Philippe Lamontagne

Awesome sail up the coast of Koh Samui. Nice 10 knot breeze doing 5 knots at close haul. The sea was super calm. The sun was shining. Just like in my dreams. Perfect. Didn’t last. Had to motor our way in to Ang thong national marine park. Beautiful beach. Tons of people.

After stocking up the boat and well deserved night sleep, we head out for our first stop: Koh Taen. Good wind 10-15 knots NW, we have to make quite a detour north to round the island. When we finally can make our way south to our destination, the wind turns SW with us gusting to 20 knots. Finally made it in the island and anchored for the night. Very promising bar I want to go check out for sundowners.

Wind 10-15 knots SO Clear sunny skies Wave building to 1,5m Heading 190° We manage a very early start at sunrise. Trying to beat the building waves with the winds picking up in late morning. We spent a good night at a mooring ball. Grateful to have a place in this really deep but well protected bay. Lots of boats around and quite a bit of nightlife around us. Our broken davit that is preventing us from raising our dinghy is gonna be a problem today with the sea state building up. I rigged a town line to put it in the middle so it will catch the waves more easily. Very stressful but it made the trip all right. The wind turned a bit more westerly so we had a good angle after passing by Koh Phangan and raised the jib. Manage to drop the engine down to 2000rpm and maintain 5.5 knots. Running on fumes for the last 20 NM.

Wind SO 5-8 knots Sea state light swell Sunny After a long overnight passage we need to rest and fill the tanks. Thankfully finding fuel and water with the help of the villagers we have a good night sleep and leave early. Broken davit doesn’t leave us much choice but to drag the dinghy. The light swell is perfect for this. Almost there.

Wind SO 12-15 knots Sea state 2-3 meters Partly Cloudy After dropping off our departing crew, we head south with the hope of finding a good protected anchorage along rhe mainland coast. Unfortunately, the coast is very shallow and straight not offering protection from the south swell. We chug along and decide to make it an overnight starting 2 hour watches and making our best to sleep in the cockpit. Wind dies down around 9:00 pm and sea state gets a lot better bringing swell down to 0,5m. We’re really proud anchoring in a small fishing village after 18 hours motoring and covered 95 nm at 7:00 am. Time to recharge our batteries 😴😴😴

Wind SO 15 knots Sea state 2-3 meters Very nice sailing for a solid 6 hours doing 5 knots with 1 reef in the main. Trying to make it as comfortable as possible. Until things went from zero to shit show in 2 seconds flat. We get hit by a wind storm that gust up to 28 knots. Second reef wouldn’t come down. Rudder got stuck and couldn’t bring the boat around to face the wind and take down the main. Finally manage the start the engine and take everything down. Dodge squalls for the remaining 30 nm. Made it to anchor safe and sound. Another one for the story book 📕

Beautiful day on the water today. Short motor sail to position the boat for the long crossing tomorrow. Calm seas Sunny Wind SO 5-7 knots Got anchored in time to have a great lunch at the Samaesan marina.

After a delayed start, we finally set sail for the gulf of Thailand crossing. Issues with the keel hydraulic system and some instruments issues the day before. Dodging squalls all day in the rain. ☔️ Winds gust up to 22 knots. Bearing of 310° Finally set anchor at 18:30 after a long 12 hour day. Time for a beer 🍻

Happy to finally get a good night sleep. After dragging anchor last night in 28kn of wind, I chose to nestle Philosophie onto a hill side to make sure we were safe and protected by the NE wind that was forecasted. We’re now heading to Koh Wai for lunch before docking at base in late afternoon to end a wonderful trip with girls. We’ll cherish these memories forever.