Year 3 -10 January 2026 – Passage to Galle in Sri Lanka

Rhys and I were on the 2.00am to 5.00am watch – the red eye slot as we call it. It was a relatively quiet watch with one ship gradually passing us and then going ahead of us and then turning parallel.  The wind was relatively light and we still had the pole up which was doing a good job of keeping us on course and the sail not flapping. As we went off watch another ship appeared.

Mark and Keith took over from us and I got some sleep but was up again at about 8.30am having had a welcome shower. I prepared papaya and yoghurt and granola and a number of us had some. However, Keith could not resist cooking bacon and egg with the remaining bread as well and so most of us had two breakfasts!! Mark then made coffee.

We decided due to the wind to take down the pole and launch The Blue Baron again. This took a bit of time but it was soon flying and we trimmed it better this time. This gave us some greater speed and stability.

We continued to debate the mainsail furling issue and what it was etc. I will need to make contact with various people to try and get this resolved.

I decided to make some bread and Paul and Rhys watched me and it was ready for a late lunch which we had with a nicoise salad which was nice. It was a lovely sunny day and champagne sailing really with just the odd fluffy cloud. The Blue Baron calmed the swell. We were visited by several dolphins which were quite small and their dorsal fins cut through the water like a knife through soft butter.

Rhys and I were on between 12-4.00pm but we decided to put the clocks back an hour due to the time difference and so we did an extra 30 minutes and Paul and Peter did as well.  

The day wore on and we were making reasonable progress and were now into the rhythm of the watches. We were beginning to approach the Nicobar and Andan Islands which are part of India although they are about 900 nm from India. We checked the height of the Islands and some have peaks of about 2,000 feet so could result in stronger winds. We therefore did not think it sensible to keep The Blue Baron up overnight and so we decided we would put the pole up again on the starboard side this time and sail through the Sombrero Channel which runs between some of these islands.

As sunset approached we took The Blue Baron down and tied it to the deck and then got the pole out and rigged it on the Starboard side and then brought out the genoa. This gave us a good course to go through the middle of the channel. It will be a shame we are doing this in the dark as it would have been nice to see the islands.

The Nicobar and Andaman Islands are Indian because they were part of British India and were transferred to the Independent Republic of India in 1947. The Japanese occupied the islands in World War 2 and handed them over to the Indian National Army after the war. They are strategically important to India for its maritime security and trade routes especially through the Malacca Strait. There is significant Indian naval and defence facilities here.

We sailed on and Peter made a pasta bolognaise using pork mince, which is what we could get, and it was very tasty. It was a dark night and we settled down to another night.

Rhys and I came on watch at 11.00am as we were entering the Sombrero channel and I saw a light on our port side about 5nm off. It was not on AIS but I found it on radar and made it a target. It seemed to be a fishing vessel moving around and then it seemed as if it was going to cross our bow quite close. We shone a torch on the genoa to let them know we were there. It still seemed to change course a lot and then it crossed our bow about 2nm ahead and then began to come down our starboard side.

There was then a call on our VHF radio to Stormbird from an Indian Warship. They asked us to change to channel 71 and then wanted to know who we were, our last port, how many persons on board and my name. They also wanted to know where the boat was registered and what type of vessel we were and whether we were running any engines. They were firm and polite and thanked us for our co-operation.  This was a bit surprising.

We had to get through the channel and on our way to Sri Lanka. I noticed that Starlink was not working as it was a Restricted Area. We only managed due to light winds 103nm for the 24-hour period to 12.00noon today our lowest probably ever. We had the low winds and sail issues to contend with.  

The picture of the day is Stormbird being pulled by The Blue Baron which we had up most of the day.

 Need/Opportunity Year Three

In year three I will be going from Thailand to Sri Lanka, India, Maldives and then on to 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