Last dinner

This morning we had time with Mia to open up the attic of the old barn and explore the contents. Everything as covered in dust worth years. There was some really old stuff that some people would pay a fair amount of money to get their hands on. Just to mention there was some old hand blown glass bottles, one officially stamped 100+ year old potato measure, old furniture and so on...

Me in front of the old barn

Then it was time to get back to Åbo and report home. It was time for farewell dinner and Jari from Espoo was coming to pick me up as I was flying back to India the next day. Mia went home to St. Karins to pack remaining stuff she had and I went to town to buy Mom a pack of cream and to check out some book shops. The center of Åbo had changed drastically and one of the main streets was now only for pedestrians. 

Mom & Dad

At the same time I met one old friend Soile and we walked from one bookshop to another checking for bargains but I had no time to tarry as my Mom had her cooking pending so I got a few books and headed for home. I could tell I had been a long time away as I felt driving on the right side of the road felt really odd as well as I was fumbling for the indicator on the right side of the steering wheel.

Shopping street in Turku (Åbo)

Finally we had dinner and Mia joined us with Jessica and a few hours afterwards Jari came by and picked me up on his way to Espoo and so I left for the road again.

Turku skyline from the railway bridge

Laitila

Next day all picked themselves up and spent the morning perusing the empty chicken farms that could house 100.000 free range chicks. There were many other outhouses as well used for various purposes not known to us but nevertheless Mia and Marko had their own plans already for them. Soon enough Niklas and Elina made their way towards Helsinki and Mom for Åbo. 

I was left as the only guest and Marko was driving me around his native town showing different highlights in this chicken growing community. In the morning I got dropped off at another chicken farmers estate where Mia was keeping her horse, Doli, and I got to follow Jessica, my niece, taking a Finnish horse for his daily exercise. Later on I also got to take him for a ride (or rather I was taken for a ride) too and boy was he feisty, he just wanted to go. After 10minutes I was already feeling sore in my thighs so I let him get further exercised by Jessica while Mia was exercising Doli at the end of a girdle.

Riding Simo

 

I was also introduced to Ro-Pe racecar builders and before arriving to the yard Marko told me he is an amateur compared to these guys. Once we ot out of the car I thought they got a fairly average workshop with all the necessary implements. It was only later that even my jaw dropped when I saw the field behind the house was littered with about 100+ car wrecks waiting to be made into a race car. 

Marko bought a test bench from the guys and we drove it back to his mansion. Then we manhandled the whole thing onto his workshop floor, 3 guys for some 350kg's or more. Later on Marko's father came by on his tractor to sow the grass field for Mia's horse and so Marko got me to take a spin on the tractor too as Mia had advertised that I had never driven one. Well, now I have.

 

Tractor driving

The evening went quietly doing some grilling on the porch and emptying a few remaining beer cans while warming up the sauna to proper temperatures. Marko turned in early while I was chating with Mia and she also gave up. I sat a few minutes more wondering about the daylight at nearly midnight and also got down for some shuteye.

Laitila

Today was time for my sister to move to her estate in Laitila with 7 hectares of land. I was enlisted to the moving troupe. We left with my Mom and drove through Turku towards St.karins where my sister Mia lived. On the way we picked up my brother Niklas and his girlfriend Elina who were also chipping in the fun. We arrived soon enough and in the yard there was a big truck already, so all was set to go. Inside was Mia and her recalcitrant kids who had difficulties to understand which part of packing she meant. Nevertheless, the show went on the road and big and heavy items went out the window into the truck. Then smaller things followed and finally Jessica got her stuff packed and that was too loaded into the truck. Mias hubby Marko then loaded as the piece-the-resistance an engine, a grasscutting tractor and a moped and then the truck was full. Doors closed and off it went towards Laitila.

The happy new mistress of Sonkkila estate

The kids were left behind with their Grandma to come later which raised a few objections which were quickly downvoted as they did not join in the loading and were not planning to participate in the offloading as well. I went onto Mia's Volvo stationwagon with Niklas and Elina. We stopped enroute at the Laitila city center to get essentials like beer, beer and beer. After the provisioning we headed for the Sonkkila estate that now in effect was going to change name after more than 300 years. The truck had already arrived and Marko said he had burned al the carbon out of the exhaust system. Oh well. doors open and on with the job, it took us abt 30minutes to empty the truck when we had used the best of the morning to fill it up. Mom was thrilled about the enormous rhubarb plants in the garden and was immediately cutting off material for a pie.

Rhubarb

Anyway, Marko still got some surprises up his sleeve and we got to take into pieces a small log playhouse to be transported elsewhere. First we lifted the ceiling and then the walls, I can assure you, it was heavy, with 6 guys and 2 gals pitching in. Finally we got the thing on the trailer and off we went to deliver it. At the destination we had same project ahead of us to lift the thing off and put it together in its former glory. It was worth it as the look of the small kids in the yard were beaming for the new playhouse. Then it was off driving back to the estate and warm up the sauna, feed and refreshments for stretched limbs and ligaments. During the delivery my Mom had prepared all the food for the moving party and upon arrival we manned the sauna. It proved a tight fit to squeeze five grownup men on the benches eventhough I don't know if anyone was using Rexona. Luckily, soon enough the younger generation could not take it anymore and escaped to cool off so the older guys could start throwing some real baths on the stones. Once we had enough it was time for feeding and enjoying the evening.

Mia & Marko (note the vintage redneck cap)

Mia had full job of finding places to sleep as she had 4 kids to put to sleep and furthermore another 4 adults, eventually she managed to piece together 8 cribs and she had her lot done for the time being. In the course of the evening I think Mom got a bit tipsy and the rest got a bit more. Sleep came easily.

Mias horse Doli who eventually will get housed at the estate

Kustavi and Nousiainen

Next day came and me and Mom headed for Kustavi (Gustavs)  to see the summer house there, while Mom was doing shopping in the new Grocery store in the main village I wandered to the church and checked inside. Furthermore, the village had gotten itself an Alko store so there was no need to cook moonshine or drive to Taivassalo to buy booze. In the church there was still the same miniature ships sailing above the congregation heads, nobody was on the premises except a caretaker. 

Church ship

Kustavi Church

The day was quite cold as the wind was northerly and Kustavi is quite exposed for northerly cold winds. At the villa, also incredibly overgrown, the wind was hitting straight on as usual because it is located on a nort facing shore. I walked around and found everything as before, as a kid we spent also our summer holidays here and those days we had no electricity so we bathed in the sea or rainwater and sauna days were the best when you got warm water. 

Villa Kustavi Kivimaa

Now the villa has already been connected to the national grid. Mom rooted around and planted some saplings she had brought with her on her recent trip to Estonia and once done we had a light lunch on the south side of the house and then we decided to head back to Turku.

The beach

On the way I got off in Nousiainen to go and meet my old esteemed colleague, Captain Granqvist, with whom I had worked for several years on Columbus Caravelle. He was also on vacation from his current job and we had met last time in 2006 in Hamburg when I was working for NSB shipping. 

M/v Columbus Caravelle

We kicked off with chilled Lapin Kulta beer and hauled anchors. Then it was through current affairs and plans to reminiscing Hong Kong typhoons and Singapore slings as well as other marine stuff. Reijo got the grill going and Agnes, his wife, sorted the provisioning while we then prepared it now to the power of G&T's. As he had an appointment the next day I could not stay longer, so he followed me while Agnes drove me home the same evening.

Reijo & Agnes

To Åbo

I was up again early morning and went take up the fish net, as it happened I got 3 fishes which I removed and cleaned up the net and then the fishes. Then it was time for breakfast and once finished my Mom drove up to the house to join us for a cup of coffee. After some chatting it was off to Tallberga for lunch and then we started for Åbo.

Uncle Bengt

Before getting to the main village of Nagu we stopped at a "maiden's dance" (jungfru dans/ Jatulintarha). It is a leftover from the heathen times thought to have been set up by waiting fishermens wives standing perched up on a mountain looking for their husbands to return from the sea. The dance is thought to have been constructed to while away the time. It is a circular maze that when one enters and goes around it one is also extricated on the same way forward without walking on the inward path. The concentric in and out circles goes between each other. On the path to the hill we passed a defunct windmill that used to be in operation when my Mom was a child.

Maidens Dance

The old windmill

The trip back was uneventful and soon enough I was back at my childhood home where I also met my Father. The town lot was quite overgrown and Father calls it the "natural beauty without interfering" and Mom was somewhat fed up in asking permission to cut a grass straw. After some time it was again time for dinner and rest later in the evening. 

My childhood home

Rölleka

Smörblomma

Going to Nagu

Next morning went we got up and Bengt headed for the health station to get some of his old age problems tended to and once back we went for some shopping and bought the necessary ingredients to make my Thai dish for lunch. After shopping Bengt drove my around the shores of Helsinki and showed some places of interest. Lunch became so much we got a lunchbox saved for my aunt Elisabeth that was going to accompany us to Nagu. In the afternoon we packed us into my Bengt's SUV and off we went westwards. In Klippsta we picked up Elisabeth and we continued our journey. My aunt I hadn't also met in 12years but she looked the same as before except a few more wrinkles. She ate the lunchbox with gusto but I could see the jalapenos was making her mouth burn. The new motorway to Åbo was really smooth and soon enough we found ourselves in Pargas where we stopped to buy some food for the evening. Then the next stop was at the inter-Island ferry (along the now named "archipelagic ring road") and we made the short seavoyage across to Nagu.

Canada geese in Helsinki

 

The main village of Nagu had not changed much since my childhood although there was now a hotel and a new marina on the south side. The marina looked really good. The road to my Aunt's villa Tallberga (that used to be my Grandma's) was still the same dirt road and Tallberga (Pinehill) looked somewhat the same. The paint scheme had been changed and a sauna had been added as well as the notoriously dangerous staircase to the second floor inside the house had been removed and been rebuilt at another place in a much less steeper inclination. Tallberga looked really good and now that there was running water it made life much easier. Compared to the time when my grandma was still alive and stayed there all summer and at times could have 10 grand children living there with the parents coming and going. We all washed in the lake so there was not much choice for hot or cold water. Elisabeth treated us to some white wine and we chatted for a time but time was again working against us so we had to load us into the car and drive to Bengt's villa Missvik.

 

The ferry to Nagu

We drove the old main road of Nagu to Missvik that was now relegated to a back road that not many knew about nowadays. At about halfway used to be the municipal garbage dump where we as kids used to go and shoot rats with air rifles. The dump has now been closed for several years and I assume the rats have moved on as well. The rest of the road was still the same and maintained in a fairly good condition as well. Then it was 100m on the current main road and a turn to the dirt road leading to Missvik. After awhile we passed the Uttis mansion that used to be the property of my Grandma's sister. The mansion was under repair and now under Ownership of my little cousin that resides in France. The estate grounds had also been developed to a homestay country resort for tourists. Not a really appealing development but I guess that is called progress. Anyway, at the end of the road was Missvik and we got to offload ourselves from the car. In my childhood we used to come by boat over from Tallberga to Missvik for sauna nights.

Aunt Elisabeth

I started cleaning up the herring we had bought in Pargas and Bengt set to warm the sauna. As a welcome drink he offered some Famous Grouse that went down well, washing away the dust from the days travel. Once the herring was cleaned up Bengt broiled it in the sauna while I cleaned the new potatoes. Then we set about putting out the fishing net in the hopes that we would get some fresh fish for the next day. I rowed as per instructions from Bengt and he lowered the net. Once we were back it was time for sauna and get cleaned up. After that it was time for dinner and while waiting for the potatoes to boil we had some German beer to cool down. Once finished dinner & cleanup I discovered it was already over midnight, having stayed so long in Far East where I'm accustomed that darkness comes between 6-7pm, this long time of daylight was a bit difficult to realize but sleep was not a problem.

Villa Tallberga

Villa Missvik

 

In Munksnäs

Next day more or less the same, breakfast and so on. I found out my bro has a Wii game so I got to try out this gadget as well. I packed my stuff and started orientating myself to Munkkiniemi where my uncle Bengt lives. 

Helsingfors Domkyrka/ Helsingin Tuomiokirkko (church)

It was fairly easy with the help of and my handheld GPS. Once off the tram I had though a bit of complications getting a decent heading of where to go but after a 360 degrees loop I was on the right track. 

After a few hundred meters towing my luggage I was at my Uncle's apartment and rang the door. I was met by my Uncle Bengt and he offered me a bottle of Karjala beer, one of the best in my opinion. In fact I had not met Bengt in over 12 years or more as I had been away working so much. It was not difficult to find subjects to talk about. 

In the course of the afternoon Bengt suggested I ride with him to Nagu the next day and from there make my way to Åbo, my home town where my parents still stay. I agreed and so the discussion went on. 

Cherry blossoms in Munksnäs

At some time Niklas also came by but only stayed a short while as he had a house board meeting to attend to in the evening. For dinner Bengt treated me at the Munksnäs Grill which was rather a fancy restaurant. After dinner we headed back to the apartment and after some more talk we hit the sack. 

Getting Indian visa

Next morning went as usual and after the morning feed we went off on foot towards Katajanokka where the Indian embassy is located. I found that my phone with in built GPS and maps very helpful in orientating in Helsinki as I have never had to do that. Mostly having visited Helsinki with ships it was easiest to find the way around with taxi as is customary by sailors on evening leave. 

The Havis Amanda fountain

Having said goodbye to Niklas at Havis Amanda we parted ways, him towards his office and me towards the embassy. Katajanokka was hustle and bustle with open air market and coffee shops. Very quaint but still far away from the Far Eastern markets I'm used to.

 

The Indian embassy is located in an old stone building that was built in 1897 by Gustaf Nyström, their premises are located on the top floor. Then of course in the embassy was the usual bureaucrat with the usual zeal for paper shuffling. Eventually it turned out I did not have all the rquired documents with me so I had to race back to Niklas's apartment and then on to his work to get some copies done there. I walked to his apartment but then I saw time was drawing high so I resorted to a taxi. 

Anyway, I managed to file all papers on time and money changed hands. I went back to NIklas apartment to wait for him to come back from work. Once back I cooked him some Thai chicken in basil to reminisce some memories from times gone by. Rest of evening went in a relaxed state accompanied with Sandels. I had called my uncle to go and meet him as he is also living in Helsinki but he only due back the next day, so we agreed on meeting then.  

In Helsinki

Next morning I woke up to the noise from Olga and dishes being put out on the table. I met Minna and was offered some breakfast while chatting about this and that. After breakfast we went out for a walk to see the surroundings, the house is in an secluded area with a lot of forest and greenery around. Olga had just learned to pedal her bicycle without supports so she shot off like a rocket ahead of us while we walked and I admired the spring flowers emerging after the long winter. Although it according to the calendar it should have been full summer it was still quite chilly with something of 16 degrees in the air. The beginning of the summer can always be a bit iffy.

Next morning in front of the house

After visiting 2 lakes nearby and having walked back tot the house it was time for lunch. I called my brother in Helsinki and confirmed to him that I was soon coming there, then Minna gave me a lift to the Espoo local railway station and I thanked her for the food & lodging and off I went towards Helsinki.

Olga at Harajärvi lake

 Once I arrived Töölö station I got off and sat down to wait for my brother Niklas. Soon enough he came and we continued our journey towards Kallio in the local tram. In Kallio we had to lug my bags 3 floors up and we had arrived my brothers bachelor box. A one room apartment with a kitchenette. As it was only tomorrow I needed to do official business at the Indian embassy we started the afternoon with Finnish beer, Sandels, ahhhhh. I also met Niklas girl friend, Elina. 

Minna & Olga

As it happened we discovered it was dinner time and soon it was time for smoked Gös fish, new potatoes (from Sweden) and Danish Aquavit shots. The evening continued with making the world a better place accompanied with Sandels beer, Dalmore 12yrs and our on the spot devised shot: 50/50 Swedish punsch and Dutch jenever (in the absence of the requisite, Finnish Jaloviina). 

Taru & Elina

To my surprise Niklas had arranged my old childhood friend Taru to join the festivities and evening went on. About midnight Niklas decided that the world had been cured of it's ills and it was time to hit the sack. Taru & Elina withdrew to their homes and I was given the Masters bed. I can't deny that I slept well.

Niklas

In Espoo

My friend Jari I have known back when we used to work in Bore Lines as deckhands both on Bore Queen. Some years later he worked as 1st Officer for me on Columbus Caravelle in Singapore and Malaysia. 

m/s Bore Queen

Since then Jari has moved out of Turku and settled down in Espoo, Haralahti with his long time wife Minna and their 5 year old daughter Olga in his own designed and built house, the typical Finnish high light of private life.

After stopping by the mall to get some food for the evening we sat down to exchange some highlights of life and recent happenings while enjoying Swedish beer, Lappland Gold. Then we started preparing the sauna and "palju" for heating up. Sauna is of course the Finnish must in a get together, but the "palju" is a new trend. Palju is a 2000 liter wooden cistern that has attached a wooden heating element. The wood is heat treated so it won't expand or shrink in atmospheric changes. Jari told me that he even uses it during winter, one only needs to wear a woollen cap to prevent the head from freezing over.

Same time Jari's daughter Olga was proving herself quite a chatterbox with opinions and stories for nearly everything. As the evening went on we stripped down and entered the palju, it was nearly 37 degrees and very comfortable. The cistern was designed in the shape of an octagon and had a bench all around inside of it so one could sit and chat while enjoying the warmth. After awhile we had to try out the sauna as well but the palju proved much more appealing in the end. I could say that one of the options is sufficient for bathing.

In the "palju"

Then it was bed time for Olga and I was designated to read the night time story for her. Soon enough she got tired of my droning and fell asleep.

I offered Jari a taste of Company wares in the form of Dalmore 12yrs old. Close to midnight Minna came from from work and it was also time for me to get some shuteye after being on the road for 24 hrs from India.

Vacation in Finland

Having seen the troubles in Bangkok I suggested that I will go to Finland to sort out my Indian visa and vacation. The office agreed to it and on a short notice I arranged tickets and guarantee letters to get my visa sorted out.

On the 28th I disembarked and spent the evening in Saini's flat where we had some farewell Kingfisher and a late dinner. On 29th when my visa expired I went by taxi to the airport at abt 2am as my flight was leaving at 5am via Istanbul to Helsinki.

The airport was busy even-though it was the early morning. The security was tight and boarding pass and passport had to be shown at many check points. Everybody was scanned and patted down for dangerous objects. Immigration was efficient as I was leaving, bam-bam and I was done.

I was flying Turkish Airlines. I had flown this airline before and I can say they take you from A to B but don't expect much more than that. As a perk you get a complimentary pair of socks & eye covers. I must admit that the in-flight food was quite edible considering the difficulties in getting something to taste good 10km up in the air for hundreds of people. The service was very robotic, everything went on rote. The in flight entertainment system was broken at my seat an when I asked a stewardess, she replied "there is a problem". Yes, I could see that. Fortunately I had a book to entertain me until I fell into a short slumber.

Apparently the holiday season in Turkey is not attracting many Indians and as the rain season in India discouraged Turkish tourists I think as result the airplane was only half full so I could spread out comfortably not needing to worry about elbowing my neighbor. We arrived Istanbul a bit late after the 5 odd hours flight and I had to hurry to catch my connection to Helsinki. In Istanbul there was of course another security check (sic!) where laptops had to be ripped out of the bag, belts removed etc.

Once arrived in Helsinki after the 3 hours flight I noticed in the immigration queue that there was actually more people in the non-EU line than the EU citizen line. Oh well, the guy hardly looked at my passport and I was back home in Finland after a 6 years interval. Then it was the usual waiting for the baggage, which eventually arrived quite quickly. After that I headed for the Custom green line, all I saw was an Officer with a drug sniffing dog and that was all, finally I had passed the last hurdle in entering Finland.

I was met by Jari, my long time friend some 24years back. He lived in Espoo, close to Helsinki, where I was going to do my Indian visa so I had agreed to crash at his place until then. The weather was at 15 deg centigrade and, not surprisingly, I was feeling very cold.

Captain's blog May 2010

So, May went at anchorage in front of Gateway to India. By the time of writing this the skies have cleared and the swell has started to roll in the port area. It seems the monsoon rains are imminent.

1st of May I completed two years employment onboard Kalizma. Wow, times run fast the older you get.

The noise of the IPL scandal has since then died down and nothing is being heard of Modi either - yesterdays news...

4th May I signed a years contract to continue on Kalizma as Captain as well as to assist in relief work on other yachts and maintaining the local fleet.

On the 7th I met Avnish and Eddy Powis Jr from Phuket at the Mumbai yacht club. We had a nice dinner at Aashim's flat. His daughters were entertaining us with Bollywood dancing.

The Mumbai yacht club

Next Sunday went having Biryani lunch in Alibaug at Avnish & Bijoya's pad. The weather was fine but the humidity was really killing this weekend.

Otherwise working days went chasing up quotes and prices as well as doing routine maintenance. Sunil has been busy trying to find a fitter to come and assist him in engineering works. Saini is on leave. I also had some meetings with RINA regarding our commercial certification issues. I believe this will come to an end when I return from my leave in July.

Richard is applying for his UK visa as he is due to become a castle guardian in Scotland. He'll enjoy the single malt in the cold winters there.

Sunil is again getting his visas to go to UK and complete his Y3 and Y4 certifications as well as a short visit to France to get familiarized with pre- & post- maintenance of an offshore Cigarette boat that does 90 knots.

24th I do a short visit to Crawford market with Sunil and fit 2 kurtas for me, Sunil fitted one. There was no bargaining involved as all shopkeepers had started with fixed prices. Hardly could we negotiate 70 Rs down. I also shopped for some souvenirs for my family as I was going to Finland for vacation. Thailand and The Red Shirt demonstrators are at the moment a bit too restless for my taste. So, I'll go to my home country for the first time since 2004.

Sunil & me in our new kurta's

26th I join Cmde Mongia to do a recce up to Borivali to check out berthing for the smaller yachts in Mumbai. We pass the CST container terminal, Elephanta Island, the oil terminals and the unfinished Reliance bridge. There is some land claims taking place and I believe a small marina in the making.

Land filling at Reliance bridge

Lifting smaller yachts for rain season storage

I could see numerous barges being loaded to the hatch coaming with riversand and discharging it for the landfill. At the same time Aashim was already lifting up yachts for rain season storage on the rented field. I also met Bob Pinto who was also checking out the area for storing is own yacht.

The "mini-marina"

We met the small marina manager, the son of Ganesh Naik, MLA and had a chat with him. They are planning to build a clubhouse soon and dredge the pier for some more docking space. It will be a nice smallboat marina if this takes place.

On the way back we stopped by the Princess dock and I could see that landfill preparations were underway but had not yet started. The pier was loaded with big cement blocks just waiting to be dumped into the sea. Custom house was still berthing their launches inside Princess docks. The seawall was occupied by various wrecks, we had actually a pending application for their berth. The Cross Island islet seemed to have lost all its vegetation and some elevation as I believe it'll be leveled for land reclamation.

Princess docks entrance & cement blocks

Our berthing issue has yet to be resolved as the Mumbai Port Trust is dragging their legs and refusing to grant anything for the yacht Owners (not only us). The MPT has this very low intelligence plan to convert the Victoria and Princess docks to a container terminal.

I see it as a money racket to milk the central government of subsidies. For years to come. One opinion I heard was that the area would be covered and made into a container terminal and when the protests about the container trucks clogging up the city would rise to unbearable levels they would justify more land claims at the seawall and then develop it into housing area (meanwhile pumping money out of the central government by the bucket load).

The CST container terminal

If MPT would have any sense of honesty and integrity I think they should start developing the housing project straight away and forego their plans of graft. There is already a big container terminal (CST) on the other side of the Bay handling the incoming cargo to Mumbai. Writing about issues like this is easy but having scratched the surface a bit about the complexity of Indian democracy and politics, I also realize that nothing is easy in India and certainly not on issues where money is involved (is it anywhere?). Everyone has an opinion and a voice to contribute. E.g. the sealink project in Bandra easing the Mumbai traffic north has taken the government 14 years to complete.

A local "yachtsman"

Today the MPT decision makers are at station and hopefully we will have a positive reply in the next few days. Saini will though have to make the transit as I will be enjoying my vacation. Also congratulations for his promotion as officiating Master on Kalizma during my absence.

Fishing vessels leaving for Gujarat upon end of season

Cdr Dilip Donde arrives Mumbai

S/y Mhadei

Yesterday while I was doing some office work in my cabin I wondered what sort of close quarters situations the pilots of Mumbai are getting into today as I heard frequently loud whistle blowing. As it did not concern me I did not give it any second thought and continued my work.

Navy frigate, Helicopter, Mhadei & Offshore vessel

Today I was called by Dubey to come out and watch the escort of Indian Navy Commander Dilip Donde as he was arriving from his solo circumnavigation of the world, voyage distance abt 42000km. The first Indian to ever accomplish this feat.

The civilian local sailors join the escort

And what an escort he had, one big frigate, helicopters and 2 offshore vessels with their fire fighting cannons going on full spray while all vessels were sounding their horns. At the Sunk Rock a big fleet of the local sailing boats were waiting and while the Mhadei was passing they all joined the cavalcade. The procession went past us and continued into the Navy base by the Ballard estate. Commander Donde's almost one year voyage had come to an end. Well done!

Almost passing Middle Ground

Now the Indians have gone around the world, next stop is the moon?

The escort and horn blowing for s/y Mhadei

Those who want to read more about Cdr Donde's voyage can go here