BAD TIMING: Primary wallet lost/stolen 24 hours before leaving Bali.

The ‘disappearance’ resulted in frantic running between the beach and the hotel, a lot of sweat and (quite) a few swear words. Regardless if dropped or somehow pinched, it was long gone by the time we realized it was missing. Oh well, all part of travelling…

GOOD TIMING: Arrival in Phuket and sailing friends to visit!

To avoid the hassle of trying to extend our 30 day Visas for Indonesia, we somewhat randomly booked the cheapest flights we could find – to Phuket, Thailand.

Unbeknownst to us at the time, SV Rutea (with Neal and Ruthie aboard) is spending the monsoon season here.

This story goes back to 1996 when Will and his family were cruising in Mexico on SV Karina I. They met the Rutea gang, a family of 5, in Cabo and ended up spending tons of time together in Mexico and Hawaii that year. They even rendezvoused at sea – Rutea stood by when John had to jump over the stern to fix a windvane [not a Hydrovane!] problem about a week out from Hilo.

SV Rutea has been out cruising again for three years. They puddle jumped in 2011 and write an excellent blog (www.rutea.com) that I read from beginning to end (well, it’s ongoing) before we set off on our own SoPac adventure. We’ve been following in their footsteps and so it was amazing to FINALLY catch up to them here, in Phuket, Thailand.

We enjoyed a couple of nights of story swapping aboard their lovely boat in the Yacht Haven Marina. Staying on a boat sure does beat a hotel room. Just another reminder of how amazing it is to cruise (with your own bed!). We travel onward today…

Will, Sarah, Ruthie, Neal on SV Rutea