Monaco - Cannes

I arrived Nice airport a bit after midnight on 30th May, it was about 4 years since I was in Mediterranean the last time. Nothing had seemingly changed, nobody was out to meet me so I took a taxi and gave instructions to drive to Monaco. The views would have been breathtaking had it been daylight when I was passing the mountains but in the middle of the night I just saw navigation lights at sea and streetlights on land.

Monaco

We arrived Monaco at about 2am and spent well over 30minutes finding Indian Empress but finally I recognized her "dwarfed" between other mega yachts on the "T" jetty. The F1 party is winding up everywhere, cleaning crews abound everywhere. I clamber onboard and meet Capt Bruno, then I find Chef Anil slaving away in the galley. I get some late dinner and swap the latest news and walk back aft to get some rest.

Greek yacht at the South jetty

I get up later at noon to start taking over my duties, I have only a written note to go on as Tsetso had already left the ship. In the evening we are ordered by the marina to proceed to anchorage as they need the space to move away the "Red Bull" pontoon. Anchor watches resume.

Miserable rain over Monaco

On 31st we get permission to berth at the South Jetty. We take pilot and moor alongside Atlantis II (Niarchos). We let go the starboard anchor and fasten bottom line on starboard side. Four lines are made fast astern.

M/v Independendence of the Seas

We stay the 1st alongside as windy weather persist over the French riviera.

m/y Zippo

Captain Zippo

On the 2nd we depart Monaco early morning, the wind has dissipated but it is still raining. The weather is miserable for yachting. We anchor a few hours later in front of Cannes, just North of Ile St. Marguerite. I spot the cruise ship Independence of the Seas anchored in the bay a bit further away or rather "Monster of the Seas" as she is so large. 

Ile St. Marguerite

Ile St. Marguerite by night

I also meet the famous "Captain Zippo" Mr. Ashok Prabhakaran who has been working for us several years.

Shiju & Jyoti

3rd of June I meet with Jyoti that is now working as a villa housekeeper on Ile St. Marguerite. She is now happily married and seems to enjoy her time in France. I doubt she misses Kalizma.

Classic yachts in front of Antibes 

Classic yachts in front of Antibes

m/y Lamu

m/y Alfa Nero

Yachts sitting in Cannes marina

Classic yachts in front of Antibes

Captain's Blog - Langkawi - Singapore - Langkawi - Phuket

As in previous blog it ended when we arrived to the drydock in Langkawi, which lasted 14th Aug to 18th Sept and was a very tiring affair for the whole crew.

Kalizma got a fresh coat of paint on the bottom, new zinc anodes, overhauled overboard valves, some new shell plating, additional echosounder and a muffler on the centre engine. Now when we’re idling one can barely hear the engines any more, I need to look at the rpm meters to verify I have propulsion. It is so silent.

Well, for crew matters we received a new Stewardess from the Niladri household, Ms. Martula Walling, her profile is posted in the crew section. Richard came back full of energy after his long odyssey into the Indian bureaucracy and Jessica went for a well deserved vacation.

Finally on the 18th we we’re on the way to Singapore and major washing up took place to remove all the drydock dust and dirt. We arrived 1deg15’ marina on the 20th Sept and was met by ships agent Angie Ng. After clearance was done it was time to coordinate all efforts for Bosses visit. Flowers had to be ordered, carpets cleaned, food ordered, dayworkers arranged etc., we had 5 days on us.

Finally the weekend arrived and the F1 qualifications took place, on Saturday the time races and finally on Sunday the actual F1 race. The race was in fact very exciting with Force India team briefly at 3rd place but unfortunately was dropped down due to safety car was brought out. Then Sutil crashed his car avoiding another car and Fisichella finished 2nd to last, I suspect due to filling fuel too much.

When the weekend was over it was time again to pack everything away and feast on leftovers.

Next two weeks was spent repairing our radars that suddenly gave up on our arrival Singapore. During this time we had a Beer Festival at Fort Canning, delicious Pepper crabs up in People’s Park, Teochew dinner in Mong Hin restaurant, Mediterranean cuisine at Esmirada on Orchard, Kilkenny’s beer in Muddy Murphy’s and of course shopping at Funan, Sim Lim Square and Orchard Towers.

Eventually we left on 14th Oct for Langkawi and arrived there on the 16th, weather was excellent.

In Langkawi we picked up some chemicals and re-fuelled, our agent John took great care of us once again.

Vivek & Juergen Zimmerer

Crew went for a jungle canopy excursion. The operation was run by a German, Mr. Juergen Zimmerer, who had been on the Island for 16yrs. We started with easy rope walking and principles of abseiling as well as we “trollied” over a short expanse on a wire until we got to the highlight of the trek: A wire ~100m long suspended up to a rainforest tree 60m tall. The ride up there was adrenaline inducing and when all was up in the tree we got to abseil down to the ground 30m. The whole trek gave a very good insight of what mountain climbing is about.

In the evening agent John treated undersigned for dinner at Teo’s where we had squid, steamed snapper and wild boar washed down with Tiger.

On the 17th we bid Langkawi goodbye and headed for Thailand, in the afternoon we did a dive at the Butang’s at Hin Takon Chet, hopping in straight from the swimming ladder. We found 2 big shell’s that we ate for dinner the same evening. For the night we anchored at Phi Phi Island and next morning at 9am we continued towards Yacht haven where we arrived at 3pm.

Next day Monday was full with activities meeting old acquaintances, getting technicians onboard to sort out some electronic problems still pending, hiring storage space and making up shopping lists for provisions and interior stores. As of writing this we have settled in Phuket again for the next 3mths or more waiting for the Boss or guests…