Turku - Tallinn - Riga - Warszaw - Berlin - Paris - Italy

Having done my admin I wasn't keen on flying back, at least not with Vueling on the grueling flight from Barcelona - Helsinki that I had arrived with. 

Turku house with fresh snow 

Trip to Genoa

As I needed to have some watches serviced I took the train to Genoa and at the same time made a date with my ex Chief Engineer Daniel for a meet up as well as checked that Pier had his watch shop open. 

Train station Genoa Brignole

Shopping in Mumbai

So, we had arrived Mumbai and I checked into Hotel Elphinstone Annexe, est. 1946, an old colonial style building near the port on 149 P. D'Mello road. Not in the heart of Mumbai but close enough for comfort. The rooms were worn out but clean and had working hot water and A/C.

Our first day went in that we had lunch with Saini at the Balgi and then I took Jira to Crawford Market. From there she took the reins as it was shopping time. It was shoes. bags, clothes - the works. We even bought a light banderoll. Dinner we skipped and just rested at the hotel.

Dhobie Ghat laundry

Padmanabhapuram Palace

Next morning Richard picked us up again and on we went for the Padmanabhapuram Palace, the former capital of Kingdom of Travancore until it was moved to Thiruvanantapuram (Trivandrum). This palace is now in Tamil Nadu but is being administered by the Government of Kerala. The Palace entrance was lined with the usual sellers peddling everything from postcards to wooden carvings.

Stopped on the way to get some palm fruit, there was no wine

Sights in Delhi

Jantar Mantar

After getting our car and driver hired we set the route and out first point of call was Jantar Mantar. It is a compound with huge observation instruments (yantras) for celestial movements, azimuth & altitude and also time. Originally built by the Maharaj Sawai Jai Singhji of Jaipur in 1710 it is still standing (restored 1910) and it is also listed as a UNESCO preservation site. One could still see the carefully carved measuring scales on the stones and each instrument had a plaque explaining for what celestial body was being measured (declination, time, etc). I did not linger long and left for our next stop.

One of the Yantras

Captain’s blog May

Well, last month ended in our arrival to the beautiful Island of Langkawi and we arrived in good weather, slack water and tied up in an orderly manner just stern stern with m/y Sinbad at the Royal Langkawi yacht club.

Dubey & Kalpu ready for the evening

Trip to Pune

I had been invited to meet my friend Atul Gaikwad that lives close to Mumbai (at least when you look at the map) and this Saturday I decided to go on a short excursion. I bought a "Volvo" class ticket for 250 Rs on Friday.

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

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 - 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