Stormy weather

We were on a mission to get to Thailand to pick up our daughter who was flying in from India for a short holiday. 

 

It was now 2 June and she was flying in the next day so even though the weather didn’t look the best we had no choice but to leave Koh Rok Nok for Ao Chalong that day. 

It all started off quite well. A sunny day and a brisk breeze. However, by 9.30 we were in the midst of our first downpour with winds on the nose and rough seas. It wasn’t too bad and the rain blew over after a while. 

The skies looked threatening though with massive black storm clouds circling round our boat. 

As well as contending with choppy seas and the threat of another storm, we were quite anxious about all the hazards we were encountering in the water. Huge logs floating just under the surface like torpedoes just waiting to impale our boat; fridge sized marker buoys for crab/lobster pots with who knows what ropes lurking ready to become entangled with the prop. We had to be vigilant the whole time. 

A second storm broke and we soldiered on- uncomfortable, soggy but OK. 

Then around 2.30 pm the mother of all storms erupted and we were falling off massive waves in nil visibility with Jonathan hand steering as the autopilot could not cope with the large seas. 

It was the worst storm that we had ever encountered in Bali Hai so we weren’t sorry when the chart plotter indicated that we were almost at journey’s end. We still couldn’t see very much except for white water, pelting rain and black clouds. 

It was a great relief to put down the anchor that evening – just in time for a well earned sundowner. Finally we had reached Thailand!