Year 3 -24 February 2026 – Kochi- India
It was another cool morning when we woke and it is a nice time of day as it is quiet and not hot. You can catch up on the news and read etc. We had our usual fruit and yoghurt breakfast.
There was another yacht anchored about 40 m off the pontoon and we wondered why it stopped there. A man rowed ashore with a dinghy and we went to say hello. He was Italian and spoke reasonable English. He explained that they had an engine problem and wanted to get it fixed. He had entered without an agent which I thought you cannot do. I explained where we had been and where another yacht went if they wanted to come into the marina. He was from Rome and he started his circumnavigation in 2022, a year before me. He had his wife and a friend on board and he must have been late 70’s.
After breakfast we looked at the oars for the dinghy and Mark took the damaged oar and took it apart. He said we can glue it and put a bolt through and it should last. This he did and I looked at the steps again and I think it will be difficult to get the bits off the wooden steps as it may damage them. It will come off on its own over time.
The washing returned which was good and so I sorted out this and cleared up inside. I spoke to the agent and explained about the gas leak and he said he will send someone after lunch.
We chilled in the morning and I had to do some admin and emails re visas etc which takes some time and I had saved things on one laptop which I needed on the other so I had to go to reception to get the WIFI to do that rather than use my hotspot.
We had a salad lunch and then Mark went off to the pool. The Italian got a boat to give him a lift to the marina and so they have moored quite close to us. I explained about the toilets, swimming pool etc and then helped move them across to their own finger so they were not sharing ours.
The man came regarding the gas leak and could not find it. I said it needed a pressure test. I hoped he understood and he took pictures of the outboards etc.
When he left I joined Mark at the pool and enjoyed a swim. We then had a beer in the beer parlour and then we changed and had supper in the restaurant but it was a ’la carte rather than a buffet.
It was quite nice to do some jobs and have a quiet day.
The picture of the day is the view from our cockpit across to the colonial era building with the Italian boat in the foreground.
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 one crew from Mauritius/ Reunion Island to Cape Town (mid June to end of July). 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