Lunch & shopping in Fort Kochi

One day we joined Bill & Amy on S/V ESTRELLITA and Randal & Ruth on S/V DORA MAC for a day of shopping in Fort Kochi.  And lunch at the Seagull Hotel restaurant, of course.   Ruth was on a mission to find a tour guide book for Turkey, so we all tagged along.  Something to break up the boredom of sitting in the marina day after day.

No guide books for Turkey were to be had.  Didn't think we would find one, but it was worth a shot.  Shopping was good for other things this particular day.  I bought a large blue silk scarf -- just in case I am required to cover my head when we visit the Blue Mosque in Istanbul.  And a heavier weight silk scarf to wrap around my shoulders in case it is cold.  What am I saying -- "in case" -- of course it is going to be cold in Turkey in April!  Istanbul is near latitude 41N.  That is about the same latitude as Long Island Sound in New York.  Darn right it will be cold in April!!

After shopping in the tourist section new Jew Town we hailed 3 tuk-tuks to take the 6 of us to the Seagull Hotel restaurant for lunch.  One couple paid 50 rupees; another couple paid 40 rupees; and we paid 25 rupees.  Each for the exact same distance in the "motorized rickshaw" as the tuk-tuks are called here in India.  And we did not even try to bargain the price down.  We just happened to get quoted the cheapest price.  To put that in perspective, 50 rupees is about $1.10 USD.  Tuk-tuks are very inexpensive here.  On the ride to the restaurant we passed hundreds of school children getting out for their lunch break.  The groups we saw were all in uniforms, but Bill & Amy passed a group of girls all dressed up like small Indian women.  If they send me that photo, I will upload it later.  Speaking of which, the Indian women dress in the most beautiful saris.  I have not taken any photos because it always feels like that would be an intrusion.  But, take my word for it, they wear gorgeous clothing, even for just staying at home and doing daily housework.

This time we knew to enter the Family Restaurant instead of the one called just plain old Restaurant.  Mustn't mix the women with the men while dining.  I really don't get that segregation by gender while eating concept.

And by Family, they do mean family.  There are no high chairs or booster chairs here.  Women hold their babies and toddlers when feeding them.  Everyone normally eats with their fingers and it can get pretty messy.  But they have something else for babies in restaurants that we don't have back home -- baby beds.  Have you ever seen a baby crib or bassinet in a restaurant?

BTW, food was good again this day.  Mushroom masala and cashew rice for me.  Fried shrimp for Bill.  With parotta (a bread thing) and Kingfisher beer.

After lunch we all walked down near the Chinese fishing nets to try to negotiate a better price for a knife that Bill Betts wanted to buy.  Bill Rouse went in and bargained the price down from $400 USD to $300; but Bill Betts only wanted to pay $200.  Ended up not buying it.  He will be here several more weeks and has plenty of time to return and pay the higher price if he decides it really is worth that much.  While walking down the narrow old stone/dirt streets we saw some electrical lines that are very low to the ground.   As we walked near these lines to take a photo, some local men shouted to tell us that it was "danger."  No kidding!  That is why we wanted the photo.  Any little kid could grab these things, they are so low to the ground.  Danger, indeed!

While walking back to the ferry dock for the first leg of our return trip to the marina, I stopped in a small shop and bought a "doubles" doll for our granddaughter.  This will probably be our birthday present to her later this summer.  A doubles doll has a male head on one side with a long flowing cloth robe/skirt.  Beneath the robe/skirt is a female head.  You turn the doll upside down and the long cloth goes down in the opposite direction and becomes a long dress.  These dolls vary in price considerably, depending on the fabrics used and quality of sewing and adornments.  Our granddaughter won't care anything about this, but I thought it would be a good souvenir for her or remembrance of our trip to India.

At the ferry dock there was the Indian version of a Park 'N Ride lot.  Full of old-fashioned bicycles and lots of motorcycles.  No bit of space wasted. 

There are two queues to purchase ferry tickets -- one line for women and one line for men.   With only one ticket seller.  He alternates selling first to men and then to women.  Each person can purchase only two tickets.  Then everyone stands together on the platform and makes a mad dash to try and be the first one on the ferry when it arrives.  So, what is the point of separating the women from the men to purchase the tickets?  The logic (or lack thereof) totally escapes me.

Another one of those little quirks of India.

How it really is "out there" in the Indian Ocean this season

Several of our friends have kept us posted via radio email as they made their way north and west across the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden during the past month.  We have not divulged any of these emails or information contained therein because loose lips sink ships -- or in this case loose fingers can cause pirate hijackings.  In this posting I will relate numerous emails -- only for for yachts that are no longer in the danger zones.   In many instances the yacht name and/or person's name will be deleted.

From a yacht at Aden some days ago, forwarded to us by another friend:

"HI _____, great that you're with _______.... and a warship...excellent news. I left Aden last night midnight as mass protests on street and gunfire around. Army out with 50 cal on back of jeeps...I was the only boat there and feeling like the last tomato in a salad. I managed to get my passport back from immigration in the afternoon, and just thought..I'm going...stopped by a port control launch with Kalachnikov bloke on front...port control ordered me back to anchorage 5 times.  I refused, saying that there was gunfire on the street, I'm a uk boat and I want to leave now.  After half an hour he called off the dogs and gave me permission to leave and asked if I would please come back to Aden and its not always like that!!!!  Decided to get on and head N... in bab el mandeb now,...sat 1400 blowing 30 and big waves, 4 reefs main, slip of staysail but fine, making 10-12 on the roller coaster...don't know how far I can get in this window will see. Take care."

NOTE:  This man is sailing single-handed.  We met him in Sri Lanka with his wife and 2 small children.  He dropped the wife and kids in a safe city to wait while he continues to sail onward alone, with plans for them to fly and meet up in a safer area.  We cannot imagine how difficult this has been on him all alone. 

------------------------------------------------------------ 

Here is an email last week from the US Embassy in Oman, who had received it from the
US Embassy in Eritrea.  We had originally planned to stop several times along the Eritrean coast, as other friends had done several years ago.  So glad we decided not to continue and do this:

As promised, here's a link to the U.S. Embassy in Asmara's travel
warning (http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_2939.html) and
an article about a boat with a crew of four British/Australians that has
been detained in Massawa since December 24, 2010 and has not been
allowed consular access
(http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/australian-sailor-detaine
d-in-eritrea-20110217-1ax08.html).  My counterpart in Asmara also
mentioned that they had also been informed that four Germans sailed in
and were similarly detained for four days before being released.

As discussed, the U.S. Embassy in Asmara strongly advises American
citizens not to travel to the port of Massawa, and will likely update
their travel warning soon to specifically include warnings against
travel to the ports of Assab and Massawa.  Historically, the U.S.
Embassy in Asmara has never been informed of the detention of American
citizens, nor allowed consular access. It is also extremely difficult to
obtain a visa for Eritrea, and those who do obtain one must request a
travel permit to leave the city.  Often these permits are not granted.

I have not heard back from the U.S. Embassies in Khartoum or Cairo.  I
will pass on any information from them as soon as I get it.

Best regards,

Tracey

Consular Section
U.S. Embassy Muscat
: consularmuscat@state.gov
<http://us.mc501.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=consularmuscat@state.gov>
((+ 968) 2464 3686
2 (+ 968) 2464-3535
+U.S. Embassy Muscat
P.O. Box 202, Postal Code 115 (MSQ)
Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

Sensitive Privacy Act
This email is UNCLASSIFIED.
--------------------------------------------

And here are several from a friend who is currently in the IRTZ (patrolled corridor in the Gulf of Aden).  He has 2 crew aboard, very brave friends who volunteered to sail with him.  This yacht was in the Maldives when rioting started in Egypt and the sudden increase in piracy attacks became known.  He sailed back against the wind to reach the coast of India (not easily done), up the coast of India well north and avoiding Pakistani waters, an arc over to Muscat (put his wife and kids off the boat in Muscat for their safety), down the coast of Oman, and then back out to the IRTZ patrolled corridor.  By the time he reaches "safe" waters in the Red Sea past all known pirate activity he will have sailed more than 3300 NM.   The direct routes would have totaled 2100 NM.  The direct routes were the routes being followed by the Danish yacht ING when they were captured by the pirates last week.  His family hopes to fly and meet him in Egypt if it is considered safe enough at the time he finally gets that far north.  If not, they will fly and meet him somewhere in the Med.   I will post this emails in date order.  Note that I am not including all his emails to us, but enough that our readers will get a sense of what he has been experiencing:

As we passed Cochin last night, I wonder if we would have given this (shipping) more of a consideration.  As of now, we are taking the long way home...sailing from Maldives over to the coast of India & staying within 15 miles along the coast.  We plan to stop in Bombay to add diesel & get a bit of rest then further north to cross over to Muscat - check out some camel races then make our way down to Salalah.  ______& kids will get off in Muscat, and Mike is still with me and hope to pick up one other crew there.  But who knows, we may sail back down and put _________ along side Bebe!

It was an incredibly tough week or so in Maldives dealing with the daily updates and trying to make the decision.  For us, we felt in the end, this option made most sense.  We'll keep you posted on our progress, and please do likewise.  I guess we'll wait to Turkey to toast the Med together.  Looking forward to that reunion, and getting this all behind us!!!

I sent this email to about a dozen folks - most still in Maldives, and I think it would be a great option & the price seems very fair. 

All the best to you & Judy & hope you enjoy India in the meantime.

-------------------

We have changed our plans.  We will not go to Salalah.

Yesterday Blue Water Rally boat ________ - who we have convoyed with since Maldives, decided that our speed was too slow for them.  They left us and went on their own to Salalah....so much for the convoy/buddy boat system...

We are doing well, and this afternoon will rendezvous with a friend, US S/V "_________" to continue on to the IRTC that we will follow until we reach Djibouti.  _______ has been enjoying the company of US Warship 84 - Bulkley for the last 2.5 days, and not sure what 84's next task will be, but heard them on VHF this morning.  Very encouraging.

Sadly, we learned that another yacht has been hijacked by pirates. (Danish yacht ING)

(Note:  The warship was accompanying this yacht (actually 3 yachts) because one yacht had lost its propeller and was being towed by the others to Salalah.  They were less than 100 NM from the Danish yacht when the hijacking took place.  The disabled yacht notified UKMTO and MARLO and the warship was dispatched to accompany the disabled yacht.)

--------------------------------------

At 0630Z we reached the corner of the IRTC.  The corridor is 490 miles long, so we will be in this zone for the next 3.5 days or so.

________- our new convoy partner has brought with them good juju.  Not only did ________ & _______ come with a US Warship escort, later in the day we had a US Navy Helo give us a fly by last night and better yet, for the first time since leaving the Maldives - some 2500 miles ago, we no longer have wind on the nose! We are happy sailors for the moment. And, as I write this, we have just had another navy plane fly by.  At the very least we feel that someone knows we are out here.

Our plans at the moment will be to sail to Djibouti, refuel and move on from there.  Some have asked why Djibouti and not other spots and I offer commentary by fellow cruiser & friend ________ with his report below on stopping in Yemen(hope you don't mind that I share this ______, but it's good intel & great writing)........ (see story above about Aden)
 
I've said that trying to make it through this region of the world...It's a shit sandwich and no matter how you slice it, still tastes the same.  And yes - oddly as it sounds to folks back home, we'll be thrilled to get to Egypt.

One last note: _______ on ________ is far more sophisticated than I am when it comes to updating their blog (yes Seth, I know we haven't updated since last year!).  You can check out their commentary & follow our progress at:


http://www2.sailblogs.com/member/sailpalapa/?xjMsgID=163422
(NOTE:  click on right side for future and past postings in date order)

Thanks to all for the notes of encouragement.  We all appreciate your assistance, thoughts & prayers.

----------------

Moving slowly along the IRTC - about 360 miles to the end before we veer off towards Djibouti.  All is well on board.  Had Japanese Helicopter pay us a visit and also a Japanese Warship.  We asked the warship to check on a radar contact we both had on our screens and they reassured us that all was clear on our rear after visual, infrared, and I'm guessing a more sophisticated radar system than we have.  So we slept well for a while.

Fair amount of shipping in the lanes and we are just on the northern edge to keep a good distance from the traffic, but close enough to find the psychological comfort in the company of others.  Early this morning we spotted a fishing dhow towing a skiff and ______ on _____ called UKMTO, but unlike the movie version, we had no blackhawks appear instantly over the horizon to check it out for us.  We did contact a freighter who was coming up from behind, and he did confirm the sighting of 'a typical fishing vessel'....Fortunately the dhow (aka mothership) and skiff carried on towards Yemen - no doubt smuggling Somalis to Yemen - at least that's my version.

--------------------

Warship activity last night included contact with Indian, Greek/European & US Warships.  Also have aircraft in area checking in via Ch 16.  At one point Indian Warship identified 2 suspicious vessels at our exact coordinates...glad they did not take a shoot first ask questions later approach, and glad they are out here.  The Greek warship appears to be staying on our course from the center lane of the IRTC.  Wind picked up slightly and we actually turned the engine off for the first time since leaving Muscat - it lasted a whole 1/2 hour....

I understand the confirming reports of the hijacking of the Danish S/V 'ING' are in the news.  We haven't heard further details, and we are keeping the family of 5 with crew in our thoughts & prayers.

We just received word that yet another yacht may have been pirated - this one a _______ flagged vessel according to a ________ gov't source. I am hoping this is not the case, but rumors we are hearing unfortunately are turning out to be true.  Any word from any of your contacts - I'm concerned about the location.  I've always felt we are a soft target out here!

------------

Unfortunately, we have had 4 incidents along the Corridor in less than 24 hours.

Last night we saw a ship being attacked not 5 miles from our position. Flares going off and then a fast moving boat with a red light headed in our direction - then light went dark.  Enough for us to call MARLO who got US Warship to speed in our direction.  We had Helo's and an escort the rest of the night.  Incredibly scary.  Then today we spotted a dhow with 2 skiffs in the middle of the corridor again 6 miles from our position...and even though they get reported, the resources are too thin to respond in time!  And at 12:30 sailing yacht _____ (USA) & yacht sailing yacht ______ (USA) reported a merchant vessel was being attacked again in the corridor only 38 miles ahead of us. It is NOT good here.  It is very very bad.  We are ditching plans for _________ and going north to ________...Yes, I have the report on gun fire and rioting in the Port of _________..that IS how bad it is here in the Coalition Corridor.

  (Note from Judy to all those people following in our wake who are insisting that the government should provide them with a military escort through this dangerous area.  IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR A NAVAL ESCORT TO PROTECT A CONVOY OF PRIVATE SAILBOATS OVER A DISTANCE OF 2500 NM.  Even if that were possible to effect,   the military assets are already stretched too thin for their assigned duties.)

---------------------------
A few emails from the 2 boats we had originally planned to buddy-boat with through the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden.  They are now safely well north in the Red Sea.  

Received several weeks ago:
Our silence has been mostly a function of being constantly occupied with watching the radar and the horizon the other routine tasks of passage-making.  We were also running low on Sailmail minutes, as I have still not solved the Iridium/Sailmail mystery. 

__________ and we arrived yesterday afternoon in Al Mukullah, and what a strange and different place it is, although thus far very friendly and welcoming.  We will stay only a few days here before moving on to Aden, where we will pick up some spare parts including a new forestay for _________.  The passage was marked mostly by the inability to easily distinguish a good guy from a bad guy on radar, but only once did we have evidence that a vessel was moving at us for about an hour, and then they abruptly turned around and we left them astern.

Your plan to ship BEBE to the Med will definitely save you a few gray hairs.
-----------------------------
Position 14*58'N 41*34'E headed for an off shore island Harmiel, then to _______. 
Aren't buddy boats great.  The two Blue Water Rally boats we left the Maldives with were a disaster.  We stayed with them until 125 miles south of Salalah then we headed west.  They did not like it, but it was a stated possibility from the beginning. 

__________ and I are still together, but it is not easy.  I lost my screecher to damage, so I have a 135 Jib and a spinnaker.  ______ has a 150% jib and nothing else.  Sooo, we are constantly juggling to remain together. 

There was continuous war ship communication through the IRTC.  However in the Red Sea we have heard nothing.  Hopefully the bad guys are to the south.  We are pushing north.  __________ must stop in ____________ to receive some rigging parts.

--------------------------
And several long and sometimes emotional emails from another boat we know, also in chronological order:

We are almost out of the high risk zone...should be another 36 hours when we are in patrolled shipping zone that runs west towards the Red Sea Entrance and we are headed for __________to refuel.

At 11 pm last night...only time we can only send and get email and weather...We read the news report that Geoff sent us about the vessel QUEST and our dear friends Scott and Jean and their crew being brutally murdered. It was a tough night on us, to say the least. I broke down from grief and tension and ________ has never longed for a jet and bombs so much since 9/11. Our tax dollars paid for him to respond that way with his old flight training but it's understandable. He is also distraught but his anger came first! We look at these fine fellow cruisers as martyrs to the cause of our right to sail the free oceans in relative safety. They will not be forgotten by any of us cruisers and for those of us who were friends, we really know what a loss their deaths are. Our hearts go out to their friends and family at home.

We loved talking religion and movies with them...what fun we had going out several times in Phuket and planning to see them again in the Med. There aren't too many Christian Cruisers...it's a secular bunch...but they were fine examples and we had similar views. Scott was one of the directors of the movie "Deliverance" and James Dickey, the author, was a client of _______, about the same time years ago. Our hearts are heavy with thoughts of the violence and terror that our friends endured. We hope this initiates the most aggressive retaliation possible. We have to do something, sometime...this just can't keep up.

We were sailing north about 3-400 miles off Somalia as this whole Navy thing was taking place just about 100 miles closer to shore than we were. They were towing QUEST west and kept a close look out for anything strong on the radar. We now sail in the moonless night with our lights off but checking AIS and radar often. Today we don't know if we are safer with the "blessed" USN ships off the coast or if some maniacs will come along and blast us dead out of spite and revenge. These aggressive, drug charged people [loosely called that] are uncivilized, caveman-like, irrational maniacs. We have both prayed a lot and kept going on our route north/northwest to the shipping channel in the Gulf of Aden. And we will not remove our flag!!! So many of our relatives have fought for it and it's a big emotional issue for us. Had we known this before we left the Maldives, we still would have come...we damn well have the right to be here! Perhaps more stupid than brave! If we were deterred by high risk situations, we wouldn't be here! But this may be adrenalin talking!

The sailing and seas here in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea have been wonderful ...mostly going 5-7 knots in better than expected winds, and this voyage could have been great if it weren't for this burden of sorrow and taste for revenge.

We just had to share our thoughts and conditions with you all. We know that you are wondering about us.

Love...and we hope to write soon from a safer location to say that the worst will be past.

-------------------------------- 
We feel we are about 90% safe now we are entering the patrolled corridor through the Gulf Aden about sundown tonight. I guess we will consider ourselves pretty safe when we are well into the Red Sea. Last night, we were traveling without lights or AIS and encountered an unlit ship on a moonless night on my watch...it was so weird and too close for me at 3 miles...I could hear his engines. We decided to turn on the AIS since then and we have been keeping very close eyes out. We plan to travel just to the north of the patrolled corridor to avoid the coastal fishing boats and nets off Yemen and to stay close to traffic but out of the way.

Imagine me, ______, standing watch in this tension, quietly reading on a dark boat and being suddenly joined by a 8" flying fish flapping on my arm...that was alarming. He flapped around until he finally flapped his way to the water!

This just in...Terrific news...just now as I write...listening to a European P3 aircraft talking to a warship heading to
Aden as we are 500 miles away still...music to our ears. He is telling everyone to report anything suspicious and reminding us that it's being patrolled on radio channel 16. He is now talking to 2 of our little group of 6 boats and we are a few miles behind. We think he is headed towards us next and I told _____ to get some clothes on!!! God bless all the military and patrol vessels!

Of course all these military and big ships think we are idiots to be here...and we sometimes wonder ourselves. We can laugh and kid a bit more now but not relax....not yet.

When you get a chance look up the Navy story of Stephen Decatur and the battle of the Philadelphia in 1804. It's a most fascinating story and we need some of his techniques for fighting the Barbari Pirates in the War in Tripoli. Similar situation...Should be a movie! Try Wikipedia. We read it aloud from ______'s copy of Sea Power from his Naval History course in college that we carry to read about historical locations we encounter. We used to live right near Decatur GA named after him!

Write us now only using the Sailmail email now since we can't get Winlink...and I gotta say I have cried a bit with every warm, loving sentiment that has been sent our way with all our recent emails. You have no idea how your warm thoughts and love has helped us. I am trying to write everyone just a small note in addition to these updates. Please understand if it takes a while.

Yea!! _______ is now checking in with the P3 plane...they know we are here and who we are! For me this is the best news yet! And the Captain has just upped our safety factor to 95%!!! 
--------------------------

That is our good news...we know of 2 other "aggressive incidents" but we will look for more info before commenting further. We 3 boats are pretty secure now with helicopter fly-overs and NATO warships staying in contact. Last night we learned about s/v ________ leaving Aden without checking out due to gunfire and some people were killed by student uprising against the present admin...we think. We heard this AM from _________ on S/V_______, who is getting stocked in __________, Yemen, that he saw similar unrest there and was locked in a market for a while. We also hear that our other alternative stop, Djibouti, is also  recently known for robbery attacks and other crime. It is also another 100 miles out of our way. We have also been warned about 3 locations in Eritrea [in the Red Sea], that are usually ok stops in previous years, are now off limits due to holding crew and not allowing consular contact for various time periods. This is making it a tough decision about where we can provision and get fuel before going into the Red Sea. We are still getting info on _______, but are now thinking that stopping there as a group will probably be ok or worth the risk. We are sure getting TOO used to risk!!! You have to be accompanied by an agent for everything and everyplace you go but the prices are cheap even if the ATM machines themselves take an extra tip out of the each deal!!

As of today, we have come just over 3400 miles since we left Thailand 6 weeks ago on Jan 15th. I have been off the boat for only 5 hours shopping in Andamans and briefly in Maldives. I guess another good thing is that we never know how we are going to cope with such stressful situations until we are put to the test and maybe, just maybe, I am more stable than I used to give myself credit for. _______ always says he will tell me when it's time to panic but I haven't had a chance to go into panic mode yet!!!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, I would like to address all the criticism directed toward QUEST for taking the direct route from Mumbai to Salalah rather than going with the Blue Water Rally on the northerly arc and back down to Salalah.  Bill and I would argue that QUEST did the prudent thing by taking this route.  We were not privy to Scott's decision, but it makes perfect sense to spend as little time as possible in a dangerous area.  By going a direct route rather than a long arc route, that is exactly what QUEST was attempting to do.  Below is an image indicating very recent pirate attacks.  As you can see, there have been quite a few pirate attacks on the exact course that the Blue Water Rally boats followed.  No one has the right to question QUEST's decision to sail the direct route rather than follow the Blue Water Rally's chosen route.  Neither is or was safe from piracy.  It was plain old bad luck that QUEST happened upon the pirates or the pirates happened upon them.
 

As I have been telling Bill daily for the past month, I will be so glad to get out of this part of the world!!! 

Dinner at Nazar's home

Nazar is a man who works with boats in the marina.  He has been working with cruising boats for years, long before this marina opened almost a year ago.   Before the marina was built, Nazar used to greet boats when they anchored in front of the Malabor Hotel to clear into Cochin.  Now that the marina is open, he rarely is available to personally greet arriving yachts in the quarantine anchorage in front of the Malabor Hotel because he is busy at the marina.   So, being in job competitive true Indian spirit, another man now calls himself Nazar and rushes to greet arriving yachties -- effectively stealing business away from the original Nazar.  Competitiveness to the Nth degree!  We, as well as most of the other cruisers, were roped in by who we now call Skinny Nazar when we first arrived.  Skinny Nazar did a fairly good job of taking care of yachtie needs.  Heck, he even rented us the SIM card from his cell phone when we first arrived; a huge benefit which I will describe farther down in this posting.  And he handled our first few loads of laundry.  His prices were very reasonable.  Later, in the marina, we met the original Nazar, whom we have affectionately dubbed Fat Nazar.  He really isn't that heavy but we needed a way to distinguish between the 2 men with the same name.

Fat Nazar is a jewel.  Just about anything you might need done, he can help you find it or do it.  Need a doctor; he's your man.  Need propane; he will take you to the right place.  Want to take a tour; he knows who to call.  Need boat washed, polished or waxed; he doesn't really do much of that -- but his son Nazam does great work at bargain labor rates.  If Nazam is busy then Nazar will find someone else to do the job on your timetable.  All of us who were hijacked by Skinny Nazar soon switched allegiances to Fat Nazar.  He is our go-to man for India.

Nazar  invited all the cruisers in the marina to his home for the mid-day meal on Monday this week.  At least, he invited all the cruisers who were here last Friday to come to his home for a meal on Monday.  People from 2 boats were still out touring northern India and returned over the weekend, so they missed out on the invitation for a home-cooked traditional Indian meal.

Shortly before 13:00 on Monday afternoon Nazar started rounding up all of us and directing us to his small boat.  His home is over on the island of Fort Kochi and he was providing the transportation.  Crews from VAGABOND, ESTRELLITA, ESPER and BeBe climbed into the small boat.  We were all a tiny bit concerned about exceeding the prudent passenger weight limit for Nazar's small boat with 9 people aboard; but he drove slowly and we made the trip just fine.  In fact, on the way back we stopped and picked up 3 more people on S/V ESPRIT to give them a ride back to their boat in the quarantine anchorage.

Nazar lives in a typical local home.  There is a dark, close opening from the street that leads into a large open rectangular courtyard of sorts.  The close dark opening creates an almost constant breeze from the sun-heated stone streets and buildings on all sides.  Homes open to the courtyard on 3 sides, but not from the street side; that side was just blank walls that were the rear walls for the small businesses fronting the street.  Everything is tightly spaced together and the streets are very narrow, as one might expect from a place built hundreds of years ago.  Of course, all buildings are constructed from stone or concrete.   Inside the courtyard residents had built small wooden structures and cages that housed chickens and birds and whatever they did not want inside their homes.  Cats were everywhere.  The cats here are a very small variety.  Nazar was shocked to see the size of some of the cats on some cruising boats.  The local cats weight maybe 3-4 pounds.  Some of these cruising cats weigh in at 17 pounds.

Nazar and his family live in a modest home.  A British cruising couple helped them buy this home several years ago.  This British couple also paid for medical treatment for Nazar at one time.  He refers to them as his God Parents.  Nazar is a Christian and like to talk with western cruisers about 'Sweet Jesus' as he calls Him.  His son, Nizam, is a Muslim.  We were surprised to see an inter-faith family of these particular 2 religions, but the vast majority of Indians accept all faiths.  India must be the heart of spirituality because I think every religion in the world is represented here.  Here in the state of Kerala there appears to be harmony among the various believers, except for foreign influence that does appear to be a growing problem if one reads the local English-version newspapers.  It is reported that "foreign made videos" are illegally imported and show things (whether true or untrue) that cause dissension and ill-will with one of the religions.  I'll let our readers decipher for themselves which religion is trying to cause the problems and wants to take over everyone.  (Correction:  Found out just before we left the marina that Nazar is also a Muslim.  He has picture of Christ in his home and talks about Jesus freely; maybe in honor of his Christian God Parents.  There is no discernible bias against Christians here.)

Nazar's family (most likely his wife or daughters) had prepared several large bowls of chicken briyani -- my favorite Indian dish, although I also do love mushroom masala.  This briyani was much, much less spicy that I am accustomed to in restaurants.  They probably went really light on the spices since they were serving westerners.  The briyani included raisins, which is also a departure from what most restaurants serve.  It was very good.  It was served with a tamarind sweet sauce and red onions marinated in some white liquid and seasoned with tiny slices of a very hot pepper.  I really liked this but could not understand what they called it.

Since they were feeding westerners, they served the briyani on plates and provided forks or spoons.  Normally, this rice dish would be eaten off banana leaves with one's fingers.  That is the typical way of eating here.  Which brings to mind the unusual way the Indians have of drinking liquids.  Most people never let the glass or bottle touch their lips.  They tilt their heads back and literally pour the liquid into their mouths and down their throats.  I would gag if I tried that, but they are quite comfortable drinking in that manner.  And that is more hygienic and leaves the glass or bottle edge clean in case someone else wants to share the drink.

After the meal Nazar brought out his photo albums of his family and some of the cruisers he has met over the years.  Please realize that very few cruisers traditionally stop in Cochin, so his photos as very special to him.   Bill & Amy on ESTRELLITA had been to Nazar's home previously, so they knew that his photo albums were getting a bit tired and worn.  They had brought a large new photo album as a host/hostess gift -- intended as a gift from all of us.  We also had brought a small bag of assorted gifts.

Nazar's youngest son is 8-years-old.  His name is Nazir.  Probably there is some cultural connection between the names:  father Nazar, eldest son Nizam, and youngest son Nazir.  Unfortunately, Nazar's English is not that good and there was no way to get an explanation of how the names of the males in the family are decided upon.  The language spoken here is called Malayalayam.  I can't even say that.  Just too many syllables for my tongue to handle together.  Our grab bag of goodies contained a DVD for the family and a DVD for the child, plus numerous American snack foods -- Cha-Chos (Doritos), Oreos, vanilla cream-filled cookies, lemon cream-filled cookies, peanut butter-filled crackers and cheese filled crackers, plus a large bag of Hershey's Kisses.  All were a hit both with little Nazir and big brother Nizam.  Nizam especially liked the Cha-Chos.  The next day when Nizam was waxing our boat I gave him a taste of plain nachos made from Cha-Chos and jalapenos and cheddar cheese.  All 3 food items were new to him.  He really liked the nachos, especially the jalapenos.  That was a new "chili" to him and he savored the taste.  BTW, other American foods that we have introduced to locals have been banana bread and devil's food cake with fudge icing and toasted pecans.  All have been big hits with everyone who has tasted our strange foods.

As we were walking back out of the courtyard we paused to look at some baby chicks in a cage on the ground.  All the tiny chicks were painted -- bright pink, bright green, bright yellow and a dull odd color.  Due to the language barrier, we were unable to understand why these chicks had been painted.  Or, at least they looked painted to us; I cannot imagine the feathers on any chickens naturally being this color.

As we were trooping back to the dock area I snapped this photo of a few women walking down the street.  This shows how narrow the streets are.  And the other photo shows the interior of a "supermarket" in Fort Kochi.  Not much for us to buy in this store.  I never, never buy anything in the open burlap bags; and that is how most things like rice and spices are sold locally.  I am afraid of bringing insects onto the boat, so we skip buying in these type stores.

Nazar dropped us back at the marina.  It was very generous of him to invite all of us to his home and to share a meal with us.

Nizam has been cleaning and polishing our boat for several days.  His labor rate is only about $11 USD per day and he is a good worker.  We don't really need all this done since the boat will get filthy again during transport up the Red Sea with desert sands constantly blowing, but this provides income to a hard-working local young man. 

As I said earlier, Nizam is a Muslim.  He got to know the crew of QUEST quite well when they were docked in this marina with the Blue Water Rally boats last month. The morning we all learned of the murders of the QUEST crew at the hands of the Somali pirates, Nazam was visibly shaken by the news.

 He said, "America does bad things.  America did a bad thing now.  American should not have taken any Somali pirates back to the American ships.  The Americans should have killed them all right then.  No take back to trial.  Kill them all right then.  America did a bad thing to let these pirates live.  They are bad men."

So, okay, all you folks who went on and on about the QUEST carrying Bibles.  This is a Muslim talking and he thought Scott and Jean were wonderful good people and had no problem with their religion or the fact that they had Bibles on their boat.  

Explanation of why Skinny Nazar loaning us a SIM card was so convenient.   It provided us with communication capability until we could figure out transportation and place to buy our own.  Many countries are now making it more difficult to purchase SIM cards both for cell phones and for 3G data modems.  After the terrorists attacked Mumbai and the Indian authorities learned of all their communications on locally purchased SIM cards, more stringent laws were enacted.  In order to purchase a SIM card one must not only show your original passport but must also provide the store with a copy of your passport, a copy of your visa page and entry stamp, AND a passport photo.   We have been told that France has even more stringent laws and that it is next to impossible to purchase a SIM card there without 3 months of local utility bills in your name, as well as providing passports, etc.  I cannot fault these countries for their efforts to thwart terrorism, but it a small hassle for cruising folks.

This extra paperwork required in India is not a problem for us because, like most cruising boats, we have a scanner/printer on board.  We get passport photos taken at least once a year (usually during our home visit to Houston since it is easier when you speak the local language).  We then scan the newest passport photo or visa photo.  We carry photo printing paper on board BeBe.  So it is very easy for us to print as many visa photos or passport photos as needed.   If you are planning to start cruising, consider a scanner/printer to be a necessity these days.  And bring plenty of printer cartridges, at least enough to last until your next trip home to purchase more.  We vacuum seal the printer cartridges to prevent deterioration in the salt air, and they last several years.

Another pirated yacht

By now everyone should know that there has been another pirated yacht in the northern Indian Ocean.  This time it is a Danish yacht, taken as they were enroute from Maldives to enter the patrolled IRTZ corridor.  And, sadly again, we also knew the folks on this yacht.

In Galle, Sri Lanka we were rafted to this yacht.  They were against the concrete wharf and we were tied along their starboard side.  Every time we went ashore we had to climb over their boat.  (See Jan 30 posting -- Trip to Columbo)  Being European and familiar to being in crowded harbors, they had no problem with this.  This Danish family was so nice, quiet, peaceful and gentle.  Those are the only words I can think of to describe them.   Good experienced sailors all.

The family of 5 also had aboard 2 young men as crew.  Actually, when we were together with them Bill and I thought that 1 of the crew was their eldest son, just had darker hair than the rest of the family.  But news reports state that this young man was crew and not a family member. The other young man as crew was obviously not a member of the immediate family.  Nice guy, but completely different body build and coloring from the very blonde Danish family.  Like most boat kids, the teenage children were mature for their years and accustomed to being around adults.

One thing Bill and I noticed was their courtesy flag for Sri Lanka.  It was a blank sheet of paper on which the children (or one of the children) had drawn the flag and lion emblem and then colored with crayons.  This hand-drawn, hand-colored "flag" was then inserted into a plastic sleeve.  The open end was taped and it was hung as a courtesy flag on the starboard spreader flag halyard.   I thought at the time that this was a good project as they learned about each country they were soon to visit.  Inexpensive and educational project for home-schooled cruising kids.

The name of this boat is ING.  We inquired how they came to name their boat after a well-known international corporate giant.  The father explained that this boat had once been sponsored by ING corporation in a race of some sort.  When he bought the boat he planned to change the name.  Then he found out how much it would cost to remove the name from the hull and all the sails -- and decided that ING would be a good name for his boat.  So he left the original name in place.  Bill and I were surprised that ING corporation had not either removed the name before selling the yacht or at least stipulated in the sales contract that the name must be removed and the yacht given a new name.  Seems like ING corporation would not want their corporate name on an item outside their control -- especially on a private yacht sailing around the world.

ING departed Sri Lanka on a Sunday afternoon, enroute to the Maldives.  The following day we departed enroute to Cochin.  Minutes before leaving the wharf they presented us with the remaining third of a very fancy ganache covered cream filled chocolate cake.  The cake required refrigeration and they did not have room for it, nor was there enough left to serve all 7 people; so they thought we might like to enjoy it.  We did.  What a treat!  This was a nice gesture on their part.  I am sure whoever was to be on night watch on that first night at sea would have enjoyed eating that cake.

One of the things we noted about this yacht was that they had such a tiny water supply for 7 people for an ocean crossing.  Their water tank was so small that they filled it by carrying 1-gallon plastic bottles from the spigot and pouring into the tank.  Barely sufficient water for drinking and cooking, and no fresh water for showers and washing dishes.  We assumed those tasks would be done with seawater.  I sincerely doubt they had a watermaker on that boat.  This was not a yacht filled with luxuries.

We were impressed with the obvious sailing skill of the entire family and 1 of the crew.  The other crew member did not seem as experienced, but maybe we just got  the impression because he was not as familiar with that particular boat as the other 6 people on board.  When they were ready to depart, a friend used his dinghy to pull our stern out.  The ING backed out of that tight space like professionals.  Our friend then used his dinghy to push our stern back up close to the wall of the concrete wharf and we tightened the dock lines fore and aft.  A piece of cake!  As we were adjusting our dock lines for our new closer position, the ING motored out of the harbor.

That was the last we heard of them until receiving news on February 24 that a distress call had been heard using their boat name.  U.S. Central Command confirmed to another friend that the distress call had been received and provided the coordinates.  None of us knew the nature of the distress call.  We were all hoping that it was a mechanical failure of some sort.  On February 25 Central Command again confirmed the "last known position" for ING.  Bill plotted the latitude and longitude of both locations and it was very obvious that ING must have been hijacked by pirates.  In 21 hours the ING had sailed 117 NM in a straight line towards a known pirate haven port on the coast of Somalia.

Bill and I remained silent about this because we felt that to make anything public might jeopardize any possible rescue attempt or at the minimum might cause difficulties in negotiations between the Somali pirates and the Danish authorities.   We had seen how crazy the media behaved in reporting the capture of QUEST.  Why feed the frenzy?  I am writing now because the Danish government has made news of this capture public.  And, as predicted, the media is clamoring the same question as when QUEST was captured:  Why were these people in this dangerous area?

Here is why.  The father/captain on ING discussed piracy concerns with us in Sri Lanka.  He pointed out that NO PRIVATE YACHT HAD EVER BEEN CAPTURED in the northern Indian Ocean when following the routes recommended in published sailing guides (specifically in Jimmy Cornell's book of sailing routes).  He was correct at that time.  No private yacht had been captured; at least none that we are aware of.  There was one French yacht hijacked several years ago; but that capture took place in the far western Gulf of Aden and close to the northern coast of Somalia, not in the northern Indian Ocean.  At the time the ING left Sri Lanka, the huge increase of piracy attacks this year was not yet publicized.  And none of us sailors in Sri Lanka yet knew anything about the rioting in Egypt (later to spread throughout almost all the Middle Eastern countries).   As I have pointed out in previous posts, last "season" there had been only 6 pirate attacks in the northern Indian Ocean (all against commercial shipping); this season there were 78 as of February 10.  And there have been many more since then!  

ING was already at sea when QUEST was captured.  I do not know if ING had been notified of the murders of the crew of QUEST.  But there would be little, if anything, they could have done differently had they known.  As I have had to repeatedly point out to non-sailors, there is this little phenomena in this part of the world known as monsoons.  A sailboat cannot travel in the opposing direction during monsoons.  It flat just won't work -- impossible due to wind angles and strength of winds and all the normal sailing technicalities that non-sailors cannot comprehend.  ING could have turned and gone due south; that would have been his only option in a sailboat at this time of year.  And that would have taken him into even more dangerous Somali pirate waters and closer to the Somali coast for a very long distance.  Not to mention he would be sailing into cyclone territory during cyclone season.  So all the arm-chair sailors and the ill-informed critics need to do a bit of research before they criticize ING's decision to be where they were when they were.  It was pure bad luck that pirates happened upon them.  It is a big ocean out there.  It is hard if not impossible to find a boat when you have the exact coordinates.   Their bad luck to be found by the bad guys.

We hope for the safe release of the crew of ING -- the entire Johansen family -- Jan, Birgit, Rune, Hjalte and Naja; and the 2 young men crew whose names we never learned.

NEVER FORGET QUEST

We cannot allow a bunch of thugs to take an entire ocean away from the world. Ignoring this will be disrespecting the deaths of the crew of Quest...we will NEVER FORGET QUEST.  We call on the Congress and the Administration to take action which will rid the world this problem.

 

We are working to create copyrighted items such as the Burgee above which will be distributed by interested organizations.  These interested organizations will receive 100% of the revenue with no licensing fee back to us.  The organizations must agree to use 100% of the gross margin from sales of the licensed items to fund lobbing efforts and other efforts which will may lead to a change in how various governments treat pirates and piracy, with the ultimate goal always being the elimination of piracy.  As soon as we have our first license agreement we will post it here and on the Facebook page for QUEST NEVER FORGET (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Quest-Never-Forget/196704463691254).

We are cruisers and do not have a real office nor do we have support.  We are looking for a land-based volunteer to head up the effort of getting various organizations on board...please email us at neverforgetquest@gmail.com if you feel you can help in any way.