We left Port Blair first thing in the morning and sailed South to our first anchorage at Chiryatapu. This is a pretty anchorage on the end of the main Andaman Island and is a good stop-over on the way to the uninhabited islands to the south. We are now a sailing boat again as we have the consistent trade winds up here, unlike Thailand. Michael had a few strikes on the way but the fish got away, but then we caught a massive, beautiful sailfish the size of a dolphin. We managed to get it to the boat and tried to remove the hook, but in the end it got away with our lure. We were both rather physically and emotionally drained after this experience and didn't put the lines out again. The first anchorage was very pretty with crystal clear water, but I didn't go swimming as crocodiles are supposed to be a problem here.

The following day we left for the Cinque Islands which are a group of uninhabited islands surrounded by pristine reefs and home to turtles and wild deer. We had a wonderful sail down as the wind had increased, and Michael caught a reasonable sized tuna on the way. We are allowed to anchor in the Cinque islands, but we are not allowed to go ashore. Apart from our three boats, the only people around are a small group of fisherman that work out of rowing boats and have a sightly larger boat with an engine that they sleep in. Our first anchorage was rather too rolly so we moved to another, more sheltered site. The scenery is awesome and the snorkelling, which we are about to undertake is supposed to be magnificent. Let's hope so.