The Voyage

John and I were at breakfast when Jimmie, Stewart, and the "crew" showed up, somewhat bedraggled from the night's festivities. After numerous coffees, it was "Well Laddies, time to shove off" and the game was afoot. We piled into a long-tail boat, motored out to the lovely 43' North Cape yacht, and climbed aboard, some more spryly than others. The New Phoenix Two is a steel hulled yacht made in Hong Kong. She is a 43' center cockpit sloop. Truly a fine vessel, with cabins fore and aft and a galley and lounge amidships.

John and I raised the anchor, after some fussing with a stubborn windlass, only to find the anchor had been damaged during a blow that evening. There would be no anchoring along the way, only mooring.

We motored into a head wind, round Koh Muk and charted to pass to the West of Koh Ngai. Then up along Koh Lanta, past the fabled Koh Phi Phi Don and finally to Koh Phuket. We were making six to eight knots, and life was slow and grand. Of the morning, there is little to tell, except of cool drinks, the best mango ever, and lounging about, some of us napping, others swapping tales. An idyllic motor up an idyllic sea dotted with fantastical islands. Paradise, no?

Lunch was served by the combined efforts of Bam and Bee. As we lolled about, the head wind was picking up a bit and slowing our progress. The seas roughened and we were hitting an increasing chop head on; nothing dramatic, but the ride got bouncy. Jimmie asked John to secured the anchor chain, which we had left in a large line bin on the bow, as it was starting to move around. The shackle on the chain was too big to pass through the windlass and thence below deck and the shackle pin had corroded tight. I went forward with some tools to help. John and i were soon being lofted and dropped precipitously as the chop increased and the shackle pin refused to budge. We finally freed it and starting feeding the chain below. Then the boat stopped. We thought that Stuart was giving us a break from the swell to finish out work. Oh, not so friends and neighbors.

Jimmie met us as we returned from the bow saying "Lads, the motor has just stopped and I don't know why." Yes, and not stopped voluntarily nor for our benefit.

We found Stewart peering over the side. There was a skein of fishing net a coiled a meter thick and disappearing out of sight in the depths of the clear water. Yuppers, that would stop a prop. Then Jimmie looked at us and asked "OK, Laddies, who's the strongest swimmer?" For some reason, everyone was looking at me.