Year 3 -19 January 2026 – Galle – Sri Lanka

We were woken about 3.00am with the commercial boats starting their engines and it seemed to take them a long time before they slipped their lines and left. We did manage some more sleep but we were up by 7-7.30am.

It was Keith’s last day and despite this he insisted on cooking scrambled eggs on toast. We did have the fruit and yoghurt option and some had both. I took Keith to his taxi and was sorry to see him depart. It has been great to have him on board again but he is coming back on again in the Maldives. He must have made something with eggs every morning on board and we will miss this and his company. We wish him well.

We had decided to go to Weligama – a town which was described as one of the prettiest towns on the South coast. This was about 14 miles away. The guide book described it as having sleepy streets lined with chintzy colonial era villas decorated with ornately fretted wooden eaves and windows. There is a 7km curved beach dotted with colourful fishing boats. Within the bay is an island called Taprobane Island which is covered with trees but has a red roofed villa on it.  

We caught a taxi to Weligama which in the end took us 50 minutes as the traffic was quite bad as was the driving and there were a lot of near misses en route.

The road went along the coast which was mostly populated but there were parts with no buildings and we could see the sea and waves rolling in over rocks and beach. Every now and then there were areas where there was stilt fishing. This is a traditional Sri Lankan fishing method where fisherman balance on a crossbar attached to a vertical pole fixed in shallow coastal waters casting lines for mackerel or herring. This apparently started in WW2 when food was short.

We were deposited on the edge of the beach which was long and curved. We had passed the island and with the red villa and the beach was dotted with many colourful fishing boats as the guide stated. However, the town had developed since the book was written and it was now a bustling busy town with little sign of colonial villas which was a shame.

We walked around for a while and then had a much-needed beer. It was then time for lunch and we found a simple shack on the beach offering sea food which was also being sold along the beach with many fresh-looking fish.

We sat under a cover and were fanned by a lovely breeze keeping us cool and we could watch the waves lapping the shore with the odd swimmer and surfer. We had some tuna, prawns and calamari washed down with some beer and white wine. We spent a lovely few hours enjoying the moment and the beauty of the beach and place.

Once we had enough we got back in a taxi and returned to our village area and went for a swim on our local beach and then returned to Stormbird for some salad and cheese and biscuits.

I had some good news from Transworld Yachts that the parts I needed for the mainsail were in the UK and available and could be couriered. I therefore got them to send the parts to Paul’s wife who comes out shortly. This was a bit of luck and now it is who can do the works and where. We will now need to work on this.

We also plan to do a tour tomorrow to a rainforest and I was able to get this organised.    

 The picture of the day is our lunch spot on Weligama beach.

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  (mid June to end of July) and from Cape Town to the Azores and then to the UK (mid August onwards). 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