Showing posts with label Agatti Island. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Agatti Island. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Departure Lakshadweep

The morning 14th is the last time I go and drop off the security detail and I pick up the last batch of curry and parotha's. Soon enough we send our guests to the airport and it is time for us to settle the bureaucratic matters with locals and have a breather.

The parotha and fish curry cook in front of his tools of the trade

We have time enough so some crew are given opportunity to dive the Fish soup site and other opts for having a stroll on Agatti Island. I'm content in nursing my flu.

Agatti police station

Road to the jetty


It was an interesting sojourn to one of the most remote territories of India. The sad part was that we did not have the opportunity to see more Islands due to the recent piracy clashes with the Indian Navy and pending piracy threat from Somalia. They are now a real scourge of the Indian Ocean in their own right as per the current statistics and news.


Local cargo ship being unloaded

The western jetty on Agatti


Late evening we have everything cleared out, tenders on deck and ship is secured for sea. We heave up anchor and depart for Mumbai.



Saturday, March 12, 2011

Another day in paradise

11th morning I am sent ashore to change our security detail and at the same time I pick up more of the local fish curry and parothas that has been a great hit among the Indian crew onboard. I come back on time for breakfast and after that the diving preparations begin.

Our security detail

Jetski's are pulled out from the lazarette and put on standby for guests. Towels and sun lotion is laid out. Finally the guests leave for diving and there is an hour quiet onboard.

Ad on AGatti

Sunset over Agatti

Upon return there is a request for beach BBQ preparations and evening goes there sending materials and then finally lugging it all back. Chairs, tables, gazebos, parasols, cutlery, crockery, glassware, music, beach gear, roman candles, towels.. it is a long list. Once back onboard it all has to be cleaned and washed before we can knock off for another day.



Friday, March 11, 2011

Diving Fish Soup

The 11th morning we prepare for diving, our dive guide, Sikandar, briefs us of the site and tells us the name is derived from the plenty fish that frequents the area. I suggested changing it into "Bouillabaisse" as the dish requires traditionally for some 7 fish to be put into it. The site is just a mile or so south of IE's anchoring position.

Gear is taken out, rigged together and stowed onboard. Checklists are completed and off we are to enjoy the wonders of the dominion under the sea. I let the pictures speak their own language ...

A spiky sea star

Sea anemone

Sea anemone

Orinetal sweetlips and White-spotted grouper below

Sea cucumber

Over a brain coral garden

Soft coral

School of fish

Spotted a turtle

Bennett's butterflyfish

Soft coral

Giant clam

Giant clam

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Agatti Island

Next day half morning goes in preparing for the guests arrival and coordinating the shore transport as well as mapping out reefs.

Agatti Is traffic tower for shipping

Local sheds

Agatti fire engine (I think out of commission)

Early morning I take Anil ashore as he wants to buy some pickle and other condiments from Agatti while we check out the safe route into the lagoon. I follow him as the tender is minded by our Deckhand and we walk some 150m inland, the roads are in the Indian fashion chaotic and winds here and there. I can see signs of hotels and restaurants and shops selling mobiles and daily small stuff one may need. People eyeball and smile at me as I'm a foreigner. Everything looks very rural and original.


AIBAR

AIBAR

AIBAR

AIBAR beach looking North 

We haven't gotten our breakfast yet so we quickly pop into a restaurant and order fish curry and parothas. The dish is so good that we practically hoover the plates empty and we order some more to go for the guys onboard. While I have a masala chai, Anil goes on a motorbike with our diveguide Sikandar to find some pickles. By the time they arrive back I'm on some fresh paan and we head back North towards the lagoon exit and head to Bangaram and Tinakara Island to chart the route there as well.

Bangaram in the background 

Bangaram

The atoll entrance to Bangaram is crystal clear and Sikandar guides the coxswain from the bow to avoid big coral heads that clutter the channel. There are some buoys but unless one knows how the channel is, it is difficult to interpret what they are warning for as the shapes and colors are not necessarily IALA standard. At first we tried rounding Bangaram on the SE but the water got just too shallow, the sandbank had filled the lagoon, so we ventured back to the entrance and rounded Bangaram on the SW. Bangaram also has a resort that has a permit to take foreign visitors but the resort is closed due to litigation. We can see people milling around and Sikandar tells me they are locals.

The emerald waters of the atoll

Once on the NW side we entered the lagoon (Bangaram is shaped like a crescent) and the depth went to well over 20m and we speed up until we come again into shallow waters and wind our way on the E side of the atoll at the ridge between live coral heads and the white bleached area. We came to the beach of Tinakara and turned back as time was getting short and guests were arriving soon. We could use speed now as the route was plotted into our GPS and we knew how the channel was. Soon enough we were back onboard IE and the tender was given a going over before heading towards Agatti Island and the airport.


Tinakara Island

The wind has picked up so while I go ashore to receive guests, Avnish moves IE into lee and anchors north of the North Eastern jetty. We sit at the AIBAR (Agatti International Beach And Resort) and wait for the plane to land. The resort is just next to the airstrip that is located on the extreme south end of the Island. AIBAR is the only resort on the Island that can accept foreign guests, next to AIBAR is a new resort called Sea Shells but as far as I understand they do not have the permit to accommodate foreigners. However I never got a straight answer whether I as a foreigner could venture into the village area and get lodging at one of the guest houses there.

Agatti commercial jetty (half way Island)

There are 2 planes arriving every day from Cochin, one carrier is Indian Airways and the other Kingfisher Airlines. It is not necessary to sit  in the terminal and look at a screen to see if the plane has landed, we can see and hear the plane and we get up and hurry to the terminal.

KFA has landed

While the girls receive guests I get the luggage organised on a local boat and it is accompanied by one deckhand to IE while we load the guests on the tenders. Once we're all set we start towards the ship at the tune of 30 knots and it does not take long before we have the guests onboard sipping welcome drinks and making themselves at home while the stewardesses are distributing luggage and unpacking it.

Passing the other commercial jetty (NW)

The rest of the afternoon and evening guests enjoy onboard.


Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Voyage Mumbai - Agatti Island

On the 8th morning we depart for Agatti with pilot onboard. We have only permit to land at Agatti probably due to security reasons keeping in mind the two recent piracy incidents at Lakshadweep. Our agent had told us that the Somalis and rescued Thai fishermen now sit in the yellow gate police station in Mumbai where crew is signed on/ off ships. Leaving the busy metropolis with its dust and pollution behind we set course for Agatti Island and get briefed to keep a vigilant anti piracy watch as well as we double the navigation watch with regular patrols on decks.

Dawn in front of Gateway

I have the 00-06 watch so I am up all night. The seas are calm and the traffic is quiet, nothing out of the ordinary takes place. We arrive Agatti Island late afternoon and we pass the Tinakara and Bangaram Island that is north of Agatti. The Islands look the same as in Maldives, low profile with coconut palms growing in the middle and pearly white beaches. We end up anchoring off the North Point of the Island after a failed attempt near the cargo jetty. They jetty itself would be able to accommodate us length and depth wise but the prevailing swell would damage the ship, badly.

Bangaram and Tinakara Island in the distance

Once we've anchored the local dignitaries come aboard, police, immigration. customs, PR photographer, dive guide and Director General (I think). The clearance is done in a leisurely manner and finally it is done but by this time it is getting dark already so no reconnoitering is possible prior to guests arrival.

Local fishermen

Fortunately, I get to pick the brains of the dive guide and we also go ashore to pick up the police security team onboard. Ashore while waiting for the Officers I have tea and paan at the local teashop just by the jetty. The infrastructure here is authentic and original, not like the artificial resorts in the Maldives. While sipping my tea I also meet the local postmaster but his English is pretty perfunctory so we just smile politely to each other. Finally the police comes and we get back to the ship.