Safe in harbour!
19 February 2012 | Yacht Haven Marina, Phuket
Stuart
I am delighted to report that Fujin and crew are now safely in harbour at Yacht Haven Marina in northern Phuket after another eventful 24 hour sail from Langkawi.
We left the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club at 1100 on Saturday in calm, windless conditions and motor sailed north. The first few hours were scenic and quiet but after clearing the island, we started to encounter large numbers of squid fishing boats - quite a navigational challenge, especially after sunset.
Soon after dark, lightening started flashing all around and by the start of my watch (2100 to 0000), a big squall hit us with winds up to 46 knots kicking up very quickly. Fortunately we had 3 reefs in the main and no genoa given the stormy conditions. Torrential rain again too... I was quite happy to hand over to Morgan at midnight! I slept like a baby and thanks to my blackberry switching to Thai time without me realising, I was an hour late for my next watch...
Dawn broke with us just out of sight of Phuket and we spend the rest of the day making our way into YHM, where we arrived at 1700 this afternoon. As you can see from the photo, Fujin is safely in her berth. We have spent a pleasant evening having drinks and food at the Haven restaurant nearby - plenty of Thai curry and Singha to wash it down. In fact, the crew are still there as I type this!
Tomorrow, we will clear customs and immigration and start to sort out the yacht.
A great trip and Phuket promises to be a fantastic cruising area for the next 3 years or so!