Having stepped off my last yacht for good I decided to stay for awhile as it was winter in Europe and I was in no hurry back to find another job. I also thought that maybe there would be gigs to do on some small yacht lacking a skipper. Anyway, ended up renting a scooter and rediscovering Phuket as it had been 10+ years since I was here last. Below are pictures of some locations I ended going to...
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.
I recently joined a Seiko watch group and as it happens there was a raffle going on for a high-end limited-edition (1000pcs) Seiko Prospex SRQ029J1 and I decided to try my luck. I invested in 4 tickets @ 25EUR/pc and duly transferred 100EUR to the group's administrator in Belgium after bit of a conversation to make sure it is hunky dory.
Went walking up in the mountains and started early morning as one does not want to get stuck up there after dark, at least if you are not carrying the right gear.
The story of Wilhelmine was broken up into several posts due to the length of each chapter.
If you've read all the previous posts you know by now she was only rescued from an undignified end rusting asunder at an deserted beach despite our greater ideas that were smashed by the pandemic.
As Wilhelmine was resuscitated and moved about she broke the news barrier and below are few articles published by Finnish papers that I've freely translated below in chronological order.
Kimito nyheter 24.11.2020:
Main picture of article in Kimito news.
About 2 weeks ago I spotted on Facebook an ad that needed a temp Captain for 1week on a 28m Riva. I messaged the Captain who had posted the ad, he explained me he would need a relief to tide over the interim for the new Captain to join as he needed to leave asap for another job. Typical planning in yachting.
So on the 9th Nov we headed from Helsinki towards Kimito Island, more exactly to Pederså commune. It was a few hours drive and enroute we tried to find lodging and finally when all options on the Island were exhausted for one reason or another we settled for renting a house in Ekenäs, the drive from there was a mere 45mins.
My ex colleague Jan sent me in mid Oct some pictures of a small coaster that looked very quaint. At same breath he asked if I'd be interested in kicking her alive after 10 years of cold lay-up at a beach in Kimito Island and tentatively deliver her to shipbreakers in Denmark. Yes, I said, I'm always up to a challenge, especially one like this, one of a kind adventure.
It seems the vessel I'm working on, St Helena, has quite the media coverage last few days from Northern as far as the Southern hemisphere ...
This Saturday m/v St Helena moved from Cammell Lairds Campbeltown facility into their Bidston repair facility for further outfitting afloat.
This move activated the local paparazzi into action and here are a few shots by local talents:
I was visiting my friend Wendy in Edinburgh for the New Years celebrations we did a lot of walking and one of my bucket list items was to visit the ex Royal yacht Britannia. She was these days decommissioned and repurposed as a museum down in Leith port (the yacht, not Wendy).
In the "Logbook" edition 3/2019 of the "Eye of the Wind" publication there is an article about "Anny" and her comparing both schooners on page 4 as they were at the same time in the same port. I have translated the German article, original written by Mr. Ronald Herkert, Managing Director of FORUM train & sail GmbH.
