All efforts to anchor inside Prince's dock or on the seawall had failed, the dock is being handed over to the contractor that is going to fill in the docks and no vessels were granted berths in there.
Hog Island repair jetty
As secondary plan (after the Prince's dock failed) we initially planned going alongside the Hog Island repair jetty and share the berth with another vessel. Unfortunately the vessel was longer than reported so we did not take the short berth due to safety reasons. The berthing fees are also exorbitant, for a piece of concrete berth with no facilities (no water, electricity or sewage) they charged the same as a marina in South of France.
All our plans for a berth were shot
I went with Saini to Darukhana to look for second hand mooring ropes in hope of the jetty at Hog Island. The same state of affairs was still ongoing as last year, the beach was full of vessels being scrapped.
Warehouse in Darukhana, only Freddie was missing
On the 14th we moved anchorages to the inner anchorage in front of Prince's dock. It was a tight squeeze and eventually managed to find a spot with 1' turning radius to all surrounding ships. The anchorage was full of offshore vessels in various conditions. On the 15th a storm started blowing and unfortunately the vessel in front of us started dragging anchor and despite we took evasive action we got touched by the OSV on our bow.
Our scrape with Sindhu 8
The damages was a bit carpentry broken but it could have been a lot worse. Same day we got permission and we hoisted anchor and moved to NE Elephanta Is anchorage, i.e. in the middle of nowhere of the mangrove swamps. At least we got the peace and quiet to write our letter of protest to the offshore vessel Sindhu 8 that had failed in avoiding the collision with us.
From here we have long tendering trips to Belapur jetty but officially we should be going to the Baucha Dhaka pier (Fishermen's pier) some 3,5' away (not a nice ride with 1m waves). So at last it was dawning that there are no berths in Mumbai for long term stay, the Indira dock is for commercial use and we were told that some of the berths had been made unaccessible due to a sunken vessel in the dock basin. A really sad state of affairs regarding the yachting scene in India.
Then on the 17th I had my ticket booked to go to Thailand to finish my remaining vacation days I was at the airport and had checked in at about 10pm. Then at the immigration counter the Officer asks me where the registration stamp from the Mumbai police is? I was all question mark and stammered an excuse. I was then directed to the supervisor and he explained that I need to register (due to the employment visa I have) at the local police station as per their regulations within 14days. Then he told me that I could not leave India before I had done this registration. I asked if I could do it here now, no, it was not possible. Another gentleman came and got my checked in luggage to me and all I could do was go back to Mumbai.
Indian residential permit
Next day went in preparing documents and standing in line. Fortunately Office had some contacts to the registration office so I was fast tracked through the hoops. By 2pm I was officially a permanent resident of India. Then it was off to Thai airways to get a new flight and luckily I got one on the same day, so I was flying the same flight I had booked earlier. This time at the immigration counter I had no problems checking out of the country as I had my little blue book to show the Officer.
Dawn over Bangkok where I changed planes
On 19th morning I landed in Krabi and was met by Jira in the Land of Smiles.
On the picture on the card you look like a TV thug, ever play any eastern bloc mafia on the telly? do you have an agent?
ReplyDeleteSorry m8, no agent nor any telly appearances until this day :)
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