After a fabulous 6 months in Australia full of catching up with friends and family, Phil doing some paid work, sharing two wonderful milestones with our sons (one beautiful wedding, birth of one precious baby- Aubrey), and going to Phil’s niece’s wedding, we returned to Paseafique on the hard stand in the boat yard just outside of Kuah on Langkawi. Once again the time at home reminded me just how much the people we love light up our lives. Each time we leave, it’s hard to say goodbye knowing that we will be miss out on sharing not just the important occasions, but also just the coffees and chats. Everyone in our close circle is in great a place in their lives at the moment, and our parents are all well, and so that does bring some comfort in leaving.

Reece and Em’s wedding and Andrew and Jemma’s baby, Aubrey

Phil came about 3 weeks ahead of me at the end of December, as we had decided to replace the engine and so he got started on that, while I had as many cuddles as possible with Aubrey until it was time for me to get back to work on the boat. The process of replacing the engine will be the subject of a separate blog for those interested in the details, but suffice to say it was a lot of hard, and at times, frustrating work, but everything worked out in the end. There certainly were some characters that we met at the boat yard who kept us entertained while there (more on that in the next blog).  We took the opportunity to get new mattresses for both cabins, and new cushions and rope bags for the cockpit, all of which have made the boat more comfortable.

The new look, and  more comfortable, cockpit

The plan for this year is to cross the Indian Ocean, via Sri Lanka, possibly the Maldives, then Chagos, Madagascar, and South Africa. While we were in the boat yard and had the use of a car, we did all the non-perishable provisioning to last us the next 7 months. It’s such a big job. You have to work out what you will need and how much of it. Then the list looks ridiculous eg., 12 kg museli, 5kg flour, 25 litres milk (mostly powdered), loads of cans of different things, etc., and don’t forget the alcohol!  Then you have to go and load it all into the shopping trolley, into the car, up the ladder onto the boat, and get it all put away, making sure that you note down where you have stowed everything so you can find it.

On Monday 12^th February, Paseafique was lifted back into the water, the new engine fired up and we made our way to the anchorage at Kuah to wait for the Volvo mechanics to visit and do the commissioning the next day. The engine was run through all its paces and passed the tests and so at last we were free to pick up our cruising life again.

Slowly does it!

We cleared out of Malaysia and made our way up to Phuket, Thailand where we were hoping to catch some friends before they departed for the Andaman Islands, and where we planned to do the final provisioning of the perishable goods. We just managed to get there in time to have dinner with Dot and Jonathon from Bali Hai, and Dave and Rita from Beachhouse, both of whom we met on the Indonesian rally several years ago. It was rather poignant as our boats have all been in SE Asia for the last few years and now we are finally parting ways.

We purchased yet more food (the perishable stuff this time), and I cooked up a large batch each of chicken curry, and bacon and vegie pasta sauce, which will hopefully mean I don’t have to spend too much time below in the galley while en route to Sri Lanka.

So with the boat stuffed with food, water, alcohol, diesel and other sundry supplies, we cleared out of Thailand this morning. We will spend the night in one of our favourite anchorages on the south west tip of Phuket (Nai Han) and weigh anchor at 5am tomorrow morning. The passage to Trincomale, Sri Lanka, will be our longest yet at just over 1000 nm and should take us 6-8 days. We are both a bit apprehensive about the trip, but also excited at the prospect of exploring a new country. The wind direction is very favourable, and will be light for the first part, but should pick up after a couple of days. The passage from Phuket to Sri Lanka at this time of year is apparently one of the nicest cruising experiences so we should be set for an enjoyable week or so.

Our final look at some spectacular Thai scenery