Voyage Colombo - Mumbai

So we had the sailing orders and port clearance was done. All we were missing now was the relieving Chief Engineer, Phil, who was arriving at noon.

Colombo Port behind the cruise jetty

Engines were running and linesmen were standing by, crew was on stand by and we had permit to cast off and we are waiting for the taxi to arrive with Phil. Pilot was not needed as Colombo have this "rule" or custom that if the Master is confident that he can take out the ship without any assistance he can do that, this is usually asked by the VTS.

Dagoba next to the port

Eventually the taxi cruises on the jetty just on time and Phil gets out and climbs onboard. The crew collects the gangway and orders are given to cast off all the lines. As we are in the innermost corner of the port we move astern and swing around by starboard. Once our bow is pointing north we start making slow headway of 2-3 kts but are soon chased by the VTS who says "can you please speed up, we got other ships waiting to enter". As I'm on duty I have the handles so I increase speed, by the time we are passing the breakwater the log is showing 8 kts, I hope it was fast enough for them.

We are once again heading for Mumbai and the seas are calm and the sun is shining. At least the weather was better then when we were coming. Next 2 days goes in the routine of the sea, weather continues to favor us and crew is doing washdown of the yacht. On the morning of 21st we arrive a hazy/ foggy Mumbai.

It is incredibly hot and humid, the haze is ever present and gives hardly a miles visibility. it is that time of the year again. The end of the month goes in doing all ISM jobs and preparing handover to my relieving Chief Officer, Tsvetan Nenkov.

Weligama Bay to Colombo

So in the evening we got instructions to prepare for BBQ and we set it up in a record time of 45 minutes only. Avnish was handling the shoreside while I had my duty to take care of. At midnight the party was topped off with a short fireworks display.

Weligama fishing harbor

Soon after everything was packed in and onboard we heaved up anchor and departed for Colombo at 0230hrs. After an uneventful sail we arrived next morning to Colombo and moored at the cruise terminal. The jetty was in fact was just a cleaned up and cordoned off area used by the cruise ships, the next berth was already occupied by a container carrier. Well, at least it was better than the previous berth where we were rolling in the swell that came in from the north entrance.

Another (old) Colombo visitor

In early afternoon the guests disembarked and crew started to prepare for sea as e were expecting sailing orders the same afternoon.

Me and Avnish decided to take advantage of the lull and went ashore for a massage and a seafood dinner at Lavinia beach. The massage was good although expensive compared to Thailand.

The dinner at the beach was delicious. The restaurant was setup just by the railroad tracks and between the beach. It was quiet and tidy, the beach was stretching into the distance with the highrises of Colombo business district looming far away.

While I was chatting with Avnish suddenly a ball bounced on the table and from there straight on my left eye. It turned out some youngsters were playing cricket a bit away and the ball had strayed in a high trajectory which ended on my face. Luckily it was not a real cork cricket ball, my left eye would probably be blind by now. Nevertheless it was a shock and the eye hurt quite a bot but as there did not seem to appear any lesions or blurred vision we carried on as usual and had our dinner that was crab and prawn curry Sri Lankan way.

After finished our dinner we paid and left back for port. When we arrived onboard there was still not any sailing directions issued. I was not in a hurry to sail.

Next few days we were still waiting for sailing orders and I got orders to go and check out Trincomalee port for a possible monsoon berth for Kalizma. As 17th was a public holiday in Sri Lanka I booked a driver for the 18th at 5AM.

Voyage Mumbai - Colombo - Galle

Our cruise to Lakshadweep had been foiled by the sudden appearance of Somali pirates in our intended cruising area so we did not leave as planned. We sat for another 2 days and had a hectic time preparing backup cruises for Sri Lanka and up the West Coast of the subcontinent to Diu Island, Gujarat.

Dolphin Rock in Mumbai

Then the orders came to sail for Sri Lanka.

We quickly got our agent mobilized, port clearance and last minute shopping and so we departed for Colombo at midnight 8th. We were in a hurry and burned fuel to the tune of 20 knots, our three 6270 kW main engines were guzzling up diesel hundreds of tons every day. By the time we reached Gulf of Mannar we got bad weather blowing from the NE. The center engine started taking in water through the exhaust so we had to stop it but as we were almost there it did little difference to our ETA.

Another old Colombo Port visitor

Eventually we made arrival Colombo on the 12th at 3am. We tied up near the northern entrance and were still rocking of the swell outside of the port. The port of Colombo is growing massively, huge land filling project is underway to enlarge the container terminal outside of the old harbor. This could not be seen in April 2010 when I stopped there to refuel Kalizma. The Sri Lankan industry must be booming after the Tamil Tiger problem has been gotten rid of.

M/y Indian Empress in Galle

We got guests onboard from the airport and continued our voyage at 5am towards Galle where we arrived at noon. Galle had remained the same from my last visit there in 2008. The port had restored some yacht pontoons and moorings that had been demolished by the 2006 tsunami but otherwise everything looked more or less the same. Even the pilot cum Port Captain was the same. The publicans were also the same, scores of people asking for booze and cigarettes left and right.

Another Galle visitor, perhaps for whalewatching...

Luckily we got Avnish doing the Purser bit as I always have a problem of telling people politely they got enough, now scram. Once the formalities are cleared we get some expat bum named Geoffrey seeking entry onboard on the excuse that he has a friend of a friend who knows the guests onboard, yeah sure I also use this excuse when I want to go meet unknown rich people, works every time. Only God knows how he managed to get into an ISPS controlled port.

The LTTE gunship cum trawler

The forward mounted 50 cal machine gun

There also was an impounded ex. LTTE gunship tied up in the port, an old fishing trawler equipped with 50cal machine guns mounted forward and aft. I could imagine the Somali's could put it to great use being the scourge of the Indian Ocean.

Sri Jinaratana Bhikku Abhyasa Vidyalaya temple

As Sri Lanka is 80% Buddhist as were our driver he took me to visit a temple, Sri Jinaratana Bhikku Abhyasa Vidyalaya. The temple had surprisingly many Chinese style deities there, I assume donated by various benefactors. 

This Chinese general had his spear missing

Another Chinese deity

I also saw the Hindu Goddess Parvati as well (I think). 

Parvati

The main temple was beautiful and at the time there was a 3 man combo playing drums and flute for some reason I had never encountered before in any other Buddhist temples I've visited in other countries. 

While walking around the compound I also came across a baby elephant that seemed to be somekind of mascot (maybe orphaned) for the monks there. I was told there was 15 monks currently resident at the temple.

The pet elephant

Markets of Colombo

We went in the morning to Colombo fish market which was actually quite close to the main port. As soon as I stepped out of the car I could smell the pungent fish aroma coming strong into my nostrils. Richard mumbled "Oh my God, this is worse than Crawford market". maybe so but fish had to be bought.

The fish vendor

In we went and walked around to see what was on display. Most of the fish for sale was tuna, tuna and more tuna. There was also other deep sea fish that I would not know what species they were but some of them were really big. Then there was the usual shrimp, lobster, squid and crab assortments and some reef fish as well. We settled on some fish, shrimp and squid. The shrimp was so fresh that the seller bit one off in front of us to prove it. The smell might have been a bit on the strong side but the goods were definitely fresh.

The man and his fish

After buying what we came for we got some chicken and eggs from shops adjacent to the fish stalls. Then we went in search for some more vegetables, spices and pork. The vegetables were a bit scarce as the country was still recovering from New Years celebrations but what was available was fresh and nice. Pork we could not find, the only butchers we came across were all muslim and they don't understandably sell it. Richard was in his own element as many vendors were Tamils and he could haggle in his mother tongue. 

Richard at the banana shop

The herb vendor

As usual when entering the port we had to grease hands as the rule says nobody is allowed to bring inside anything, one should use a shipchandler (and pay triple prices). Oh well, 400 rupees (4 USD) did the trick and we had our groceries onboard... 

Port entrance - STOP, please open the what???

Colombo stopover

15th April early morning we approached Colombo and the day dawned to a yellow cloud of pollution over the capital of Sri Lanka. Reminded me of the same view when I was sailing into Hong Kong years ago on a casino ship. Every morning we saw what we were going to breathe during the day.

A new day in Colombo

In Colombo we were first inspected by the Navy. They sent divers under the hull to check the bottom for IED's I assume. Once done we got the green light to proceed inside the harbor. Port sent me a harbor pilot and as custom dictates in this corner of the world he asked for a "souvenir" once we were safely alongside JCT (Jaya container terminal) north extension at 1030hrs. I gave him a bottle of Black Dog.

Kalizma alongside JCT

 Once finished with engines and shut down the bridge I went to greet our agent from before, Mr. Upali Gooneratne. The paper shuffle was about to begin. Only the Officials were lazy to attend to us as the Sinhalese New Year had been last night so people were stlll in a holiday mood. Finally, I got the immigration, port health and Customs onboard after Upali had chased them up several times. The clearance was painless as I smoothed it over with Signature whisky for each department. We were cleared at abt 1400hrs.

Parliament house

Half day had gone waiting for doing the clearance so now we had to hurry to get some provisioning done. Upali arranged a car and driver so me and Richard got going to a local supermarket where we stocked up with essentials. We also got a bottle of famous Sri Lankan arrack. Colombo still has many colonial buildings left from the English era and the roads are wide and clean. The paranoia from 3 years strife with the LTTE is still showing with the many road stops, blocks and checks everywhere. Soldiers are openly wielding assault rifles (AK-47's).

Colonial architecture - the Cargill Building

Again bringing stuff inside the port proved to be tricky as the security guards at the gate said it was not allowed. I find it very annoying that when one has paid VAT and all, we are not allowed to bring it onboard (!?). I can understand that fees and taxes apply when bring something ashore but not vice versa. Not to talk about all the liquor the officials extract from all the ships and probably finally sell it somewhere (otherwise they would be walking perpetually drunk). Colombo port still has a long way to go to become visitor friendly.

The Grand Oriental Hotel where I stayed in 2007

Next day 16th Upali was working most of the day getting permission for our bunker truck to enter the port. I went to the open fish and vegetable market with Richard. Finally late afternoon we got the bunkering started and once finished we were all set. Same evening I got a call from India changing our sailing orders, new destination: Mumbai, the IPL finals. More work for Upali to change our port clearance.

Colonial architecture

Morning 17th Upali had got our port clearance done and at 1100hrs I cast off Colombo and set my course for Mumbai. The weather was overcast with sunny patches. In the night we got pretty strong thundershowers following us and we also got our share of torrential rain and lighting show. Gulf of Mannar can be bad at times but we got lucky as the winds missed us this time. 

Cats of Colombo

The white house of Colombo - City Hall

A Mosque and Church next to each other

Tuk-tuk galore