Year 3 -5 January 2026 -AOPO Marina -Phuket -Thailand

We had a bit of a lie in as no one really stirred until about 7.30am and then others about 8.30am. We had some tea and chatted and then I cooked eggs on toast with Mark who did the toast. This went down well.

We cleared up and then I went through the boat from bow to stern which takes some time but I showed them all the systems etc.

We then had a break and some lunch and then I went through the inside of the boat which again takes time. We then had another break and some watermelon and then some had tea. We then went through the emergency procedures and chatted about them so I now felt that they had all the information I could give them at this stage.

There were some more jobs to do. Keith and Rhys moved Puffin the wooden dinghy out the way. Mark got on with some new caulking (the black filler between the deck planks) and he also ensured the dinghy was wound up properly. Paul made sure the batteries for the electrical equipment was charged.

Paul and I walked up to the chandlery but it did not have what we were looking for as we wanted some tape to repair the Bimini.

Once we had done our jobs we went to the pool for a dip and drink and I needed to take some pictures for our check out procedures for leaving Thailand.

We then had another nice supper bonding and enjoying each other’s company.

Once we returned to Stormbird we chatted away. We then heard some halyards clattering away in the wind. I asked some of the guys to go and sort that out whilst I was doing the blog. Rhys, Peter and Keith set off and apparently boarded this yacht and tightened a halyard to stop the noise. Good job.

We have the immigration lady coming tomorrow as well as the rigger. We will hopefully get the genoa and staysail rigged tomorrow. We also hopefully may have a solution for the water pressure but we shall see.

I feel the anticipation of us getting ready for a long passage and we need to do all the provisioning first.

The picture of the day is the six of us at supper. We are now a full crew.

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