ancy quitting your job, buying a yacht, and sailing around the world? Ever daydream of "going Gauguin" or "copping a Conrad"? Of hunkering down in your own slice of paradise? Phuket is no stranger to folks living your fantasy, everyday people who have unplugged from land and plunged into the sea. Former proprietary trader Phillip Lawson and institutional broker Russell Huebschle, both in grateful recovery from the financial rat race, are two such characters who set their hook off this island. Like others before them, they found that Phuket holds fast, and doesn’t let go.

Lawson and Huebschle were right in the thick of the dot.com boom years of San Francisco, making money hand over fist, buying all the latest toys. Still, something was missing. "We thought money would buy us happiness," says Phil, but it was coming at too great a cost. High stress, the poisonous culture of Wall Street, and the need to pucker up to clients had them on fast tracks towards mid-life crises. The only real outlet they found was sailing. They crewed on yachts, then owned a series of racing dinghies and a sports boat, learning their way around race courses in San Francisco Bay, where winds whip with such spine-chillingly damp vengeance that you’re thanking Poseidon you didn’t wax the hair off your back. Disillusionment with work intensified as fascination with sailing escalated, until one night, at a dinner celebrating Phil’s new membership to the St Francis Yacht Club, Russell said, "I’ll quit my job if you do."

The following Friday morning they each gave notice. Phil recalls telling his boss and mentor, "I’ve got a life event that I need to talk about."

"Phil, are you getting married?"

"Worse. I’m going sailing."

Next thing they knew, Lawson and Huebschle were kissing their girlfriends good-bye and leaving on a jet plane for New Zealand. The plan was to buy a yacht, sail around the world, "breathe new life, come back refreshed and ready to knock it out of the park," as Phil had told his former boss.

In Auckland, they bought the newest, nicest boat they looked at — a 45-foot sloop named Kylie — then outfitted her with all the top instruments. "We were looking at this from an investment perspective, thinking we could make some money off her when we got back," says Russell. They would follow the standard circumnavigation course from Bali to Phuket, then up the Red Sea, the Med, and across the Atlantic. They’d sell the boat in Florida, fly back, and resume their careers.

But time on the water has a way of changing people’s plans. The closer they sailed to Phuket, the more rave reviews they heard from fellow yachties. They’d be marvelling at the beauty of a particular spot and someone would say, "Just wait till you get to Phuket, mate. You’re going to love Phuket."

On 5 September 2001, Kylie anchored off the entrance to Boat Lagoon. The plan was to play awhile in Phuket, then make for the Red Sea, where the window of favourable winds is very short, just the month of January. But six days later, terrorists crashed commercial airliners into the World Trade Centre. In the ensuing shock wave, a passage around Yemen and up the Red Sea made as much sense as biting the barrel of a flare gun and pulling the trigger. Their only real option was to wait for a full year, for the following January.

A couple months into their stay, both men were saying, "I’m never leaving this place." They looked at where they’d been and where they were headed. No place seemed as livable, as welcoming as Phuket, and they didn’t anticipate any points west would stand up to comparison. "We saw that leaving Phuket meant going back to San Francisco, resuming our old lives," says Phil. "It was the big fork in the road. If we sailed back, we would burn up all our capital and have no options. But if we stayed here, we could use that money to start something entrepreneurial." Phil first looked into setting up a seaplane operation, while Russell explored the possibility of opening a brewpub.

Now that they had shifted from cruising to island living, sailing seemed like a production, especially when you factored in the commute to the Yacht Haven. They decided to return to their roots and buy a small, high-performance boat that they could sail off the beach. Soon they and a friend were busy learning how to sail Bethwaite 59ers, cutting-edge skiffs with a tendency to surpass the speed of wind, and to capsize, violently, when sailed improperly.

As the seaplane and brewpub ideas fizzled out, Lawson and Huebschle found themselves devoting more energy to skiff sailing. They brought the boat’s designer up for seminars, made quantum leaps in their sailing progress, and started talking about organizing events here, even shooting for the world championships in 2006. It seemed natural to create a business around them, hence the launch of Skiff Asia, a sailing camp that will serve as a headquarters for regional racers; a destination for those more distant to come and train, compete, and learn the tricks of sailing these radical little boats; and an outlet for visiting sailors looking for something more challenging than hotel catamarans. Kylie, moored off the beach now, remains involved, primarily as the committee boat for racing events, but also for cocktails at sunset and for that island-off-an-island sanctuary.

Nearly three years have passed since Lawson and Huebschle made landfall in Phuket. That year and a half of cruising cast its magic, sparked its spiritual mojo. Their personal lives have become entwined here, they’ve made close friends, and have crewed on winning yachts in the King’s Cup, Phang Nga Bay, and Samui regattas. Their parents have visited, and are now planning to spend up to six months a year on the island. As Phil puts it, "Phuket is home now. It feels like home. When I’m away, I miss it."

Trinity Inlet - Cairns, Australia
The morning after Cyclone Abigail

Similan Islands - southern Thailand
The yacht “Kylie”

New Caledonia - South pacific
Isle of Pines locals

People from all over the South Pacific gather for a festival every 2 years

Bali, Indonesia - an island temple