Bavaria 33 Cruiser

The fuller drum failed on day 2 however the Base sent 2 techs to repair that as soon as was practical.

Out of 7 days (in the rainy season) we had 2 days heavy showers, 2 days light showers and the rest champagne sailing. For experienced sailors who don't mind getting wet I feel that Phuket in the rainy season offers a good chance at some fine sailing.

Fie Jian is a reliable and straightforward boat with good rigging and good battery. Overall, she's well looked after and the local company that looked after us provided excellent local information, an abundance of supplies and was always very kind and responsive. Will do this again next year. Felt anchor chain was a bit short but it was a 10mm (not 8mm) chain tickness and we never experienced any dragging, so maybe extra weight made the difference. Very happy!

Victoria helped us book the charter, and the base handled the hands on details. Everybody involved was highly responsive and correspondence was excellent leading into the trip. Yacht Haven Marina is a very nice facility, and the Staff (Mellissa and Francois) made every effort to make our cruise enjoyable.

We visited Thailand in June, which is on the cusp of the SW Monsoon season. We had rain the first night, but then the weather held up and we had some lovely sailing. It was hot, but we felt lucky to get some blue skies.. The wind seemingly shifted as we rounded Phang Nga Bay and provided some really spectacular legs.

The Bavaria is a nice little boat. She is easily maneuverable and has fantastic equipment such as electric windlass, solar panels, and autopilot. The bimini is a little small, but has to be given the main sheet is "dinghy style" in the center of the cockpit. We were convinced to upgrade during booking and I'm glad we did...the internal Volvo motor is smooth and well maintained. We traveled over 275 nm and used less than 18 litres of diesel as the winds cooperated.

A few recommendations for improvements: better winch handles, the dinghy tiller was a bit loose, and maybe even an electronic mosquito repellant (the smaller boat has a smaller anchor chain cabin, which means you need to anchor closer to shore).