Oct 22 - An interesting day

We motored to Ko Hong Krabi, arriving 12:15pm. We passed the Royal Summer Palace along the way, roofed in gold color. We anchored nearby the buoy at the entry to the large hong (room) that gave the island its name (N08deg04.910/ E098deg40.651). Unfortunately, the Tohatsu outboard motor decided to act cranky and not start, so we ended up rowing in to see a most beautiful hong. About an hour later a squall hit and we dragged anchor. From an anchoring depth of 42', within seconds we fell back to 11 feet, just a few boat lengths in front of the beach. Quickly retrieving the anchor and starting the engine, we hurried out to deep water. Amazing how fast stuff happens; if we had still been in the hong, Infini would have been aground. It was raining hard and the wind was blowing, so we jigged back and forth in the lee of the island; thank goodness the cliffs were high enough to provide shelter. Finally, we headed north full speed ahead as it was about 5:30 and sunset was just after 6pm. We saw a double rainbow with such vibrant colors that neither of us recalled ever having seen. Ahead, Ko Pak Bia was a small island surrounded by reef, rocks and other small islands. Unfortunately, the Navionics and Open CPN charts (CM93), as well the guidebook we carry, all conflicted in their data. None of them said the same thing, the sun had just set, and we were trying to find the decent anchoring depths that the charts and guidebook stated. Lol! No go...we dropped in 50' (N0806.997/ E098deg40.426);, felt we got a really good bite, backed down hard, and tried to stay dry in the light drizzle. At that point we decided to really tempt Fate and use our Magma grill for the first time in years, and proceeded to set things up for a well deserved special dinner. A few hours in, there's lightening in the northern skies but we haven't moved around much. No roll? We must have done something right...
Pic: Our peaceful anchorage at Ko Pak Bia

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