Motoring...

Isn't there a song that starts like that... We have had very light winds the whole way from Sur so we have been motoring most of the time (and we thought we were on a sailboat). First they were directly on the nose, now coming from behind us. The weather forecast makes us hopeful that we will be able to sail more in the next few days. We have had some excitement, fishing boats coming up because they are curious or want cigarettes, that definitely gets the heart rate up. The better excitement has been the sighting of whales. We have had a couple days where we have seen whales, quite a few went by yesterday. One of the boats made a quick turn for fear it would hit one. It was very thrilling to see them that close. We think they are sperm whales. We have also seen dolphins a number of times and turtles.
We have only a few more days until our until our next destination. I am not sure how long we will stay there and then it will be on to the next country.

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Passage

We are on passage to our next destination. The Omani people were so warm and friendly, we really enjoyed our short stay there. I even had a proposal for marriage! :) Since we left Sur, Oman things have been uneventful on the weather front. Light winds that have had us motor sailing much of the time. We have had excitement with fishing nets. Traveling along the Indian and Arabian coasts, there are many local fishermen in small boats that put out nets that may or may not be marked with small lights. It seems along the Arabian coastline they do not use lights and as a result 2 of our group became entangled in nets the other night. This gave me the "opportunity" to use my diving skills on a midnight dive to cut the nets off the prop of one of the vessels. Props and fishing nets do not play well together. It was a bit of work to get it all cut off.
Some of the enjoyable aspects of shifts at different times is the watching the sunsets, seeing the stars with no other lights around, watching the moonrise (it is amazing how bright it is on the water with a full moon),and seeing the sunrise. It really makes me appreciate the beauty of these sights.

We have heard about the sailing vessel Quest. We have a very experienced organizer who gathers data from a number of sources and works to set the safest route possible. There is another rally following pretty much the same course we are taking, so there are a number of us in the area.

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First Destination

We crossed the Arabian Sea and made it to Arabia. It has been wonderful to be in a new country. So different from any place I have been before. The people here have are wonderful! We have spent the last few days provisioning and some of the boats have been making repairs. I also have been able to catch up on  some email. Thanks for all the warm thoughts and wishes. We leave soon for our next destination. This upcoming passage should be the longest one of the journey. 
I don't think I will get to post pictures for a while, but I will as soon as possible.

In the Arabian Sea

We are in the middle of the Arabian Sea. We have been sailing and motor sailing for several days. The winds have not been cooperating as much as we would like, coming a little too much on the nose. Makes for interesting sleeping conditions. We had very light winds one day and we all stopped to clean the props and the bottoms of the boats. It was great to get in the water except for all the tiny jellyfish stings that Kikki and I received. On the 13th we had a little excitement, the running backstay block broke and startled us. It was easily fixed though.
The vessel I am sailing on is called Endelig which is Norwegian for 'finally'. The couple who own the boat, Henry & Kikki, are from England, but Kikki is Norwegian. They have just become grandparents for the first time so when we get to land we will try to find an internet cafe so they can see pictures of their new grandson, George. The vessel is a 44' cutter rigged sloop, built in Holland by Contest. It has a center cockpit and 2 suites. I am in the v berth, though I have been sleeping in the salon when conditions make it difficult to sleep so far forward.
Sailing in a group is interesting. You need to frequently adjust sails and heading to maintain position in the group. I will definitely expand my sailing skills with this trip. We take shifts of 3 hours on 6 hours off. This gives you the time to get a reasonable amount of sleep and your shift times vary from day to day.

I hope you all had a nice Valentine's Day (and birthday Christi!).

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Changes...

I am not sure when I will be able to post my next blog entry, but I wanted to let you know that Rick & Suza on Voyager have decided not to do the rally and are heading south to the south of India and to the Maldives. I have moved to another boat named Endelig with a wonderful couple from England. They have a blog also, so you can follow along on their site also. It is www.yacht-endelig.blogspot.com. The adventure continues!

Mumbai .

We arrived in Mumbai on January 30th and have several days here to provision and get ready to cross the Arabian Sea. Once we left Cochin we had one day of strong winds so we could sail (with a double reefed main) and after that we motor sailed the rest of the way. Some days and nights with the wind right on the nose so you felt like the boat was a bucking bronco. That, plus the fun of dodging fishing boats and fishing nets definitely kept you awake when on watch.We caught up with the rally in Goa. The rally group that left Cochin on the 20th had a few days there, we had just one night.  That night, the local Vasco da Gama Club hosted a dinner for us. The next morning we left for Jaigarh. We spent one night there. The local government hosted a dinner and local dance program for us. We are eating well.

Mumbai has been quite interesting so far. We arrived around 11am on the 30th. We have travelled about 600 nmi so far.We are anchored right outside the Gateway of India. We cleared immigration around 6pm and then went into town. We had a drink at the beautiful Taj Mahal Hotel (quite expensive) and then had dinner at one of the local street eateries. Great food!

The next few days have been spent searching for the items we need and a vet for the cats. The two cats that travel on Voyager, Senna and Schumi, are getting old and starting to have age related health issues. Finding parts for a sailing vessel is not as easy as you might think, even in a city as large as Mumbai. We have refueled, filled the water tanks, and had laundry done. Still need to get food and decide exactly when and where we are going. Some big decisions ahead on that front.

The way people drive here is quite an experience, buses, taxis, tuk tuks, motorbikes all trying to fit in the same space. What amazes me is that I have not seen an accident yet. There has been a little time for sight seeing and shopping. I took the train to Dhobi Ghat which is a pretty amazing place, the world's largest outdoor laundry. I have also made time to add some new Indian attire to my wardrobe. 

Last night the Royal Bombay Yacht Club had a dinner and party for us. Food, music and dancing what fun! Have I mentioned how great the food is here. It is wonderful!

 Jaigarh

 

Jaigarh

Gateway of India

 Dhobi Ghat

Pictures from Cochin

Here are some pictures from Cochin. Cochin is in the state of Kerala on the southwest coast of India.

Local dance costumes

Chinese fishing nets, this traditional method of fishing around Cochin is being replaced by newer methods

The Voyager crew for the Vasco da Gama Rally