Captain's blog October 2010

Were now still in Goa and it is good as we don't have to cope with all the pollution as in Mumbai. The good weather is still eluding us as occasional thunderstorms keeps pelting us with water but in general the weather is good. We're still rolling at the Aguada Bay anchorage as the swell is coming in from the Indian Ocean.

Having Gujarati thali

Kalpu's birthday

In Mumbai we were the first yacht to anchor outside the Gateway of India, on the 1st m/y Tian arrived from Goa and on the 2nd m/y Ashena came from Elephanta as well. They were very very busy as a party had been set for the 8th. Not to say that weren't either as we had to finish the bow wood work repairs.

Carpenter's carving our front piece

On the 3rd Sunil arrived back from UK having successfully completed is Y3 certification. He was very pleased to be in the warmth of India instead of the ghastly cold dampness of Southampton and of course having his NOE warmed even better.

This steam roller must from the Colonial times

Then on the 4th we got the orders to prepare for Goa so our busy status went to frantic. Provisioning, contacting contractors for last minute jobs like our Dish TV setting up, Bose sytem service, OBM overhaul etc. etc. Also bunkering of DO and LO had to be done. The car had to be serviced as we would drive it down to Goa and so on.

Limatola and Kalpana

Later in the afternoon I went with Richard to try out an allegedly delicious thali. It turned out the restaurant near Churchgate was serving Gujarati cuisine and I learned then that in Gujarat they put sugar in every dish, everything tasted sweet. Even the sada pan outside tasted sweeter than elsewhere.

Rajaram, Dubey, Atu, Me, Richie, Kalpana, Saini, Ruman, Sunil

On the 8th was Kalpana's birthday and we celebrated it duly with cake and softdrinks. She is a very liked person onboard as she got many presents from the crew.

Then on the 11th I got a temporary stewardess from Niladri estate to follow us to Goa, Ms. Limatola Aier. Limatola is actually one of the Indian Empress stewardesses but she was on leave and so was appointed to help out in Goa for a week. Same evening Asen had an accident by a falling wall panel that hit her foot and she got a fracture confirmed form the hospital.

Kalpana in the Bom Iesus cathedral

On the 12th I signed Asen off as there is no place for convalescing onboard, especially with a person on crutches. In the afternoon at HW I got the compass adjusters and engine technician embarked with pilot coming last. After doing our adjustments and calibrations we finally headed off to Goa.

We arrived Goa in good order on the morning 14th and by 1020hrs I had the formalities done. The weather became bad though with swell rolling in and sweeping fronts of thunderstorms kept coming in and pouring water. The satellite picture showed us the long plumes of cloud cover extending out in the Indian Ocean.

Then the weekend of the 15th I got Commodore Mongia onboard and we anticipated the Owner, but the weather was not in favor so the whole weekend we sat looking at the sky. Eventually it turned out to a long wait.

Dubey outside the cathedral

On the 19th we got the bad news that our driver had decided to take our car for a joyride or some extracurricular taxi activities and subsequently he smashed it in an Electrical pole. The car was wrecked beyond repair. The Driver offered some story that he had not driven but a guy had come out of nowhere and referred to Saini that he needed to go to Baga beach and offered to drive and blah blah blah. The night watchman confirmed that the driver had been alone. Needless to say I dismissed the driver straight away and Saini & Sunil had to deal with towing the wreck and doing the insurance paper work. Luckily nobody was injured and we managed to get an "out of court" settlement for the Electrical pole as well.

Fishermen at Santa Paula unloading their catch

24th Richard and Dubey took the girls around to Old Goa and Santa Paula to see the old churches, they asked me if I wanted to follow so I did. The churches still looked the same, then we visited the Santa Paula market, and we finished the evening with dinner at Souza Lobo at Calingute beach. The food was good but lacked kick eventhough we asked for hot.

On 25th I went with Kenneth Pereira and Sunil to visit the Western Shipyards for a possible drydocking site. The prices they quoted were quite high for a small yacht like us, clearly they were geared for handling big bulk carriers frequenting Goa. Afterwards Kenny treated me and Sunil to a delicious lunch at his favorite restaurant beside the Pereira Building.

Kalpana and Karuna at Santa Paula

On 29th I had lunch with Richard at the Calamari restaurant on Candolim beach. The setting is nice but the view might be considered obscured by the grounded River Princess (someone else might consider it a curiosity). The food was a disappointment, it was bland and tasteless. We had a dhal and pork vindaloo and I did not even break a sweat, although I specifically asked for the native stuff, not watered out tourist food. We had same experience at the famous Souza Lobo restaurant at Calingute beach and a few others as well. Seems many restaurants are geared up to cater exclusively for the prevalent Russian crowd. Until now I can only recommend the Flambee' restaurant being up to the mark with their food.

Voyage Mumbai - Goa

So, we had everything done and were hurriedly putting the finishing touches on the forward wood work. I had scheduled compass adjusting and engine sensor calibration for departure and was waiting for the pilot. The Adjusters and Engine technician were onboard and soon enough I also got the pilot.

MSC Chitra

MSC Chitra has the best view of Mumbai

MSC Chitra

Once I told the pilot we're also doing compass adjusting he grumpily asked why I did not do it before I came, well, I replied, your port regulations require pilot onboard for any movements... Then he asked how long it was going to take, 2 hrs the adjusters said. Then he seemed happy he could mooch away a couple hours onboard so he called his controller and them the "bad" news. It took 5 minutes and the controller called my mobile telling me where to do my swing and to let the pilot step off immediately. Pilot told me to have a good day and so he left. I guess the Mumbai Pilot House might be a tad understaffed.

Sunrise on Indian Ocean

Anyway, so we got our compass swinging underway and soon enough I had an adjusted compass. The adjuster, Capt Aga, wrote out the card and his invoice and off he also went. Then I continued going back and forth on different rpm for the engine technician to get his readings and some 45min later he was also done and he packed his things and so we were clear to leave Mumbai waters behind us.

M/s River Pirncess in front of Candolim beach

After passing the Sunk Rock we approached the Prong Reef and we could still see the wreck of MSC Chitra stranded on it. She was now emptied of containers and was lying on her side as seen in the news. Nearby salvage cranes were anchored. I reckon the next step is to right her and tow her to whatever fate that is decided, most likely to the shipwreckers.

Once passed MSC Chitra we started getting in a swell from west but it was low and long so it did not do much for us. As the sun went down we left Mumbai behind us and headed for Goa. The speed was not very impressive as the seagrowth on our ship bottom brought it down to some 7.5 - 8kts.

Next day at sea was sunny and calm. The swell had come down some more and weather could not be better. In the early afternoon we arrived Angria Bank that is some 70' offshore and we planned to do a dive there. The only traffic we saw was a couple of fishing boats. After some time we were in the middle of the bank and we stopped for a dive. Once up we continued our voyage to Goa.

Old Aguada lighthouse

On the early morning of 14th we arrived Aguada Bay and passed the familiar landmarks like the grounded River Princess at Candolim Beach, the light house, the jail and the villa. Soon I was anchored at our old spot and I called my agent Kenneth Pereira. He arrived after 9am with the Immigration and Customs in tow. It was the usual signing papers and stamping them and around half past ten we were done. Apparently the living standards have become expensive in Goa as the officials were also asking for booze which they did not do the last time I was in Goa.

The Villa at Aguada

Well, here we were and we got busy starting to get Kalizma ready for the Owners but it was not easy as we were rolling quite a lot at the anchorage, especially when the tides were changing. Stuff would slide off the tables so we had to do minimal setup. Then the weather got worse and we were getting rain fronts rolling in from the Indian Ocean. It just reminded us that the rain season had not yet been declared over...

Captain's blog September 2010

September was rather hectic time for all of us. Apart from the Krishna Janmashtami & Ganesh Chaturthi festivals it has been ceaseless maintenance on Kalizma and all the UB boats.

Launching RIB I

Engine overhauls, bottom painting, varnishing, radio service & surveys, odd carpentry here and there, etc. One small refurbish and repairs of another 30yr old wooden yacht, servicing another yachts engines that proved to be like opening a can of worms, just more and more work cropping up.

Just one example of wood rot

Finally on the 22nd we lowered the 1st of our RIB's into the water and started service the 24th between Mandwa and Gateway. Same day I took a few hours off and went to see Elephanta Island as long as I had the chance to visit it.

Chicken of Killa village, Belapur

On the 30th we got orders to move in front of Gateway and so we did. The pilot was an amicable chap and was not too stressed of the slow progress we made. The bottom is now fully grown with a 30cm "grass beard" as reported by Dubey when he had gone under bottom to clean the strainers for the engine and A/C seawater intakes. We made 7 kts all the way, but we also had some counter current to deal with.

Ganesh Chaturthi ending

Was getting a bit tired of hearing all the "Ganpati Bappa Mouriya" shouting and experiencing all the traffic jams caused by the big Ganpati's erected on roads, but today was the last day of the festival when the Ganesh idol was taken from the house or the shrine and immersed in water.

Ganesh idol in a makeshift shrine

When I first heard of this I thought the Maharashtra coast must be littered by thousands of Ganesh idols but then I learned that these idols dissolve in water. There is also strict rules of using nature friendly materials and paints when making the idols.

A family preparing the idol

As all were quite busy onboard, I took alone a few hours off in the afternoon and went with our driver nearby Seawoods Darave to a water tank to see how the immersion ritual was taking place. As I have seen with all hindu rituals it is a complex process with a lot of chanting, clapping, cymbals, flowers and incense burning, but then again, if I'd been born a hindu I would probably think all of it as part of life.

Ganesh Chaturthi processions

Soon enough when I had seen the ritual I headed back to the ship as people were starting to come out with all their Ganesh idols and downtown Mumbai was totally congested, better to stay onboard and watch the festivities on the news channel.

Ganesh Chaturthi

Ganesh temple at Mira road

On 11th was the start of Ganesh Chaturthi festival and I had been invited together with Saini to go to a Ganesh Mandir on Mira road where one of our contractors was launching her music VCD.

The artists and production team

As Mira road is across town we left early with Saini at the wheel and me as pilot. My GPS app in my phone is proving quite useful at times like this when our driver had decided to take a day off on his own. I saw the oddest things on the highway - stranded trucks in the middle of the road that had not been hauled aside nor was there any warning triangles or anything indicating of this hazard. At one place was a truck in the middle of the road and astern of it was a small Suzuki half way crammed under the bumper. Maybe some driver had not realized the truck is stationary and just gone full throttle smack into it, some shock it must've been (to the driver).

Mr. Kumar and Ms. Vinaya

We arrived on time and there was some other party just wrapping up their pooja. We stood around and looked at people milling around while also meeting Ms. Vinaya and her husband Mr. Moses Kumar. They introduced us to their Producer, Composer, Lyricist, Music Director, Video Director and who else, all the names blurred up in my mind.

The mechanical pooja drummer

Finally it was time for the pooja and music started playing and chanting went on. Me and Saini sat outside watching the proceedings and as the came to a finish there was a lot of photo taking with the music VCD that was being published with all the involved people in it. Even we had to pose for it a couple of times.

London Pilsner

After this it was time to eat and we had a light lunch blessed by the monk. Having fed and done our appearance, we thanked our hosts we made our way to the car and left back for Belapur. On the way I saw an ad for London Pilsner and we stopped in Belapur bottle shop to get a few, it is a nice brew, also by UB Group.

Krishna Janmashtami

As I was out on errands and the end of the day was coming I kept seeing the Dahi Handi's (claypot filled with milkcurd) being rigged over streets, over parking lots and any large open area any sponsor had managed to come over. It was the day of Lord Krishna's birthday and this festival was called Krishna Janmasthami.

Pyramid starting and handi rigged up in the air

The celebration is done by making human pyramids to reach up tot he handi and break it. The people doing the pyramids are called Govinda's. They travel around the city trying to break as many handi's they can as some of them present large cash gifts (given by political parties or wealthy societies).

It was late afternoon and I decided to stay onshore this evening as the breaking of the pots were going to take place then. You could see the Govinda's everywhere on trucks and at the festival sites gearing up for the evening trial. And so I went with Saini to Kharghar and had some chai while waiting for his family to get ready to go outside.


Govindas in Khargar, Navi Mumbai

We could not get a tuk-tuk as all people were going somewhere for the festival so we resorted to walking. When we finally arrived there we learned that the handi was going to be broken later at about 10-11pm. It was too late for Saini's daughters so we walked to the other end of the township to a newly opened Krishna temple to make merit and afterwards we ate prasad. After this it was again back to walking and we arrived to Saini's flat 9pm. Then we watched the rest of the evening Govinda's performing at the more popular sites and I saw a world record being made of a human pyramid of 9 layers high.

Next day I could read from news papers that Mumbaikars had celebrated Janmashtami with great fervour, but not all Govinda's were so lucky. There hadn't been any fatalities but at least 18 are lying in hospital for critical injuries.

Captain's blog August 2010

So August has gone by and we have seen more rain that we would ever prefer. It has been raining hard, poured down with water, torrential rains, drizzled, rained moderately, rained vertically, horizontally and intermittently. Any description of rain that you may have, we have seen.

Sunset over Mumbai

Pouring rain at Cuffe Parade

The rain has not done any good to Kalizma, the decks are turning green from mold and when we don't have rains we wash the decks in order to remove the mold. Another scourge we have is wood rot from the rain, I have now had Carpenters onboard changing rotten wood on railings and other places where it is necessary.

Architecture on P. D'Mello road

Perhaps Poseidon?

For a week we had really good weather, the sea was calm as mirror and we got only a few showers now and then. Little did we know it was the prelude to a 3 day water fest that led into the Pakistani floods and in Mumbai it amounted to 550mm (in Finland it rains abt 600mm/ year). The dams are overflowing and farmers are happy. At same time on the eastern side of the country in Bihar they are suffering from drought. What can I say? India is really big.

m/y Linse at Reti Bunder

Rajaram's & Sunil's birthday party

Our tenders have each done abt 600nm in tendering since we arrived at our current anchorage, so they are also starting to show signs of fatigue and requires service. Contractors are crawling all over the ship now as we're gearing up for the upcoming highseason. Repairing lacquer works and renewing carpets inside, engine and A/C maintenance, valve overhauls and exterior carpentry, on bridge radio and safety maintenance.

Licorice from UK that kept my tummy working just fine...

Richard has returned from his annual vacation and is resuming his duties as Chef and also Chief Steward. Rajaram is back too. Sunil went to UK for his Y3 orals and onwards to France to learn how to maintain a cigarette boat. He was so kind as to bring me a box of licorice to satisfy my craving. Finally, Kalpana is studying for her Hotel Management course with big backup in the evenings from the crew helping her out in her projects. On the 14th we celebrated the combined birthday for Rajaram & Sunil.

Fishing boat being refitted at Mandwa

In addition all the other boats are eating up our time and we're busy running after quotes all over town and planning overhauls. M/y Linse is getting a total recall with engine overhaul, hull paint work and interior refit. About time for the 30yr old Italian lady. Other boats we're sanding and doing up for the season, new A/F on all hulls. Some glassfibre works and engine overhauls. It would be easy unless the Indian contractors would not always promise more than they can chew. It is constantly coming up, promises are broken, specs are altered, phones are not picked up - very frustrating. Anyway, despite it all we plod on, day by day.

Oil pollution from MSC Chitra

It also did us no good to witness the pollution resulting from the collision of Khalijia III and MSC Chitra. Our waterline was black from heavy fuel oil and our tenders too. Even weeks afterwards we can still see a container stranded in the Belapur mangroves and also at times cookies floating by in the sea from their cargo.

Women dancing at the beach

Men wrestling

Went to Mandwa with Avnish to check out some future potential yacht storage places, very promising ventures in the air but this will be actual only next year after the season. Same time I had the pleasure of witnessing the fishermen opening the fishing season. Women were dancing on the beach while men were wrestling (Naryal Purnima).

Joel Alvarez & daughter

On the 28th I was invitd by Avnish to come to Jazz by the Bay and listen to some live music and for his farewell party as he was leaving for Indian Empress. The music was fantastic and the singer looked like our Boss as well as his daughter had an amazing singing voice.

Well, busy as a bee and the show goes on, need to get cracking so the boats will get ready for the high season...

Marinas in Mumbai

On 25th Aug I came across this article in Mumbai Mirror where they envisioned new Marinas in several areas near Mumbai, such as Gateway, Mandwa, Girgaum chowpatti, Worli seaface, Revas, Mandwa, Alibag, Elephanta and Belapur in 2-3 years. It is about time. They say only the investor is missing.

Fishermen cooped up for monsoon in Mandwa

Meanwhile the media has totally forgotten that there is the perfect spot called Prince's dock that is being filled up soon to make way for the Mumbai Port trusts "planned" container terminal. At same time a part of Mumbai's heritage will be lost to the future generations forever and people will be able only to read about it in the history books. Perhaps that is what is called progress or evolution.

Boats being stored at Belapur

For example how many does remember the Bombay Explosion? That time it took 7 months to restore the docks into working condition, now they are willingly filling it up to make way for an absurd plan that only serves the MbPT's greed.

Map of Mumbai area with red spots marking the "marina" hotspots mentioned in the article

The 2-3 year time span for building a Marina seems very short in Indian terms, it only took 20 years to build the Bandra - Worli sealink after all political and legal hurdles were passed. I don't think a marina is going to make any difference in way of getting the political goodwill and permits to go ahead with such developments. There is always bound to be some goonda that crawls out from under a stone and presents his own angle and agenda to the project when he smells the crores in the air.

A bit up the river a private floating jetty of marina standard

It sounds very fatalistic but I've seen and read how things work in India and it is not nearly easy or smooth despite how much the wheels are greased up. Maybe the marina development will present another avenue for illegal sand dredging activities that are reported in newspapers.

Bottom line is that there is a growing yachting community in Mumbai area as Aashim Mongia says. If nothing is done to service this clientele they are going to find their own venues in more favorable locations and disappear from Mumbai (taking away the revenue and employment that could be generated). As I blogged earlier all yachties have had great difficulties finding monsoon storage for their boats since the Prince's dock was made unavailable.

Aashim Mongia of Westcoast Marine Services

Some boats went all the way down to Goa and some boats pooled together and rented a space in Belapur which is normally used for sand business and during these rainy months has been more of a mud pool than a boat yard. Few boats went down to Mandwa and beached their boats on mudflats during spring tide.

Lets hope the Mumbai Mirror article is the harbinger of change in attitude and the light at the end of the tunnel for the yachting fraternity in Mumbai.

Marinas, Parks and Recreation Developments: Proceedings of the International Conference : Milwaukee, Wisconsin June 26-30, 1994

Marinas: A Working Guide to Their Development and Design

Mumbai oil spill - epilogue

So the MSC Chitra is still sitting there on Prong Reef and waiting to be salved. By this time I understand Smit Lloyd has the contract for salving both cargo and vessel. I read the vessel will be a full write off, I hope she will be floated and towed off to ship breakers.

Leaving her where she is now could alter the marine climate severely. I was told by a local accredited reef surveyor I happened to meet that Prong Reef has wonderful corals there. I can only imagine what is the damage there now after all the heavy fuel oil that has leaked out.

Chitra can't blame it on Khalijia writes Mumbai Mirror but reading the article I can deem the Khalijia III came in on port side of MSC Chitra and was in error as the management claims. Also the Police argues correctly that action should have been take earlier to avoid the collision.

Pink color showing Khalijia III, red MSC Chitra

Compensation notice slapped on Chitra writes DNA but does not delve in the reasons of the collision and what caused the oil spill (Khalijia III's impact on Chitra).

Oil clean up in front of Colaba by Navy Cadets. I hope this incident will still be remembered when they get older and some of them hopefully into positions where they can make a difference.

Ravens eating dead fish on the Mandwa beach

Chitra too old for high seas was written in Mumbai Mirror is a new rule for me. I don't know where they have dug up that International ports do not allow vessels that are older than 20 yrs of age alongside. My opinion is that as long as the vessel is properly surveyed by Class society and carries the requisite valid certificates to prove it as well as the mandatory insurances (pollution, hull, machinery, crew) she is legally seaworthy and if anything happens in between surveys it is the Master's duty to report to the Company that his vessel is not fit for sea.

State wants 3cr for cleanup op on (30mil INR ~ 6.00.000 USD) it still sounds cheap in my ears.

No clean chit for Captain's and here they touch the issue of why this led to an accident.

Another plot showing both vessels in the channel, blue Khalijia III, red MSC Chitra

Oil spill extent imagery is being published by the India's space research agency and it can be clearly seen that the oil has spread far up into Navi Mumbai and down to Alibag (as I also have experienced first hand). While I was down in Alibag I took a stroll down the beach and met three chaps from the MNHS (Mumbai Natural History Society) and they told me they had been commissioned to survey the whole Maharashtra coast for the damages.

Mandwa beach littered with oil smeared cookie packets

Meanwhile the debate has spurned off some interesting dialogue and brought daylight on some other issues like e.g. shipping empty containers with papers that they contain export goods in a scam to cheat the government on tax money, see this: Chitra containers stuffed with scrap.

Pollution on Mandwa beach

The other good thing that may have come out of this debacle is that India is considering to sign the bunker pact on oil spilled by vessels.

Dead fish on Mandwa beach after pollution

The piece the resistance comes in the black box transcript from MSC Chitra published by Expressindia.com. I have copied it down below as the website may be virus infected according to my web browser:

The transcript of the SVDR recording:9:35:04: Chitra turns to Starboard 20
9:35:05: CHITRA: “Isko kya ho gaya?” (What is he doing?) (Captain of Chitra reacting to what appears to be MV Khalijia swerving sharply to port side after having stayed on her starboard side while approaching the navigational channel)
9:35:25: KHALIJIA 3: “MSC, MSC, this is Khalijia 3. I am altering to port. I am altering my course to port. Pass on my starboard. Over.”
9:35:37: KHALIJIA 3: “MSC MSC, this is Khalijia 3. I am altering to port. I am altering to port. You also to port please.”
9:35:37: CHITRA: “Paagal ho gaya hai kya?” (Is he crazy?) (Captain of Chitra talking on board, appears to be talking to a duty officer)
9:35:41: CHITRA: “Hard starboard” (urgently, ordering finally evasive action, too late)
9:35:49: KHALIJIA 3: “MSC, MSC. Alter to port please.”
9:35:51: KHALIJIA 3: “Alter to port please.” 
9:35:59: “Alter to port.”

Below are a few videos shedding further light on the accident:

Showing Khalijia III & MSC Chitra right after collision

This is one of the first reports showing Officials and Chitra

This is a Hindi report of the accident showing diagrams of how the collision happened, very illuminating

Now, having read the black box transcript and seen the last video with the diagrams I would dare to opine that Khalijia III may have had some steering issues, perhaps due to technical reasons. MSC Chitra may have been doing "dead slow" on her engine (slow rudder response) and then reacted too slowly to the sudden threat developed by Khalijia III's unexpected continued turn. Captain of Chitra correctly by the rules also turned to starboard in case Khalijia III would manage to go to starboard (thats why he asked his Duty Officer if he [Capt of Khalijia III] is crazy as nobody usually makes a port evasive turn). Instead of talking on the VHF a rudder maneuver should have been immediately ordered. Khalijia III should have taken full astern on her engine when she realised something is wrong with her steering. (Easy to be after smart here).

These points will be considered in the arbitration court in London where the ratio of who pays how much of the lost cargo, written off vessels, lost charter time, oil spill cleanup etc.

Not least but last I read an article by Darryl D'Monte going very deep into root causes of the cost of oil. I have taken liberty to quote a few passages from the article:

"The irony is that MbPT is part of history and should now be phased out. It had its heyday during the East India Co and British Raj when it handled much of the trade. "

"What is more, MbPT occupies 1,800 acres of prime real estate in the island city, three times the area of the city’s controversial mill lands, and could be redeveloped as a recreation and housing hub. Of course, the needs of the few thousand remaining dock workers have to be accommodated, but many of the world’s cities have seen a makeover of their docklands, London in particular."


These issues I have blogged about earlier and is showing MbPT's greed in how they are now developing the Prince's dock into a container terminal when they should be looking at getting the container traffic to places where it belongs, i.e. closer to the industries and not population. Instead they are inviting more ships into the port and also increasing the risk of further accidents in the future.