Lakshadweep, Agatti Island

So early morning we were carrying back the BBQ stuff and cleaning and packing it where every item belongs. Towels and chair covers to the laundry, crockery to the pantry and galley and so on. At last we knock off and get our well deserved rest while the night shift crew deals with the small things and cleaning up the yacht.

Sunset over Agatti Island

I got up in the morning for the change of security detail and curry and parothas. Later, me, Willie and Sikandar take out students to do their pool exercise for their PADI course. We take the tender to the entrance of the Agatti lagoon and anchor in 1m of water that will do instead of the pool. Willie and Sikandar gets into their stuff while I watch over the operation and sneak a few minutes of snorkeling. It is not very interesting as the bottom is more or less dead with a great deal of rubbish spread about, I can see some fish but thats about it.

When one ventures further into the lagoon you can find there are a lot of turtles living in it, big buggers swim away from your boat when you approach and you can also see them coming up to the surface for air. Turtles, unlike in Maldives, are not eaten in Lakshadweep. Yesterday when scouting out the route to Tinakara I saw two of them mating and Sikandar informs me that this is the mating season for them.

Once we return onboard it is just to change dive sets and be ready for diving the Solar site, used set are taken out and full sets put onto the tender. The dive site is only a few miles south of IE and was very much like the yesterdays dive at the Fish Soup. Once we return back onboard again we get to prepare for a beach BBQ at Sea Shells. Same gear is once again loaded onto tenders and minivans and crew gets into beach wear to set up the party.

I get a few hours of rest and I go and relieve Alok form the beach and stay there until the end. There is a fresh evening breeze blowing and my waterlogged sinuses don't like so I feel like I'm coming down with a head cold. The breeze continued until the early morning hours and I was done by when we packed up for the night at 3am.

Lakshadweep, history, religion, and society

Diving Solar

The 12th we dived the Solar site, name is due to the solar power plant next to it. It was just a few miles more south from the Fish Soup.

Pretty much the same as the previous dive at Fish Soup, there is a lot of fish here but the corals are not that spectacular as in Maldives due to bad bleaching some time ago. I could see signs though that the corals are slowly recovering but it is slow growing.

There is also a lot of Napoleon Maori Wrasse among many other species but they are quite camera shy, so it is hard to catch them on the lens.

I let the pictures speak for themselves again:

Fish

Aliens are here

Landscape

Black pyramid butterflyfish

Dash-dot goatfish in front

Like moon landscape

...more moon coral...

...landscape...

Sea star

Threadfin butterflyfish

Tuna (?)

The big one is a parrot fish

Masked bannerfish

Black pyramid butterflyfish on right

Another day in paradise

11th morning I am sent ashore to change our security detail and at the same time I pick up more of the local fish curry and parothas that has been a great hit among the Indian crew onboard. I come back on time for breakfast and after that the diving preparations begin.

Our security detail

Jetski's are pulled out from the lazarette and put on standby for guests. Towels and sun lotion is laid out. Finally the guests leave for diving and there is an hour quiet onboard.

Ad on AGatti

Sunset over Agatti

Upon return there is a request for beach BBQ preparations and evening goes there sending materials and then finally lugging it all back. Chairs, tables, gazebos, parasols, cutlery, crockery, glassware, music, beach gear, roman candles, towels.. it is a long list. Once back onboard it all has to be cleaned and washed before we can knock off for another day.

Diving Fish Soup

The 11th morning we prepare for diving, our dive guide, Sikandar, briefs us of the site and tells us the name is derived from the plenty fish that frequents the area. I suggested changing it into "Bouillabaisse" as the dish requires traditionally for some 7 fish to be put into it. The site is just a mile or so south of IE's anchoring position.

Gear is taken out, rigged together and stowed onboard. Checklists are completed and off we are to enjoy the wonders of the dominion under the sea. I let the pictures speak their own language ...

A spiky sea star

Sea anemone

Sea anemone

Orinetal sweetlips and White-spotted grouper below

Sea cucumber

Over a brain coral garden

Soft coral

School of fish

Spotted a turtle

Bennett's butterflyfish

Soft coral

Giant clam

Giant clam

Agatti Island

Next day half morning goes in preparing for the guests arrival and coordinating the shore transport as well as mapping out reefs.

Agatti Is traffic tower for shipping

Local sheds

Agatti fire engine (I think out of commission)

Early morning I take Anil ashore as he wants to buy some pickle and other condiments from Agatti while we check out the safe route into the lagoon. I follow him as the tender is minded by our Deckhand and we walk some 150m inland, the roads are in the Indian fashion chaotic and winds here and there. I can see signs of hotels and restaurants and shops selling mobiles and daily small stuff one may need. People eyeball and smile at me as I'm a foreigner. Everything looks very rural and original.

AIBAR

AIBAR

AIBAR

AIBAR beach looking North 

We haven't gotten our breakfast yet so we quickly pop into a restaurant and order fish curry and parothas. The dish is so good that we practically hoover the plates empty and we order some more to go for the guys onboard. While I have a masala chai, Anil goes on a motorbike with our diveguide Sikandar to find some pickles. By the time they arrive back I'm on some fresh paan and we head back North towards the lagoon exit and head to Bangaram and Tinakara Island to chart the route there as well.

Bangaram in the background 

Bangaram

The atoll entrance to Bangaram is crystal clear and Sikandar guides the coxswain from the bow to avoid big coral heads that clutter the channel. There are some buoys but unless one knows how the channel is, it is difficult to interpret what they are warning for as the shapes and colors are not necessarily IALA standard. At first we tried rounding Bangaram on the SE but the water got just too shallow, the sandbank had filled the lagoon, so we ventured back to the entrance and rounded Bangaram on the SW. Bangaram also has a resort that has a permit to take foreign visitors but the resort is closed due to litigation. We can see people milling around and Sikandar tells me they are locals.

The emerald waters of the atoll

Once on the NW side we entered the lagoon (Bangaram is shaped like a crescent) and the depth went to well over 20m and we speed up until we come again into shallow waters and wind our way on the E side of the atoll at the ridge between live coral heads and the white bleached area. We came to the beach of Tinakara and turned back as time was getting short and guests were arriving soon. We could use speed now as the route was plotted into our GPS and we knew how the channel was. Soon enough we were back onboard IE and the tender was given a going over before heading towards Agatti Island and the airport.

Tinakara Island

The wind has picked up so while I go ashore to receive guests, Avnish moves IE into lee and anchors north of the North Eastern jetty. We sit at the AIBAR (Agatti International Beach And Resort) and wait for the plane to land. The resort is just next to the airstrip that is located on the extreme south end of the Island. AIBAR is the only resort on the Island that can accept foreign guests, next to AIBAR is a new resort called Sea Shells but as far as I understand they do not have the permit to accommodate foreigners. However I never got a straight answer whether I as a foreigner could venture into the village area and get lodging at one of the guest houses there.

Agatti commercial jetty (half way Island)

There are 2 planes arriving every day from Cochin, one carrier is Indian Airways and the other Kingfisher Airlines. It is not necessary to sit  in the terminal and look at a screen to see if the plane has landed, we can see and hear the plane and we get up and hurry to the terminal.

KFA has landed

While the girls receive guests I get the luggage organised on a local boat and it is accompanied by one deckhand to IE while we load the guests on the tenders. Once we're all set we start towards the ship at the tune of 30 knots and it does not take long before we have the guests onboard sipping welcome drinks and making themselves at home while the stewardesses are distributing luggage and unpacking it.

Passing the other commercial jetty (NW)

The rest of the afternoon and evening guests enjoy onboard.

Voyage Mumbai - Agatti Island

On the 8th morning we depart for Agatti with pilot onboard. We have only permit to land at Agatti probably due to security reasons keeping in mind the two recent piracy incidents at Lakshadweep. Our agent had told us that the Somalis and rescued Thai fishermen now sit in the yellow gate police station in Mumbai where crew is signed on/ off ships. Leaving the busy metropolis with its dust and pollution behind we set course for Agatti Island and get briefed to keep a vigilant anti piracy watch as well as we double the navigation watch with regular patrols on decks.

Dawn in front of Gateway

I have the 00-06 watch so I am up all night. The seas are calm and the traffic is quiet, nothing out of the ordinary takes place. We arrive Agatti Island late afternoon and we pass the Tinakara and Bangaram Island that is north of Agatti. The Islands look the same as in Maldives, low profile with coconut palms growing in the middle and pearly white beaches. We end up anchoring off the North Point of the Island after a failed attempt near the cargo jetty. They jetty itself would be able to accommodate us length and depth wise but the prevailing swell would damage the ship, badly.

Bangaram and Tinakara Island in the distance

Once we've anchored the local dignitaries come aboard, police, immigration. customs, PR photographer, dive guide and Director General (I think). The clearance is done in a leisurely manner and finally it is done but by this time it is getting dark already so no reconnoitering is possible prior to guests arrival.

Local fishermen

Fortunately, I get to pick the brains of the dive guide and we also go ashore to pick up the police security team onboard. Ashore while waiting for the Officers I have tea and paan at the local teashop just by the jetty. The infrastructure here is authentic and original, not like the artificial resorts in the Maldives. While sipping my tea I also meet the local postmaster but his English is pretty perfunctory so we just smile politely to each other. Finally the police comes and we get back to the ship.

Mumbai - Goa - Mumbai

On the 1st I handover my Chief Officer duties to Tetso and I pack to leave for Goa to see that everything is alright on Kalizma. On the 2nd I carry my small pack ashore and wander around Mumbai aimlessly until late evening when the bus departs for Goa. As it is a first time for me I did not realize they got sleeper beds like in trains and I got a semi-reclining chair. The bus has no dinner stop either so it goes on and on through the night and is punctuated by short loo stops. The road over the mountains in Karnataka is winding and the bus driver makes his best to beat his former speed record Mumbai - Goa. Needless to say I hardly got any sleep on the bus. Next morning I arrive Goa bleary eyed and I'm met by Saini who is picking me up at the end stop in Panaji.

Mumbai to Goa (compliments by google maps)

We get onboard and I take a short time out to get my thoughts in order before we start tackling pending issues. We discuss engine matters, A/C plant, dry docking, accounts and so forth. All really boring work stuff that I'm not going to write about here.

Evening the 4th  I take the crew out for dinner and we head out for a Goan seafood restaurant, Amigos, at the Sinquerim river in Verem, just under the bridge. The setting is nice but the parking is awful on the top of the road. They have also nowadays a road down the embankment. We ordered all the Goan specialities including a vindaloo and asked the staff to make it spicy as our Naga girls had tagged along and they like their food spicy. Well, the message did not go through as the dishes we got were more like spiced with ketchup than chili so we sent it back to the kitchen. They returned after some time and then they were spicy, a bit, but not much. After finishing up the dinner we went on to Candolim and sat for a few hours at the Jazz Corner listening to some local boys playing songs in Konkan language. Once they finished their set it was time to head back to the ship.

On the 5th I get news that IE is sailing for Lakshadweep and my presence is required, so I wrap up matters onboard and prepare to leave the next day. In the evening I meet my old laundry steward, Nandush Noronha, from m/y Silver and he took me out for dinner to Sea Shells out in Santa Paula. Nandush is now working for a cruise ship as Laundry Manager and cruising Brazil. Sea Shells restaurant is setup very nicely a bit on the side so it is kind of hard to find unless you know exactly what and where you are looking for. The food was excellent Goan cuisine. We exchanged gossip and news since 2008 while having dinner and then I retired back to the ship.

IE in front of Gateway

On the 6th evening I board the bus for Mumbai and brace myself for another sleepless night. At least here they stop for a dinner somewhere in the country side and I have some chicken thali which is not so bad. At least it does not give me delhi belly. I dose through the night and eventually we arrive Mumbai at the crack of dawn. I get a taxi and get myself to the Gateway where the IE tender picks me up and takes me onboard. The day is followed by briefings and last minute preparations for departure the next day 8th.