Year 3 -22 January 2026 – Galle - Sri Lanka

It was another nice morning when we woke and there were a number of local fishermen nearby in their traditional boats rowing with vertical oars and nets which they put over the side and row off before pulling up. We saw them pull up their nets but they seemed to have only small fish. If they did not catch these then they could allow them to grow to ensure larger fish.

 We had some pineapple and yoghurt for breakfast and Paul again made sausages with fried eggs this time. We made some alterations to our system to climb up the wall and prepared for our tour starting tomorrow.

Some did washing and showering and others cleaning and hovering.

Peter went off to town and Paul prepared for she who must be obeyed coming!!. Rhys went to find some shorts and Mark mended the hoover. I sorted out the fridge and then cooked the three red cabbages we had which I will freeze as we will only leave the freezer on when we go.

Rhys and Mark went off to the beach to continue their surfing recreation. Paul prepared and packed and went off to Galle Fort where he had booked a room for Judith’s arrival.

Peter and I after lunch wandered over to the workshop to see how the winch was progressing. The answer was that it wasn’t but they are going to do it and I want to make sure they get it right. We then walked to Cool Vibes where we meet to swim and surf and spent a nice few hours swimming and watching the waves roll in.

We returned to Stormbird and got changed and grabbed a tuk tuk to take us to the Galle Fort where we met Judith and Paul for a drink and then we had a nice supper in the old printers’ house which is now a hotel. After supper Judith gave me some parts for Stormbird. I now have the parts required to repair the furler and I now need to get someone to do it. I am working on that.  

We are off on our tour tomorrow which we are all excited about.

 The picture of the day is of the fisherman near us fishing using the old techniques.

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