Yacht Delivery Blog

We are on the final stretch of our journey from NZ to Phuket. The wind has been teasing us for the last few days, sometimes giving us enough to sail, sometimes dying down and forcing us to use the engine. But at least it's been blowing from behind, so we've been making good progress towards our destination. The weather has been hot and calm, which has its pros and cons. On the plus side, we've been able to open the hatches and let some fresh air into the boat. On the minus side, we've also had some unwanted visitors. Last night, we woke up to a strange smell and a loud flapping noise. We discovered that four flying fish had somehow managed to jump through the hatches and land inside the boat. They were flopping around on the floor, making a mess and a racket. I was about to spring into action and save the day, but Rhona beat me to it. She bravely picked up the fish and threw them back into the sea. I'm sure they were grateful for her mercy. I was grateful for her co...

We had a record night last night, getting AIS signals from vessels that were as much as 115 nm away. That's a lot farther than the typical range of 15-20 nm for an AIS-receiver. It must be due to some atmospheric phenomenon.  As we sail along the coast of Java, we can see the distant glow of fishing boats off to our starboard side. They are everywhere, like a swarm of fireflies on the horizon. I can't quite make out the individual lights, but we sailed past them all night, so I'm going to say there were at least 200. It's sad to think that they are fishing with no regulations or restrictions, depleting the marine life and harming the ecosystem. 6500 nm seemed an almost impossible distance to sail when we left NZ, but now we have only 1500 nm left as we keep chipping away at the miles. I'm guessing we'll reach Sabang in 9 days, clear out in 2 days, and then head to Phuket in another 2 days. That's exciting.  The wind has been up and down for the last 24 hours...