Signing on p/v Moonlight II

After looking for my next gig after the temp on Lady S I was approached by Owners of Moonlight II to come and put together a dream team and get the boat charter ready for the summer things started moving very fast and on 1st March I was on a plane to London to get indoctrinated in the Burgess office.

Cunard house

I already knew a bit abt the Burgess organisation as Lady S was also managed by them and now I got to meet everyone face to face, always nice to put a face to a name you have been emailing for weeks, sometimes months, without meeting. 

I got to London early morning and after a quick check in to my hotel I moseyed over to Cunard house. After a long day at office meeting managers left and right trying to keep memory of what is being said I was going back to the hotel for the evening so I could catch my outward flight to Dubai early next morning.

I arrived Dubai 2nd March evening and was late after dark onboard and got to installed to a guest cabin and short introductions before hitting the sack. 

Dubai by night of Barasti beach

Next day went quickly as usual when you start with the usual paperwork, then how the boat operates, we actually did a sea trial as well, meeting new faces...

p/v Moonlight II

Next thing you know it's way past dinner time and time to go to bed...   

Dubai anchorage with m/y A

As a footnote to Moonlight II, she was originally built in Syros, Greece as Alysia and owned by the famous businessman Andreas Liveras who got shot in the Mumbai terrorist attack back in 2008. She has a sistership Delma that is named Lady Miri today and is mostly trading in the Far East these days.

Montenegro

Maiden voyage with Maryah from Elefsina, Greece to Tivat, Montenegro to change registry from SOLAS passenger vessel to Private yacht (36p).

Captain's Blog Feb/ Mar 2012

My vacation had been spent and I was instructed to go to Maldives and relieve Saini for vacation before returning back to Indian Empress. Kalizma was sitting at anchorage in Hulhumale' together with m/y Linse and there was a skeleton crew maintaining both boats.

I came onboard on the 15th Feb and met with Saini and we expedited the handover. Nothing much to say as we both know the boat very well, merely I was updated on ongoing works, the accounts and local customs. We discussed the future plans of the drydocking in Sri Lanka for April. Then I cooked a Thai spicy curry for Saini before he left and then I was left in charge.

My first thought was what to do in Maldives to keep oneself from sinking into apathy and fatigue. You can't walk around as everywhere is water, the surrounding Islands are discovered in a day by foot. Shopping has never been my hobby and is not worth here either. The locals are very isolated and keep to themselves and I have never been very active in socializing with complete strangers. I'm more of an observer and I participate in discussions when I know what I am talking about.

There are no bars or restaurants close by, with the two exceptions of the Hulhule airport bar and Bandos Island. I have in 2007 been to the airport bar and did not recall anything that would keep me going there night after night. Bandos Island I prefer to call "Bandit" Island as they charge 20USD only for entry to the Island, then depending what you want they charge you through the nose for mediocre food and drink. No thank you. Besides, Maldives is not really a party place, most tourists here are couples and newly weds that have come here for own privacy and R&R.

So, that left me with the remaining options, fishing and diving. I was mostly working daytime and did not have the interest to go fishing in the mornings although I had done this a lot during summers when I was a kid. This left me with diving that is one of my passions, the underwater world. In addition it also gave me much wanted exercise that I was in need of as I had decided to lose some unwanted weight that had accumulated lately.

Said and done I gave my instructions to Dubey and every morning almost without fail we explored one of the dive sites explained by Tim Godfrey in his dive book or just by looking at the local chart and trying out "unlisted" sites. During the time here I have now clocked 25 dives in total. The crew is also trained/ updated for surface support as well as are knowledgeable of the current situation and locations of different dive sites around Male' as it seems next high season will be Maldives for Kalizma. It has also been an educating experience for myself as well trying to identify the different species of fish I have trapped in my camera lens as well as working out techniques of getting the best picture by using flash.

Some of you may wonder which place was the best and it is hard to say. Every site had it's good points and highlights, it all depends on what you are looking for. I am usually going down with no expectations but keep my eyes open and my camera ready for anything spectacular the nature may want to throw at me. My favorites were definitely the Kuda Haa thila, Club Med corner and Maagiri caves if I'd have to name a few places. Of course the Maldive Victory wreck is awesome too.

Divesites in red and Kalizma in blue (BA chart 3323)

For those interested I have linked all published dives down below so you don't have to go looking in the archives, each post has an individual map of the dive location:
16th February Warm up dive S of Banana reef
17th February Furana South
18th February Kudakalhi channel
19th February Banana reef
20th February Hulhumale North
21st February Wreckdiving
22nd February Club Med corner
23rd February Banana reef
24th February Bandos Island
25th February Kalizma bottom
28th February Black Coral reef
29th February Furanafushi West
1st March Maagiri caves
2nd March Maagiri caves
3rd March Wreckdiving
4th March Hulhule
5th March Hans Hass place
6th March Club Med corner
7th March Lions Head
8th March Kuda Haa thila
9th March Nassimo thila
10th March Reef West of Aarah Island
11th March Furana South
12th March Driftdive down Club Med corner
12th March Nightdive S of Banana reef

Diving under Kalizma

On the 25th morning we tried diving the Furana North divespot but after 2 attempts we just had to admit that the circumstances were not in our favor. The inflowing current was too strong for us to be able to stay at the reef and to do a drift dive without a dive marker was too hazardous as the waters above were so turbulent that the surface boat would have lost our bubbles (and us).

Cathodic anode before

So, we packed it in and motored back to Kalizma. As we still had plenty of air left in the tank I took a scraper and went down below to expose the propellers from seagrowth. After 3 months of sitting Maldives the growth was remarkable.

Center propeller before

Oysters the size of my hand and crabs in all sizes. Barnacles and seagrass. Well, staid under for the best part of an hour and cleaned all 3 props and the rudder while my dive buddy took care of the stabilizer fins and the bottom as far as the air let him do it.

Anode after

At least it beat the conditions of diving in Mumbai harbour with less than 30cm visibility with torches. There also a particular grass tends to grow on the bottom and it is like long fronds, like a beard. I remember when we tried to find the seawater inlets and scrape them free of growth, crabs were biting our fingers.

Center propeller after

In Goa at least we can see a bit and there I remember I came up with a small crab in my ear after a scrapping session. Luckily he did not like the surroundings and came out on his own free will.

Sojourn on Kalizma

So 14th my vacation was up and I was ordered to fly to Male', Maldives to relieve the Officiating Master from Kalizma for his vacation too. I did not mind going to Kalizma as sitting on Indian Empress for two months in Abu Dhabi can't be better than going to Maldives.

The trip didi not start out very well as I was driving towards Phuket I got a call from office that I had missed my flight. It had been changed from evening to morning flight and I had totally missed the information. What a mess. Anyhow, I got a flight again the same evening and caught it to Kuala Lumpur, there I spent a few hours and flew to Colombo. The KL airport is huge but very quiet, maybe the reason was the late timing, I had a nice Caesar's salad at a restaurant while waiting.

I arrived Colombo in the early morning hours and spent there about 6hrs waiting for the morning flight. I half slept on a row of benches but was always woken up by clattering footsteps when a batch of passengers arrived from who knows where. Thats what you get for missing your flight. When the sun got up soon enough I was in the plane for Male' and a bit later we landed in good order.

The immigration was a breeze and I met Saini on the airport and we sat on the tenderboat to Kalizma in minutes. Kalizma looks the same as before, a bit worn out but that's why she is going in for a face lift in April. She is sitting at anchor north of Hulhule Island next to the Hulhumale' jetty. Then we started the handing over, accounts, current issues, maintenance, local contacts etc.

Colombo airport

In the evening I made "spicy chicken" curry Thai style for Saini as I had brought the ingredients from Thailand. Usually it is made in pork but unfortunately pork is illegal in Maldives. Later on I sent Saini to the airport for his flight to Colombo as he was going to meet with drydock people in Colombo before going home and so I had taken over Kalizma for a month.

The crew I knew from before: Richard now as Chief Steward and Umesh from Indian Empress as Chef, Dubey as my Bosun and Ruman as Engineer, as deckhands were Pardeep and Dhiraj and Steward was Parvinder. Rajaram and Sunil were on vacation. No girls worked on her anymore as they had resigned from service. I think an all male crew is easier to manage as well, less hassle and no envy.

Cruising Croatia

29th departed Tivat for a drift in Kotor Bay, then anchor off Budva.

Kotor Bay is the next fiord inlands from Tivat. There are strict regulations of not allowing washing on ships and also not any other discharges. Most likely due to pollution prevention as the water circulation I suspect is not that fast. In addition they have exorbitant charges for anchoring in place, hence we were drifting as per the advice from our pilot (which also was compulsory).

Sea entrance to Tivat and Kotor, old guard tower

The scenery was very beautiful and we first passed the "Lady of the Rock" monastery and they rang the bell after we gave them 3 long blasts on the horn. After this we went slowly south towards Kotor Town where one could see stairs going up the hill towards another church or monastery. Once done we set course for Budva and arrived there in the evening. There was dinner at Bruno's restaurant.We also checked out another restaurant at Sveta Stefan Bay with a very nice landing jetty but they were full and said a reservation was required. The anchorage in Budva was otherwise ok except for the treacherous string of shallow rocks that crosses the anchorage (it is marked on the chart). It could be a disaster for the uninformed tender driver.

Lady of the Rock

30th Departed Budva & arrived Dubrovnik

At 6am we heave up anchor and proceed to Zelenika for outward clearance from Montenegro. We drift there for abt half an hour and we get the documents back from the agent all stamped and signed and I set the course for Dubrovnik. We take pilot and berth inside the harbor at the cruise ship jetty.

We depart the port in the evening to go and anchor in front of the Dubrovnik old town. The scenery there is beautiful with the old castle and bastions. Tendering is a must to drop off guests and crew.

31st Departed Dubrovnik & arrived Korcula Island

Again it was an early departure and we headed for the Croatian archipelago, first stop Korcula Island. At forst we anchor for the day near Badija Island and do some sightseeing there before going stern to at the Korcula. It is very historical as it is the native town of Marco Polo. The holding at the jetty is not very good as we experienced some dragging and had to heave up on our anchor chains to prevent the stern from eventually hitting the jetty. Luckily nothing of that sort happened.

1st Departed Korcula, visited Bisevo Island and arrived Hvar Island

The trip continues in same fashion and we left Korcula at daybreak for Bisevo Island where the point of interest was the Blue Grotto. As the bay in front of the grotto is fully occupied by smaller sailing boats we decide to drop on the other side of the grotto in the next Bay. The water is pretty deep and we have to do a second attempt to get good holding. The view is spectacular with the jagged rocky shoreline. Visitors to the grotto have to purchase tickets to enter the grotto with local rowing dinghies that seat up to 8-10 persons. The entrance is pretty low and people have to duck so as not to hit their head. Inside is totally dark to start with until the grotto widens up and shows daylight that is shimmering through the bottom as the cavern is open under water. The blue color inside is very beautiful. It is recommended to visit the grotto in the morning when the sun is shining into the underwater hole as the day goes on the sun moves on the other side of the cavern and the light gets weaker and weaker. At the shoreside where one buys tickets I bought some locally made wine from the woman selling the tickets. The wine has a very strong taste that would go well together with a red steak. We also did a roundtrip of the Island and found a small village on the other side called Porat that had some delicious seafood available in local tavern's.

2nd Hvar

We heaved up anchor early in Bisevo and set course for Hvar and arrived there under hours of darkness. At Hvar we manage to find good anchorage on the opposite side of the town. Here yachts have to pay for anchorage based on their LOA, our dues went up to 982€ and the port said it was half price as the season was almost at its end.

3rd Hvar

Stay the whole day in Hvar. As I had to make a run early morning to town with our Purser to meet the agent I take some breakfast at the plaza that is next to the marina while we conduct our business with the agent. The place looks really nice but I can imagine how deserted it is during the winter months.

4th Departed Hvar, visited Brac Island and arrived Split from where we departed a few hours later for Malta.

In the morning we heave up anchor and sail for Brac Island with destination to anchor in front of Bol village. The town is not very big and we scout out the marinas and landing places. We also check out the Dugi Rat beach (moving beach) that is also famous here. It consists of round pebbles rather than sand and I can well imagine it moves with the prevailing weather. Later I send our Purser to Stari Grad on the next Island as he is signing off and taking the ferry to Split. It was a nice tenderboat ride as the weather was fine. Later in the afternoon we weigh anchor again and head for Split. In Split we take pilot and are greeted on the wavebreaker by our 3rd Engineer Alen who is waving there at us. We make fast amid the hoot and hollering of gays that are on the deck of m/y orient Queen, a cruise ship opposite us and making ready to leave. We make clearance, discharge rubbish and make ready to sail again. Meanwhile Zeljan and Alen have brought some Croatian food for the crew to enjoy. We receive a pilot and depart for Malta at 2230hrs.

6th Arrived Malta.

We arrive in front of Valletta at noon and embark MTU technicians for seatrials and we drive the crap out of our main engines with 1200 rpm for a couple of hours and after that we proceed inside to make fast at Manoel Island. My reliever is also embarking once alongside and I handover to Tsvetan as I am scheduled for vacation the next day. This trip also finished the summer season for Indian Empress as she enters a service period for her main engines.

Voyage Italy - Montenegro

On the 24th morning we leave behind the shores of Macaronia. It was a short and hectic visit, not much to write home about but whats done is done.

Stromboli (Copyright John Seach)

Same evening I am on duty and we are passing the Stromboli Island where there is an active volcano for the last 13.000 years. We watch with binoculars miles away and one could see how the lava was spewing out of the mountain top. At first we thought it was lights from cars or the houses on the island but then we consulted the chart and realized it must be the volcano. Pretty awesome to witness the power of nature.

Arrival Montenegro

As we passed Stromboli we came into the Strait of Messina. There was the usual VTS communication and following the traffic separation scheme. No incidents and hardly any traffic, like a walk in the park. The following day went at sea and the weather was good for us.

Montenegro

On the morning 26th we arrive to the shores of Montenegro and take pilot to enter the fiord. This area used to be a major submarine base for the Sovietunion in its hey day but now it was merely an attraction. I did not learn whether the mountain caverns were accessible but we could spot the entrances.

Sunset in Tivat

It took us abt 2 hrs to arrive Tivat and we made stern to at the Porto Montenegro Marina. The arrangement is very comfortable, there is ample space to the yacht next to us and we could even put down the tender if we'd prefer to. Another trip completed.

Tivat Marina, Porto Montenegro

Back to Italy

We arrived Porto Cervo on the 14th and I had the luck to meet Chelly, an old colleague from m/y Silver. Later in the afternoon we move inside the marina and during the mooring our keel touched a rock on the bottom of the marina. Luckily no damages were discovered when I dived to have a look on the bottom. It was just a matter of shallow water due to weather circumstances.

Mark in Elba

Elba

Elba

On the 15th we move out at the anchorage for swimming and later in the evening we heave up anchor and depart for the Island of Elba.

m/y Indian Empress in Elba

m/y Ice in Marina di Campo

Porto Cervo

We arrive Elba on the 16th and anchor at Porto Azzurro for a short while. Due to so many boats in the area we move out to Golfo Lacuna. Lot of boat traffic there too but less than in Porto Azzurro. We did not stay here long and we moved onwards the coast to the Bay of Marina di Campo. As it happened m/y Ice was there also at the same time. She also left before nightfall and so did we in the evening and headed towards Capri.

Porto Cervo

Porto Cervo

Capri

We arrived Capri on the 17th and anchored in front of marina Piccola. Here we stayed all night king and next morning 18th we went and anchored in the bay of Cala del Rio. Pretty tricky as the bay is very small compared to our size and considering the swing circle after we dropped 6 schackles of chain due to the depth.

Capri

m/y A at Capri

Cool tenderboat at Capri

In the evening we heaved up anchor and shifted back in front of Marina Piccola. On the 19th we sailed for Amalfi and anchored in front of the town. We did not even stop engines when we heaved up again and moved in front of Nerano as the famous restaurant Quattro Passi is there. In the evening we returned back to Capri. It was hard finding a anchoring spot as the anchorage was chockablock with other yachts.

Svilen & me at Cala del Rio in Capri

m/y Indian Empress anchored Cala del Rio in Capri

Cala del Rio in Capri

21st we stay in front of Capri at anchor and on the morning 22nd we move into Marina di Stabia, just next to Castellammare di Stabia. Nice marina but a very tight squeeze to go in between the wave breakers. It would not be possible in adverse weather.

m/y Serene

Some people really like their toys...

Amalfi coast

Amalfi coast

Amalfi coast

Amalfi coast

Amalfi coast

Plamen @ Amalfi coast

Capri Island

Sunrise over Sorrento

Capri Island

m/y Indian Empress in Marina di Stabia