Our time in South East Asia is coming to an end. I’ve loved this part of the world, especially Langkawi, where I really felt like part of a community, and we made some great friends.
Christmas was stress-free, and we were lucky enough to have Rachael in Phuket with us, followed by Angus’ sister, Fiona.
Reflecting on last year…wow, what a year it was! With its highs and lows, adventures and challenges. In a nutshell, we started the year in NZ, working and trying to sell our house, having left the boat in Langkawi.
In April we found ourselves in Cape Town, South Africa to sail a super yacht to the Mediterranean, a mere 6.5 thousand nautical mile (three and a half month) trip up the west coast of Africa. Angus as captain and me as chef. Three days out of Cape Town and the house finally sold (after 5 months). A visit to St Helena and meeting 200 year old, George, was probably the highlight for me. Cape Verde was amazing, and it was with a huge sense of achievement that we arrived in Palma de Mallorca.
From the Med to Switzerland for the wedding of our daughter, Celia, to Grègoire. What an awesome month we had in Switzerland and France! We feel like we’ve not only gained a wonderful son-in-law, but we’re also part of an amazing extended Swiss family.
Back to Langkawi to haul out our poor Innocenti, who was looking a bit sad after 9 months.
Sail up to Thailand for a month, where I completed my STCW course at the Gallileo Maritime Academy.
A sail back down to Langkawi to Rebak, then a trip back to NZ for me to spend time with Mum. Back to Malaysia via Sydney for a few days for Rachael’s warfare course graduation. So then we set sail again, back up to Thailand. We were very excited to take delivery of a new suit of sails purchased from Rolly Tasker Sails.
A broken watermaker took us to Ao Po Marina in the north of Phuket to have it repaired…at great expense, but hey, it’s the most essential piece of equipment for where we’re going. Funny story, we’ve done no work on the watermaker for 17 years (we’ve not even changed the membrane😆). So I figure we spent 17 years of maintenance in one go.
Now, the preparations have started for the next leg of the journey. The plan is to sail across the Indian Ocean, from Phuket to the Maldives, departing approximately 10th of January. It’s around 1,600nm, and we have our dear and trusted friend, Paulie, with us for the passage. The last time he was with us from Noumea to Mackay in May 2023.
On this passage, we will fire up our new Starlink, so I might even be able to post some video clips along the way.
I’ve started to fill the freezer with meals for the passage as I generally don’t feel great during the first few days. The jobs on the “to-do list” are to fill the fuel and gas bottles, buy groceries, service the engine, and continue to add to the meals in the freezer. The northeast monsoon has settled in, so we’re looking forward to a beam reach in flat water, sailing soooo fast with our new sails…. we can only hope! Happy New Year to you all, and “see you in the soup”…as some famous mariner once said.
Cruising Innocenti 
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