Hello again Boatbloggers®, and welcome once again to what is most likely our final Boatblog@.
Yes dear reader, we have decided to “Swallow the hook,” as us sailors call it, and become landlubbers once again.
And so we have sold the good ship Domini.
It is said that the two best days of a sailors life are:- first the day he buys a boat, and second the day he sells it. This is not true for us. We have had many, many amazing days in between and we are sorry to be saying goodbye.
To remind us all what a fantastic boat she is, here are some photos…
Fair winds Domini.
Thank you all for following us for the last twelve years.
It was Ju’s birthday while we were in Phuket, and Ju posted this on Facebook.
“I haven’t been doing FB for quite a while – I was just getting millions of adverts and hardly any friends’ posts – so I decided it was time to call it a day.
But I logged on today for the first time in ages, and it was great to see so many Happy Birthday messages, so thank you all for that. It’s really appreciated.
It was the best birthday imaginable – mainly because I’m actually still here! And I very nearly wasn’t. About 5 weeks ago I had a pretty major heart attack on the boat in Phuket, and since then I’ve had open heart surgery.
Not one to do things by half measures, I’ve had a quintuple heart bypass no less.
The care from the surgeons, doctors and nurses at the hospital here has been fabulous – really world class. Though heart surgery is still not going to make my Tripadvisor list of the top ten things to do in Phuket. And of course I’ve had my own amazing personal nurse – Lyn – looking after me. And Rory, Joe and Alice have all come out to see me, as well as Nicho.
You’ll no doubt be pleased to know I’m making a good recovery, though I’m still not allowed to fly. But I should be back in Blighty in the next few weeks, all being well.
Thanks to everyone for the messages of support and love that you’ve been sending while I’ve been ill. At times I’ve felt like James Stewart at the end of It’s A Wonderful Life!
And now it’s time for my salt free, fat free, sugar fee, alcohol free, caffeine free, taste free Birthday Cake!”
The good news is that it wasn’t too long before Ju was up and about, and at least able to tuck in to the hospital food.
Although now he had to eat it with a whole raft of pills.
He’s keeping big pharma going all on his own.
He had to be monitored quite closely, so we found a flat near to the hospital.
Not too shabby!
But sadly, this did mean an end to our voyage around the world. So we shipped Domini back to France , and Ju & Lyn back to Brentford.
And welcome back to another edition from the Far East.
To call it “Adventures in Thailand,” is a bit of a stretch, but to call it “Holiday in Thailand,” doesn’t sound as exciting and is not really in the spirit of the Boatblog®. Though it would be a lot closer to the truth.
We based ourselves in Phuket which despite being quite overrun by tourists (as opposed to adventurers like ourselves) is still lovely.
After our epic trip to Everest, we were keen to keep super fit so we signed up for boot camp at Action Point Gym.
It was the pool that attracted us.
And it was a bit of a shock that it turned out to be two weeks of hard gruelling exercise, intense yoga, gentle massage and proper healthy protein rich Thai food.
We loved it, but it was tough. You don’t get to be a bronzed Adonis and Aphrodite without a bit of work.
We even learned a bit of Muay Thai, which is the famous Thai kick boxing.
Not to be confused with Mai Tai which is the famous cocktail – and like the boxing can also give you a nasty kick.
After a few sessions training Ju was tempted to get into the ring, but after some of the pros were carried off he had second thoughts.
We were absolutely knackered, so it was quite a relief when Carol and Simon came to visit.
They were determined to get us back into fine dining and lazing around.
We went sailing round the islands,
Strolled along the beaches,
Went swinging – you can make your own jokes up…
Not bad Ju – that boot camp’s definitely paying off.
And generally had a very nice time.
Unfortunately after too short a time they had to leave.
So next we decided to go up to Chang Mai, which is a lovely old town in the north of the country, famous for its Buddhist temples.
There’s always an opportunity for a donation or two.
The idea is that you put some coins into every one of these pots. And that then goes to whichever monk owns that particular pot, so you need to be careful to try to spread it around a bit.
You can even add gold leaf to the sacred objects.
But Lyn isn’t the only artist in town. We went to the local craft fair and had a picture of Domini painted on a stone.
One evening, we climbed to the top of the hill to watch the sunset…
And of course to get a selfie.
Chang Mai was a lovely place to visit.
(That’s enough selfies – Ed)
And then it was back to Phuket for some trekking in the rain forest to keep that fitness up.
Dinner by a lily pond.
And of course the wonderful beaches.
And there dear reader we must leave you. There’s just time for the Arty Farty competition, and once again we have a number of exciting entries.
They are all called “Old Phuket.”
And the winner is…
“Old Phuket.”
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Boatblog® without at least one gratuitous sunset.
Domini 