Nifty work sets us free from macrame cradle 

Early morning is not my best time of day. I’m just not very good at it. However, when I have to get up and get going at the crack of dawn I always love it! We left Koh Rok Nok/Koh Rok Noi, in southern Thailand very early in the morning so that we could reach Koh Lipe at a reasonable hour. The sea was smooth as silk with a beautiful pink glow from the rising sun. 

There wasn’t a breath of wind all day so we had to motor all the way to the Adana-Rawi archipelago of which Ko Lipe is a part. 

We arrived early in the afternoon and decided to anchor at one of the other islands in the group as we had been to Koh Lipe a number of times. 

As we travelled along the coast of Koh Rawi we marvelled at the fabulous clarity of the water and the beautiful fish swimming near the coral reefs. 

 

We had heard that there was a lovely walk that started at the Rangers’ station at Ao Talo Palian so we hopped into the dinghy and went in search of it. 

Walking along the beach we met a very playful dog which we thought might lead us to where the trail started but she didn’t seem interested in that idea so we just walked the length of the beach and enjoyed the company of our doggy companion. 

At 6am the next day we were off on the last leg of our trip back to Langkawi. We bemoaned the necessity of moving on so quickly due to losing time when we had to turn back for repairs to the pulleys and belts for our new alternator. The beaches on Koh Rawi were so pretty and ripe for exploration. 

However, set off we did but as if the ocean had heard our complaints, we were stopped in our tracks when we ran over a fishing buoy that had come adrift from its moorings. 

The rope had got itself into a real pickle and wound itself over the bottom of our hull and tangled around the prop. 

Fortunately, we had stopped immediately it happened and were able to untangle ourselves free. First Capt’n Birdseye lowered the dinghy and was able to free the prop but then he had to dive underneath Bali Hai to untangle the mess of rope that had managed to configure itself into a kind of macrame cradle. 

After some nifty untangling we were finally free and able to resume the final part of our trip to Langkawi, Malaysia.