Year 3 -28 March 2026 - Stormbird -Provisioning in Kochi - India

I woke quite early as I was behind on 2 blogs so wrote them both while it was cool and quiet. Then the others started to get up and we had breakfast. There was no sign of Roland in the night which was good.

Miranda, Jamie and I went off to provision and J and Keith were to clean the deck and try and get rid of the mess on the deck. In addition they were going to go through the grab bags and check them and charge the VHF radio which is within them. In addition Keith was going to take J through the boat checks that we do on a daily basis.

Miranda, Jamie and I went with Varghese to the fruit and vegetable market which was extensive. There were so many stalls selling a wide variety of fruit and vegetables. It was a lovely colourful sight of a variety of greens, yellows, oranges, reds, purples etc.  They looked so fresh and vibrant. We wondered round to have a look at the stalls and to decide which ones we were going to buy from.

We bought potatoes, carrots, green beans, aubergine, avocados, lettuces, mushrooms, a sort of Indian Mange tout, limes, broccoli, cauliflower from one stall. We then bought watermelons, cantaloupe melons, papayas, oranges, satsumas, grapes, pomegranates, lemons, pears, mangoes from another stall.

We bought 120 eggs for £4.30 and half a hand of readily edible bananas and a whole hand of green bananas. We also got some mint and coriander and ginger.   

We had done well and got this all to the car. It had been a great experience and it was very reasonable inn terms of price and the people were so friendly and we were the only westerners there.

We then headed off to the supermarket Lu Lu which was in a great mall and we manged to get all the diary stuff, yoghurt and cheese and bits for the naughty cupboard. We then headed back to Stormbird arriving about 12.30pm having left at 9.00am. We then had to carry it all to the boat and J and Keith came to help us.

It was then quite a job to pack it all away with the hand of green bananas being hung inside and the hanging nets were crammed full. It took an hour to sort and then Miranda made some guacamole and we had a good tomato salad with it.

Once we cleared up we could relax a little and I then said I wanted everyone to be ready at 5.15pm for a review of the passage plan and to check all life jackets and lifelines. I had a look at the weather again and then put in the waypoints the passage.

Keith, Jamie and I went for a swim and J joined us and it was good to cool off.

At 5.15pm I went through the passage plan on the plotter and explained what we will expect and how we were going to deal with it. I answered all the questions and then we checked everyone’s life jackets and then gave out the lifelines and explained how and when they should be used.

We then showered and went to the Beer Parlour for the last time. However on the way when I was walking on the pontoon a plank collapsed and my left leg went in the water and under. Luckily apart from a red mark and what will become a bruise I was not more badly injured. It needs serious work this marina. After a couple of beers we had a last supper at the restaurant. As we were eating supper the heavens opened and we had a tropical thunderstorm with thunder and lightning and torrential rain. We had shut all the hatches and closed the boat up to stop Roland but I had forgotten to close the window to the doghouse. Jamie volunteered to go and so out he went in the rain to close it. When he came back he was a little bedraggled bless him so we sat out under cover and finished our supper.  

When we returned to the boat all the cushions in the cockpit were soaked as were a number of pairs of shoes etc.

We decided to have an early night as we had to leave at 7.00am to go to Immigration for checking out.

Stormbird and I will have spent 48 nights here and I and ready to move on. Kerala has been a great state to explore and we have had some lovely times as you may have read in previous blogs. The weather has been very hot and humid and I will not miss the heat and how hot it has been at night without air conditioning.  It will be good to move on to the Maldives. We may  have some wind for the first day but then the wind will die according to the forecast. Let’s hope the gods are kinder than this. 

 The picture of today is all of us the night before we depart with Varghese and the guys who cleaned the hull.  

 Need/Opportunity Year Three

I will be going shortly from India to the 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