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 local fishing boats are targeting squid. They carry enormous banks of lights that practically turn night into day, lighting up the sea around them like floating football stadiums. Great if you're trying to find squid or as it turned out avoid things in the water when your close to a squid boat. At one point during my watch I caught sight of something in the water about a boat length ahead. There wasn't time to identify it, so I hit standby on the autopilot, threw the wheel over and we slipped past what turned out to be another FAD. A few seconds later and we'd probably have been finding out what was attached underneath it.
The weather isn't helping much either. We've only got about six knots of wind and, naturally, it's coming directly from Phuket. Add a short chop on top of a longer swell and it's just enough to slow us down without being particularly uncomfortable.
Hopefully things settle down as we get closer to land. If not, we'll slow down, accept another night at sea and arrive in daylight.
After all, all the wrecks are on the rocks.