Year 2- 14 September 2025 –Badas Town – Sumbawa New Crew
The Adhan started very early but unfortunately there were three mosques competing and so the three caused an awful cacophony of sound which grated. Once they had finished I managed to fall asleep again but I was awake by 6.30am I was up and preparing for the day. Mark got up a bit later and we chatted and had tea. We then had our usual fruit/yoghurt/cereal breakfast.
I then cleaned up a little and made sure all was ready for our new crew coming today. Namely Ruth Druart, an authoress and Janet Gilmore, an English teacher. Both live and work in Paris. Due to the recent problem with the outboard I decided to take all the fuel out of the dinghy tank and pour it back into the jerry can and then we poured it back into the dinghy tank but this time we filtered it using one of my special funnels which filters out water and impurities. We then chilled and when I was ready I headed ashore to meet Boridge and his brother Lopez who agreed to run me to the airport to meet Ruth and Janet. En route we went to the cashpoint and I got some cash and then I filled up the empty Jerry can with fuel for the dinghy. I tried to see if we could get some cartons of wine but alas there is nothing here.
We then went to the airport and waited for the ladies to arrive. There was a little delay whilst waiting for their bags. They eventually came out and then we said hello and got into the car. We then went the market and got some fish for supper and some prawns. We also bought some pineapples.
We returned to the care and drove back to the dock where we left the dinghy. I sorted out payment with Boridge and we got in the dinghy with all the gear and headed over to Stormbird. We go the ladies on board and into the cockpit. We gave them a drink and welcomed to Stormbird. We chatted away and then showed them to their quarters.
We had a salad style lunch and then after lunch I went through the outside of the boat and then we had a break. We then went through the inside of the boat. I then gave them a lifejacket and lifeline each. We then went through the emergency procedures.
We then had a drink on the aft deck and watched the fishermen coming out for their evening fish. We then had an enjoyable supper of prawns in butter and garlic. We then had the fish we had bought which was like mackrell with salad. It was an enjoyable supper and we all had a chat and did a brief resume of our lives.
We will head on tomorrow to a village down the bay of Sebah which is where the whale sharks congregate. This is about 40 plus miles away. It will be good to move on again.
The picture of the day is Stormbird is in the bay waiting for the new crew.
Need/Opportunity Year Three
In year three I will be going from Thailand to Sri Lanka, India, Maldives and then on to Chagos, Mauritius, Reunion, Cape Town, St Helena, Azores and back to the UK. I am looking for crew from Mauritius/ Reunion Island to Cape Town and from Cape Town to the UK. If of any interest do email me.
The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com