Well it has been a year of new beginnings: 2 months ago our first grand child was born. Heidi & Mark had a lovely healthy girl called Gemma Wynne Hutchinson. We have been asked where she lives and nobody is quite sure whether the answer is Victoria or Port Hardy, but it is definitely Vancouver Island.

Then after agonizing decisions and protracted negotiations we have finally bought the catamaran that all of our more sensible sailing friends told us was far too big. A very big thank you to everybody who has helped with this search, particularly our friends in Australia. We have paid the money and got the keys to Dulcinea, the 64ft, 20 year old Shuttleworth catamaran. She is lovely. All the boat designers we talked to say that there is no subnstitute for length for ocean sailing. The wide beam puts enormous forces on the hull, but John Shuttleworth is known for the superb engineering that he puts into his designs. This boat has 2 carbon fibre beams across her, and has hardly a structural crack to be seen after probably more than 100,000 miles of passages. Her beam is almost the same as Harmonica's water line length. Her deck saloon is as big as a living room. She looks as if should sail very well, but that has still to be proven. Jan & Dave have now slept onboard Dulcinea for two nights.

Harmonica and Dulcinea are rafted side by side in Yacht Haven Marina, but we are hoping to move out in convoy tomorrow morning. An English yacht broker here in Phuket called Howard will help us by taking Harmonica, while we take Dulcinea down to the South of Phuket close to where Jose & Anna live (they will help us with several jobs on boat).

Howard & I put the mainsail on yesterday. We finished in time for a late lunch, and I realized that I felt whacked! It is a heavy sail. We (mainly Jan) have been continually carrying stuff over from Harmonica and trying to decide where to store it in Dulcinea. Dave gave himself a 240v shock from a poorly spliced dock cable. We have understood a little more about the plumbing and wiring, but it will take months to understand it properly. The headsail will have to wait until we can free or replace a seized swivel on the furling unit.

This morning's job was to check at the engines, generator, and anchor windlass work and ensure that we can live on board after cutting the umbilical from the dock. Main engines started and ran impressively well. Likewise the generator. However, Dave feels that he is getting to know Dulcinea with more intimacy: after he got upside down inside the anchor locker (well one of the two), she whispered that she had a broken wire, and it took most of the morning to find which one and repair it. Then we tried the windlass and it worked but not for long. It turned out that the dog was in the gypsy, and we had blown a fuse. Found it, replaced it, and then managed to lower & raise the anchor. In this process our old butane soldering iron burst into flames so we shall need a replacement for that too.

Lots of lovely tools have been left on Dulcinea including a spirit level. We think this must be something special for catamarans which was not relevant to monohull sailing. Now very hot and muggy. Can't find where Jan has put the beer-can cooler so shall drink this one fast before it gets too warm.

Next week we shall hopefully get the Lexan replaced in all the cabin windows, get the dinghy repaired or replaced, maybe get some 12volt refrigeration arranged, solar panels ordered, and then head south to Malaysia for some boat testing on the water. We have booked a place in a yard here to take her out of the water on 11th December. Dave will still be here but Jan will already be back in Canada for Christmas. At that time the mast will come down and the rigging will get checked so that we might be ready to sail to S Africa in 2012.

The next stage of life is starting.

Dave, Jan, Harmonica, and Dulcinea

PS. Harmonica is looking very hard for a new, loving owner. See www.techco.ab.ca/harmonica

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