In January having arrived with Boadicea to Thailand I was ashore one evening having a few refreshments and was standing on the street near the marina at a local watering hole.
It literally was a hole in the wall, a small bar where the waitress handed out drinks and customers stood on the street.
The extended stern
Fanny on the hard
At some point in the evening I was chatting to a very well tanned man with black long hair over his shoulders and it turned out he was Owner of s/y Fanny.
He was refitting his own sailing catamaran for sailing to Europe and onwards word wide. Also his intended captain for the voyage had dropped out due to not having taken Covid shots so he was on the hunt for one. We changed numbers and thought we'd chat later on.
As weeks went by I gave Owner a lot of info of cruising across Indian ocean warning him that the window for crossing was starting to close soon. I hadn't gotten an offer but I don't mind sharing my knowledge to other people that are interested.
Then I signed off Boadicea and was staying in Phuket to enjoy the island whilst there was winter in Europe, I was in no hurry back and as I was then terminated on made up excuses I started looking for gigs in the area. Some old friends claimed there was stuff to do but other captain acquaintances affirmed that there was hardly anything as the Covid had decimated the yacht industry and chased the yachts away. Those who had a job were not looking.
Anyway, one day the Owner messaged me and offered me the position as transit captain from Thailand to France starting in March, launch was scheduled mid-March but there was a weeks delay as Owner and the contractor working on his boat got Covid. As I had nothing going on and had a heavy luggage I thought it would be a good experience to bring a small sailing boat over the ocean as I've always crossed on large motorvessels. So I accepted despite the small remuneration on the proviso that I might bail if there was a better offer before we departed.
I was staying in Nai Yang beach and rented a scooter to get to the Premier shipyard. The catamaran was a 45 foot Lagoon with a sloop rig and a code C sail. She was 10 years old and pretty worn down from years in Far East as a charter boat.
Typical to Lagoons she had cracked aft bulkheads that needed to be repaired and Owner was having the stern extended by 1.5ft to give a longer waterline and better seagoing capacities. All cabins had been taken apart for the bulkheads repairs as well as installing a set of Li-Fe battery banks giving her very good economy. Some carpentry was needed in cabins due to damage from termites. Water tanks had been removed and repaired, also any hull penetrations had new valves installed. The gas cooker got new fittings. Grey and black water hoses had been renewed.
Outside of accommodation the engines and saildrives had been dismantled and given a full overhaul. Navigation equipment had been complemented with an additional plotter unit, there was a newer autopilot control unit too. For safety there was a new liferaft and an Epirb. Naturally the required liferings and life jackets were in place and fire extinguishers checked.
In the end she got a new coat of paint on the hull.
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