We untied from the mooring at 1000, just as a long line of tourists boats came chugging into the bay. Not only was our timing good going in, it was good going out, too. If there weren’t so many tourists around we probably would have stayed in the Phi Phi islands another day or two, but all the ridiculously heavy boat traffic made for very uncomfortable and rolly anchorages. Besides, we haven’t checked into the country yet, so it was probably time to get officialdom out of the way. Technically we weren’t supposed to have stopped in Ko Muk or the Phi Phis, but we had been told that the Thai government gives you a week between checking out of Malaysia and checking into Phuket before they become suspicious that you may have made an illegal stop along the way. Also, there is no real coast guard checking for illegal boats, so getting caught stopping someplace is unlikely.

Our trip to Phuket was almost identical to our trip to Phi Phi. The seas were smooth, calm and pleasant, there were some pretty islands along the way, and there were lots of fishing flags to weave in and out of, requiring constant hand steering. We understand fully why people out here prefer to day hop versus take overnight trips. Trying to avoid these little flags at night is very stressful. And like on the trip to Phi Phi, we had an equipment problem. Eric turned on the generator and the inverter display freaked out. From what we can tell, it looks like the inverter itself is functioning fine, and it is just the display that is broken. Of course, we are very nervous about this. If the problem really is the inverter and not just the display, that means we lose our refrigeration/freezer, which is something of a disaster right now. We are about to embark on three long passages back to back and most of our food is frozen. 30 days of canned beans and tuna fish sandwiches just doesn’t sound that good to us.

Phuket is much less dramatic than the last few islands we have been to. It looks like the Society Islands, with mountains and lush greenery. We pulled into Ao Chalong bay, the required port of entry into Thailand. The bay has a few small islands in the middle of it, which reminds us all the more of the Society Islands. It also has one of the longest piers we have ever seen protruding out into the middle of it from the shore. There are tons and tons of boats, most commercial, but plenty of sailboats, too, that are moored and anchored. We picked a spot on the outskirts of the surrounding boats and dropped anchor. The bay is shallow, so we are only in 15 feet of water. The coastline is completely built up, mostly with low buildings, and we could see a couple of new taller buildings under construction.

Once the hook was set, we got ready to go to shore. We doubted we could check in on a Sunday, but we were going to go by and see if they were open. The guy on the boat next to us confirmed that they were only open from 0900 to 1500 (3:00 pm) and that we needed to wait until tomorrow. We headed to shore anyway to get a late lunch. Why stop making illegal landfalls now? We pulled up to a staircase near the pier. There seemed to be no really good spot to tie the dinghy up to, so we picked a spot and crossed our fingers that it was a good choice. There is a 10 foot tide swing here, and the tide was dropping, so we tied two ropes together to make sure the rope was long enough.

We ate at a popular yachtie hangout called Jimmy’s Lighthouse. The food was pretty good. Eric never sleeps well the first night we pull into a new bay, worried about the anchor or mooring dragging. So, since we had been in new anchorages the last two nights, Eric was tired and wanted to go back to the boat to relax. Christi joined him, while Ron opted to stay on shore a while longer. We have only seen about 2 blocks of Phuket so far, but our initial impression is that it looks a lot like Sanur in Bali, with narrow streets, lots of scooters and cars, and endless tourist facilities. Here is a shot of Jimmy’s, which is right on the shore near the pier.

Back at the dinghy, we noticed we had barely put out enough rope. Thank goodness, because if we had left just a little less slack, the dinghy would have been hanging by the rope instead of nicely floating in the water. Ron came back a little while later bearing Mexican food. We were so excited about the Mexican food it wasn’t even funny. By our old standards it wasn’t all that good, but by our new standards, it was fabulous. Mexican food is definitely a comfort food for us, and eating it makes us happy.

The wind really picked up in the late evening and made the bay very rocky and rough. The dinghy kept banging against Kosmos’ cockpit, and Eric got up a couple times to try to adjust the fenders to stop the banging. None of us slept well with all the rocking.