Year 3 -4 January 2026 -AOPO Marina -Phuket -Thailand

We woke at a reasonable time and we had a good breakfast of mango, yoghurt and granola. We had a relaxed morning as we were waiting for Paul and Rhys to arrive.

After breakfast I asked Peter to help sort out the side areas of the doghouse which needed some new poppers and Mark had a good look round and started to sort things out. It is always good to get the crew to be busy and to give them some jobs.

There was then a shout from the pontoon and Paul Jackson had arrived and he had not let me know when he was arriving. Anyhow it was good to meet him and we gave him a welcome drink. Keith Watson arrived shortly thereafter and once they had both settled down I showed them to their quarters

We had some lunch and then Keith and I went off to the fuel pontoon. We had one jerry can which we had to cut a new seal for the cap and once done we went off to fill it with the fuel pontoon together with a dinghy fuel can so we are full of fuel.

There were various jobs which needed doing and Peter and Keith set out to clean the Bimini before we waterproofed it again.

Once most of the jobs for the day had been done we went to the swimming pool for a dip and a cold beer. We were now 5 and Rhys Morris was due about 8.30pm to 9.00pm.

Once we had a swim and a shower we went for supper and had a great Thai meal which was nice.

As the restaurant closed quite early then we returned to the boat. Rhys texts his arrival so Peter, Paul and I went to meet him and we led him back to Stormbird.

We had another welcome drink and we all went to bed reasonably promptly. We are now 6 and the Motley Crew are now here.   

The picture of the day is the five of us at supper before Rhys arrived.

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 and from Cape Town to the UK. 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