It's great to be back in the Med after an eventful few weeks. There's never a dull moment on board Papillon.
We finally managed to leave El Gouna in moderate winds. Unfortunately once we were past the point of no return, the winds increased instead of dropping as per the forecast. So we hammered on all night, bouncing thru' the shipping lanes in 25 knots of wind - on the nose, of course. It was with great relief that we tied onto a mooring in Suez & collapsed into bed, by which time the winds had died completely. The next morning was like rush hour as 15 other boats arrived, having taken advantage of the slight let-up in the weather. All of us battered & beaten by the Red Sea & extremely happy to have got thru' it unscathed. Now all we had to deal with were the officials to get us thru' the Suez Canal and in the glittering Mediterranean beyond.
We were told that baksheesh or "gifts" would be required to oil the works. In preparation we had several cartons of cigarettes & ˝ bottles of whisky on board. What we didn't know was that the officials were new & ignorant of the booty they could receive. So we still have several cartons of cigarettes & bottles of whisky on board. Neither of which we like. We're thinking of having a dockside market as a nice little earner.
After a few days delay (maybe we should've used some of our booty) we were finally allowed to proceed thru' the Canal. At 6am, before sunrise, our pilot came aboard and we were off, jockeying for space with the northbound vessels. It was quite daunting as container ships passed us by, towering over us & leaving us in their huge wakes. We made great progress, arriving at the halfway city of Ismalia by 2pm. The disadvantage of arriving 1st was that we had to help the other 6 boats in our convoy with their lines. This proved a bit hectic as they all arrived within a few minutes of each other. Tho' we were rewarded with a much needed, very cold beer.
The next day saw another early start & another long day motoring thru' the desert to Port Said. We barely stopped to drop off our pilot as we pressed on into the Mediterranean - at last. It was an emotional moment when we emerged from the Canal. The end of our 6-year adventure. The enormity of what we had achieved finally sinking in. But the fun & games did not end there. Overnight Dave's toothache turned into something more sinister as his face swelled to Elephant Man proportions. He had developed an abscess & was in a great deal of pain. We were several days away from our intended destination of Kos, so we had to divert to Limmasol, Cyprus, arriving in the early hours of the morning, as usual. Everyone was extremely helpful & Immigration was done in record time. We asked the Port Police to direct us to a hospital "Why, are you not well?" was the reply. "Um, I don't normally look like this!" mumbled a very swollen-faced Skipper. A taxi was called on our behalf & we sped away to the local clinic where Dave was admitted overnight & pumped full of painkillers & antibiotics. I think the pain was forgotten for a little while when the specialist came to visit. Dr Zoe was gorgeous & thankfully good at her job as 24 hours later we were back on board Papillon. We spent 2 days resting to ensure that the patient was well enough to move on & then we were off again.
So after our very pleasant stay in Limmasol, we had to push on to Kos where our potential buyer was already waiting for us. We were making good progress until the wind, our fickle friend, turned against us & we had to stop overnight at the pretty Greek port of Kestellorizo on Megisti, opposite Kas, in Turkey. The closeness of Greek & Turkish territory made navigation very challenging & we had to get it right or there would be trouble. Early the next morning we were off & after an uneventful motor-sail, we finally arrived in Kos - in the early hours of the morning, as usual. Having kept our potential buyers waiting already, there was no respite, as we had to get Papillon cleaned up ready for inspection. We literally cleaned from the top of the mast, the sails, topsides & insides to the bilges, getting rid of the pesky desert sand at last.
The next few days were quite nerve-wracking as we welcomed Bill & Lois on board & went for a test sail. The one time we needed wind from any direction & there was none at all. We bravely soldiered on flying all the sails (not at the same time) & they just hung there limply. There was nothing for it but to drop the anchor & put the kettle on, then get back to marina sharpish - there was a Man U game on at 3! On day 2, the surveyor arrived & put Papillon under close scrutiny, tapping away at her decks with a rubber hammer & looking in every nook & cranny. It was like having a tax inspection. Another test sail was planned & this time the wind was perfect as once again we flew all the sails. Day 3 was decision time after the final inspection as the boat was hauled out of the water. More tapping of the hammer & Papillon was declared to be "In remarkable condition for her age!" All the hard work of maintaining the boat had paid off & once the VAT status had been confirmed, the deal was done. Papillon is ours no more. We didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It was more the latter as we got all of our stuff together & arranged to get it shipped home. All our belongings were packed into 15 boxes weighing a whopping 320 kgs. We think that the boat might be a bit quicker now!
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So that's it. We are now all packed & ready for our flight home. Our sailing days over . . . . . . . for now!
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| Friday 1st May 2009
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Back on board & on the move - almost. We have been very frustrated by the weather & our own stupidity! The seasoned world travellers somehow managed to miss the flight from Manchester to Hurghada, delaying Papillon's departure. Despite this, all is well.
After the usual chasing around, checking the boats' systems, stocking up the larder & cleaning, we took the next weather window to get going, anchoring off an island 20 miles north of Hurghada. 4 days later we were still there, pinned down by 25-knot winds from the north - exactly where we needed to go. The island was totally barren. All sand & not a green shoot in sight. We couldn't go ashore as the island is peppered with landmines, probably left over from the Suez Crisis. Exasperated, we headed back inshore to El Gouna, which is a really nice place to visit. Dave's happy as there is a pub & bar showing the footie. This has lead to several late nights, as Egypt is 2 hours ahead of the UK. Last night was a joy. No alcohol or football & an early night; just a cuppa & a DVD before bedtime. Not a frequent occurrence on Papillon. Our livers needed a rest.
So, what can we say about Egypt - Very sandy! It gets everywhere. There's no point in cleaning too much as the winds whip the dust up within seconds. The climate here is lovely; 27'C and 40% humidity. A far cry from the uncomfortable 90% humidity of Asia. The people are great, but as usual see the tourists as a big money-spinner. You really need your wits about you here. The currency is all notes, no coins. There is a 50 piastres note worth less than 1p, a 50 pound note worth Ł6 & the EŁ50 note looks very similar to EŁ100. Quite an opportunity to short change, which is what a taxi driver tried to do when we arrived. It's not a huge amount, but it all adds up to a healthy profit & is a powerful brake on any potential shopping that I had planned.
The forecast is for the winds to drop over the weekend, so we are sailing overnight straight to Suez. Hopefully we can pass through the Canal by mid-week & be back into Med, 5 ˝ years after we left in 2003. Almost home.
| Saturday 28th February
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We've covered an awful amount of sea miles since the last news update. It's been all sail and not too much land stuff since we left Oman.
We survived the so called "Pirate Alley" off the Somali coast unscathed. In fact we only saw one small fishing boat during the whole of the Gulf of Aden which could even have remotely been pirates. The area is currently well patrolled by coalition warships from UK, Italy, France, US, China and India, so we felt well looked after.
We did have one occasion when Jerry was on his night watch and he turned around to see a large vessel just behind us. He shot below to check it on radar and AIS just as a Royal Navy ship called us. They asked if he had observed any suspicious vessels and if so could he report them. Jerry pipes up "funny you should ask as there is one right behind us". Only to hear the response of "that would be us sir". They must have been rolling around the ship it fits of laughter. I think if they'd have got any closer they could have had one of the crew tap Jerry on the shoulder with a boat hook.
On the positive side Jerry has kept us well fed with his culinary creations. We've left him to it mainly as he seems to enjoy it. Although Jeff does offer his opinion in on occasions, particularly where gravy is required. Jeff's supposed speciality. Much hilarity on my part as I watch them debate how to get the right consistency. I've christened them Stadler and Warldorf from Muppet Show as they bat the argument back and forth. On one occasion it was decided that the gravy was a little lumpy. "No problem" says Jerry "I'll sieve it" and he indeed sieved out every last possible lump. Unfortunately he forgot to put anything under said sieve and we all watched in reverential silence as the remaining fluid disappeared down the plug hole.
And so we ventured forth into the Red Sea. I don't think Papillon has ever experienced winds as strong before. We reefed in every possible sail and I had prepared the crew for an all night rolling watch as we felt we'd have to hand steer to avoid an accidental gybe of the small amount of foresail remaining if we allowed the autohelm to steer. I decided to try what's called "bare poles" which basically means having no sail at all. Unbelievably we still careered along at 8 to 9 knots. At least we all got a good nights sleep as the boat was coping without a care.
Our next landfall was Massawa in Eritrea. Our first taste of Africa and we were greeted very warmly indeed. Not much to do ashore and a bit limited as to dining possibilities. There was much evidence of the war that took place prior to the country getting independence from Ethiopia in 1990, with many bombed and bullet ridden buildings. We would have liked to visit the capital Asmara but couldn't get the required permits quickly so headed off to Sudan after 2 nights.
Our only stop in Sudan was Suakin. Which made Massawa look like Monte Carlo. It was a complete ruin and very sad in every respect. But, the anchorage was very clean and well protected from the weather. We did visit Port Sudan for a day and replenished our veggies as well as enjoying a very nice lunch in the only decent hotel there.
By then we had a favourable forecast to head north as the northern Red Sea is notorious for having high winds heading exactly from the place you want to get. That's north. So we motored for 2 days and made good ground to the southern border of Egypt whilst we had the chance. This wasn't to last for long though as the winds picked up with the predicted fury. So we had to take refuge for 2 days behind a reef until they dropped sufficiently for us to power on north. You certainly need lots of fuel (or patience) to make progress in the northern part of the Red Sea.
So, we are now in Port Ghalib in Egypt. A bit of a culture shock after Eritrea and Sudan, with a TGI Fridays and Costa Coffee in the marina. Just another 120 miles to Hurgada where Jeff and Jerry leave Papillon to return home. Their help has been greatly appreciated and we've shared some memorable experiences. The most incredible being yesterday as we dropped anchor for a couple of hours at the appropriately named "Dolphin Reef". As you have probably guessed it offered exactly what it says on the tin….Dolphins. We were able to drop into crystal clear water from the dinghy and share the lagoon with a large pod of them. A fantastic moment to swim alongside these creatures who seemed totally unfazed by our presence.
| Wednesday 4th. February
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Just a brief news update as I'm responsible for writing it as Vicki's back home.
I now have Jeff & Jerry on board to help me get the boat to Egypt via the supposed pirate area of Gulf of Aden. Can't say as we're to worried about it as I think the Somali's have bigger fish to fry than a 43ft sailing boat.
So, we're now in Salalah, Oman after an 8 day passage from Cochin India. A good passage all told with decent winds for 5 of the days. We managed to call in at Kavaratti in the Lakshadweep Islands. Not really an allowed stop by the Indian authorities but we had an "engine problem" wink, wink. And were allowed a 2 day stop. Never seen so many turtles anywhere and the usual Indian friendliness by all we met.
Spent the rest of the passage trying to avoid the pesky fisherman. We managed to outrun about 3 vessels attempting to get alongside us in huge boats. During the trip our culinary skills were a little tested. Jeff's contribution being "which kind of meat would you like grilling this time". Jerry is very keen to show his expertise and produced an excellent curry one night. Unfortunately the galley looked like a kindergarten and several monkeys and been given free reign afterwards and Jerry was awarded first price for "most washing up produced in preparation of a dinner".
We've only spent 4 days in Oman, but Salalah has everything we needed to stock the boat. Several runs in our hire car to load around 450 litres of diesel by jerry cans on the boat and a great supermarket for replenishing our much depleted fresh food stocks.
We've also managed to buy some illicit beer here. A very cloak and dagger affair as it's banned here but "where there's a will".
That's all for now, not sure when we'll be able to update again as I suspect internet access will be somewhat limited in Eritrea and Sudan……but who knows.
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Thursday 22nd January |
Back from our trip inland visiting the backwaters & mountains of Kerela.
A 2-hour drive south of Cochin took us to Alleppey where we spent 2 nights quietly cruising the canal & waterway system. Alleppey is locally called the Venice of the East. The scenery is beautiful. Rice paddy fields as far as the eye can see. The sounds of birdsong & the slapping of clothes on rocks as the locals did their laundry in the river to the point of obsession. We had a very relaxing time before the next white knuckle car ride inland to Kumily & Periyar.
The roads here are chaotic at best. Trucks, buses, cars, rickshaws, motorbikes, pedestrians & cows all trying to overtake each other at once in any direction. Indicators are surplus to requirement as horns are sounded at every turn or manoeuvre as we clung on in our taxi with eyes closed for most for the journey. Several torturous hours later we arrived in Kumily to the Treetop hotel our ears ringing with the sound of car horns. We toured a spice farm & now know all about coffee, cardoman & pepper (same plant, different process). The next day, we went cruising on lake Periyar in the wildlife reserve. It was bedlam. Unknown to us, it is a big local holiday & the place was over-run. After the peace & beauty of Alleppey this was a bit of a disappointment, especially as we didn't see any wildlife. Elephant footprints, elephant poop, but no elephants. We escaped the crush & drove straight to Elephant Junction. We were guaranteed to see an elephant here. We even rode on one. Jeff requested "A big one!" which is what he got, not realising that he would have to sit astride the beast for half an hour as it ambled thru' the forest. It was the widest Jeffs legs had ever been in his lifetime. His eyes were still watering hours later. In the meantime we had tears running down our faces from laughing. In the afternoon we visited a tribal village where we saw local children playing cricket. The ground was so hard the stumps kept falling over, so one ingenious child thought nothing of dropping his pants & pee-ing on the ground to soften things up a bit. The stumps were set & it was game on! Almost everywhere we travel there are locals of all ages playing cricket. It's an obsession. After a brief trip to the bottle shop for some wine, we returned to our hotel for dinner. "Rough & Tough" was the order of the day. Kerela's equivalent to Surf & Turf. Tho' it was more a rough piece of fish & tough bit of steak.
The next day was another interesting car journey thru' the mountains to Munnar. Only 65 miles away. Distance means nothing here as the roads are practically non-existant. 4 boneshaking hours later, we gratefully crawled out of the car at our hotel in Munnar. Our driver & guide, Sanil did a sterling job getting us there in one piece. Our main criteria here was to have satellite TV access so that we could watch the Man U - Bolton game. Thanks to Sanil, to accomodate our wishes we were given the best room in the hotel at the basic room rate. A win-win situation all round. Thankfully Man U obliged by winning as well & we were all happy. After the culinary offerings in Kumily, Munnar offered "Cock & Bull". A chicken steak burger with an egg on top. We declined, playing safe with a curry. The food is delicious but we do long for something to sink our teeth into. Munnar is a huge tea growing area & the scenery was breath-taking. Beautiful manicured plantations covering steep sided, undulating mountainsides. Picture postcard views wherever we looked. On the Sunday, we happened upon a large religious procession passing thru' the town. Drummers, brass bands & people of all ages carrying brightly coloured parasols & canopies strolling to the church on the hillside. We have been very surprised at the amount of churches in Kerela, considering the country is mainly Hindu. Most schools appear to be christian, with all creeds attending. It seems that a christian eductaion is highly prized.
After 7 days touring it was time to return to Papillon & meet up with Jerry, who is also helping sail the boat to Egypt. Whilst Dave co-ordinated getting diesel & water on board, we went shopping. The locals are very good at getting you into their stores & getting us to part with our money. After visiting an perfume shop, we were co-erced into another emporium where Linda & I managed to purchase some scarves we didn't really need. They were just so cheap, we couldn't resist. The upside was that the shop had a lovely rooftop terrace & served coffee, tea & cold beer! It was hard to escape. Tho we had to return later to pay for our goods. Then Jerry got roped in. As we tried to leave, the rickshaw driver persuaded us to visit another store. They get points & gifts for taking people to the businesses. Our driver was singing Jingle Bells all the time, happy that he may get a Volvo Ocean Race T-shirt for his troubles. It was in the last store that Linda & I escaped leaving Jerry at the mercy of the carpet salesman. He was hooked, but not happy to barter. So he made a low offer as he jumped into the rickshaw, planning to return with Jeff, our champion negotiator, the next morning. Our final stop was the perfume shop to collect our essential oils. As we left & looked forward to getting back to the boat for sundowners, who was waiting for us on the pavement but the carpetman! He had riddden around on his motorbike looking for us. Jerry & Him did the deal there & then in the street. As Linda & I walked back to the boat, Jerry was seen disappearing round the corner with our singing rickshaw driver. He returned an hour later with a bewildered & bemused look on his face, wondering what Davina will say when the carpet arrives in the UK in 2 weeks time. Watch this space.
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Dinner ashore is always an interesting challenge. Only a limited amount of places serve alcohol & that is limited to beer. This isn't shown on the menus & in most cases is called "special tea". We quickly found out why when the waiter arrived carrying a large china teapot with matching mugs. Geoff was mother as he poured the amber nectar into our cups. We felt we were back in the prohibition era. It's our final day in India. Linda & I are flying back home tomorrow while Dave & his gallant crew of 2, set sail for Oman & The Red Sea.
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| | Sunday 11th January
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There's a new channel marker in Cochin. It's in the form of Papillon. We made it! Our first passage with just the 2 of us on board has truly tested our mettle. Over the past week we have had the good, the bad & the ugly. We are currently anchored off the 5* Taj Malabar Hotel waiting for clearance formalities to be completed and being used as the turnaround point for the pleasure craft in the area. This morning we felt like an exhibit as we were photgraphed whilst sitting in the cockpit enjoying a hearty bacon & bacon & egg brunch.
As we prepared to leave Port Blair, we went ashore for supplies. this included bread & flour to bake whilst at sea. Standing in the bakery asking for flour, we drew blank stares, so we telephoned Ashraf for the Hindi translation. "phool!" was the reply. So we stood there asking for "phool", which drew even more stares from the ever growing queue behind us. Eventually someone understood what we were after & muttered "Atta!". Phool is the word for flowers. Talk about lost in translation.
In the evening we were entertained by Ashraf & his family, who took us to an excellent local restaurant, for local people. Taking into account our delicate English palates, Ashraf asked for everything to be "not spicy". As we enjoyed a taste of real Indian cuisine, the tandoori prawns arrived & blew us away. They were even too hot for our hosts, so Dave & I were in a bit of a state. The following morning, Dave spent too much time in the heads, with odd mutterings of "backside" & "Japanese flag!" Thankfully, he recovered quickly enough for us to bid a fond farewell to The Andaman Islands as we sailed off into a stunning sunset.
By late afternoon we were ready for the off. Having a gentle spinnaker run, we literally sailed into the sunset & it was spectacular. We had day of very boisterous seas, then we settled into the watch system. Trying to stay awake on watch then struggling to fall asleep off watch. We have frequently had dolphins around us, attracted by the depth sounder. At night they leave luminous trails like torpedos as they dart thru' the water. During the day they raced ahead of us & showed off doing backflips & somersaults - the first time we've seen this on the trip.
We have sailed most of the way, at last. For the limited time we used the engines it was party time as we ran the watermaker until the tanks overflowed, got the washing machine going to do the laundry & plugged all electrical gizmos in to charge. Skipper even had toast for breakfast as we could plug in the toaster without feeling guilty about the abuse of power! We failed miserably at baking bread. Thank goodness for the freezer. If we had to rely on baking & fishing we'd starve.
The sail was pleasantly uneventful & we even enjoyed a few sundowners on our new trampoline. Tho we had a scary moment with the spinnaker. The wind picked up & as we tried to pull it down, the pair of us were hanging on the line, bouncing on the trampoline, like a pair of bell-ringers. As we approached the southern tip of Sri Lanka, we got a wake up call. We had heard about the fishing boats approaching yachts for food, drinks or cigarettes. What we weren't prepared for was the aggressive manner in which this was carried out. They would lie in wait ahead of us & as we passed them they would speed up & aim straight at us. Thankfully we had a good following wind & with the help of the engines, we managed to outrun them, our nerves frazzled. As if that wasn't enough we were entering another of the busiest shipping channels in the world as numerous vessels converge en route between the Red Sea & Asia. It felt like being on the M6 on a pushbike! At one point we were overtaken by the biggest ship we have seen. 330 metres long & 60 metres wide. It passed by a mile away from us & still looked enormous.
It was a tiring 24 hours to say the least, but in the morning, we had chance to catch our breath. The winds died as we rounded to tip of Sri Lanka, so on came the engines & off we went to sleep. Taking it in turns as we still needed to keep an eye on all the shipping. Then all hell broke loose as the winds went from 5 knots to 30 in the blink of an eye. Our main concern was slowing the boat down. We had 3 reefs in the main & foresail & still we rattled along. If we couldn't slow down enough we considered replacing a sail with a pair of boxer shorts, reducing to a thong as a last resort. We covered 190 miles in 24 hours. A record for Papillon & a surprise considering how overloaded she is with all of our goodies. It's in these conditions that we are grateful to be in a good strong ocean-going boat, as Papillon ate up the miles. We were perfectly safe, just slightly uncomfortable & quite wet as the wind whipped the waves through the cockpit, blowing spray everywhere. It made us think of some yotties who declare the cockpit as a "No Salt Zone!" Making you rinse off on the back of the boat before stepping on board. What would they have made of our salt encrusted cockpit?
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Even tho' we have only been here for 36 hours, we are already enjoying this city & have accomplished a lot. Everyone is so friendly, helpful & inquisitive. As well as the tour boats, we have caused quite a stir at the hotel amongst staff & guests alike. The bedding & towels have been despatched for laundering to our bumboat guy, Ibrahim who has also taken our beer order! The biggest & best coup is finding us a dock where we can leave Papillon. It's the only dock in Cochin available to yachts & it has power & running water. Dave is very happy to be able to wash off the salt & get Papillon gleaming again. This may be last chance for good washing down as there are no marinas until we get to Egypt. I know it sounds ridiculous to be worried about a salty boat, but it is really a sailors nightmare. It has permeated everything, even us! We have acquainted ourselves with a driver & tour guide, Sanil, who is taking us on a tour next week with Jeff (Velcro) & Linda who arrived on Friday. We are all looking forward to getting ashore & touring Kerela's famous backwater & mountains.
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| | Thursday 1st January
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Happy New Year. We hope 2009 is a good vintage regardless of the economic cloud. Despite our best efforts, we saw this New Year in with a more laid-back style than usual. We were asleep! We have had such a relaxing time cruising the Andaman Islands, that we couldn't stay awake after 10pm. Lightweights!
After finally leaving Phuket & bidding a fond farewell to all, we stopped at the Similan Islands for a few days to catch our breath before we began the final ocean passage of our voyage. We enjoyed relative peace & quiet, except for the numerous dive boats. I counted 15 around one dive sight with several more on the horizon. I wouldn't be surprised if people got mixed up, ending up surfacing with the wrong boat.
After breakfast on Christmas Eve, we weighed anchor, heading for the Andaman Islands, 340 miles away. With the exception of 3 hours motoring, we sailed the whole way arriving in Port Blair for breakfast on Boxing Day. As we approached the harbour, we were hailed by a vessel from the Navy, requesting us to send our dinghy over to them so they could board Papillon. Launching the dinghy at sea was an interesting exercise. 2 officers came on board asking all sorts of questions, poking around & leaving big black boot prints all over the deck. A camera was produced & we were then asked to pose for photos at various places on the boat; cockpit, trampoline & galley all accompanied by the other officer who casually aimed his machine gun in our general direction. The gun looked like relic from WW II. We looked a right pair, Dave unshaven & dishevelled & me in my PJ's. We normally like to scrub up before the officials arrive & we certainly weren't expecting a photo shoot at 7am.
Continuing into Port Blair we anchored & freshened up ready for more officials. Just as we were about to fry up the bacon & eggs, we got the call that customs were waiting on the quayside. We had heard that the bureaucratic clearance procedures could take a few days. As we only had a week, we opted to use an agent hopefully to speed things up. Ashraf turned out to be extremely efficient & worth every dollar. 8 hours after arriving all the formalities were complete. This involved another photo shoot courtesy of the Coast Guard, then chasing around the Port Control buildings trying to track down the Harbour Master who grants us permission to sail these beautiful islands. We also managed to fit in a bit of shopping, replenishing our fruit & veg for the week. We sampled the famous Indian Chai - sweet, milky tea - then experienced our first Indian meal, which was delicious.
Early the next morning we were up & at 'em, making the most of our limited time here. First stop was the resort island of Havelock. We anchored off a mile long, deserted beach, locally called No 7. Not after cosmetics, but because it is the 7th beach on the island. We enjoyed an extremely quiet, flat calm night on board before heading round to No 1 beach & the main harbour for Havelock. This was bustling as the ferry had just arrived with 560 passengers & a supply vessel was also unloading its goods. After lunch ashore we headed up to the island paradise of North Button where we spent 2 nights & were very reluctant to leave. The snorkelling was great & we had a close encounter with a bumphead parrotfish, nearly bumping into this 40Kg giant. While other fish nibble on the coral, this baby chomped thru it as if it were candyfloss. Walk ashore we saw fresh tracks left by leatherback turtles, that had come ashore to lay their eggs. We shared the anchorage with a rather nice 60' motorboat. As we enjoyed our wine on the trampoline gazing at the stars, their crew erected a giant screen on the aft deck for the guests to watch a very loud movie. It seemed a little incongruous in the idyllic surroundings.
After the noise & filth of Phuket, the Andaman's remind us of why we chose to do this great adventure. Our next stop of Inglis Island didn't disappoint. More turquoise waters, white sandy beach & the only footprints were ours & those of a goat or 2! Unfortunately with the sand come sand flies, which have feasted on us both. It's like having chicken pox again as we itch & scratch.
New Years Eve was spent quietly at No 7 beach as we worked our way back to Port Blair. There was a party in full swing on the beach with music playing till dawn. The midnight fireworks woke us up, so we at least had chance to wish each other happy new year, sing Auld Lang Syne, before rolling over & going back to sleep. After smoked salmon & scrambled eggs for breakfast we headed back to Port Blair. We used the spinnaker for the 1st time since leaving Darwin 18 months ago. It took a while for us to remember how to deploy it & we enjoyed a lovely gentle sail into Port Blair as we prepare to check out.
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After our first tantalising taste of India, we are ready for the 1200-mile passage to Cochin to experience the mainland. Our longest passage with just the 2 of us on board & possibly my last ocean passage on Papillon.
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| Friday 19th December
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We're back with a vengeance. It's been a while but it is good to be back on board. Papillon is now fixed & ready to set sail again.
My flight out was a protracted affair, thanks to the blockade of Bangkok Airport. I flew to Zurich to get the connection, only to be flown back home the next day. I got straight onto the internet to find other flights & so did the rest of the world. As fast as I found a seat, it had disappeared by the time I keyed in my details. I eventually got the last seat on a flight to Phuket & arrived 5 days later. Dave had been in Thailand for 5 weeks supervising the repairs & fitting our new trampoline. It looks great.
I had a lovely welcome from the girls at the Haven marina & restaurant. Having just recovered from a bout of flu & flown halfway round the world I wasn't at my best, but the girls kept calling me "beautiful!" Unfortunately this is not due to my looks, but purely due to my lily-white skin: A sign of beauty over here. After 2 weeks, it is now slightly tanned & my nose is as red as Rudolphs. However it was nice to be called beautiful for a day.
With all new instruments fitted, we sailed south to Langkawi to check everything worked properly & take advantage of the islands duty free status. En route we encountered a large storm. Dave decided to switch all the instruments off, just in case. It was at this point that he got a call of nature & rapidly disappeared to the heads, leaving me at the helm in torrential rain, 30 knot winds, limited visibility, with thunder & lightning all around. Great fun!
We discovered a small glitch with auto-helm. As we raised the mainsail using the electric winch, the boat swerved off course. It swerved back again when we stopped the winch leaving us staggering around the cockpit (sober). It turns out that the control unit had been put in the centre of the boat as instructed, but this was near our batteries & the electric inverter, which interfered with its compass. It has now been moved & normal sailing can resume, we hope.
After a few days spent stocking up the fridge & freezer again, we had a day of pampering. Some Xmas shopping, pedicure, massage, steak dinner & home to a very sound nights sleep; A whole day without doing boat jobs. These past few weeks Dave's patience has been tested to the limit. As he fixes one thing another breaks. The water maker sea-cock seized up in the closed position, the water pump for the shower stopped working, so we drove all over the island trying to find replacements. Just one thing after another, all part of boat ownership.
After a last meal at the Haven Restaurant, we plan to set sail for the Andaman Islands, hoping to arrive by Xmas. It's a 3-day sail from Phuket & we are excited to be on the move again. It will also give us an opportunity to fathom out how all the new instruments work, which could be useful.
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We hope you have a very Merry Christmas & wish you all that is good for 2009.
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| Tuesday 30th October
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Firstly, apologies for our tardiness in keeping the web pages up to date. We have posted some photos from our last few weeks in Thailand in that section as well as the July news below which details our last days when we had the strike.
After spending our first (rather wet) summer in the UK for 5 years we're now getting closer to the time when we return to the boat.
Dave still has to replace the navigation electronics and we also have a new trampoline to fit. At least we will now have brand new electrics and electronics on the boat. A small compensation for all the hassle we've had to go through and the delaying of our journey for a year, but the main thing is that no one was hurt and the boat only had electrical failures and no structural damage.
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We should be relaunching the boat in November and will keep you all posted of our news when we do.
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