Hi From SY Eliott and Crew
Dear friends and family,
A catch up email and to let you all know what 2006 brings for us.
Firstly we hope you all had a great Xmas and New Year, we wish you all the best for 2006 and those of you in Oz look forward to seeing you all on our return latter this year.
So 2005 was a busy year with the completion in March of the Seaglass re-fit a project that was an experience and a learning curve. After a hot eight months the tent was removed and we were off to Burma to try her out.
John and Viv the owners their friend Linda and Maria and I all off to the Mergui Archipelago a great treat after the months of hard work
All kids fear having his or her own parents and partner’s parents on a holiday together. We put them all on a boat, it must be a first. It was for us.
John and Viv were kind enough to support the cause by putting up SeaGlass as the vessel. Big enough luxurious enough but could the water makers keep up with the demand!
We all survived and had a great time plenty of fishing action great sailing and I look forward to doing it again with them all in the near future.
Nepal
The year took us on many great sailing and land trips one that I had been planning for years was Nepal. Not the most romantic of trips and having never been before I was not sure how Maria would cope. The answer is in the pics, very well even out did me on the odd day.
We had a great time with a little adventure thrown in and a snow storm just to remind us how nice it is to live in the tropics.
Completing the Year
Earlier in the year we had made plans to head to the Andaman Islands for a second trip before departing Asia with Eliott.
With a busy year running Seaglass and some major works on Eliott the year flew buy. With Eliott looking like a million bucks, new engine and electronics on board Juris arrived on Dec 5th and we prepared to depart.
The Trip out was predicted to have a strong NE wind that was great for boat speed although it did get a bit uncomfortable. All went well until 100NM of Port Blair the wind hit 45Knt’s apparent and we were trucking along at a great rate of knots hitting 9.5knt’s several times. Dropping the main and going under storm jib only became a sensible idea and continued to hold 7.5knt’s.
Eliott proved her self as always getting us there in good order and time. We had a great 2 weeks sailing the area landing copious amounts of fish, enjoying the great anchorage’s and curries to boot.
The trip was topped of on the fishing front on our return to Phuket with Juris Landing a monster Yellow fin Tuna taking what seemed to be an hour to land even backing Eliott up we were all stoked when it came to the surface. With a freezer full already we let him go.
Our return to Phuket was on New Years Eve so a relaxing day at the Spa/Sauna then off to Patong with Eliott to watch the fire works with friends. It was awesome with a good hour of fire works the view from the boat was insane.
2006
After almost five years in Thailand we have decided its time to go. With Eliott in tip top shape it’s now or never. So it’s back to Oz, with Seaglass in company.
We are off to Burma on Seaglass for a 2 week trip come February them return to Phuket to prep Eliott. We will then make tracks south down the Malacca Straights through Singapore and on to East Malaysia. Taking our time to visit all the usual stops along the way before heading on to Indonesia, PNG, and Solomon’s and on to Oz North QLD.
Demands have been made from the Richo folks that all children are to be at home for a Umina family Xmas 06. So sail we will and see those of you in Oz this coming xmas.
Any of you who can take the time of work or those lucky enough to be retired both SeaGlass and Eliott are opening the offer for friends, family and anyone who wants to join along the way. I will have a clearer itinerary in the next few weeks and will keep in touch during the up and coming.
I hope this finds you all well and we look forward to keeping in closer touch with you all this year.
Grant and Maria
SY Eliott |
