06:29.82N 99:17.732E

Sunday 7^th April 2019

Distance run:  2.9 nmiles

Just as we reached the headland, the engine started to overheat again.  We needed to clear the rocks, so kept it running a little longer, but when it became clear the temperature was continuing to rise at an alarming rate, we had to switch it off.  Steve stayed at the helm and kept a watch on where we were drifting – those rocks were still not so far away and he might need to raise a sail – while I went below and looked in the engine compartment. 

Once again the bilge was full of water.  We had no time to let the engine cool, so topped it up with warm water and started it up again.  The bilge would have to wait till we were re-anchored.  The temperature gauge needle dropped back to normal almost instantaneously, and we continued round the headland to the anchorage, which was a much better depth, was much calmer, and had plenty of room.

The north anchorage has Koh Lipe on one side…                                                  and a much larger island on the other, so is much more protected.                  

Once anchored, we mopped out the bilge – again - and had yet another look for a leak.  With none to be found, we could only think that either the thermostats were stuck closed or there was some sort of blockage in the heat exchanger.  Removing and clearing the heat exchanger would be a fairly major job for which we had no new seals, and even checking the thermostats involved a greater degree of dismantling of the engine than we were prepared to do at anchor.  Unsure now whether to continue to nurse the engine up to Phuket as planned, or to return to Langkawi to get it fixed, we decided to sleep on it and decide in the morning.