a leopard shark briefly and clouds of fish.
 

Tuesday 23rd January to Wednesday 24th January
Ko Mai Thon
  After a quiet day on the boat we left Phi Phi on Tuesday and had a very gentle downwind sail under genoa only to Ko Mai Thon a few miles from Phuket. We had seen a few yachts anchored in a tiny bay on the west side of this island and decided to anchor there overnight on the way back to Nai Harn. As we approached the bay we found there were a few government moorings so picked one up rather than anchor. Late afternoon a longtail fishing boat arrived and picked up one of the other moorings. A few minutes later another longtail came in then another and another all rafting up against each other until finally there were about 15 longtails on 2 moorings. Finally a mother ship arrived which was a slightly larger fishing boat laden with fish traps which were then distributed amongst the longtails. That done they all settled down for the night, as it got light they left one by one presumably to drop the fish traps in the seas between this island and Phuket.

Wednesday 24th January to Wednesday 31st January
Nai Harn Bay
It was a pleasant anchorage but very gusty with strange currents so in the morning we sailed again under genoa for Nai Harn Bay. Spent a few days doing not very much before taking Carillon back to Yachthaven.

Thursday 1st February to Saturday 3rd February
Yachthaven Marina
Made sure Carillon was secure in the marina while we went to Burma.

Sunday 4th February to Sunday 11th February
Liveaboard dive trip to Burma
   We had booked a 7 day liveaboard dive trip to Burma on the M/V Sai Mai. We were picked up about 8 a.m. from Yachthaven and driven to the port of Thap Lamu about 45 minutes drive to the north. There were 7 divers altogether including us and 2 dive leaders Magnus and Waldi plus about 4 or 5 crew to run the boat.
   The schedule for the week was to head for Ko Bon just north of the Similan Islands for a couple of dives then a night dive at Ko Tachai on our way to the Thai/Burmese border. We would check out of Thailand at Ranong on the south side of the Chan River then cross the river and check into Burma at Kaw Thaung. We would then spend 5 days diving in the Mergui Archipelago before returning to Kaw Thaung and Ranong to check out of Burma and back into Thailand. On the way back to Thap Lamu we would stop for a couple of dives at Richelieu Rock and a last dive at Ko Tachai arriving back at Thap Lamu about 8 a.m. on the 11th.
  
Sunday 4th
We arrived at Ko Bon early in the afternoon and went in for the first dive. There was a little bit of current and the visibility wasn't brilliant but we saw our first manta ray. We only saw one on the first dive but the second dive we went back to the same spot and saw what seemed like a dozen or so but was probably the same 3 or 4 swimming around in and out of our visibility range. The manta ray has a wing span of 3 - 4 metres and feeds on plankton. Watching them glide past almost within touching distance was a very special experience.
We motored for an hour or so to Ko Tachai for the night dive. We don't particularly like night diving so we let the others do it and stayed on board. When they came up the verdict was that there hadn't been much to see so we didn't miss out.

Monday 5th
We motored overnight to Ranong and promptly at 9 a.m. all passports were taken to the immigration office to be stamped. It was about 2 hours later when we finally left for Kaw Thaung on the Burmese side of the river. Checking into Burma took only a few minutes but we spent an hour or so looking around the town. It looked very similar to the poorer towns in northern Thailand, full of market stalls and some very well-used looking buses. We bought some local Burmese Rum to see what it was like.
We left about 2 p.m. for our first dive site. There would only be time for a night dive by the time we got there. The first dive site was called Black Haggis but I'm not sure why. Since it was the only dive of the day we decided to do it despite not being fond of night dives. It wasn't a big success. There was quite a strong current and the boat had anchored about a hundred metres from the reef the idea being that we would swim to the reef. It was never going to work, the current swept us along away from the island and all there was on the bottom was sand so after a few minutes we came up since we didn't want to get washed too far from the boat.

Tuesday 6th
Overnight we motored to the Three Islets. These are 3 small rocks fairly close together. It's a beautiful area and would make a fabulous cruising area but cruising permits in Burma are very expensive and the Burmese authorities place an observer on board for the duration of the trip.
The dive sites at the Three Islets were coral covered reefs. There was an underwater canyon between 2 of the islets where there are sometimes silvertip sharks but unfortunately they weren't there when we were. The coral garden was full of reef life, we lost count of the moray eels poking their heads out of holes in the rocks and had to take care not to accidentally brush any of the scorpion fish camouflaged against the coral. The highlight of the dive was 3 cuttlefish in what was probably a mating ritual moving around each other and changing colour as they did so.

Wednesday 7th
Again we motored through the night and in the morning found ourselves anchored off Black Rock. This site is a wall dive and is well known for shark sightings. Unfortunately the visibility was again only about 5 - 10 metres but we did spot a grey reef shark and a large stingray. There were fairly strong and rather erratic currents around the rock so we had to concentrate on the diving. We did see a good variety of small reef life including cleaner shrimps and nudibranchs.

Thursday 8th
Our next stop was Burma Banks. These are submerged reefs between 15 and 25 metres deep and quite a long way offshore. There are no islands anywhere near so you're pretty much out in the open sea. The visibility here was pretty good so we could see the spectacular coral formations very clearly. Again there were quite strong currents but the dive boat dropped us at one end of the reef so we could drift along with the current and just hang onto a rock when there was something interesting to look at. There were quite a lot of reef fish including a large school of barracuda and another of surgeon fish.

Friday 9th
The last site in Burma that we visited was Western Rocky. This site has an underwater cave with an entrance one side of the island with the exit on the other. Inside the cave were many rock lobsters and shrimp. The exit was narrowish with a surge so you got rushed through with the wave. From the exit we continued around the island and found many more shrimp, lots of nudibranch and another school of barracuda.
   All the dive sites had strong currents and apart from Burma Banks relatively poor visibility. The rocks were not large so the technique was to explore the reef at it's lowest level in one direction until you hit adverse current then turn and explore a little higher up until you hit adverse current at the other end and repeat the procedure until you run out of air. We were all diving with Nitrox so we ran out of air before we exceeded the time we could safely stay at depth.
About midday we had to head back to Kaw Thaung to get to the Immigration Office before it closed at 6 p.m. The Thai Immigration Office seemed to be happy to open anytime for the right fee. By about 8 p.m. all the formalities were complete and the Sai Mai headed for Richelieu Rock while we slept.

Saturday 10th
Richelieu Rock is one of the best dive sites in Thailand situated NE of the Similan Islands. It just about shows above the water at low tide but at high tide it's submerged. Under the water it's a crescent shape and every square inch is covered in marine life. There are many beautiful corals including an area covered in gorgonian fans. We saw seahorses, an enormous octopus which simply ambled over the sand and up the rocks disregarding the circle of divers observing it. In fact the only problem with Richelieu Rock is it's popularity. It's teeming with divers so a momentary stop at an interesting location invites hordes of camera wielding divers to descend on you jostling to peer at and photograph whatever you happen to be looking at.
   The last dive we did was at Ko Tachai Pinnacle, again an excellent site with many schools of large fish such as tuna and trevally. Here we found a leopard shark just resting on the sand. When too many divers arrived it simply lifted itself lazily from the sea bed and swam off. In the rocks there were sea snakes, scorpion fish, lion fish, all the usual reef life. An excellent dive to finish off with.
   The Sai Mai went on to Ko Bon for a last night dive but we decided it would be difficult to better the dive at Ko Tachai so declined it.

Sunday 11th
Early on Sunday morning we arrived back at Thap Lamu and all that remained to be done was to pack up the gear, say goodbye to our new friends and return to Carillon.

    In summary we enjoyed the trip but hadn't appreciated how far apart the sites were. Over the week we motored about 1000km and most nights we were motoring for 6 - 8 hours to reach the next site. The diving was quite good but we were unfortunate in picking a time when the currents were at their strongest and the visibility was not so good. It was good however to have the sites pretty much to ourselves without literally bumping into or being bumped into by numerous other divers.

Monday 12th February to Thursday 15th February
Yachthaven
Used the time to do the jobs that are easier with unlimited electricity and water. We also took advantage of the reasonably priced Medical Check-ups at the Phuket International Hospital and spent a morning being X-rayed, Ultrasounded, Heart-monitored, blood tested and lots of other things tested and both came out with a clean bill of health and advice on how to keep it that way.

Friday 16th February to Saturday 17th February
Ko Yau Yai
We had a week or two to potter about before some friends came for a few days cruising so from Yachthaven we anchored off a sleepy little bay on the SE corner of Ko Yau Yai. There was a quiet resort on the beach but not much else and a jetty at the other end of the bay where the occasional ferry disgorged a few passengers. We went ashore to try to find the local village but it looked as though it was a long way inland so we gave it up.

Sunday 18th February to Tuesday 20th February
Nai Harn Bay
Chilling out in Nai Harn Bay. On Tuesday the Phang Nga Bay Regatta would be finishing in Nai Harn Bay and the Meridian Hotel was hosting the final party. We'd watched them building a stage over the water and heard them testing the sound system for the party. From where we were way out in the bay it was pretty loud so we decided to move around to Au Chalong for the night. Parties are good if you're part of them but not so good to listen to.

Wednesday 21st February
Au Chalong
Au Chalong was crowded but quiet. We discovered that a restaurant just to the west side of the pier that used to be pretty scruffy but had good Thai food had undergone a facelift and was now quite smart and still served pretty good Thai food. We had an excellent meal there.

Thursday 22nd February to Sunday 25th February
Nai Harn Bay
Just chilling out again. On Sunday afternoon we motored around to the Aquarium anchorage in Au Chalong in preparation for going back to Yachthaven on Monday to pick up Dave and Gail

Monday 26th February to Tuesday 27th February
Yachthaven
 There was very little wind so we motored to Yachthaven and anchored off the N side of the marina. Tuesday we hired a car to go to the supermarket to provision the boat for the next week. We would be able to buy some things at Phi Phi if necessary but we wouldn't be anywhere else where there would be shops of any kind.

Wednesday 28th February to Monday 5th March
Cruising with Dave and Gail
Wednesday 28th February
Dave and Gail duly appeared at Yachthaven early Wednesday afternoon a little nervous about their first ever experience of living on a cruising yacht for a few days. We got them unpacked and settled in then headed down the river to Ko Phanak for the night. The plan was for Dave and Steve to head off in the canoes to check out the hong. Gail has a weak wrist from an old injury so was unable to paddle a canoe. We arrived at Ko Phanak just before dark and dropped anchor close to the entrance to the hong.

Thursday 1st March
In the morning we discovered that Gail couldn't cope with the rather confined bunk space in our guest cabin so had slept in the cockpit. We put plan B into operation and converted our armchairs in the main cabin to a bunk - problem solved. Dave and Steve, equipped with head torches to light up the tunnel into the hong, got into the canoes and paddled off trying to reach the entrance before the next tour group only to find that the tide was too high and although they could get into the tunnel they couldn't get through to the hong. The only thing to do was chill out for a few hours on the boat then try again a bit later when the tide had gone down a bit. This they duly did and having thoroughly explored the hong we set off for a brief tour around Phang Nga Bay to see the hong in Ko Hong (N Phang Nga Bay) and James Bond Island. We anchored off Ko Roi for the night in company with 2 or 3 other yachts.

Friday 2nd March
   Ko Roi also has a hong but this one you enter through a low archway on the beach. Inside it opens up to a large mangrove -filled area with a small stream running through one side and sheer rockwalls reaching up to the sky above. Dave was able to show Gail what a hong was like and to experience the quiet of being shut off from the outside by the rock walls. Having thoroughly explored this hong we set off again this time for Phi Phi. On the way to Phi Phi we stopped at Ko Hong (S Phang Nga Bay) where there is yet another hong - this one we can go into by dinghy. The entrance is narrow but open to the sky and inside again is an enclosed area surrounded by rock walls with many birds nesting in crevices in the rock faces.
   We then headed out of the bay toward Phi Phi giving Dave and Gail another new experience namely seeing large expanses of open sea all around us. We set up the fishing line in the hope of maybe catching a fish for lunch. An hour or two later there was a tug on the line which at first we thought was maybe some weed or a plastic bag but when we wound the line in we found 4 small tuna on the hooks so when we reached the Bamboo Islands we had fresh tuna fillets sauteed in butter with a sprinkling of black pepper accompanied by a crisp salad for lunch. The weather was very calm so we stayed at the Bamboo Islands for some snorkelling for a few hours before going on to Phi Phi to anchor for the night.
   At Phi Phi we anchored in our favourite bay on the N side of the isthmus but as we were preparing dinner a swell set in from the NW making the motion a bit uncomfortable. Immediately after dinner we decided to move to the S bay where the water would be calmer much to both Dave and Gail's relief I think. Tonsai Bay in the S was flat calm so no more problems.

Saturday 3rd March
     We had planned to show Dave and Gail Phi Phi Lei then return to Phi Phi Don for the night. We motored to Maya Bay on Phi Phi Lei which is a very beautiful bay but between about 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. is so full of tourist boats that you can hardly see the water let alone the beach so after a quick motor round we went on to the bay on the southern side where the snorkelling is quite good and you can sometimes see black tip reef sharks. We picked up a mooring at the mouth of the bay but again it was full of tourist boats coming and going so we decided to just sit and observe the antics of the boats and the tourists over lunch then return to Au Lohdalum in the afternoon to snorkel off Monkey Beach.
   When we reached Monkey Beach Lyn did a quick trip ashore to stock up on fruit and juice while Dave, Gail and Steve went snorkelling.

Sunday 4th March
   Our last stop before returning to Nai Harn Bay was Ko Racha. We had a gentle sail then motor and arrived in the early afternoon. There were still some dive boats and day tripper fishing boats in the bay so there were no free moorings. We dropped anchor with the intention of picking up the first mooring that came free. It didn't take long but there was another boat coming into the bay that was also heading for it so Lyn had to jump into the dinghy quick to lay claim to it while Steve and our novice crew lifted the anchor.
   There was a slight swell but it wasn't too uncomfortable so Dave took the opportunity to swim and snorkel. We went ashore for dinner and introduced Dave and Gail to the vagaries of the floating dock at Ko Racha. The dock is made from large plastic air filled cubes and is anchored securely at both ends. It does however float so every movement of the water is reflected in the movement of the dock so when a wave rolls ashore the dock rolls with it. It takes a bit of getting used to.

Monday 5th March
   Today we would sail for a couple of hours to Nai Harn Bay where we would leave Dave and Gail. They were easy guests and we very much enjoyed having them on board and hope they enjoyed their cruising experience. Having taken them ashore we gently motored Carillon back to Yachthaven where we would leave her while we toured Cambodia.

Tuesday 6th March to Wednesday 7th March
Yachthaven
   We spent these 2 days giving Carillon a good clean and snugging her down to leave her while we went to Cambodia.

Thursday 8th March to Saturday 17th March
Cambodia
    Our flight to Phnom Penh was about 6 o'clock in the evening from Bangkok but we had to pick up Steve's new passport from the British Embassy first so we had to get an early flight from Phuket since we didn't know how long it would take us to get the passport. As it happened we were there in plenty of time and had most of the afternoon free. Dave and Gail were still in Bangkok so we took the opportunity of visiting them while we were there.
   We arrived in Phnom Penh about 8ish and took a taxi to the hotel. The traffic was unbelievable - it wasn't just that there was a lot of traffic it was the chaotic way people drove that surprised us. The traffic lights were pretty much ignored and nobody gave way to anyone else, they just tried to squeeze through the non-existent gaps with lots of hooting. I don't think I've seen anything quite so disorganised since Agra in India.

Friday 9th March to Saturday 10th March
Phnom Penh
     Phnom Penh is a very busy city still trying to rebuild and repair itself after the ravages of the Pol Pot era. The people are very cheerful and friendly and although there is the inevitable hassling it's very good-natured and not too pushy. To get around the city the easiest thing to do is to hire a tuktuk or a motorcycle taxi. It seems to cost $2 to get to most places around the city by tuktuk. Although the official currency is Riel the US$ is used extensively throughout Cambodia.
   We visited the usual tourist sites which were the Royal Palace, the markets and some Wats. We decided not to visit the grisly reminders of the troubles in the time of the Khmer Rouge.

Sunday 11th March to Monday 12th March
Kratie
   Near the town of Kratie about 250 km N of Phnom Penh is a place on the Mekong where Irrawaddy Dolphins can be seen so we decided to take the bus there on Sunday, take a trip to the dolphins in the afternoon and return to Phnom Penh the next day. In theory the bus trip should take about 6 hours so with the bus leaving at 7:30 we should have plenty of time to get to the dolphin watching area and return by mid-afternoon the following day - or so we thought. Well the bus left a little bit late but we didn't think too much about it but then it seemed to be travelling very slowly until eventually it ground to a halt and the driver went off to search for a man with a spanner. We didn't know what was wrong but we think the driver had a pretty good idea and wasn't all that surprised when the bus broke down. Eventually we got going again but with no aircon and arrived in Kratie about 6 in the evening by which time it was too late to see the dolphins.
   After some discussion with the hotel staff we thought we could get up very early to see the dolphins then catch a bus back about 9:45. The seeing the dolphins worked beautifully, a car picked us up about 6:30 and drove us to the right spot where there was a boat waiting to take us out to the middle of the river. We spent an hour on the river watching the dolphins swimming around us. There were hardly any other boats there. The next part of the plan was that the bus would stop at the hotel to pick us up to return to Phnom Penh. By 10 o'clock the hotel receptionist was getting quite agitated and called the bus company to find out where it was. It would seem that the bus had left on time but had forgotten to stop at the hotel to pick us up. Switch to Plan B or was it C. The next bus was at 12 noon which did pick us up but was full so a couple of people had to sit on chairs in aisle so the 'foreign tourists' could have a seat. This bus of course also broke down with a puncture so we spent a couple of hours waiting for them to fix it. The spare tyre of course was also punctured so they fixed that as well. We got back to Phnom Penh about 8 in the evening. Such is travelling.

Tuesday 13th March to Saturday 1 7th March
Siem Reap
   Cambodia's main tourist attraction, Angkor Wat, is a few miles outside Siem Reap so we planned to spend a few days there to explore the main temples. After our experiences on the buses we decided to travel to Siem Reap by boat along the Tonle Sap river. The boat left at 7 a.m. and was all tourists. It's not surprising really, the boat costs $25 and the bus costs about $6 or $7. The boat was fast and efficient and we arrived at Siem Reap about 2 p.m. At this time of year the water is very shallow so the boat has to stop well away from the shore and smaller boats take you to the landing stages. Transferring to the smaller boats was pretty chaotic. You had to find your luggage from the pile on top of the main boat then take it with you to a small boat all the while being besieged by tiny boats with people pushing cans of drink and bananas at you shouting "buy, buy, buy".
   We had booked a hotel through the internet a day or two before we arrived so were able to go straight there. We planned to hang out around the pool for the afternoon and start sightseeing the next day. To travel around the various temples you need to hire a car or a tuktuk or a motorcycle taxi or bicycles. We prefer to use a guidebook rather than a guide so chose to hire bicycles.
   The entry fee for foreigners for a 3 day pass is $40 each so having acquired our passes complete with photo we set off. The temples around Siem Reap, of which Angkor Wat is the most famous, were built by the Khmer people over a period