“How long should we allow to properly see Thailand?” I asked a fellow cruiser. “Oh.......maybe give it a week”.

“Ah ha” I thought, “a fellow cynic”. To double check, a few days later I asked another couple what they thought. “Ooooh. Thailand. We love it. Been here for years.” So does our buddy Tony Tactical but he was conspicuous by his absence ......until last night.

Tony had hot-foot it through Indonesia, skipping the rally festivities and saving his liver for more important sessions. Not that we had one when we finally met up, but it bore all the hall marks. We just missed Bill and our mutual friend, Captain Morgan.

Thailand has been interesting so far and it’s apparent the country has a thriving tourist industry. Thousands of tourists stroll around, the ladies skimpily clad and the men sporting assorted tattoos from head to toe which nicely masks their sun burn and the Farangs, the ex-pats who, saving on sun screen, have opted for a natural, deep tan, ancient lizard look.

We’ve only done the Phuket area so far; the tiger sanctuary, where for an extra ten quid, you can go inside the tiger’s cage. I mean, ten quid extra and they don’t even give you a chair or a whip. the Old Town, which is, well, old, the Big Buddha, who tops the highest hill here standing forty five metres high and, much like the Space Shuttle, built with a final cladding of individual ceramic tiles so, OK for re-entry. We’ve taken off our shoes and toured seemingly countless fantastically decorated temples, a number of quite lovely beaches where the tourists acquire their new pink hue and more curry than you can shake a chilli at.

Most importantly, there’s actually been wind so we’ve been sailing everywhere and to date, have covered nearly twenty miles. That’s working out to a reasonably efficient two miles to the bottle of red.