I sailed Weatherly through Sydney Heads in April 1998, with my partner then, Kathy. We stopped 15 miles up the coast in Refuge Bay, as 4 days of heavy storms lashed the coast.

A relaxing 6 months cruising the east coast of Australia followed, with hardly any bad weather, and we explored numerous rivers, harbours and islands to Thursday Island.

This stage was a learning curve about coastal trip planning, crossing river bars, navigation, anchoring, fishing, and many other aspects of cruising by sail. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

After Thursday Is, we were alone, as very few yachts are seen in this part of the country.

We hired a campervan in Darwin and explored the Kakadu and Litchfield national parks. It was very hot but amazing country with a laid back culture.

We sailed to Bali late in the season, as a ferry had damaged the lock gates and we were stranded inside the marina. Huge thunderstorms and lightening surrounded us near Darwin, but when we were a day out we became becalmed, and used the engine (too much) to cover ground. I then calculated we'd used a 3rd of the fuel but covered a 10th of the ground, so we drifted, waiting for wind. It took 3 weeks to arrive in Benoa.

Bali was exotic to me - I had never been to SE Asia before. The smells, noise, intricate artwork and daily action was dazzling on the senses after the tranquility and slow pace of sailing.

After a very expensive Indonesian cruising permit was obtained, we headed north for Belitung, Bintan and Batam islands, where we had an unusual Christmas dinner on board, looking across at a stilt village in the rain, and hearing the calls to prayer from mosques echo around the bay.

New year was spent in Singapore, but beers were $10 Australian so it was more subdued than previous years.

Rounding Singapore, we were accidently rammed by a customs patrol boat (no damage) when the driver was asking us over his megaphone to talk to him on the radio.

In Malacca, we had a funny ride on a trishaw with high powered radio blaring at passers by. It is a fascinating historic town. Islam was brought there by Arab traders, and the religion and culture flourished throughout Malaysia and Indonesia. We also visited a great museum in an old fort.

Lumut and Penang were visited, then Langkawi where we watched monkeys and swam in a freshwater lake

The Malaysian/Thai coast line is a fantastic cruising ground, and we explored islands of Ko Rok Nok, Phi Phi and Ko Muk. Some had long caves where the dinghy could be paddled through into an inland lake.

Kathy and I split up in Phuket, so I sailed with 2 backpackers to Langkawi where I left Weatherly, after 12 months sailing from Sydney.

Several trips back to Malaysia and Thailand were made to undertake major repairs.