Port Blair and the days that followed

Definetly a 30's look. Aberdeen Market taxi stand.

Delayed The next few days in port Blair were almost “fix the boat days”” waiting for mechanics days “not really able to move much from the boat.

The first mechanic appointment was brilliant on time and with expertise our dinghy got fixed in a flash and we all got hopeful that all the others were going to be just that. Well The Mechanic who was supposed to fix two generators and Apsaras engine turned up to on the boat with 240W globe and a wire as his testing equipment. Hmm... and it really was hmm. We could not communicate with him and he had no idea between the generator and the water maker. Apsara gave him no time of the day and Robert let him have a look with me objecting not to let him touch anything. Laugh if you want moment and with the heat language difference and sheer frustration our nerves started to frey.” Where is the champagne on the back deck”?The fridge mechanic on Cognac decisively wanted to fix our air-con and it took us good 10 min to persuade him that we did not have one a hmm...moment again and he came with the goods the next day. We also managed to find another mechanic and he came which is always a major bonus and had a meter with him not a globe and knew that the starter motor on our generator was broken and said he would have it rebuilt and ready the next morning. Brilliant would it happen – we had no idea. Apsara was doubtful and hopeful that their many problems would get resolved and chose to fix engine only as generator required new parts. So we waited.Still the great plan was most likely fix and turn around trip.Great news Barrie started to feel better and his hand infection clearing.

Old used to be grand and would you believe that there are buyers looking
 at these" beauties"every day. When one gets sold
  work starts not sure if to make these boats sea worthy or...

We managed to have some fun in the evenings either with friends from other boats trying out all the restaurants and Indian foods or exploring. Spent one very informative evening in the world famous and fascinating Circular Jail. Saw friends on super yacht Silverlining leave for their almost around the world trip...GREAT WINDS AND MANY ADVENTUES to the Silverlining family.

Sort of a roundabout.One sign reads "don't drink and drive-life is precious"
 Oh one other thing this is the second woman we have seen work here.

Golden Ghandi overseeing action here.

The washing machines.
There are water lilies growing there is rubbish really anything unexpected
is expected here...most unexpected-how does the laundry get clean???

The drying process is sometimes more interestig than the washing cycle.
Washing gets hung and than just placed where there is space.
Between the dust by-passing cows and many goats it is all done finished clean.
We never looked too closely or smelled our washing.Just trusted...ha...ha.

Oh I haven't mentioned re-fuling.
It is rater basic funny backbreaking and takes a long long time
 500 liters takes time

Amazing building and shops. There is a superb sari shop on 1 or 2nd floor.
It takes time to find how to get there

Not so sophisticated cash registerers and definetly a personal touch.
This is a zoo etry and our tuk tuk driver said that he wanted to come with us
 to see the animals...well what do you say.Buy him a ticket 2R

Cows...there are Hindu cows and Muslim cows. Muslim cows can be killed.
If you run over a cow you have to pay 5000 Rupi

Sari shop.The colour and choices-amazing.
This men obviously the owner has a sign on the wall "NO HUGGLING"
We think that he really means it too.

The flower making boys look happy enough...

Huggling is all fun here. It was joy doing busines with this
lovely and proud man.He sold us Andaman Island T-shirts.

Pretty young women in their colorful saris such a big part of this place.

We are getting used to the heat dust in our eyes and mouths cows smells new tastes and finding this place rather fascinating with so many little places and “jams” to discover.

Now this is a real laundry. Have not seen anything like this in my life.
Huge with the washing machines in the left corner.
Everything gets washed here in the same water
 as all the rinsing cycles

 If you are willing to look past the obvious you will see and enjoy a world that is vibrant so different to ours with a definite order even in what seemingly looks like chaos. Friendliness and smiles all around.

Aberdeen Bazar on a hot and dusty afternoon

Port Blair the first few days

Cowes people cars heat and lots of beautiful colours...new and exciting

The grea tview of Port Blair from the indian restaurant

Delayed 23rd March 2012

Gosh I certainly haven't seen one like that still in use.
 It had a bird on the bonnet that turned out to be an eagle
 and when the car drove he flapped his wings- priceless.

There are always lots of things to do in t.he first days in a new country. It is exciting and busy.
First is the checking in to make us official. In our case the process took 1 1/2 days. We were well prepared with MANY sets of copies of boat papers passports indian visas and of course the boat "stempel"(stamp)The first day we were visited by the Coastguard with 6 officials boarding  there was much very detailed paperwork. Some of it even required Roberts father's name. The following day we made our way to the"city"in a car we booked and it turned out to be a "gem"

Starting out in a new country is like setting up home. There are always basics we need like sim cards  to call & Internet to find out weather some fresh bread and vegetables washing to be dropped off at laundry rubbish to be disposed of etc.Than maybe something to eat and a coffee.Barrie developed an infection from a cut so we needed a hospital. Both boats needed diesel and this time mechanics galore.
We managed the sim cards for phones and 2 G Internet after completing another set of very involved paperwork and tried to understand how the local system worked from a very hot and half sleeping on a desk young woman. Trying to chose internet plan was a treat and after calculating that the cost was about 3 dollars per month it didn't seem to matterwhat we chose but sometimes it is really heard to get ones mind around many hundreds of rupies.
 Coffee was a tall order! Barrie was set on a cappuccino and asked the driver for a coffee machine ...oh dear. The driver after a hot and humid drive took us to a copy machine which closed the subject of cappuccino forever.
We thought lunch would be great like some Indian food and that one we managed after a  let's say not so fantastic option we ended up in a very nice place with great food. On the way we drove past this amazing biggest laundry I have ever seen.

Aberdeen bazar is a very busy noisy dusty hot and humid place.
 With friendly and helpful people everywhere generally just shopping.
The local drivers waiting for customers in their taxis and tut- tuts
just adding to the already busy traffic.

 Next fresh "stuff".Vegetables are usually easy it is just a matter of what one is prepared to try and so on our first visit to the famours Aberdeen Bazar that was dominated by men we found the usual choices of soft cucumbers really bad tomatoes nothing green to speak of. We clearly had to come back to the bazar as it was a bad day for shopping.
Hospital turned out to be well expect the unexpected place. I personally expected that and have not really understood the full meaning of it and how things can be - not at all.

This really struck us.
The Incredible India poster and the smaller asking to donate eyes on the wall
just outside the doctors room which was attending to few patients at a time.
the rest well lets just say...Staying healthy here is the only option.
(you can enlarge the image by double clicking on it)

By that stage it was time to arrange boat needs so diesel was negotiated  and arranged for the next few days and mechanic /s appointments were set in place. All of us were anticipating what the next day would bring because of the mechanical problems. We were happy to proceed with the travel plans.The mood was still tense and a possibility of making a turn around trip and return to Thailand was spoken of and still very much "on the cards". Robert fixed the alternator on Apsara unfortunately their engine developed problems also?
Before the end of the day our dinghy's motor" died" which was possibly due to condensation. Another appoitment with a mechanic really early in the morning. Anticipating tomorrow.

Priceless. We have not seen anything like this for a long long time.
There was nothing in the booth.

The fruit market - lunch in the shade...hmmm

Not sure what to say here...lunch in the box sort of. A different king of a box.

This wonderful man has a shop just outside the market
 with old cans and all things metal.

This was a classic. A beauty parlour where you could have face bleaching
babay cutting hair curling and" Piece de resistance" shampoo hair washing.

Hmm rice was clearly not to be bought here.
The blck specks - flies.

The dock. All deals are done here.

We are getting used to the place and the cows...

Surin Islands to Port Blair Andaman Isands India

1st day of crossing.
All travelling well with little wind mostly on the nose.

(delayed) The Crossing
After weeks of preparation for this trip and the few technical dissapoitments on both boats some health issues that were now resolved and a much longer lead up to finally the trip to Andamans we started our crossing to Port Blair - the major port,The clearance port and the everything else port in the Andamans.
Apsara with Chris and Barrie on board and us enjoyed a reasonable day sailing/ motoring with winds ...and dolphins keeping us company. It is such a delight when dolphins come I can't see that anyone would not smile at the depth of their soul seeing these amazing creatures far from  land on the open sea. One always gets a feeling of " you are safe" and it might be because of all the stories of dolphins as protectors of ships we have listened to when we were young and maybe not.

Our "bestest" dolphins....

Our distance 340 NM from Surin Islands Thailand just 7 NM of the boarder with Mayanmar(Burma)

Tinker still smiling and feeling rather sea sick.
The wires on the face...well sometimes one doesn't care...

Our plan was to travel 6.5-7 knots which would see us arrive in Pt Blair some 48+ hours later. One known obstacle on our way The Invisible Bank which is a massive coral reef mostly submerged and we planned to vear North to avoid it as we were going to sail over it at night. Not a comfortable feeling particulairly because this was a moonless night.
All went reasonably well except for feeling tired and me feeling sea sick unable to keep my eyes open for very long and unable to help all that much with the night watches. The only thing that woke me up was a couple of hours of going over some very confused sea water with waves coming from all directions and feeling quite wired like a washing machine a little scary even(for me). After a very long over 12 hours of dark the much awaited first light...me still rather sea sick with tablets taking only the edge of for a little and with Robert rather tired. I tried to do as many night watches as I possibly could. The morning brought news from Apsara of technical problems with the wind in the16 knots range Barrie had to totally remove the alternator from the engine as it partly fell off and this was his only option mid sea. We take our hat off for him doing this and than to add to the insult their generator stopped. That left them with no ability to make power needed by the auto pilot navigational equipment and most important navigation lights at night. The whole day was spent brainstorming on solutions and trying different options to make power. After exhausting all ideas the new plan was formulated for us to stay as close as possible about a mile apart during the night for safety and on stand by just in case Apsara lost navigational abilitie due to power and get to Pt Blair ASAP so pick up speed as well. That we did.

Robert rather tired and kept on keeping on as he does so incredibly well...

 Night was long and there was 1 1/2 hrs time difference between Thai time and India which added to dark time. Staying so close together mid sea at night required close attention and both Robert and Barrie did a fabulous job at that. The most concern The Invisible Bank and loss of navigation...none of that happen. We went over the bank smoothly although I must say that it had a creepy and really bone cold feeling going over it. It probably is a mass "grave" for many shipsof the past...Shortly after we got calls from the Indian coastguard And saw the first lights of Pt Blair still very much in the dark even though it was already close to 6am and with Apsara speeding up we approached entry in total darkness. Not that comfortable and once again a time to trust your navigational equipment with one exception. Andamans have moved and tilted during the tsunami and it was questionable if these changes were reflected on our charts. To the best of our judgement - yes. It was incredibly CO L D and foggy.

Robert quite exhausted and focused...

 Entering a new port can be confusing particularly when exhausted and partly in fog and there is always something unusual that makes one remember the experience this time it clearly will be the moving rocks right in the entrance. I saw them clear as day Robert said good morning to them...again a case of perception change when exhausted. Rocks they were not and little fishermen in their little boats yes.

Cold foggy and  better visible fishing men "rocks"now that it's daylight 

 We also had an unforgettably funny "Welcome to India"moment from Robert and happy to share this one when we meet next...After requesting permission to enter and a series of probing questions sometimes hard to answer not to mention understand and comprehend we anchored safely in total fog.

Fog Fog and more fog

Apsara made it!!!!!!!!!!!Safely

 Happy to have made it safely and exhausted we rushed in our dinghy over to hardly visible Apsara surrounded by the heavy fog and saw a 1 1/2 crocodile just by their boat. 

Surin Islands

Beautiful and quite.

19th February 2012(delayed) 9degrees 25.66N and 97 degrees 53.55E. We arrived at Surin Islands towards the end of the day and tried to use one of many buoys available only to find that some were impossible to use and others were so close to coral that gave us a hair rising experience and a very speedy reverse action from Robert. In the end we decided to use our own anchor at least we were certain what was holding us. We chose the spot very carefully just to find out in the morning when water visibility changed drastically for better that we were lets say on the very edge of a coral jungle. Barrie proudly took a picture for us and named it "Robert living dangerously" - we moved quick smart of-course. There are only two main islands separated  by a very shallow channel with quite spectacular views. We took a dinghy drive all the way from one end It all looked very quite with lots of coral most dead and not much fish. The islands are supposedly uninhibited except for a smallest navy base a couple of a small resorts and the Singh (Lion) tribe of Chao Lay sea gypsies who live in a village on Koh Surinam Tai.

Chao Lay sea gypsies village.

 We visited wanted to know how they live. Apparently they have their own language and do not count past 10 and live mostly on fish and rice. We arrived on an incredibly hot afternoon when most were having their "wash" for the day and no one really took any notice of us. It almost felt like intruding in someone's home which they didn't mind. Their life was just going on as normal and us well almost like invisible people. The pictures will tell the story.
A LAMENTING very loudly women in one of the houses caught our attention. At the same time a group of happy people were building something - yes a very basic coffin. Apparently there was an accident.

A rather social occassion of coffin building.

The women playing an intense game of cards.

Little trouble makers playing with their dad's boat.
Yes the one in the water made it...

This is a real kitchen not a display.Symplicity works

 Very happy little people with lots of " spunk"

Some seem to reside on boats and are all smiles.

The afternoon wash time for all in the village. Quite a sight...different.

Just a glympse into the private home.

All the houses have proper numbers.
And look closely inside. The king's picture is present in many homes.

Mother and a child.The white on the face of mother
 is just flour mixed with water and used as sunscreen.

The men are busy making their own boats and fishing.
 Some even work in the nearby small resort.

Robert waithing patiently.
He ended up helping this little bou with a little boat he had in the water...
no words were necessary between men.

 

Similan Islands

interesting jelly fish on the anchor chain.
It was quite a task to get them off (there were a few)with gloves on.



 Similan Islands still Thailand
12th February 2012 8 degrees 39.95N and 98 degrees 38.85E
Finally we have arrived at Similans after our unexpected delay/small changes of sailing plans as we got to call it. A day after living Phuket health issue slowed us down. Than our fridges stopped working and so did 40% of our shopping Apsara developed temperamental generator that did not want to start. Part solution - a portable fridge on loan made us happy to continue.

Robert fixing a sail that got a last minute rip.It takes 10 minutes to fix
 it and 1 hour of deciphering the instructions on how to do it.

The first thing one could see entering.Beautiful huge boulders.
 This one is caled the Duck. See all the people on its beak

Similan means 9 and indeed there are 9 islands in the group and they are named 1 to 9 as well. Quite distinctive in the way they look even from afar with their spectacular rock foundations and formations . Only 3 can be stopped at others are too small or "rocky"
The whole area is protected National Park. It is not allowed to fish or drop anchors as that could damage coral so the only option if one wants to stay the night is to take a morning if one is available and hope that it is a good one to hold your boat.
Entering the bay we chose to stay at I noticed (as I am always on the bow of Cognac to look out for danger and good spots to anchor while Robert is behind the wheel) a lot of small orange buoys and some bigger ones. Thinking noting of it as we got closer ...like only few meters closer the little buoys were actually swimmers/snorkellers in orange life jackets...a bit of a heart stopper and totally unexpected. Catching our moring buoy the first time essential as the bay is rather small with not much room for maneuvering with all the bodies in the water. Luckily we did that.

The depth here 5 meters. You would not think that would you?

Our first spot was a turtle who came for a little look and all the varieties of fish followed. In the meantime our free floating swimmers were ordered back to their speed boats and left the bay just for us. What a variety and quite big fish too. Beautiful with incredibly clear water and perfect visibility which so much so that it is almost impossible to guess the depth.
Snorkeling was an experience. We saw turtles rather big coral fish in amazing array of colors even ones that seemed to have a nose like a " Pinocchio".

Fish at the back of Cognac.
Really we did not have to go snorkelling it was like a living aquarium.

Tinker hand feeding fish with bananas.

All very enjoyable until 10am when sometimes 10-15 boats come at once and each empty about 50 people in the water with all the screams bells and whistles. The truth is that they only stay 20 min each and than move on just to repeat the performance 2 more times during the day. Yes it does take away from the serene experience.

And the tourists pouring out of the speed boats that bring them
 50 at the time.

And the night-time divers.

Oh and than at night the diving boats come in to stay for the night and except for the oxygen noise they are usually rather quite. We moved to Island No 4 quite spectacular our buoy was a few short meters from the shore and water that seemed very shallow in fact we were in 5m.  This too was very busy in a different way. The water clarity made up for it oh and the fish. Spectacular and they loved bananas! We were told that turtles love bananas. No turtles and fish ate it from the hand.

Beautiful !

Bye Bye Similans

And what a view

 We snorkeled and observed the very interesting life underwater. There is a definite pecking order in their world. The small fish would "run" the reef and the big fish obeyed. Small fish syndrome ??? We watched how the coral eaters actually turn up side down to bite on coral making a really loud crunching noise and they "poo"something unbelievable...At night we would watch this something that first we thought to be sea snake as it was long maybe 3-5 meters and thin and no it was different. As soon as we shone light on it it disintegrated into fluorescent tube that disfigured and disappeared. It almost looked like a fluorescent digestive tube digesting food. There were many such creatures coming of the land-mysterious. Enjoyed Similans and decided to move to Surins which were supposed to be really quite with almost no tourists.

Huge granite boulders which line the shorelines and are jumbled beneath the waves to depths of 35m. Very impressive.

 

Andaman Islands - The plan

Taken this morning "The Girl" ready for the journey with some traditional
Thai flowers for luck and good time

We are finally ready after our extensive preparations shopping checking out of Thailand preparing for formalities of checking into Andamans and more shopping. Our planned journey to Andaman Islands is. Leave Phuket Marina Thailand(in company of Apsara)tomorrow on Sunday 29th and make our way to Similan Islands Thailand which should take us about 5-6-7 days (sailing days) taking it totally easy than we will have to calculate our 3 day cross over to Port Blair Andamans carefully in terms of hours travelled to arrive there in daylight as well as in terms of days of the week. We need to arrive during week day which may speed up our checking in. Once we get to Port Blair and get trough the check in proces which can be 2 days long we than have to present our plan of stay and visits which will either be approved or changed we than have to report each morning and evening with our position as well as check the local weather as this is temperamental. Now Andaman Islands and what we know so far. They are a World Heritage site in Bay of Benga with somel 330 Islands with highest peaks of submerged mountain range that stretches from Sumatra Island. Ranked alongside Zanzibar Pago Pago and Timbuktu as the ultimate in tropical mystery. They still have stone age inhabitants related to African Pygmies in 4 tribal groups - Great Andanamese had already been pushed to the edge of extinction - Onge on Little Andaman around 100 left today - Jarawa most isolated tribe on the planet today. Only 100 or so hunter gatherers are left today They have no contact with other humans as they always violently reject any contact from the outside world and are violent if approached and nobody understands their language. Sailors of the past told fantastical tales long time ago about the islands tiny black skinned " cannibals" who would butcher shipwrecked crews. Marco Polo described them as having" heads like dogs and teeth and eyes likewise" 84% protected as National Park or tribal reserves for the native inhabitants. Centuries of isolation of Andamans present visitors with a rare time capsule here. There are pristine beaches and spectacular diving with untouched ecosystem even a live volcano on Barren Islandwhere we want to visit Untouched jungle including Andanamese cobras twenty feet long (apparently they eat other snakes like several feet long water krait snakes) saltwater crocodiles and oddities like emerald geckos as well as the world largest crab the Robber Crab which can climb trees and knock down coconuts which they than crack for coconut milk Exotic wildlife fishing amongs the best in the world and we definetly intend to fish!!!! Apparently there is more crayfish that one could eat. Hmm will let you know about this one.Surfing is amazing and Andamans are home to swimming elephants on Havelock Island. The land is a strategically sensitive frontier.Foreigners are allowed to visit only 38 islands with permission which is granted on entry and not automatically for a maximum stay of 30 days with visa. Andamans were hard hit 2004 by earthquake and Tsunami South and middle Islands are 2 meters lower.We have to be very careful using our GPS as datum is out nearly 1/2 mile. We will need to apply corrections of 0.092'S and 0.106'E to make it all line up - try doing that! Apparently the existing charts are dating back to somewhere in rather early 1900 and are not really correct so extreme care is required. There are surprise coral reefs and an Invisable Reef. No closing eyes on this trip! Andamans were a British colony in the past." in the early 1900 s those who chose to resist the British with violence in India were either sentenced to death by hanging or deported to Port Blair (our first call in Andamans and the capital city) for life imprisonment " in The Cellular Jail which we plan to visit. Apparently it is absolutely unique. The whole of Andamans sound rather unique and an experience we are looking forward to. Hoping for great winds safe passage both ways and an unforgettable time for all the good reasons.