We had heard good reports about the Surin Islands and with that destination in mind, it was a pleasant downwind sail in a light to moderate breeze, a natural for our spinnaker sail. But in the sudden deployment, a section blew out! However we left it up to complete the run and would get it repaired back at Rolly Tasker's sail loft in Phuket. We have had this seldom used lightweight sail since leaving Victoria BC Canada over 5 years ago.
The waters were busy and we counted 27 fishboats as we sailed past them before anchoring in the clear waters of Surin Nua (N09°26.420' E097°51.427') on January 2nd.
The next morning, we met up with our friends aboard Morning Glory (who were moored in the next channel by Surin Tai) and we drift snorkelled between the 2 islands of Surin Nua and Surin Tai. There were many colourful fish and some coral; unfortunately some of the coral was not in the best condition but there was enough of the more pristine that made the swim well worthwhile.
After snorkelling, Jordan and I beached our dinghy on a quiet secluded small beach on Surin Tai for our private picnic lunch under the shade of a tree.
Swells from the Andaman Sea were rolling in and was making the anchorage for us a little uncomfortable, so for our last night (January 4th) at these small group of islands, we moved around to the channel close to Morning Glory and picked up a mooring ball for a smoother lay (N09°25.722' E097°51.327').
Normally we take mooring balls with a certain amount of suspicion of its unseen lower strength and integrity, however in this case all doubt had evaporated as the day before we saw 9 large fishing boats all tied to the same mooring ball (and apparently a few days previous there had been 14!) holding securely against a wind and current. So little Sea Turtle had nothing to worry about
Gang of fishing boats
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