Port Blair. BYOB It’s been a few days since my last post. I believe the maps were the last posting. I am in Port Blair on the hard as Shawn and Ally ask to have time between legs to sort the boat out and lay in provisions for the next leg of the journey which will begin Feb. 1st or 2nd. We have said goodbye to Edgar,Alex and Larissa who’ve all continued their journeys. E&A are off to Vietnam and Larissa went to Indonesia. Poor Edgar found out the night before they were leaving for Vietnam that he needed a visa. He had been under the impression that EU passport holders didn’t. A mistake that cost close to 400 Euros because it was so last minute. Then we heard from our agent, whose sole job was to streamline our arrival and departure, he had forgotten to inform us that more documents had to be signed by the three that were leaving. So once those were filled out they were sent. Then our agent apologizes because he sent the wrong ones over and the three had to fill out anoth...
Posts
Long Island No Ice Tea here! This is the start of our day that took us from Havelock to Long Island. One that was expected to take 9 hrs but came in under 6 because of great winds. We headed here because there is an Eco Lodge and Resort. We heard there was a restaurant available so we thought a couple of days at anchor and then head out. We arrived and low and behold there is a lodge but we were told a flat out no to the idea of eating there. No reason given. Just the cook,who by the way is the only one working at the ”restaurant” saying no. There were two separate groups of people eating at the lodge when we arrived. One gentlemen came to see where we were all from and he gave us directions on how to get to the main road. From where he was standing he pointed in a direction that took us into a water buffalo pasture. Of course we didn’t know that. There were no signs that said “You are entering a water buffalo pasture” No we thought we were looking for a path to the m...
Neil Island A very busy place. Ferry’s arriving on the 15 dropping day travellers and those seeking extended stays. With each arrival a taxi war begins and a cacophony of horns ensues. I swear that drivers in this part of the world use their horns more in one day than we in North America do in a lifetime. There’s all different beeps as well. Beep to say I’m behind you and coming in fast, one to say move over I’m coming to pass you and the classic I was here first beep. We took the dinghy into shore midday with the intention of a quick walk around, lunch and meet back at the boat for 14:00. Because there seems to be no rush when at a restaurant we decided to meet back at the dinghy at 15:00. Which gave all of us time to explore. Two firsts happened for me that day. I had a beer in a local bar and had to use the roadside facilities. An eye opener for sure. The bar was connected to a rather upscale hotel and as the front desk clerk was taking Larissa and I in he said “it’s not v...
Havelock After getting back to the boat at Neil Island our departure the next morning was set for 08:00. We were headed to Havelock. A bumpy ride but we weren’t pulled over by the coast guard. A pleasant change. Arriving around 11:30 all except Ally headed to the beach. Because of what happened on Neil with the tide being out we decided that 14:00 was the cutoff time to be back at the dinghy. Havelock, by far has been the nicest island we have been to in the Andaman's. We found a lovely restaurant on the beach called the Full Moon Cafe which had wonderful food. Numerous beachside resorts and a more laidback traffic situation. As our supplies are dwindling, on each island we seek out to restock beer and liquor. No easy feat. On Havelock we thought we had found our liquor pot of gold. The staff at Full Moon assured us that yes there is a store located behind the bank which was a, you guessed it, 20 minute walk. Because our tide timing was moving fast, it was de...
January 16th AM More Dolphins : This morning we awoke anchored in Phoenix Bay on Neill Island. We arrived yesterday afternoon around 4:30. The Journey Here: Before our departure from Port Blair we had to seek approval from the harbour master. Something we were denied because they hadn’t received our itinerary, even though we had sent it over weeks prior and had a copy returned with changes made by the naval authority on Andaman. A quick connection with our agent sorted things out as they were the ones who hadn’t submitted our new itinerary to the harbor master. The amount of hoops we have been jumping through makes me feel like a circus clowns chihuahua. Of course it was all sorted out and off we went. Now as any sailor who cruises knows that when you want to go in a northerly direction the wind is always out of the North. As it was yesterday. Wind in our face for the entire sail but we made it. The video posted below is of more dolphins that decided to visit. There wer...
Port Blair. After four days we finally made it to Port Blair arriving at about 00:30 local time. 02:00 boat time. There is a 90 minute time change between Phuket and Port Blair so we kept boat time as Phuket until we landed. One last marine sighting happened before sunset on our last day. It was a pod of whales. WHALES. When we first sighted them they were quite a distance from the boat and I thought that we would only see their expulsion of air as they came to the surface. We counted at least five maybe six. As we continued along the pod split and two went lateral to the boat while the remaining members continued along their course. Take a look at what happened. Longer videos exist but I haven’t had a chance to process them. I’ll post when I do. It was amazing. The video does not do the experience justice. The whales were so close to the port side of the boat they almost hit it. Turns out they were corralling squid. How do we know that? Well a few of the squid ended up on...
Happy Birthday I was on watch from 06:00-08:00. Nothing of note to report. My watch before that was from 20:00 to 22:00 on the 10th and during that two hour window we saw winds increase to 27.8 knots. They were not sustained at that speed but they did get up to it. Of course the seas responded with waves from 6-10ft and have not really settled since. We are currently in following seas and just over 120 KNM’s from Port Blair, travelling at 6.5 knots and higher when we surf off the rollers in this following sea. Sleeping or shall I say trying to sleep in these conditions has been challenging for all. Including Shawn and Ally who have been in more severe conditions during their journey through the Pacific. I think the cabin I have is the most comfortable if you can call it that, for these conditions. Since there is space between the hulls on the catamaran occasionally waves come crashing into the second hull with a slam that would send you calling 911 if it happened to your house. Have a ...
Night Watch It’s 12:15AM January 10th and I am in my cabin after completing my first night watch. I don’t know when this will be posted as we are on day one of our 4 day crossing from Thailand to the Andaman Islands and there is no wifi connection in the middle of the Andaman Sea. Only men who hunt fish in the inky black darkness on boats that glow green in the night sky and have pulleys and winches and steel arms that all moan under the weight of nets the size of houses as they hoist in the catch of the night. They do all of this so you and I can have calamari at Thursday happy hour. Night watch. It reminded me of a moment in my life when I realized I missed an opportunity. Something maybe we all have done. In my last year at Vincent Massey Secondary I met a beautiful adventurous girl. Her name was Elizabeth Pope. We never had classes together. As a matter of fact until we were in the final school play together I don’t think we had ever spoken. The play was “Everything in the Gar...
TOASTING THE CONQUERORS OF THE NORTH It’s been a bit since the last blog. I actually had written one and when I went to post it the damn thing disappeared. Technology and me! As you can see I’m celebrating the Lion’s victory over the Vikings and just about everybody in the NFC North. I don’t get to watch or listen to the broadcast but am able to catch the highlights on YouTube after the game is over. What I really like to watch are the “Calls of the Game” from Dan Miller. Right now he sounds like he’s loosing his voice. Luckily he has a week off from calling the next game. In the time of my last post we stayed a few days in Phi Phi snorkeling and hanging out. We now have our full crew complement now that Sasha and Edgar have joined the boat. Edgar is chief engineer for a super yacht and Sasha is studying interior design. Edgar has some very interesting stories on how those with unlimited monies spend their time on a yacht. Now we are making our official departure from Thailand. We...
January 2nd It’s 06:50 on the first morning on the boat. At the moment I am the only one awake and have been for a little bit. A beautiful sunrise is happening as the sun just peaks up from behind one of the many islands that dot the seascape herein Chalong Bay. This morning our departure time for Phi Phi is set at 07:30. Yesterday was a quiet day for most of us as we spent it shopping and getting situated on the boat. Unfortunately for Larissa, our youngest crew member, it was a bit of a stressful day to say the least. To start things off here shoes were stolen at the hostel she had been staying at. Next she couldn’t access the keys to her rental motor scooter because they were locked in the office and no staff was available as it was early New Years Day. Hence she was late meeting at the designated spot to get to the boat which was no big deal but of course she felt terrible this was happening. Like most when holidaying in some countries financial transaction can be a bit s...