A friend from the Yacht Club was taking his boat from Phuket to Antwerp on a cargo ship, Sangtong and I ended up sailing to the ship with him to give him a hand with the ropes but I didn't realise what I was letting myself in for .We got on board at the marina, unfortunately Drew and Tony couldn't come as they had to sort out visas to remain in Thailand, so we wave them off and set off on 'Colonel' a stunning schooner and head south. The weather conditions were perfect but because Roel has packed all his boat up to be shipped there's no sailing involved but it's only a few hours journey to the ship anyway.On route there are lots of local fishermen in their long tail boats, they are scooping up large pink jellyfish in nets apparently for the Japanese market, it's interesting watching them. We have really beautiful scenery on the way to the ship which is anchored near Ao Po Marina further south, the islands and sign of Phang Nga which is stunning. The schooner seems to glide seamlessly over the water and Sangtong and I enjoy the journey.After a few hours we have our first sight of the cargo ship, it's huge. I get Roel to explain the procedure of lifting 'Colonel' onto the ship and the closer we get you see the cranes they will use and other yachts that are already on board . The cranes lower slings which hoist the yacht on board and apparently no one is allowed on board when this happens, there's a long rope ladder leading the whole way up onto the ship which looks really dangerous but there is also a tender that takes you from here to the marina at Ao Po.On approach they seemed to be calling us in as it was near Roel's slot in time but it turned out to be the opposite, they wouldn't be ready for us until early evening so wee set off and set anchor and started the waiting game. I realise it's a complex operation but this was going to be a long haul wait, Roel said once boat was being lifted, we go on board then once shes strapped and set we get the tender back to the marina. I really wasn't prepared for this and thought it was unfair expecting Sangtong and I to climb the wooden ladder up the side of the ship, so I asked Roel to call the tender to collect us and take us back in, he would get assistance from the crew.Thankfully the tender came to get us and took us back in, we were both relived and we waited at the marina for Tony and Drew coming back from Phuket Town to collect us. They also thought it was unreasonable Roel wanting us to stay and to climb that ladder so I didn't feel so bad, and as it turns out it was the next evening before they managed to slot Roel in and lift the boat, we could have been stuck for days!So all in all an interesting experience, there were 11 boats from the marina that left by the cargo ship, a lot of the reason is the sail from here through Somalian pirate country, the red sea and Suez canal, often these yacht are a real target and there is always reports of piracy which I was a bit oblivious to.Farewell to Colonel, maybe see you again in Holland or around Scottish waters, you just never know, good luck with your new adventure Roel.