Year 3 -21 February 2026 – Kochi- India

We woke at a reasonable time and it was quiet and cool. Paul wanted to go up the mast early before it got too hot. The idea was for him to let a line down the mast and so we could hook it out of an unused slot in the mast and so the port halyard would be through the mast. We prepared everything and up the mast he went. When he got to the top there was no slot at the top for him to lower the mousing line through. It will therefore have to stay as it is.

We then had breakfast and Mark put some sealant on the hatch in the bunk room as water had been leaking in. We will leave it 24 hours and then use the hose to see if it leaked. We then started filling the starboard tank from the hose and we can use it for showers etc but not for drinking and we will use bottled water for that. I will keep the port tank as is for when we leave India which we made out at sea.

As we were working there were two coracles (round boats) which came near with a net between them. They were so manoeuvrable.  

I started to put all the anchor chain back which had mostly been cleaned of the barnacles. 100 metres of 13mm link chain was quite a lot to put back. It took a little time to do this but it was satisfying it was away again. Paul looked at the fan in the bunk room which has stopped working and I thought the wire on the cigarette lighter must have come off. This was the case and he was able to repair it which was good.

Paul was leaving in the morning and Varghese came by and agreed to take Paul in the morning and he also said he would take the laundry at the same time. I therefore began to prepare this.

By late morning we were ready for a swim and it was good to cool down and relax a bit. We returned to Stormbird for some lunch of salad etc which was a nice change.

I spent the afternoon trying to get the printers to work and no matter what I did they would not print and I think it was because I was not connected to WIFI. It was very frustrating and I will take the printer and laptop up to the hotel and use their Wi-Fi tomorrow.

Paul and Mark spent the afternoon by the pool. By the evening I had a shower and then when the guys returned we had a rum sundowner.

There is a large exhibition going on and by the afternoon/evening there was very loud music -techno stuff where the bass is so loud you feel your body vibrating and it gives you a headache. It is on for 3 days unfortunately. This exhibition meant that the beer parlour was closed. We therefore eat on board again with prawns to start and then we had fish with peas and carrots which worked well.

Paul leaves early in the morning.   

 The picture of the day is the two coracles fishing.

 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