Mar2000
Gone
Troppo
GONE TROPPO NEWSLETTER #3
1/3/00
Hello Everyone,
Time for another update on the travels of the Gone Troppians. We departed
Male' on the 6/12/99, 2 hours after receiving our long awaited freight. Had a
pleasant sail toCochin, India, but our port motor died along
the way. Saw many single whales, one even waved his tail at us, they really are
magnificent creatures. As we approached India we encountered hundreds of
fishing vessels, most tried to sell us fish or get food and water from us, all
very friendly. Arrived Cochin 11/12/99, which was "second Saturday"
which meant no-one worked so had to wait at Steamer Point until Monday to
complete clearance and get permission to move to a better anchorage. After
dropping anchor we were visited by several small craft offering us everything
from beer to opium. I accepted the offer of a carton of beer, nice stuff about
$1:20/bottle. Gave one chap US$50 to change, and amazingly he returned with the
right amount. Arranged with him for a mechanic to check motor. Went ashore and found an Email place but
it kept dropping out. Monday we
completed our clearing in and motored to anchorage at Bolgatty Palace Hotel and
found another yacht there from Darwin, Warna Carina, with Jack and Elsa. There
was also a young French single-hander on a yacht called Bonnie and Clyde. We had
dinner with the
Darwin
couple, ashore at a roof top restaurant.
For less than $12 we had a wonderful meal including drinks, real Indian curries.
The engine was not well, a nut had come loose in the top of the motor and
found its way down to the sump. It broke the center supports for the rocker
shaft and ruined a tappet on the way. Our friendly mechanic said all was
fixable, so he commenced repairs.
One week later motor was running again, but after running
it daily for a week it died again. The new tappets case hardening failed, so new
ones were made. After running again for a week they seemed to be OK. The
mechanic came back and wanted a test run up the river to make sure, so we got to
see some of the country side. All went well.
India is an amazing place, full of
life and contradictions. People so poor yet happy and completely honest. Beggars
everywhere with every type of affliction. Others fairly well off but out to rip
off everyone they could . We were several times given a free water taxi ride
from some of the local drivers who genuinely seemed to want to make our stay a
good one. Our boat was surrounded by fishermen day and night, beating the water
to try and drive fish into their nets. One morning we woke up and saw not the
usual dugouts but round craft, and differently dressed people, it seems that a
nomadic group had moved into the area. They stayed for a week then were
gone. The ferry ride to Ernakalum
from Bolgatty cost 2c each way, and was always overloaded, a definite
experience. Instead of controls to the engine from the helm position there was a
bell, and a man sat on the engine and activated throttle or gear lever as the
bell dictated. Most government boats had this setup, helped employment. They also appeared to have job sharing.
We were lucky to see some elephants all dressed up and putting on a show, just
across from our anchorage. I
bought the movie Titanic on CD for $8 and watched it on our new
laptop.
We installed the
radar in between shopping and working on the motors. Gail demanded we eat out at
every opportunity and sample as many local rums as possible. I blame the French
couple in the
Maldives
for introducing her to rum
drinking by the gallon.(Ed note: and of course QT didn't imbibe the local
beer)
We spent Xmas and New Year in
India
. For Xmas dinner Gail made a
curry, I mean it was not like I had not had a curry for a few hours or so. It
was very hot in
Cochin
and it had more than its fair share of
mozzies, but it was a pleasant stop on our journey. Gail came with me to clear
out as I had told her about the wonderful old buildings the Port Authority and
customs were in. It was like going back in time the way the offices worked, no
mod cons anywhere, just bundles of paper tied with string.
We left
Cochin on 11/1/00 bound for
Aden and the
Red Sea. Had a great sail across the
Arabian
Sea, and managed to do some sanding and varnishing. On the 27/1/00
in the
Gulf of Aden we
were attacked by pirates,
and Gail was wounded, as I am sure you all know. This event has robbed us
of a lot of confidence and trust in our fellow humans. It has also taken away a
lot of the pleasure of our journey. The following night we were followed by an
unlit vessel, who we are sure was just waiting for the big ships in our area to
move out of sight. We managed to contact a big ship and after talking to him the
small unlit vessel did a 180 degree turn and left the scene. We would not have
spotted him if we did not have the radar, and would not have been warned. We
finally arrived at
Aden
on 29/1/00. We were met by a friendly taxi driver, Omar, who turned
out to be a god send. He went to bat for us with the authorities and delivered
Gail to a clinic run by The Christ Church Of Aden. These people were extremely
helpful and considerate. As we had an hour before the medical staff were due,
Omar took us to lunch and gave us some money so we could send an email.
Once the medical staff saw Gail they took her to a
specialist hospital to see a surgeon, who then sent her for an x-ray. While
waiting to be x-rayed the marine police found us and took me away for the first
of many days of endless questions and report writing. Omar would meet us in the
mornings and try and smuggle us to the
Christ
Church
but we were nearly always caught,
as there were police informers everywhere. Gail managed to get the story out
with the help of the pastor and staff at the church.We got permission to beach the
boat and fix the external holes, from then on we were ready to depart.
Everyone in Aden was armed, AK47's everywhere, plus
submachine guns and pistols. A fight at the sailors club was ended when one of
the combatants got his Ak47 out of his car and let rip one magazine, then
reloaded with a new one, the opposition became friendly all of a sudden. We met several other yachties while in
Aden, and Bonnie and Clyde arrived from
Cochin. One
chap decided to leave with us although
this delayed his departure by a day. He had to be in
Israel to catch a flight
back to Germany to start work on
the 1/3/00. He had been away for 5 years sailing around the world, nice sort
of employers to have. We left for Port Suez on 29/1/00 and had to motor the
first two days, this ate into our diesel supply so we stopped in Jeddah to refuel
on the 16/2/00. Were kept on our boat by an armed guard, and employed an agent
to get fuel. His fee was normally US$400 and for this he would get us a
transit visa that would allow us to go ashore. We screamed for mercy and he
accepted US$50 for just arranging the fuel. He lent Gail his mobile and she called
her sister Sue and left a message on her answering machine, stating where we were
and that we were OK. The next evening as we motored out of the harbour, a
motor car was seen racing along the wharf blowing its horn. It stopped at the
end and a ninja jumped out and started waving at us. The mask came off and we
saw Sue, so we called port control and got permission to return to the dock. Sue
had flown to Jeddah and spent hours trying to get permission to enter the wharf
area. She was allowed 30 minutes with us, it was fantastic.
She was a real morale booster for the two
of us. She left to spend the night at the airport trying to catch a flight home,
to
Riyadh
. We
left feeling not quite so alone as we had been. Soon after leaving Jeddah our
port engine died, same problem of tappet adjustment as in
India?
All the
diesel we could want but too scared to run the good engine as we would need it
to get into port somewhere. Had very strong headwinds for rest of sail up the
Red Sea, double reefed main and storm jib. Very
short and steep seas, a real bash, we were happy if we made 50 nm per day. Happy
is a word which is used fairly loosely here as we got colder and more miserable
with each hour and started to fantasise about quiet days in peaceful anchorages.
The cockpit resembled a spa at times, even had seawater running down the
mainsail. Reached
Hurghada,
Egypt
, before
sunrise on
the 26/2/00, but the wind was so strong that we had to hove to, as we could not
motor against it. At 1100 hrs we started to motor into port, at 1630 gave up
and dropped anchor about 4 miles south of port. Next day still too windy so went
ashore in dinghy and caught bus to port. This caused a ruckus as we came in the
gate instead of across the pier. Explained about motor, no probs, were taken back
to boat with a policeman, who told us to "go to pier now". Showed him broken motor,
back to shore, phone calls all around, agreed we could stay where we were
until the wind died, then we had to go to pier, not allowed ashore. Wind eased next
morning so went to pier and cleared in, using compulsory agent of course. Now
started the chase for parts as we determined that one of the rockers had
broken and no other apparent damage, fingers crossed.
Communications here
are reasonable but not crash hot. Emailed then rang Ross in Darwin, and spoke for 14
minutes and paid about $55 for the privilege. So that is where we are at the
moment, Ross is busy trying to locate, pay for and dispatch parts to us before
our visas run out. We know that "just cause it is here, doesn't mean you can
have it" works very well here. Once Ross has accomplished this miracle we may go
touring while we await final delivery. Guess what, our "holiday" will be, a sail
down the Nile. We will need two motors to get
up the Gulf of
Suez, as it is narrow and
normally has strong head winds.
Apparently, the weather has been particularly bad for the last few months
– we were cursing the Red Sea Pilot for being so inaccurate with wind strengths-
we experienced Force 6-7 for most of the way instead of the predicted Force 4.
As you can probably guess, our nerves are shot and we are running on
automatic. We are looking forward to tying up in Ashkelon
marina(Israel), catching up with friends,
getting drunk, and UNWINDING. We knew that cruising was hard work but who would
have thought !! !!! Many times we have discussed giving up, and backpacking around the Galaxy, but
we always work out that it does not matter what one does there are always
hurdles to jump and obstacles to cross. And the good times sailing still out number
the bad. The main thing is that we love one another and enjoy each other's
company immensely. This last part was brought home when a very nervous trigger-
happy chap(pirate) had us believing we were about to be murdered. (Ed note: At this
terrible moment Stephen held me tightly and told me that whatever happens he loves
me). Thankfully one of the pirates associates took the gun from him.
Our thoughts often return to all of our family and friends back home and
elsewhere, and the good times we have shared. Thinking of you all always. Hope some of
you can catch up with us in the Med(no pirates there, or so they tell
us).
Regards,
Gail and
Stephen
Gone Troppo
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