Hashing with LBHHH

19th Feb Hashing with Langkawi Beach Hash House Harriers

Having arrived to Langkawi it naturally reached the hashing community and we were asked to join the LBHHH for their next run and so we did. From the crew we went me. Saini, Dubey, Richard and Asen. The run was close to the hindu temple towards the golf course. As hares acted Brendan & Co and as usual he had laid an easy trail.

Hashers on the trail

After the headcount and briefing circle the run was off. It went trailing into the brush and soon we found us crawling up a steep hill that had been cut out by tree fellers. At one time I passed a tree stump that was abt 1.2m in diameter and later on Brendan told me he had spotted abt 7-8 of them. After the grueling uphill always comes downhill and we found us running in green jungle that was littered with stinking garbage at intervals.

Richard, Asen & Dubey

I saw some of the boxes and bags stamped with the name of "Westin", I bet the GM of the said resort would not be very happy knowing his trash lies in the jungles of Langkawi instead of disposed properly. Once passing the garbage dumps and arriving to the main road again it was straight back to the laager. When I finished the run I could see Saini and Dubey there already, they had beaten all the hashers once again.

Carolyn

Vanessa having a shy moment

The Executioner

While waiting for the stragglers to get in we enjoyed a well earned beer and chit-chat. Soon enough the end briefing circle was called and the proceedings began. Executioners were appointed and the hares were called in for judgement. Eventually Richard and Dubey, having done 3 runs or more, was named Tigerwilly and Muffdiver respectively.



Other happenings worth mentioning was the hasher that always liked to be front running bastard but knew Saini was going to participate skipped the run and came tot he cicle with a sick note from his mom. Naturalyy the GM did not take kind eye on such blatant offence and he was down-downed in rapid succession. As darkness was falling we packed up the circle and went to Lobster village restaurant for dinner.

Voyage Phuket - Langkawi

So, our time was again up in the Kingdom of Smiles and we were leaving for Langkawi once more. This time it could be for a longer time as there has been some talks that we might end up in Dubai.

My contractors and dayworkers had been paid off and jobs wrapped up for this period. Saini was getting the last supplies in preparation for his next maintenance round. I got a new stewardess onboard, Ms. Imtisenla Amur a.k.a. Asen, also from Nagaland in India.

Asen with her new curls

Kalpu making curls night before departure

On the 12th I went to Ao Chalong one-stop-shop and checked out the ship without any hassles and on 13th around 1pm we let go and started for Langkawi.

Since it was Lunar New Year and many of the boats with Thai, ethnic Chinese, Owners had been making offerings and attracting the Gods with fire crackers all morning I decided not be any worse and rigged a length of crackers from my bowsprit. Once we had our lines cast off we lighted the line and let it rip, every yacht in the marina that did not see us, at least heard us departing.



Weather was terrific, a bit of NE monsoon was blowing. As the weather was fine we decided to dive at Ko Ma. Ko Ma is a small Island with a crescent shaped reef on it's northern side. We planned to dive at the southern side where the Island apparently does a steep drop to 20 meters. Once in the water with Saini (we jumped off the aft deck) we started to descend and the water got very murky, at abt 15m it got also cold. Somekind of undercurrent pushed very cold water from somewhere.

I did some photography but it was not much use as I did not have my flash yet and the lighting was too low to get any decent pics. The bottom was bare with some odd coral growth and a multitude of crab holes, one could see them lurking for prey with their one claw out of the hole. After some 19minutes my air was gone and it was time to ascend. All in all a disappointing experience but in hindsight we could have gone a bit closer to the Island but as prudent navigators it is better to be safe than sorry.

Some sea creatures...eggs?

Once back onboard Kalizma the sun was setting and we continued our voyage to Langkawi. The waves were getting a bit higher and we developed a permanent starboard list from the monsoon wind that was blowing. Asen was saying she is getting seasick and she was going our for fresh air frequently.

Kalizma in front of Ko Ma

On the morning 14th we entered the channel to Kuah and winds were blowing there quite freshly. Once arrived to the marina we made fast to the N-S pier, the marina is protected from the wind so I did not have any problems going alongside.

I was met by our agent Mr. John Orr and after changing latest gossip and news we walked to the immigration office at the ferry terminal. Check in was a breeze here too and soon enough I was back onboard with stamped passports...

Ekachai Srivichai concert

On the 7th Jira took me to see Ekachai Srivichai, a local talent from southern Thailand. He has been a staple "luk thung" artist for years in the Kingdom.

The entry ticket

I was rather surprised as the show started with historical references and the whole evening played out like an Indian movie with stories taken from the Thai history as well as one story from Korea and then followed by song and dance, Bollywood style but with the Thai touch. Of course the stage was filled with gorgeous dance girls and some boys too, otherwise it would not be a show at all in Thailand.

Ekachai on stage

In between there was a few visiting artists, a quartet from the north whose singing talent faded compared to Ekachai's strong baritone. Then of course followed the mandatory Thai slapstick stand up comedy which I even managed to follow at places.

The visiting northern boys in a rather gay costume

At last followed a potpourri of popular songs including the parody of "Chang Si Dong Thorn".

The dance girls

The whole affair lasted for abt 4 hours, not bad considering ticket price was 200 THB/ person. In the end heavy sponsorship was showing up as the sponsors products were paraded on stage and songs sung to them. At the exit more business was touted to buy these products...

All proceeds from the concert went to the school where the whole event had been hosted on. Even at this remote area police security was very visible. And as per Thai style the volume was cranked up to the max during the whole time so my ears were still ringing while writing this.

Below is one song that made Ekachai famous in his early years "Mae du Mia daa" (Mom, look, my wife's cursing me).



Here is another popular song that is parodized by Ekachai "Chang si dong thorn" (Lao hangover song), not sung by Ekachai himself here.

At the Muslim Butcher

This guy met his maker Dec 2008 in the Port Blair Market

Last year when crew wanted some mutton I asked one muslim girl where I could find mutton as many muslims eat mutton in Thailand. So, I was introduced to a butcher that is living near the Lotus market on the way to Surin Beach. The next time I went to buy mutton he told me to buy the whole goat otherwise he would not sell. As my freezer was not working well at that time I did not buy the whole carcass as it would have spoiled rotten.

Anyway, now that my freezers were fixed in Langkawi I decided to get some mutton for the boys and we drove to the butcher after our weekly grocery shopping at Supercheap with Richard.

The butcher was still the same and when I asked for mutton he asked if I'll buy the whole thing and I said, yes. Then he asked if we wanted to choose the goat so I thought why not and off we went, he on his tricycle and we followed with our car. Near the Victory monument, before reaching it, he turned right into a small utility road and after some distance we arrived to a small coop were the goats were kept.

He asked which one we liked and I asked Richard to choose one, he chose a black small goat. The butcher grabbed his hindleg and dragged the goat out of the coop and then unceremoniusly slashed his throat with a knife. Then he let the goat bleed dry and die after which he loaded them (he killed another one I suppose for another customer) onto his tricycle and back we went to his house.

At the house the carcasses were thrown into the abattoir where the goat was first gutted and all the innards taken out. After that the goat was hung onto a metal hook and the skinning started. The butcher started from one of the front legs around the neck. Cut the ears off. Then continued to the other front leg and from there eased the skin down to the hind legs. When he reached the testicles he just plopped them out of their pouches and then cut the skin off right down to the hind hooves.

After that the carcass was taken down, the hooves cut off, the head was cut off. Then the torso was chopped into pieces so we did not have to do it onboard. Richard said he wanted the brain so then the butcher chopped open the skull and removed the brain. The head was also skinned and the tongue removed. After this the intestines were taken in a bag (brain, tongue, liver, heart, testicles and kidneys). Richard did not want the stomach so that one and the skin was discarded.

In the end we got from a 20kg goat about 10kg of meat that cost us 3000THB. That evening Richard made the most delicious mutton curry, yum-yum....

Captain's Blog January 2010

After settling down after the cruise we started on our pending works: awnings, teak dk, interior, engine, MCA, stability, interior carpentry, bridge equipment service (again, sic!), the list just went on and on.

The good news for the month was that crew got a salary raise from the Owner and Richard and Jyothi has been shortlisted to be transferred to France to take care of Owner's properties there.

I was also visited by Mr. Chan my electronics specialist from Lumut on the 7th. He asked me to arrange lodging in Patong, which I did. Eventually while picking him up from the airport he wanted me to show him around and I did that too. Anyway, when 2 hooligans get together there is no printable material to be published from that.

8th Jan NIck Coombes invited our crew to Queen of Andaman for a dockside party as the yacht is changing command. Nick had been acting Captain for QoA after she had ran aground in front of Ranong and the Captain then was flewn home.

On the 11th I left for Langkawi as our visas expired. Same day also Rajaram signed off to go home for a death in the family. I visited Penang in order to try and get all crew Thai visas but it failed miserably as Indians need permanent residence status in order to get a Thai visa in Malaysia. The visit was short and I was back in Phuket by the 15th Jan. Same day sent our tender for repairs to Cholamark as the fwd tube is leaking.

16th running to Phuket town immigration to bond out crew for sign off.

The weekend 17th I visited the Khuan Kaeng Hot Springs in Trang province that was a near "boiling" experience.

On 18th Sunil signed off to go to UK for his Y4 and Y3 Engineering competency licenses. He was sendng me emails about the agony of winter weather. Made us feel very comfy here in Thailand. Same evening s/y Yanneke Too is throwing a dockside party.

19th I got new echosounders for our tenders, this time watertight Garmins as the old Lowrances gave up the contract totally during our cruise. I also got a Garmin Etrex GPS plotter, 100% watertight, battery driven. No more equipment blackouts on tender.

On 20th K. Noi starts interior carpentry works in Owner's ensuite and corridor.

21st running errands on town. Phuket Electronics guys visited and checked our bridge equipment. Nobeltec is such garbage, it is on a par with Jim Mc Cormick's bomb detector.

22nd we got our tender back, good as new again.

On 25th there is a drama in Yacht Haven. Martula reports in the morning that a crazy woman has been throwing beer cans at her from m/y Sea Cellar. Vivek and Richard had seen the whole incident and they reported that she also threw full whisky and rum bottles too. Apparently the lady don;t have all the bulbs on at times and such things happens. The drama ended that the police removed her from the yacht and presumably took her to a hospital to get sober and on her pills again.

Same day Jyothi signs off to get married in India, all the best from the crew.

Rajaram returns from India to warm out the chill from his bones gathered in Uttar Pradesh, he told us he had not even seen the sun in 2 weeks.

I also got news that Owner might want to transfer Kalizma to Dubai so now we are researching this move. As I had many jobs opened it was somehow throwing my plans all upside down. Anyway, orders are orders so I informed my contractors and started winding down business as quickly as I could. Not looking forward to sweat and sandstorms.

27th Martula is signed off as she resigned from service. All the best for her future plans, whatever they may be.

28th Mr. Ekachai works on Owners ensuite glass shower cabinet, all fixed up nicely with new fittings and rubber seals.

On 31st I visit Holy Man Arian Phongphan in Trang province (near Khuan Kaeng Hot water springs) with Jira, Saini and Kalpu. Delightful old man that offered us a delicious lunch.


Jira & Kalpu being purified by the Holy Man

Good bye APS Phuket

Gordon Fernandes

I decided to drop Asia Pacific Superyachts Phuket services on departure from Phuket 10th January to Langkawi. As an evolution of things it came naturally as I know my way around as well as the Agents does.

So I thought I might as well do the legwork myself as I have the time and means. I also had the pressure from the office to cut running costs of the ship so after looking at my expense sheet it became obvious where the knife is going to cut.

Anyway, I thanked Gordon Fernandes of his services and cleared his invoice. I will gladly do business with him again, if the opportunity arises in the future.

Link to website

Khuan Kaeng Hot springs in Trang

On this sunday I decided to explore the hot water spring of Trang in Khuan Keang. To get there you drive to the Pak Meng beach and continue along the beach southwards towards Kantang. The road is narrow but beautifully lined by tropical pines. A few resorts line the road and after 10k's or so you will reach the Chao Mai beach nature reserve. After another 24km you will reach the hot water spring. The area is like any other Thai tourist attraction and first you come to a large parking lot.

The entry is free and voluntary guides will show you around. The developed premise is quite small, 3 big open air ponds with different degrees of hot water and the surrounding forests are also designated as nature reserve. The hottest is 70deg and I suppose it is hot enough to boil eggs although the guide told me it is not allowed to try out (I did not have any eggs with me either). The bottom of the 70deg pond looked like a moon scape with sharp and soft lime pillars formed in it with color ranging from white to dark green. The water was so hot that one could only dip the fingers and hand in there. I suppose if you'd be crazy enough one could manage a quick dip.

The 70deg C pond

Further on the water ran the cooler it got and after the 70 deg pond there was a 40 deg pond and there one could sit and dip arthritic legs in te hot water. It took some getting used tot the temperature before I got myself into the water up to my knees. The cooler end of the pond had kids aged 6-7 yrs bathing fully while the edges were lined by people dipping their feet and calves.

Nong Fon dipping her feet

Further there was an elevated walkway that went into the jungle, mostly one could see the volcanic soil with hot water and gnarled trees and plants. At some places the walkway rails had deteriorated badly and it was not such a big rush walking through it.

The elevated jungle walkway

As the last attraction was that there were bathhouses which could be rented by a voluntary sum of money, I rented one for 100THB. Some of the houses had the roof caved in and daylight came so there was no need for extra lighting. The bath was a small round concrete thing lined with mosaic tiles where one could sit on a ledge on the side and put the legs in the middle, it could be filled by 30 or 40 deg water. On the side there was a shower. It was nice to sit and enjoy the water and just sweat out the impurities, just like in a sauna.

After softening up in the hot water I went and took a foot massage and the old ladies there really knew how to knead ones feet.

Foot massage

All in all a nice visit but the place is in dire need of a facelift before somebody has an injury with a falling roof tile or collapsing railing.

Voyage Phuket - Langkawi - Phuket

Departed Phuket on monday afternoon. The day before I did the immigration, Customs and Harbor Master clearance at Ao Chalong. It is an hours drive by car and maybe another hour to jump through all the hoops in the one stop shop. All and all the officials were very friendly and gave good advice of how to go about moving in the Kingdom and about their rules. For Rajaram that was signing off to go and attend to a death in the family I had to process at the Phuket town Immigration Bureau a so called "bonding out" of crew. It has to be followed or the crew in question can be barred entry from Thailand in the future. The Officer will type out a form that is stapled to the passport and at the airport must be presented on exit to the immigration officer and then signed in his presence.

One of Yacht Havens charter boats in the Channel

Weather was fine again when we departed on the 11th and we steamed onwards to Langkawi where we arrived 12th Jan in the morning. Marina wanted me again to moor stern to as the N-S jetty was occupied. So, I did but the anchors came down very poorly due to some twists in the chain and I did not manage to get enough length out. We heaved up the sb anchor and re-lowered it while pulling w/ the tender boat. The result was barely satisfactory and we let it be.

As usual I was met on the jetty by John Orr, our agent, and I gave him our arrival documents for processing as I was a bit busy with the anchor. After getting port clearance done I headed for Penang with Jira and arrived back 2 days later.

Once onboard again I checked what was pending and seeing all was more or less done I asked John to clear us out so we could get back to Phuket and get on with our pending jobs.

Before leaving I tied again alongside bunker barge Tuba VI and bunkered up fuel. I managed to have a chat with John and once all set we dropped John off at the jetty and set our heading for Phuket. The weather was bad due to a low pressure in the Gulf of Thailand so we were hugging the coast in order to get some sleep. Next morning we arrived outside Phuket town where I tried to anchor, and I did, but the seas were just too rough to stay there.

I landed ashore at the Rassada fishing port and picked up my hire car from the B2M guys and headed for the Ao Chalong one stop immigration shop with Jira. Meanwhile Saini heaved up anchor and started towards Yacht Haven. We did not have a berth available there so I decided to anchor there for the couple of days until the berth was supposed to be free. Luckily Zara called me and told that I could come alongside next morning so I was happy not needing to sit at anchor for the 3 days that she had told me earlier.

Once at the immigration he wanted to se us all but I explained that the boat was sailing for Yacht Haven so I could only bring everybody here next morning, that was ok. Then in turn was the Custom clearance and while I was sitting in front of him his mobile phone rang and I could hear that Jo-Jo from APS Phuket was asking him not to clear us in. The Officer replied to her that "Jo-Jo, Captain has all papers in order, I can't do what you ask for". Well, so much for mafia antics in Phuket as we managed to clear in with no pain at all. All the praise for the officials refusing to act corrupt and advancing the Thai tourism industry.

Next day we made a beeline to Ao Chalong again and did our face checks in 5minutes and were done. In the afternoon we hoisted anchor and moved alongside A-dock as usual. All is well onboard.

Sojourn to Penang

When the port clearance was done I left with Jira for Penang (or Georgetown) with all passports to apply Thai visas for everyone. The ferry took 3 hrs to arrive. The trip was uneventful as the weather was fine. The ferry stopped by Pulau Payar to drop or pick up passengers and then we continued. Last time I had been to Penang was in 1998 with Superstar Sagittarius and boy had the place changed. The terminal was new and gone was all the shabby colonial buildings (well, most of them or they had been restored).

We checked in the Malaysia Hotel at Jalan Penang and after settling in went for search of some dinner. I found a local Thai restaurant and there we got our chili fix for the day. For rest of evening we walked around Jalan Penang to the shopping centres in Komtar and did not see anything worth mentioning except they had an excellent bookstore in there. Jira found herself a dress that she was very happy to buy. After awhile we took a rickshaw back to the hotel and retired for the night.

The Penang Clocktower

Next morning I took a taxi to the Thai embassy and of course I discovered that I'd left all my photocopies onboard so I had to go via the photocopier. Once arrived to the embassy I filled in my form and tried to submit all my passports and was informed they do not process Indian passports. I was perplexed and asked for more information why they could not issue visas for my crew that were all legitimate? I even had my Thai bankbook with me to show that I could provide for them all. After some time they produced me a circular from the Thai Foreign Ministry that stated that for so and so nationalities they cannot apply for visas in Malaysia unless they got permanent resident status in Malaysia. Well, that explained it all so I just applied for a visa for myself that I could come and pick up the same afternoon.

The reclining Buddha at the Wat Chaiya Mangalaram temple (built 1845)

So for the rest of the morning and early afternoon I spent sightseeing going first to a Coffeeshop and Batik shop that were next to each other. Not being a great fan of coffee since I stopped smoking I sampled the coffees that were on sale and must say that their coconut coffee was excellent so I bought a bag of it for Jira. They also sold different kind of chocolate candies and I settled for a sugarfree chocolate candy (only the fat was left, he-he). Next door I was given a short demonstration of how batik is done and yet again Jira found a wraparound pants to buy. I could not buy anything that was so colorful that every time I would wear it I would get a headache seeing myself in the mirror.

Entrance to Burmese temple

Next stop was the Thai and Burmese temple. They both semed very prosperous with so many decorations and gold leaf that they would put some of their counterparts in respective country to shame. We made our offerings and donations and admired the premises. Especially the Burmese temple had similar kind of wood carvings as the Shwedagon in Yangon. Just amazing woodwork.

Cannonball tree at Botanical Gardens

After this we headed for the Botanical Gardens that were somewhat a disapponting affair. Well kept lawns and walkways were there but the botanical aspect was a bit less if you compare to the Botanical Garden in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Entrance was lined with cannonball trees and some monkeys were around. Other than that there was not much to mention as most of the special plant houses were closed. The most interesting was the house were they sold plants, a nice selection of green plants, cactuses and orchids was on display. I liked most the orchid that smelled like chocolate. Around the garden and surrounding estates there were signs of trespassers will be shot...

Guan Yin at Kek Lok Si temple

Then as a last piece the resistance we headed for the Kek Lok Si Chinese temple. It was perched on a hill facing the sea and from the top you could see all of Gerogetown. The path started with steps up and up to different halls with Chinese God's and Goddesses displayed, in between there were souvenir stalls that sold religious paraphernalia like amulets, semi-precious stones protecting for all sort of stuff and music CD's for Chinese New Year, roof tiles with your name on it (for the temple) and so on. The highlight of the temple is to take the horizontal elevator up the platform where a huge bronze statue of Avalokiteshvara (or Kuan Yin) is erected. Kuan Yin is the Bodhisattva of compassion or "The Lord that looks down", she sure looks down at Kek Lok Si. Those who wants to know more about this deity can click this link . In addition there was yet another souvenir shop and a hall housing a Buddha with entrance lined with all the animals in the Chinese horoscope. After having enough of religion for the day we headed back down and headed for the Thai embassy to pick up my passport.

Kek Lok Si in the distance

Sri Tirupati temple in Mumbai, same deity as Kuan Yin, different name.


After having my passport well in hand it was time for a late lunch, the driver took us to the seaside and we lunched at the Ocean Green seafood restaurant. The place was empty as all the lunch people had left and the dinner guests were yet to arrive. Food was delicious and soon after we headed to the ferry terminal to buy tickets for next morning to go back to Langkawi.

Next morning was again an early rise and we had our breakfast at the hotel and from there we went to the ferry. This time it was a monohull as we had come with a catamaran. The weather was getting choppy and beside us was a French girl that was ululating as a stuck pig as she was feeling nauseous. At times she was breathing in a plastic bag and at times she was whining her seasickness. I must say she managed to keep her guts in control as she never heaved up. When an hour from arrival the boat suddenly stopped engines and after awhile they started going again, at slow speed, I suspect they lost one engine for some reason. Nevertheless, we arrived safely and were glad to be onboard.

Diving Ko Ha Yai

As I had learned that Ko Ha Yai had some marvelous underwater caves to discover I stopped enroute to Langkawi and did 2 dives at the group to experience these sights so much touted.

Dubey

The best dive is supposed to be on the Northernmost Island at the NW corner where there is a vertical funnel of 5-6m, so we decided that we'll do the goodies first. We, that is me, Saini and Dubey, dove down abt S of the Islet where there was a dive buoy. I was trying out my new dive housing for some underwater photography. Down below we found huge boulders with nice corals and sea anemones littering the view. Deep crevasses and overhangs gave the area a nice look. From there we scoured the bottom towards west between 10-20m and after awhile we found the funnel. I was there first and when I peeked in the funnel there was a huge, maybe around 20kg, grouper hiding there. He was probably as surprised to see me as I was to see him as he slunk away fast as lightning in one of the side tunnels in the funnel. So much for asking us in for a brew. Anyway, I gathered the funnel is big enough to let me through and so I went in. The ascent went for abt 5-6m and I reached the upper mouth of the funnel and I discovered I could not get through the hole. My tank was jamming me. The space could have probably allowed me to turn back but was a bit cramped so I just took off my dive gear, shoved it through the hole and went myself after. At this time my air was down to surfacing levels so that was it. I went up with Dubey that also had his air finished. Saini followed us shortly.

Sea Anemone

Next dive was a shallow dive where we were going to explore the caves on the southernmost Island and were commonly referred to as the "Cathedral". We went to the southernmost Island which by the way sported a very teeny tiny bay that wouldbe perfect for smaller boats staying the night. We tied up again at a dive buoy S of the Island and down we went, this time also followed by Kalpu as this was not going to be a deep dive. The Cathedral was not that impressive but we saw plenty of fish and experienced the wave surge. All in all a fun dive. By the time we surfaced the sun was setting so it was time to get back onboard and continue our voyage.

Link to Photo album

Captain's Blog December 2009

As December has gone and we have ushered in the New Year of 2010 I would like to take the opportunity and wish all readers a Happy and Prosperous New Year. I hope your year will be full of positive development and happenings.

First sunset of the Year

For us December was quite hectic as we sacrificed even sundays for work, getting Kalizma ready for the Boss and guests.

The bridge teak renewal was ongoing. The teak has been removed and the filler has been applied (after all holes were plugged). The bare aluminium had quite severe pitting at places but luckily no holes from pitting. However, we found some holes that had not been plugged and 2 seams that were not welded, which eventually were our biggest headaches during rainy weather.

I interviewed Olaf Zajewski as Chef for the guests. Eventually I ended up employing him. Olaf is a charming German gentleman from Berlin that has made Thailand his home more or less for the past 10 years. He is very talented and the goodies that he churned out from the galley made my mouth just water. Furthermore he came along very well with Richard and they worked as an excellent team in our small galley.

Olaf's shopping, 100% full car

Other service was also done: jetskis, tenders. Jyothi had to replenish her stores and we spent one day burning money, the car was so full that I could not have fitted another parcel in it. I had to arrange for wines, some of it ordered from Bangkok as it was not available in Phuket. Olaf did his shopping too, again the car was filled up 100%, including the shotgun seat. I had to rent an extra cooler chest to store all the items. Saini got an inflatable kayak for the guest enjoyment. Brass had to be polished. Finally flowers had to be arranged and exterior washed down.

On 16th I made some time to meet up with my friend Frank from Australia who was holidaying in Phuket. We worked earlier together on project Silver in 2007 at the Hanseatic shipyard in Fremantle.

Me and Frank Telo

Owner called on 22nd and announced his arrival. On 23rd I moved in front of Amanpuri and was ready to receive. Then from the 25th we are cruising, anchorage in fron of Amanpuri, Phanga Bay to Ko Phanak, Ko Rang Yai, Ko Yao Yai, Patong Beach, New Year in front of Amanpuri, Phi Phi Island, Ko Racha Yai and finally Amanpuri.

New Year in front of Amanpuri

New Year we were anchored in front of Amanpuri and the resorts put on a great fire work display. One resort had a huge disco (The Chedi?) and lights illuminating the palmtrees on the slopes that gave a cool effect. Anyway, the noise was deafening even onboard.

Olaf taking a lunch break, while guests ashore

The visit to Ko Racha Yai was interesting as we anchored in front of "The Racha" resort, it has a small bay, almost a fiord. The anchorage is not easy as the Bay is narrow and rather steep. I had to heave up anchor after 1st attempt as I was swinging too close for comfort to another anchored diveboat. Second time true I managed to ease myself in and find us a spot. It was my luck that I was out in the early morning because a couple of hours later I was "cocooned" by dozens of other diveboats and sailboats that had decided to visit Ko Racha for a day trip. The boats vanished with the sunshine and abt 3.30pm my "cocoon" was gone. The waters at Ko Racha are crystal clear, I could see down 15m to the bottom of the seabed.

3rd of January we were safely back in Yacht Haven and when we were safely tied up I let the crew get a rest...

Merry Christmas

As the Christmas is coming to it's peak and we're waiting for the Owner to arrive I wish, on behalf of me and my Indian crew, all readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year 2010 :)

Courtesy of Nickelodeon

BIS visit to Kalizma

Earlier in November I was approached by Mr. Alistair Lawson from the British International School (BIS) if they could do a study visit onboard Kalizma. I was positively inclined for the visit and ran it past the office eventually receiving the OK, so I let BIS know that the visit was on.

The visit was to consist of abt 50 students 8-9yrs old and abt 10 accompanying adults. As the visit was 3rd, early morning at 0900hrs, we decided not to make a big deal abt refreshments as we assumed the kids had had their breakfast, but still we prepared some softdrinks and nibbles for them.

Finally, on the 4th morning all interior was setup and exterior as much we could without disturbing ongoing maintenance the first group arrived as expected with their teacher, Mr. Alistair Lawson. I greeted Alistair by the gangway and the kids lined up their shoes on the jetty. Once all were done I helped the kids onto the gangway to climb onboard.

Jyothi and Kalpana guided the kids down to the saloon where I wished them welcome onboard and explained how they were going to be divided into 2 groups and showed around the yacht and after that I would tell them a bit of thehistory of Kalizma and answer any questions. Off the kids went with accompanied exclamations "ooh", "aah", "Oh my God", "so nice", "cool", etc.

Children were shown guest rooms, tour of the outer deck, galley, crew messroom, bridge and the dining room. On the bridge Saini was explaing and demonstrating the navigation equipment. Once finished the tour, the groups ended up at the dining table, which was laden with cookies, softdrinks and chips. I admire how well disciplined they were as they kept their fingers to themselves until I gave them the "go ahead" for the goodies. Before this I told them about when and where Kalizma was built, her participation in both WW's, how Richard Burton gave her to Elizabeth Taylor and finally how she ended up with the current Owner and his measures in preserving this Classic yacht.

I also ended up teaching them marine vocabulary for galley, bulkhead, deck, porthole, capstan and windlass as well as how much is nautical mile (1.852km). Finally there were not so many questions, one recurring question was how much Kalizma was worth. I reckoned one had to give my Boss an offer he could not refuse but assured that their weekly allowance would not cover it. One girl asked "Why is she so nice?". Oh well, because the Owner likes nice and we're paid to keep her nice. Another wanted to know from where I was, Finland that is. One boy wanted to know how fast she is, well she is not fast at all, only 10 knots compared to todays modern container behemoths that race over the Oceans with 25kts speeds. One wanted to know if I been in bad weather with Kalizma, not really, I try avoiding bad weather.

Afterwards Saini told me that he had been heavily bombarded with questions so I guess the technical gadgets always win over dry facts and stories.

In the end all kids said a big "Thank you" and marched off to the jetty where they donned their shoes and marched off while waving goodbye to Kalizma. I hope they all enjoyed their visit, I know we did.

Captain's Blog November 2009

November was a hectic month with some disappointments to boot.

We arrived Langkawi the 1st Nov for some guarantee works on our freezer as well as some repairs to galley equipment.

On the 3rd Vivek signed off to renew his CoC and to use up his remaining vacation days.

On the 4th afternoon we got some strong mistral wind down the mountains and they made our anchors drag (we had to moore stern to as per marina's orders). I had dropped both anchors doing a Mediterranean mooring but the bottom is too soft to give any good holding.

I ordered ME's started and land line disconnected so I have maneuvarability. Since Amnesia (that had been occupying the N-S pier) had left I heaved up the sb anchor and slacked port anchor and moved alongside the N-S pier. M/y Taipan beside us had similar problems and as I understood from her Captain, she had dropped her anchor next to the ferry terminal and still he was dragging. Anyway, all ended well, we did not get any damage and was safely alongside.

5th we discovered from where water has been leaking into radio room. It was a poorly insulated air duct that was letting water through from Captain's cabin to the radio room. We removed said duct and planned to plug the hole permanently upon arrival Yacht Haven in Thailand.

Same day I also go and meet the Thai honorary consul in Kuah Town in regards of issuing me and crew visas. The information we got from him was pretty disappointing, Two weeks upon arrival, no possibility of getting tourist visas. Also no viable explanation why we had been getting visas earlier.

6th I went hashing with Langkawi Beach Hash House Harriers, many crew joined me there too. The hash trail was pretty good and surprisingly I finished 2nd. The dinner was held at Fat Mama's restaurant at Pantai Cenang.

7th I was invited for a BBQ at Nick Coombes pad, it was huge and BBQ was delicious. I brought some Ferrari for his enjoyment.

8th we went outing with our crew and headed first for the "Hole-in-the-Wall" at NE end of Langkawi Island, the vistas opening up after each bend was stunning watching the "Geopark" formations. After this we visited the "Pregnant Maiden's Lake" on Pulau Dayang Bunting, legend says that drinking this water would help female fertility. I did not drink the water but cooled my feet in it while being tickled by catfish.

Left: airpicture of lake, center: geological view, right: view from the sea

9th Monday John Orr headed to Penang to get our visas sorted out. Same evening he telephoned me that he had not been successful and had been advised to go to Kota Baru border station where he could get the visas made out (!?).

11th I receive technician, Mr. Lee, from Lumut for repairing our Omron system, replacing a broken monitor.

Same day John telephones me that he has not been successful with our visas and has not been advised of what is the problem. Nick tells me he has a yacht in Singapore trying to get a Thai visa for his Indian crew and Indian visa for his Thai crew, also unsuccessfully. Maybe we are subject to political machinations, very frustrating as I have a lot of jobs scheduled for Thailand. Oh well, life must go on so I have to enter the Kingdom with VOA's.

12th was spent winding up business in Langkawi and so we departed on friday the 13th for Patong Beach and from there to explore the Surin Islands.

15th We dive at Ko Bon

16th We dive at Richelieu Rock that had more people in the water than Bangla road gals on a saturday night. Very overrated spot.

17th we arrive Yacht Haven and start maintenance works.

Until end of the month I service our CCTV system, radars, echosounder, Bose system, Sat TV system, start renewing teak dk on bridge deck, sanding & varnishing & teak oiling, the list goes on and on...

23rd I leave with Saini for Bangkok as we need visas, me Indian visa and Saini Malaysian visa. We decide to drive as the fuel consumption will be 1000THB less than VIP bus tickets. We started in the morning and arrived late evening, spent a couple of hours driving along the small soi's near the Indian Embassy trying to locate a cheap hotel and finally we found one called "999".

24th I go to the Indian embassy and Saini to the Malaysian. I get told off straight away that I can;t get a business visa unless I have resided in Thailand for more than 2 yrs. If I would be a business man on the roll and needed to change my itinerary to go to India, what could I do? I applied for a tourist visa instead....

Saini had same problems, they did not want to accept his application to arrive by sea and he showed them the last visa issued to him so they relented and said they'd take advice from Kuala Lumpur (sic!).

Having afternoon nothing else to do we walked around shopping haunts and in the evening ended up to RCA for dinner.

25th Saini did not get any news on his passport until late afternoon, they'll issue a visa next afternoon. We roam around Bangkok the rest of the day and end up having dinner in Hard Rock Cafe and then walking back to our hotel along Sukhumvit road. While passing trough Soi Cowboy we are being polled by some Christian missionaries thinking we are one of the pundits there.

26th we check out of the hotel and head to the Malaysian embassy on Sathorn road. After a couple of hours of waiting he finally gets a 2 weeks visa (sic!) after being told that for one month they need 7 days to process the application. I remember the days in 1998 when I applied visas and after filing in the morning one could get it in the evening...

Finally on the road back south we stop in Nakhon Pathom for an hour and I get to say "hi" to my kids that are busy making their homework.

We drive all day and half the night to arrive early morning for work...

Rest of the month same relentless maintenance is ongoing in preparation for the Owner's visit in December...

Voyage Langkawi - Patong - Surin - Yacht haven

So, the stay in Langkawi was coming to an end and I was wrapping up our business in this end. On the 13th I took leave of John Orr and I moved alongside the bunker barge Tuba VII to fuel up and potter onwards to Thailand.

We fueled up with a few hiccups but managed to depart in the evening. We sailed on and the sea was wonderful, the swell was almost non-existent. In the morning we passed Ko Lanta and pressed forward towards Patong beach. In the afternoon 14th I dropped anchor in Patong beach and picked up Gordon to give him our papers. The weather was a bit windy but it did not make our anchorage uncomfortable, furthermore we were so much off the beach that the noise did not reach us. In the evening the guys off duty went ashore to enjoy the smiles of Thailand. In the morning 15th we got up early and hoisted anchor to sunrise and headed off towards the Surin Islands.

Weather was great and swell was just minimal. Sun was shining and abt 2pm we arrived Ko Bon and dived on the NE side of the Island. Kalizma was drifting and we jumped in from the swim platform. Fish was plentiful and some corals too. The visibility in the water was great and we saw plenty of fish, nothing too big but the normal coral reef fish. I also saw plenty of sea anemones and fan corals as well as the brain coral and other soft corals. The dive was ok but not spectacular if you have seen places like Maldives or Borneo. We got to the western point of the Island that according to our divebook was a manta ray cleaning station, unfortunately the mantas were not queueing up as we saw none of them. Maybe one reason might be the time of season and the other that there were already 5 diveboats around the Island as we arrived there. We tried to find the pinnacle the guidebook mentions but with Kalizma's slow maneuvarability we could not manage to locate it. At abt 1530hrs we headed off north towards Surin and by this time the weather was getting really windy and the seas choppy.

When we were passing Ko Tachai the waves were getting high enough to cause us to pitch in the usual rodeo horse fashion Kalizma does, it lasted only abt an hour and we got shelter from Surin Islands, we arrived in the south Bay around 1930hrs and dropped anchor in front of the sea Gypsy village. After this we set up the table aft and had a crew dinner and discussed our future plans among other topics.

Morning 16th we got up early and headed for Richelieau Rock that is touted as the best dive spot in Thailand. We went with tender boat as it was only 8,5' off Surin Is and weather was good. We arrived after 30min to the Rock and at 7am there was already 5-6 boats at the site. Unperturbed we (me, Saini and Dubey) also geared up and plopped in the drink deciding to go around from S to N on the E side and coming around back on the W side. The Rock was not that impressive in my opinion, plenty of fish again but nothing big. Our guidebook mentioned sharkwhales frequent this Rock but I guess they've decided to move on as there was more people in the water than girls on Bangla Road on a friday night. Anyway, we got around the rock in 30 minutes and got on the tender and headed back to Kalizma to pick up more gear and give Kalpana and Rajaram a first dive under the tutelage of Saini.

On our way back the wind started to pick up again despite it was hardly 9am, we arrived back to Kalizma without any incidents and loaded the boat again and after awhile headed off to Ko Chi. Whilst underway we realized the seas were getting way too choppy so we abandoned the idea of diving off Ko Chi and tied up to a dive buoy (Surin Is are littered with divebuoys along the coast) that seemed like a good spot. We all geared up and Saini dived with Rajaram and Kalpu, while I headed a bit deeper with Dubey. This area was more colorful and corals were more plentiful that Richelieau Rock or Ko Bon, it looked more like Maldives. Fish was again plenty, but small and I saw one Moray eel and one big grouper (I think) sleeping under some coral heads. Once up on the surface again we headed back to Kalizma and started maintaining our gear and filling up tanks. In the afternoon some crew went snorkeling and some crew stowed away our dive gear. We decided not to visit the sea Gypsy village as it did not look too inviting and nobody came to offer rides there as well either (as another guide book promised), so I assumed the tourist trade had not started or had ceased altogether.

At 1600hrs we fired up the engines of Kalizma and headed back for Yacht Haven. The seas were abt 1.5m high with swell rolling in from the Indian Ocean, Kalizma took them quite well but my stewardesses did not. The bad seas lasted until Promthep cape where we rounded into the shelter of Phuket at early wee hours of the night. Eventually we arrived in front of yacht haven at 0800hrs in the morning of 17th and I anchored to wait for the high tide at noon. Nick and Zara wanted me to tie up inside the pontoons this time and I backed inside, making sb side fast to Dock A, outer end, without any big difficulties. Nick complemented my maneuvering but I discounted it for the good weather we had and this brought our trip to an end. Now we are busy doing maintenance and getting Kalizma ship shape for the Owners visit plannned in December.

Outing to Hole-in-the-Wall and Pulau Dayang Bunting

On the 8th we went outing with our crew and headed first for the "Hole-in-the-Wall" at NE end of Langkawi Island, the vistas opening up after each bend was stunning watching the "Geopark" formations. When arriving the hole which was literally carved in the mountain wall it opened into a long fiord that was lined by mangroves, visiting sailing yachts and floating restaurants.

Entrance to "hole-in-the-wall"

We passed all this and followed a river through the mangroves and ended up to a mountain that had a tunnel through and while passing this we realized we were heading back the same way we came so it was a dead end when we had thought it would go through the mangroves to the North of Langkawi Island. Once seen this we headed back south and passed E of Pulau Tuba and SE of Pulau Dayang Bunting where we made landing to go see the "Pregnant Maiden's Lake". Legend has it that drinking the water would help female fertility.

This fresh water Lake is separated from the sea only by a narrow ledge and you can stand on it looking at both sides at the same time. We dropped Saini off here to see if there is a path going to the actual landing area. He shouted "yes" after awhile and disappeared so I took off and headed for the landing. This is at the other end of the lake and one has to trek a short distance from shore to reach the lake. At the lake is the usual tourist stalls selling their stuff on floating pontoons as well as one can rent paddle boats to go around the lake. At the pontoons are many catfish and if you are courageous enough you can stick your feet in water and the fish will come and tickle them. This is not like the skin eating fish that are sometimes offered at various spa's nowadays. The fish is just curious and looking for bread crumbs, but boy are there a lot of them.

About reachng the lake we met Saini who had been trekking on land to reach us from the ledge. He told us the wood walkway was in a poor condition and actually closed for tourists. Me and Richard decided to brave the warnings and headed off the walkway. At times we had to get off it as it was collapsed and just climb over rocks, nothing to bad. When we reached the final 50meter to the ledge which was on a floating pontoon we saw the bridge connecting the pontoon to land had collapsed and the jump was a bit too much for us ordinary John's.

I decided to climb the cliff and Richard said he'd wait there. Little did I know where I was going as the cliff started going straight up and di not show any signs f leveling off. The outcrops were loose stones and very sharp edges. It woud have been impossible to climb barefeet, so sharp were the edges. At one stage I dropped one of my slippers as they got stuck on a sharp edge and at same time a bramble whipped off my cap. Luckily I managed to get my slipper back as it had snagged on another outcrop a bit lower down and on I went upwards. Finally I reached the top and started to descend towards the ledge. It was almost more dangerous going down than upwards.

After a short while I reached the coveted ledge and too a few snapshots while catching my breath, I was not interested in going back the same way I came and was able to jump onto the pontoon as the gap was only abt a meter wide from shore and started walking along it to go back to the others. Once I reached the end I found that the cliff had some very small outcrops where one could hang onto and climb to shore instead of risking a jump over the collapsed bridge. I felt rather stupid having taken all the effort and risk climbing over the cliff when I could have gone so much easier. Oh well, at least it was done and I headed back to the tourist area.

Once there we all gathered and headed back for the tender boat as it was getting late. We headed off towards Kuah town in the channel between main Island and Pulau Dayang Bunting with the sun's last rays warming our backs...

Voyage Phuket - Langkawi

Our time in the Kingdom of Smiles was up again and it was time to exit the country. Once again we were on the way to Langkawi as we also had some unfinished business to take care of.

Ko Ha Yai

On the way we had marvelous weather, hardly any wind nor swell. While passing the Ko Ha group we stopped and did a quick dive with Saini. Only later did I learn that the Island which in front we were diving was hollow and was accessible underwater. Otherwise the diving itself was not bad, lot of stone columns and nooks and crannies to explore, fish was there but quite small. At least I have an excuse to come back and do another dive inside the hollow Island. The Islands themselves look like they are put together by a bricklayer on LSD.

Kalizma at sunset

Next day we arrived early morning and I was met by Nick Coombes on the docks (having been alerted by John peering out of his crows nest) and I made stern to next to m/y Tai-Pan and m/y Amnesia. After usual procedures we settled down and started looking up contractors.

Kalpana

Captain's blog October 2009

As many you may have read my previous posts, I will just cursorily go through what we did in October (which was not much) but still in hindsight seems to me like a lot of things.

1st October we are sailing towards Phuket, finally being released from the Lumut Shipyard. John Orr is being put on vacation as he is just plain sick of the last months pressure.

Weather is getting choppy after Penang Island so I decide to scurry north and sail between Langkawi and mainland as well as Ko Tarutao and mainland, the weather is sunny but windy. I get good cover from land, but once I emerge to open seas after Tarutao Island I get same old rodeo ride as before but it only lasts a few hours until Phi Phi Island. We have avoided the worst area and also no damages are sustained as we have secured everything to the hilt due to the forecasts we got from local weatherman.

During the passage my port radar decides once again to give up, same as our both echosounders, no news on that front, seems to be usual Nobeltec quality in play again despite no obvious problems.

I sail into the "Monk's channel" (Chong Pak Phra)to Yacht Haven on radar observation and anchor at 2 am in front of the marina. After a short nap and daybreak I heave up the anchor and move alongside with the highwater.

In afternoon I get ashore and do some serious shopping for provision and a new TV to the crew messroom that broke down in Lumut.

Next day 3rd starts in earnest to prepare for our MCA survey and various maintenance works.

6th Oct I send Saini to pick up our MCA surveyor Alf Cashmore and Naval Architect Mishraji while I move the yacht to in front of Phuket commercial port. The pier itself is occupied by Star Cruises m/v Superstar Virgo, a 75000GT behemoth. Later Mr. Cashmore and Mishraji join us onboard to survey the inclination arrangements that we have arranged same as last March.

We need to change the thread of the pendulums to metal wire so while sending both distinguished gentlemen ashore we race to a local hardware store to secure some piano wire.

Next day 7th Oct we start early, I heave up anchor at 5am and move alongside Phuket commercial pier that is now vacant. It is low water. We start marking the zero point and then moving the weights (1600kg in 4 piles). As we have minimized the personnel onboard we all get a decent morning exercise by moving the weights first from p to sb, the sb to p and as the reading were not that sure we moved another time p to sb and back. By that time it was 10 am and Alf and Mishraji were content with the results and we can relax for a few hours before pulling off in order to reach the high water in Yacht Haven. It is now raining heavily.

We leave in good order but encounter bad seas and rain squalls even in the close proximity while passing Phuket Bay, Ao Tha Lua and more north. We arrive well for the HW in Yacht Haven and make fast with no hassles at our usual place at the outer corner of Dock B.

Same evening I have dinner with both gentlemen in Phuket town and hurry back onboard to get some shuteye and give Saini instructions of next days "taxi" service.

8th Oct we finish our safety survey and I do the UKLAP exam with Alf, I pass after some gruesome instruction into the mechanics of the Empire and am finally eligible for a UK CeC. At end of day Saini sends Alf back tot the hotel and onwards to the airport, this years survey is complete. Now as we are nearing fulfilment of the commercial yacht status I can see our paperwork has tenfolded and surveys increased to annual instead of every 5 yrs. That is the price of safety.

But the pressure does not stop here, on the 9th I receive onboard our Company auditor, Mr. Ashoke Roy, he comes onboard scheduled to check out our accounts and inventories. By the 11th Ashoke has gone through a years worth of accounts and even found some obvious mistakes I've made but not to my benefit, ha-ha. At noon I drive Ashoke around Phuket for some last minute sightseeing and shopping before sending him away to the airport.

By this time I have my contractors working full ahead for MCA outstanding items as well as preparing for receiving Boss in December.

Not to keep me sitting on my laurels Cmde Mongia arrived on the 14th to inspect some plots for sale as well as meet with Nick Coombes from APS Langkawi in regards of the docking disaster in Lumut.

16th we meet with Nick and come to a mutual agreement (which I suppose you read earlier) and I send the Cmde back to India on his scheduled return flight.

Thereafter follows Diwali weekend and me and Saini & Kalpu drive away on 16th with our BBQ set to Trang to meet with Jira. Vivek and Raja Ram will follow next day as they got job 2 do.

Next week was rather uneventful, we were all back onboard working full ahead and maintaining Kalizma to her splendour. On 22nd I headed off to Thap Lamu to inspect the port as an option to moor at in case we would head up north along the coast.

Thap Lamu is a naval base but also has a fishing pier available. The pier is a 90 degree contraption from shore (about 50m long), quite high and offers no fancy shore connections or fresh water as in yacht marinas. E.g. Kalizma could not land a gangway at this pier. At the end is a staircase to the waterlevel, which I think caters well for tender boats. My idea is that I will anchor off the pier and use tender for any passenger/ crew transfers.

On the 23rd Oct was Toby Koehler's 40th Birthday. He invited whole crew (among all other yacht crews too) to participate in the festivities at Nai yang beach at the Beach Club. We all came with gusto (see other post).

On 24th we take down our tender boat and discover it is not working properly despite repair works earlier. We change boats and head for Phangnga Bay for sightseeing James Bond Island etc. Whole afternoon is spent driving from Is to Is with our tender and we see very photographic vistas and views. We can only "ooh" and "aah" at the spectacular views we are presented after every turn.

A brackish water steam on an uninhabited Island

The famous "James Bond" Island

Views in Phangnga Bay

Lime stone erosion at the waterline

Same evening I go down to Sapan Hin to look at the grande finale of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival, I tell you it was a lot of rockets and crackers...

Rest of the month goes in terms of work. On the 27th Sunil Sharma comes back from his long wanderings in the UK bureaucracy and Vivek prepares to leave for his tour of vacation in order to renew his CoC.

On the 31st we cast off and depart for Langkawi to see our old agent John Orr and Nick Coombes, and what happened then, I will let you know...