Year 2- 26th November 2025 – AOPO Marina- Phuket-Thailand – I fly home to London
I woke about 7.00am and it was not raining. What was happening? In fact the sky looked quite promising and it turned out we did not have any rain all day which is the first day with no rain for a few weeks. I fly home early evening to London for my mother’s memorial service and to have a few days at home and then I will be back on the 3rd December 2025 with Jules and we will have the rest of December for a holiday not on board and my four kids (they are all adults now) will join us for Christmas which will be nice.
As the wind was a drying wind I started to get the lines in regarding the Blue Baron. The motley crew got up and we then took down both the staysail and genoa and we managed to flake them on the pontoon and get them into sail bags. For some reason the halyard on the staysail was a bit worn so I will have to get the rigger to check it. I contacted the sail man and his crew came to collect the sails. They are to be laundered and any repairs to be carried out. They have not been off for 2.5 years so probably well overdue.
After we dealt with the sails I made a Blackberry smoothie as we had frozen berries to use up from the freezer. In fact we had some packets of frozen fish and some chicken left over which we gave to sail men and they seemed grateful. I then turned the freezer off and will let it defrost. I also turned the beer fridge off and we put the beer in the main fridge so that will be two items defrosted.
I had arranged for the antifoul man to come to look at the boat and he will also polish the hull and topsides. I will also get him to revarnish Puffin our pram dinghy, the oars and boom which need doing. The man who is servicing the generator also came to check the generator and what was required. In the meantime we raised the Blue Baron and during the course of the day we managed to dry it and were able to put it away in the forepeak.
Once the jobs were done Ruth, Keith, Mark and Andy went for a swim and I continued to do other jobs and checked the batteries and topped them up with distilled water. I also got one of the marina guys to take a gas cylinder to be refilled. This is now the opportunity to get everything done in preparation for Year 3. When the crew came back Andy cooked us a bacon and egg brunch which was good.
Ruth left about 2.00pm as she was meeting a friend for a couple of weeks and was travelling around the area. We were sorry to see her leave and we wish her well and we thanked her for her help and contribution on board. I continued with my packing and doing other jobs and I had arranged for all the laundry to be collected tomorrow and to be returned on the 4th when I will pop back on board after I have returned from the UK.
Stormbird will be lifted out of the water on the 6th December 2025 at about 11.00am and I will have to be there. She will be lifted in again on 22nd December 2025 at midnight and again I will have to be there. Hopefully, I will get some help for both lifts and should be able to get all the required works done when out of the water.
Once Ruth had gone we had a beer and chatted away and I did a number of final jobs. I caught a taxi at 5.15pm leaving Mark, Keith and Steve onboard and who will get off tomorrow.
I will reflect further on Year 2 when I am back from the UK and I will probably keep my blog going for my own diary purposes and of course followers can read it if they wish. I will also be doing some planning for Year 3.
The picture of the day is the staysail chaffed halyard.
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