When it was time to leave Koh Phayam we pulled up the anchor and pushed the accelerator lever into forward. Surprisingly we didn’t move forward; the motor just revved in neutral! We had no forward or reverse. While Dwayne fiddled with the accelerator lever we were, unbeknownst to Brian and Debra, slowly drifting over towards SV Chinook…..
Finally we were in Thailand in the right season. In fact since leaving Australian waters over a year ago, this was the first time we had been sailing in an area at the “right” time. What does the “right” time mean? Well it means it is dry season, therefore not so much rain and not as humid… and more tourists. But for sailors the “right” time, in Thailand, means you are able to explore the west coast of Thailand and visit islands such as Koh Phayam, Koh Surin and Koh Similan, because the prevailing wind is from the north east and you therefore have some protected anchorages to use on the west coast.