January 2nd

It’s 06:50 on the first morning on the boat. At the moment I am the only one awake and have been for a little bit. A beautiful sunrise is happening as the sun just peaks up from behind one of the many islands that dot the seascape herein Chalong Bay. This morning our departure time for Phi Phi is set at 07:30.

Yesterday was a quiet day for most of us as we spent it shopping and getting situated on the boat. Unfortunately for Larissa, our youngest crew member, it was a bit of a stressful day to say the least. To start things off here shoes were stolen at the hostel she had been staying at. Next she couldn’t access the keys to her rental motor scooter because they were locked in the office and no staff was available as it was early New Years Day. Hence she was late meeting at the designated spot to get to the boat which was no big deal but of course she felt terrible this was happening. Like most when holidaying in some countries financial transaction can be a bit sketchy. I know because when applying for my visa for Sri Lanka Canadian Tire Bank refused the transaction because, the company name looked different. Anyway, all crew members are responsible to contribute cash to the food kitty we have on board. Larissa being only 22 she has limited finances and when she tried to transfer monies from her home bank in Australia she ran into a few obstacles. This was all before noon. YIKES!

One of the tasks she had to get done yesterday was to return her scooter by 15:30. The location for that was at least 30 minutes from Chalong. So after the shopping was done Larissa took off to do that and we made arrangements to meet on the Chalong Pier for 16:00. Mind you both Shawn and Ally made separate plans with the meeting spot for Larissa and they were both different. So Shawn, Ally and I got all the supplies on board and stowed away. Did a few more jobs and then hopped in the dinghy to meet up with Larissa, the only problem was we weren’t sure what location we were going to meet her at. Shawn’s or Ally’s. We checked every bus that came along the pier as we walked and when we got to the end of the pier decided to wait there. We were on one side of the pier office building watching the road and as we did that Larissa went driving around the other side of the office building on a Uber scooter and headed to the end of the pier. All’s well. We’re all back together. Go for a beer. During our conversation at the bar we learned the Larissa had a crush on a boy on Phi Phi that she had been travellling with earlier this year and was looking forward to meeting up on the island. After the beers we climbed back into the dinghy and returned to the boat. While we were chatting on the stern sitting area Larissa received a text from this boy blowing her off and saying he wasn’t going to be waiting for her on Phi Phi and that she could get her things from his brother who would be on the island. Let’s hope Day 2 for Larissa goes better than Day 1. 

Time for a tea…

9 shopping days left