Position: N07deg40.486min/ E098deg46.070min We had a wonderful sail, close reaching in 16-18 knots of ENE breeze at 6.5-7.4 knots, and reached Ko Phiphi Don by early afternoon. In Ton Sai Bay it was mayhem, with tour boats, dive boats, long tail boats, fishing boats, speed boats, and jet skis all going at high speed thru out the harbor. We soon gave up on finding a spot to anchor, and motored around the island to the other side of the isthmus, the northwest area of Ao Lohdalum. We could motor quite close to the cliffs, where the depth was still about 80' and you could just about reach out and touch the stalagtites. It was a lot calmer in Ao Lohdalum, and we found 40' easy enough to drop the hook. There are still boats buzzing around, just a lot less of them. In the late afternoon, we picked up Stuart and Sheila (sv Imagine) and dinghied into shore. First was the ATM; then came a SIM card. After, we had a few beers and then found the Papaya Restaurant and had a delicious Thai meal. The tidal range here is only about 2-3 meters, but our dinghy was high and dry amongst the rocks, and we carried it on its wheels out to knee deep water. A bit after we returned to our boats, the music started on shore. It was like being in hell; really loud music blaring from multiple speakers simultaneously; like an audible Hieronymus Bosch musical. Well, the music finally stopped at 3:45 AM, so I managed to get about 20 minutes of sleep. It's still a nice place, though; kind of a warren of dive shops, bars and restaurants, tourist places, small hotels, markets, a pharmacy, food stalls, a few banks and ATM's, tattoo and massage parlors, laundromats...and we haven't even walked the place yet. More tomorrow.
Pic: Looking back as we head to shore in our dinghy.
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