Port Blair - The cellular jail

Port Blair was a failed attempt to establish a settlement in 1789 and was largely forgotten until 1858 when a penal colony for convicts was established by the British Indian government.

   

Cellular jail (source: Flickr on Trawell )

Captains blog Dec 2008 voyage Phuket – Mumbai

Again we were packed up and ready to depart for India and on the 2nd Dec 2008 we cast off at highwater in Yacht Haven. We were waved off by Marina Manager Nick and Zara as well as our agent Toby and Nong. There were no weeping maidens with a broken heart though.

Taking a greenie on deck

Captain's blog - visit Galle

We arrived Galle roads at 7am 18th Dec and I contacted the Port control. Port Control instructed us to proceed in and a naval patrol boarded us to do inspection. Once clear the sergeant asked for whisky… oh well. We entered the harbor basin that was boomed off except a 10m gap at the breakwater that was guarded by armed sentries. We moored at the “New pier” (N of Gibbett Island), a decently fendered cargo pier but not really suitable for yachts. Everywhere was a military presence and small guys patrolled around with big assault rifles slung on their shoulders or carried in various fashion. The LTTE threat was taken seriously.

Fishermen outside Galle

Captain's blog - visit Port Blair

Once alongside I met our agent Salim Jadwett and his nephew Ashraf that was the “action man”. Well, we started tackling the publicans and first were the Custom officials, lists were filed and stamped then whisky was given for lubrication of the process. After Customs we had the Immigration, same thing there, after them it was the Coast Guards turn. Once all was clear it was already 2pm. 

Port Officials & me

Tips for yacht visiting Singapore

Here are some services I found good and reliable when I have been visiting Singapore.

Map of Singapore marinas

Port Blair - Market Day

This morning it was time to do some provisioning for the boat and I set out with Richard to the Port Blair Market.

Holy Cow

Port Blair - Bakir Eid holiday

So we arrived Port Blair some time ago. I will tell you all about it soon enough. Anyways, 9th Dec was Bakir Eid muslim holiday and in India it is customary to slaughter a goat and make buryani.

Our agent is Mr. Salim Jadwett from the illustrious Jadwett family and he invited me, Vivek and Saini for dinner, we actually went on 2 buryani meals, 1st lunch and then dinner.

Smiling paan wala

Captain's Blog - Nov end

Well, November brought big changes to our lives again. We had settled in comfortably in Phuket and then we suddenly had a guests arrival looming above our heads on 22nd Nov, which eventually was canceled due to the guests changed plans.

Taj Hotel under attack

Tips for yachts visiting Phuket

Below are contractors and tips I find useful for any yacht visiting Phuket.

Piracy - the scourge of the high seas

There has lately been a lot of coverage about piracy in modern days and I'd like to comment on it. Piracy to most laymen brings in mind Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirate's of the Caribbean movies or to the older generations James Cagney from his famous pirate movies decades ago.

Captain Jack Sparrow

Appendix problems

My Jira has a history of intermittent heartburn and indigestion and last wednesday she started complaining about stomach pain and I thought "Ohhh, here we go again". Jira is particular that she can't drink any stomach tonics nor chew any medicines for stomach, so it's difficult to suggest treatments. It is also not easy to get stomach friendly foods here in Thailand as many dishes are stir fried and has loads of chillies....

At home with all the "get well" flowers

Yacht crews working

Previously I posted a blog about Ships Organisation structure, in this blog I am giving some impressions of how small crews works.

Every crew got a duty

Ship command structure

Ships have a rather militaristic organization structure going in "chain of command" principle, or in other words linear command. On merchant ships and big cruisers this organization is quite rigidly followed due to conservative habits and on the latter due to the size of crews in order to be able to retain control.

Example of organisation flowchart

Loy Krathong festival

On 12th Nov was the full moon of twelfth lunar month and Thailand celebrated Loy Krathong, it is a festival coming from the Hindu “Deepavali” Festival of lights. Thais believe it is the time to apologize to the water deity the past years transgressions in form of any pollution (showering, cooking, toilet use, etc.) as thanks for giving life to crops and orchards.

Candle floats in front of Laguna

Captain's blog Oct - Nov

End of last month and this has gone cooped up in port. The rain season seems to give up late this year as it has been raining cats and dogs every other day it seems. As of writing this the weather is sunny but dark clouds are swirling on the horizon.

Anyways, since our return from Langkawi to Yacht Haven Phuket we started doing some serious maintenance (jobs never cease on a boat) and I hired carpenters, dayworkers and welders for our worklist.

Lunch @ Naiyang beach

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.

Vivek & Juergen Zimmerer

Singapore Beer Festival

On our last Sunday I went with a colleague Captain out to the Singapore beer festival held at Fort Canning, one of the oldest areas in Singapore. 

Certificates required for working on yachts

When you contemplate working on a yacht or in general get involved in shipping you will hear the word certificate being mentioned in every connection. It is today's money making racket and standardization of shipping that has brought it about. Also manufacturers wants to ensure that the product they are selling is certified to a certain standard. You can't even have a piece of uncertified steel onboard or plywood for that matter, same goes for the crew...

Sample of certficate

Captain's Blog - Langkawi Drydocking

As told before we arrived at the Wavemaster floating pontoon on the 14th Aug for our drydocking. Once alongside our agent, Nick Coombes, set immigration procedures in motion. I met with the yard Operations Manager Barry Eades and later in the afternoon we had an opening meeting for our scope of works which had been tentatively agreed upon in advance. We also meet our Project Manager, Mr. Irwan.

Kalizma on the travelift

Captains blog - voyage Phuket- Ko Rawi - Langkawi

We departed Phuket on 12th of Aug for Langkawi. Weather was again fine, only when we got out of cover Ko Yao Yai did we get swell in from the Indian Ocean. We steamed on for the whole day and anchored for the night S of Ko Rawi (Butang group). Next morning we awoke to marvelous surroundings of high Islands covered in lush green and specked with white sandy beaches.

M/y Kalizma in front of Ko Rawi

Captain's blog - end July 2008

This month Kalizma did not move from her berth, we stayed put for ongoing maintenance works. We have upgraded the deck lighting, installed a diving ladder and UV covers onto the tenderboats. All decks got a fresh coat of varnish as well as rust was chipped off on exposed metal parts and repainted, teak oil was applied to all railings. In the Engine Room various piping works related to the aircon was renewed and modified for the better.

M/y Calisto in Yacht Haven (sistership of Cousteau's Calypso)

Captain's blog - beginning July 2008

The month of June came and went without any particular happenings, routine maintenance was carried out, weekends some of the crew went hashing (running). Hash house harriers are a tradition invented by English expats in Malaysia and has spread all over the world. I also discovered the world small as I met my ex Electrician from Ukraine that worked together with me 5 years ago on another ship.

M/y Kalizma at Ko Phi Phi

Captain's blog - voy Phuket - Langkawi - Phuket

Visa voyage

Departure 29/05/2008 at 0600hrs ship left Yacht Haven Marina in good weather. The sea was calm as can be, only some wind ripples could be seen. Upon leaving the channel and reaching open seas we experienced a gentle swell coming in from the Indian Ocean. However as we progressed on our voyage it became apparent that prevailing wind and current from Malacca Strait were against us. We passed Phi Phi Island on the east about 1000hrs and turned more south for a straight course to Langkawi Island. The wind became somewhat stronger and the swell more pronounced, but still the weather was fine, sunshine at times overcast the next, in the afternoon we even got a few showers. At 1800hrs we were already approaching Langkawi but night was setting and we entered the Kuah channel in darkness, at 2200hrs we dropped anchor in the General purpose anchorage outside the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club.

M/y Kalizma @ RLYC

Silver

05.07.2007 - 31.04.2008

m/y Silver
Chief Officer/ Relief Captain (Running deck dept)

After having been dismissed from Titan due to the sale to new Owner's I was again on the look for new horizons and the Chief stewardess from Titan had a lead from a Swedish Captain in her network and put me in touch with him. After a bit of talking and interviewing I was accepted as Chief officer and soon enough was on my way to Australia.

Silver before launch (courtesy of Boatworld)

Captain's blog - Handover

I arrived in the evening on 31st April by train and minivan from Bangkok to sign on m/y Kalizma, the van left me at the Yacht Haven Marina junction and a final motorbike ride took me to the Marina.

M/y Kalizma in Yacht Haven

What yacht is good for you?

Many times you see or hear of a yacht and you just wish you could work there, but sometimes the picture behind the scenes is not as rosy as it looks like from the outside. The question here is how to sort out on what kind of yacht one is suitable to work on?

Wally yachts

Ring finger incident

Cheers everyone, been away for some time now but I'm back again, not with a vengeance but just back.

As some of you may know I had a boating accident recently involving my right hand and a rescue boat. We were at anchor in Male atoll in Maldives and we were tendering crew to a nearby Island called Bandos (should actually be renamed Bandits as they charged exorbitant prices and silly fees with no benefits).

After operation

Conventions regulating ships

Everyone might have heard of different Conventions and Standards etc. stipulating different rules of how a ship has to be built and managed.

Quit smoking 10yr anniversary

This is my story how I started smoking and quit smoking.

Anatomy of a grounding

Wonder how they managed this...