We're down to about 70 miles to go, but it's looking unlikely we'll make the marina before sunset. Normally that wouldn't bother me too much, but this is Southeast Asia. Trying to pick your way into an unfamiliar harbour after dark, with fish traps, unlit obstacles and local traffic doing its own thing, is generally a poor choice. So another night at sea is looking more and more likely. There's an old sailor's saying: "All the wrecks are on the rocks." The point being that if you don't put yourself close to the rocks in the first place, you're already a long way towards avoiding becoming one of the wrecks. Another night at sea has very rarely been the thing that caused the accident. We'll make the call later today. The route into Phuket is littered with fish traps and other hazards, and I'd much rather arrive with the sun high enough to actually see what I'm trying to avoid. Last night provided another reminder of why. Many of the ...
We're definitely on the homeward leg now with less than 200 miles to go. If you've been looking at our track over the last 24 hours, you might be wondering what on earth we were doing. I was thinking yesterday after we left the TSS it might be worth heading back and sticking close to the unofficial shipping lanes would probably offer a bit of protection from fishing boats and the more creative navigation styles you encounter out here. It didn't. So we made a course change direct to Phuket. We ended up making several further course changes to avoid large concentrations of fishing boats and then, just as things were settling down, a cable-laying ship called us on the VHF and asked if we'd alter 20 degrees to port and give them a wide berth. Fair enough—it's easier for us to move than them—but it added another little kink to the track. The biggest surprise of the day, though, was seeing some of the worst FADs I've ever come across. Most of the Indonesian ones at le...