Captain's blog Feb 2009

Feb started with works related to our commercial certification and then on 1st Feb Boss came for a short visit and he probably would have liked to stay longer but unfortunately the small boat curfew was still valid so there was no landing possibility after dark. Soon enough we got orders to sail for Goa on 3rd Feb.

River Princess wreck at Candolim Beach that has eroded the beach by several meters

Cruise to Grandi Island

Boss gave orders same day early morning that he wants to cruise Grandi Is. Next morning we scrambled up all agents and navy personnel as the area is controlled by navy. Sailing took us only a couple of hours and we anchored at SE tip of Grandi Is.

We were followed by Augustine and his small fleet of jetskis out of Sinquerim and I had to go around all approach channels and pilot stations so I approached the Grandi Is from the NW.

Grandi Island

MCA on ENG1 medicals

Many foreigners who work on yachts always get confused when they are asked about their ENG1 medical cert.

Visit to brewery

We arrived the brewery at noon and was met by the various smells of fermenting grains and hops that is associated with a brewery as we were guided to Govind Tiwari’s office where we were greeted with some lunch and cold fresh glasses of Kingfisher. After a short chat we discovered that the brewery was currently churning out abt 100.000 btls a day in 2 shifts, but if demand would rise the production could be increased too.

Richard in front of the brewery

Spice Garden visit

As we entered the garden on a footpath from the ticket booth we heard group of ladies walking in a circle, clapping their hands while singing local songs and as we passed under the entrance fragrant flowers was thrown on us and everyone got a “lei” around their neck.

Crew and Augustine at reception

Cruise ship soap opera

A few weeks back I was related a true story from a cruise ship of how a personal drama evolved to remarkable proportions, read on.

Cruise ship

Captain's Blog - January 2009

So, the year of 2009 has been ushered in and a month of it has already been used up, whew, time goes by so fast when you grow older. We arrived Mumbai 22nd Dec and started some quick repairs again to get Kalizma spick'n'span for our Boss and guests.

M/y Kalizma alongside Victoria Docks

Letter of protest - waterbarge

Letter of protest from 1872

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.

Fire onboard

Just last saturday, 3rd Jan, I had a fire onboard, it was very small and nobody was hurt, but nevertheless could have caused a total loss in case it would not have been quickly acknowledged by the crew.

The fire started from a light fixture (20cm x 20cm) in the lower crew cabin below water level. The fixture somehow short circuited itself, started smoking and finally ignited the plastic parts in it. In less than a minute the whole cabin was smoke packed and triggered a fire alarm.

Molten plastic

Happy New Year

So it was 31/12, the last day of the year. The day started as any other day here in Mumbai. It is sunny here now in winter time and reasonably cool. Not cold though.

Me & Vivek just after New Year...

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