Year 3 -8 February 2026 –Depart from Galle -Sri Lanka- Kochi -India

We were up early as we had to meet the agent at customs at 8.30am to check out of Sri Lanka. Paul cooked bacon and eggs to get us going and set the standard again and then went to get some more bread before meeting the agent. We prepared as much as we could for departure and took in the electric line.

We met Achintha at 8.25am and our passports were stamped and we were given the customs documentation to leave. I paid any final dues to Achintha.

It had been a great few weeks in Sri Lanka- the tour was fantastic and the harbour had been safe although the showers etc had not been brilliant but useable. It is a lovely country, quite backward in some ways but you can see why they call it the Jewel of the Indian Ocean.

However, the growth on the boat was awful in the few weeks we were there. The ladder had been down because of our dinghy transport system and it was covered in hard small barnacles. I wondered what the bottom was like? The anchor chain was the same for the first section until it was on the bottom.  

Mark and Rhys began to take apart our climbing system and to recover our ropes and then we released the stern lines and began to move forward on the anchor chain. We gradually took it up cleaning it with the fire hose but it will need some further work once it has dried. We moved forward of the other boats and then Mark and Rhys rowed round in the dinghy and we got it up on the davits. It was filthy and had barnacles on as well. When I used the bow thruster it too seemed under powered and must have growth and barnacles on it as well as did some fenders. The trip to India should hopefully kill the barnacles.

We finally upped the anchor when ready and headed out of the harbour and anchored just outside. I wanted to dive underneath and see if I could clear the log (speed log). It too was covered in barnacles and we will have to take it out from inside but we did not want to do it today.

We therefore upped the anchor and contacted Port Control and got permission to leave and headed out through the buoyed channel.

We have about 370nm to Kochi and the forecast meant we had to motor for most of the day with some wind coming in about 6.30pm onwards. We therefore passed the Fairway Buoy and set a course for the bottom of India.

We motored on well and there was a bit of a swell and we went parallel to the coast until the coastline narrowed and Sri Lanka gradually faded away. I wondered whether I would come again. It was a bit of a grey day and visibility was not that great.

As Keith Watson was not on board I did a shift on my own with Mark and Peter, Paul and Rhys on the other watches.

The day wore on as we motored and there were a number of fishing boats about and the odd cargo ship. We had a sandwich lunch and the sun came out for a while. As the day wore on the swell increased and I began to prepare supper a Thai Chicken Green Curry with rice and red cabbage. By the time I came to serve it Peter was not feeling well and Mark just had rice. Paul, Rhys and I had supper therefore and it was getting a bit rough and our speed had slowed. We now had wind so we put out the staysail and sailed the best course we could which put us off course by about 20 degrees. However, the wind was due to veer so should bring us back on course.

The motion was better as was our speed under sail but we were getting a lot of water on the deck and down the sides and you could hear the deck drains gurgling. I took over at 8.00pm and did the 8-11pm shift. I was making water and did this for most of the shift and filled both tanks. However the high-speed motor was not consistent and surge a bit so I will have to find out the cause of that. There was little traffic other than a tanker just drifting in the swell. I could see its lights some 6nm away. There was still quite a lot of swell and we continued to get water on deck and the odd soaking as we hit a big wave and the spray reached over the doghouse into the cockpit or came round it. This is what we usually call a growler. The wind gradually veered so by the end of my shift we were back on the right sort of course.

I handed over to Mark and Peter did get up for his watch and I went to try and sleep. This was not easy but at least I got some rest.

It was good to be back at sea again although the conditions could have been kinder. The rigger informed me he had booked his flights and accommodation and would see us early on the 13th which is positive news. We have to get the sail down in preparation etc.      

We settled down for our first night at sea for a while.

 The picture of the day is us leaving Galle with its lighthouse.

 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