Tropical Storm #4 - 07° 46' 24" N 98° 18' 11" E

By Kate and Sean -
Friday dawned windy, overcast and threatening rain.  The wind was screaming in from the east and we had had a rocky night in Donald Duck Bay on Ko Similan.

We dropped our mooring and headed to Ko Miang and its cell phone tower to connect to the Internet and get a weather forecast ... only to discover we were bang in the path of Tropical Storm #4 - an unseasonably low pressure system bringing high winds, rain and severe weather warnings from the Thai meteorological service!

Look carefully - that is Phuket, just above the eye!

We made a run to Ao Nai Harn at the southern end of Phuket with the intention to nip around to Ao Po Grand Marina next morning, snugging up somewhere flat, with hot showers, a bar and wifi!  We made 9kn under heady, the wind was a steady 20kn and the rain come down.

And it rained and it rained and it rained.

It's not all cocktails and sunsets!

Our Ao Po plan was thwarted by the majority of small craft around the Phuket region having the same idea as ourselves and the marina was full.  We unceremoniously dropped Roger and Cindy on the beach to make their way to a hotel room, a hot shower and eventually, the airport. And we hunkered down for the night.  It is far more comfortable riding out a storm at sea than bouncing off an anchor.  Boats do not like being tied up.  But Popeye kept us safe, she held fast, dug her anchor in well and all we had to worry about was the slapping, squeaking and occasional bang.

As a bonus, we got to do a all-night full ab workout just trying to stay in bed!

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