Wow, 2019 has been an incredible 365 days of fun, adventure and hard work! This year has seen us visit Europe for the first time, as well as the Mediterranean for the first time, not once but twice and in Dwayne’s case, he had three visits to the Mediterranean. Countries we visited for the first time included Switzerland, Croatia, Austria, England, France, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Malta, Albania, Greece, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. We also had brief stops in Slovenia, Germany, Liechtenstein, Serbia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Dwayne also visited Turkey and India. All up, we visited 23 countries (20 for Kelly).
Our ‘hard work’ included an epic 28-hour trip from Langkawi to Phuket on a 25ft Nordic Folk Boat. We took turns steering with the tiller and sleeping on the cabin floor. We had equipment breakage and were hit by storms and rough seas, and it rained most of the time. Another stint of “hard work” was our recent crossing of the South China Sea on SV Lion Rock. The weather was foul, we lost our electronics (including auto-pilot), the engine was out of action, and the main sail track came away from the mast. The trip was abysmal, but we arrived safely in Kota Kinabalu for repairs. Its times like that, you do appreciate having a fabulous skipper in charge.
Countries
Dwayne – 23
Kelly – 20
Boats – boats we travelled on this year included – Thorfinn, Easy Course, Blackadder, Somni, Lion Rock, Seraph and a ferry.
Dwayne – 3278 NM
Kelly – 2806 NM
Flights
Dwayne – 33 flights covering 67,943 KM and 114 hours
Kelly – 27 flights covering 50,981 KM and 91 hours
Trains
1377 KM
Cars (major road trips)
3166 KM
Beds
55
2019 Our year in photos
Thailand
The year started with us enjoying Thailand’s high season. Lovely weather, clear water, friends and family. Trish and Brie visited for a week, and then Alex (son) and his girlfriend visited us for seven weeks during February and March. We took them to many of our favourite places, including Railay, Koh Lanta, Koh Rok, Koh Lipe, Phi Phi, Nai Harn and Kata.
Europe
Our first trip to Europe included catching up with our good friends, the Vonic family. They currently live in Switzerland, so that was our first stop. With the Vonic family, we spent two weeks sailing in Croatia, which was amazing! We also explored small parts of France, England, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Malta, Bosnia and more. Highlights include:
Switzerland
Croatia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
France
England
Amsterdam
Spain
Italy
Malta
Greece
Not long after our trip to Europe Dwayne got work in the Med on a boat called Somni. He sailed parts of Turkey and Greece. Then we both did another five weeks in Greece and Croatia on Somni.
Albania
Once our time on SV Somni finished, we caught the ferry from Corfu to Sarande in Albania.
Vietnam
We spent about seven weeks in Nha Trang waiting for Lion Rock to be ready for delivery to Hong Kong. As I write, we have yet to finish that boat delivery, but that is a whole other story.
Malaysia
We sailed to Langkawi on SV Thorfinn with Alex (son) and his girlfriend. Then we visited Kuala Lumpur for a break between the times in Greece. We also sailed to Kota Kinabalu on SV Lion Rock.
2020
As usual, we do not know where we will be or what we will do in 2020. However, we do begin next year by sailing to the Philippines on SV Lionrock, before sailing a friend’s boat from Phuket to Sydney. However our plans play out, we do know that our year will no doubt be filled with ample adventure and plenty of challenges.
Happy New Year, we wish you all the best for the coming decade!
More Information
Accommodation
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