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Sri Lanka to Djibouti, Jan 22 to Feb 6, 2007 ( via the Indian Ocean, Arabian sea and Gulf of Aden)

We left Galle,Sri lanka on Jan. 22, 2007 as the sun was just setting on the Indian ocean horizon. As we were pulling out of the harbor where we stayed for 3 nights, i can’t help but feel a tinge of sadness. I guess it’s normal to feel that way when one enjoyed oneself in a place and one starts to get accustomed to the people and getting around. Although we didnt see much of Sri Lanka ..still, i had the feel of the people and their way of life. It was a good learning experience and I’m glad it was one of our stops. It opened my mind more to another culture so different from my own.

We stayed in the cockpit area or in the bow to watch the sun set which is always beautiful wherever you are. But it is even more so when you are in the middle of the sea, because there were no buildings or trees or any obstruction to the view. It was just the horizon, the sun going gradually down and the different hues of setting sun playing against the sky. It puts one in a pondering mood and marvel at the wonder of nature. We immediately go back to our old routine of cooking on shifts or washing dishes or watching at night and man the instruments… and make sure we do not go off course.

Once we were back in the open ocean, then one needs to adjust oneself again to the waves that makes the boat roll from side to side. On this journey to reach Djibouti, we will be passing the waters across India, Pakistan, Oman and Yemen on our starboard side (right). On the port side ( left), we will be passing Maldives and Somalia. The mainland Africa was to our left also but that is soooo many hundred miles away. We do not really see the land or even the silhouette of the countries we are passing as we were always in the middle of the ocean. So for the next 15 days and 2300 nautical miles to reach the destination, we only have the sea as scenery aside from the horizon, the sky, some ships, school of dolphins , flying fishes and the 5 of us in the boat . Some days it was boring… Like i said before it was maybe like being in house arrest. You cant go anywhere. (Well, you can..if you want to drown in 4500 meters of water and not really get anywhere where there would be a change of scenery!). So days were spent reading, sleeping, playing backgammon, listening to Ipods, chitchatting, cooking, eating, washing dishes. Our excitement comes from hearing the fishing line indicating that we caught a fish. And believe me it was a biggggg event! (Free dinner is always a big event! )All of us will be running to the stern and help to pull the line and ready the bucket lest the fish jumps back to the sea from wiggling and flapping! By this time we only save the camera for a really big catch or a different type of fish which is rarely! Sunset is always the best time of the day! and it’s always a different display of colors in the sky. Some days we cant wait for the dolphins to show themselves so we will clap and call them at the time of the day when they would normally grace us with their presence….and most often than not.. they do not disappoint. They are so trusting of humans to their own demise. (I heard from another yachtie friend, accounts of how the locals of the places he has been to, will lure the dolphins to catch and kill them and sell. They would apparently bang a drum in the water, even on the shore, and the dolphins will just swarm and then the baddies will catch them with nets). True enough, once we clapped and called them, there will be more than 10 dolphins that will swim towards us to the bow and jump one after the other. Most weigh about 40 kilos and there were some that weighs most probably 70 kilos. Really big porpoises.. it’s awesome!! (it would have been more awesome if i could touch them like those trained dolphins ..but then again.. i may be pushing my luck too far wishing this, they are wild dolphins after all!)They also make those little squeaky noises and it’s really heartwarming that they seemed happy showing off to us. They so love the attention and encouragement! Some days we see whales as well but not as often as seeing the dolphins and not as close. But we look through our binoculars and they are really enormous even at a distance. Once we spotted a whale, we will switch off the engine so as not to scare it away and we can watch it till we see the big tail waves to us (or so we want to believe), before it dives back down to the deep. We do not forget that these creatures are in the wild and we felt really honored and privileged to be seeing them in their own natural habitat.

On the third day, we passed the islands of Maldives, which means the end of the Indian ocean and the start of the Arabian Sea. As you can see from the earlier pics in my gallery, the water of the Arabian sea was calm, hardly a wave… but just ripples from passing ships. It went on like that for days and we use the engine when there wasn’t enough wind to sail. It was great at night when the moon was shining and the silver long reflection lined in the water coming from the moonlight was spellbinding! Why oh why i wasn’t gifted with the ability to paint or wealthy enough to buy the most sophisticated camera, then maybe i could have captured that great spectacle.. but then again.. i doubt if one could really do justice to that moment. Thanks goodness for memories.. that’s the best one can do..and im ok with that.

On the afternoon of the fifth day to the journey, we were still opposite India but maybe 200 miles from their coast, We saw a wooden fishing boat coming towards us on the starboard side when it was only like a 100 meters from us. Admittedly we were all pre- occupied although all of us where up in the cockpit area! We saw men in Sri Lankan garb and the captain said ,Sri Lankan flag on their fishing boat. They were beckoning to us and want us to stop for them. We didn’t know what they want and for sure won’t stop to find out! We were in the middle of the Arabian Sea and they have a boat that doesn’t seem to have a problem with the engine as it was trying to catch us, so whatever it was, we cant risk to let them get to us and find out what it was they wanted or needed. Sure we wanted to be good Samaritans but probably not the best idea to do that when u are in the middle of the sea. What with the dangers of pirates! They continued to chase us for 10 minutes and we were all getting nervous, so the captain told us to ready the guns.. but not to show that we have it as it might only provoke them. Luckily the wind was going on the right direction favourable to us and we gunned down the 2 engines to put a big distance between us. the captain also throw 2 long lines to drag behind both side so that if they wont stop chasing us, we were hoping that the rope will snag their propeller and make their boat stop! That tactic worked coz they change the direction of the boat obviously trying to avoid our rope! It was a real wake up call! We became more alert and observant, bordering on paranoia, after that incident!!

The following days passed without incident, thanks goodness, and we were once again entertained by the dolphins. However, when we were between Somalia and Yemen (Sucotra Island) which is the start of the Gulf of Aden, we have to be on guard , i mean really on guard, and change the system to be 2 people per shifts. We were on the Piracy-prone area! We have the reports to make us really anxious! It lasted 2 nights and we breathed a sigh of relief when we past it, although we changed our course to avoid the GPS coordinates of where the incidents normally took place as per the report. Whew! Thanks goodness the guns didn’t get to be used!

On the thirteenth day of the voyage.. we ran out of utility water!!!!!!!!!!! all 6thousand liters! We were about more than 300nautical miles to Djibouti then (2 sailing days) and it was hilarious that the ladies (2 of us) cant shower but the males ( 3 of them) were bathing on the deck with sea water. Yuck! i know it has healthy benefits for the skin.. ! but geeezzzzz, it would be so sticky!! to your body and imagine what would it feels like to your hair! i bet i would be itching when the salt crystals begins to dry on my skin. They have the solution though. They rinse themselves with one (limited to one only) bottled drinking water! Luckily we still have hundreds of them kept in the hull. And we ladies only used the bottled water to…i wont go into details! This meant also that we were washing the dishes with salt water. For cooking, we have always used the drinking water anyways.

About 50 miles to Djibouti at 4am on the fifteenth day, we spotted 2 very big ships with lots of light and we were hearing choppers flying around them and in the nearby areas. It turned out to be the french naval ships and those choppers were part of the security. We were the only other boat in the vicinity and they kept on flying near us, checking us out and it was scary for me. I always worry that they would pepper us with machine guns. I was manning the boat that time and was alone in the cockpit area. So i woke the captain up and he pointed a spotlight to our sails to let them know that we are a (private) sailing yacht… and i guess it satisfied them and left us alone. Before daybreak, we reached the entrance to the harbor of Djibouti. As usual we waited till light to enter the harbor and because it was also where the French navy is located, there were speed boats with french navy men checking us out. The boat captain went ashore to go to the immigration office, harbor master office and customs to sort out the paper works and visa. We were all given 10-day transit visa which is more than enough as we will only need provisioning and wont stay that long. We still have a long way to go before reaching the final destination for the yacht. The most important thing to do that day was to sort out the water. We were directed to go to the other end of the harbor to fill the water. It costs 50US$ and we know we were being ripped off. Then we asked them where we can throw all the garbage we have on board accumulated from 15 days of sailing (7 bags total, all recyclable) , they said to just hand it over to them. We all thought that it was good of them to help us even with that little problem. Oh Boy, were we wrong big time!! They were trying to charge us 15US$ for that! ( the exchange rate was DJF 170 = 1 US$, a taxi from town is only DJF 500 or under 3US$) and when we refused to pay that amount as they didn’t say they would charge us for that service but instead we want to give something for their effort plus a couple of dollars, they became aggressive and rude! Arguments ensued and all this time, i wasn’t minding all the commotion. They also refused to undo the line that tied us to the harbor when we were filling the water. So i went to try to reason to them to no avail. So in the end we cut the rope and got away from them as we don’t know what they will do. They seemed to be very aggressive people. The captain wanted to pay just to calm things down but i had to intervene and refused to give in. We don’t want to be bullied and its not the question of money but principle in my opinion. They didn’t say at the outset that it would cost us if we give them the garbage. We don’t want to be duped into paying. So off we went and they just stood there the whole time.. looking at us and the boat… and it was baffling that we were already far and they were still standing there looking at us. I wasn’t so scared.. we have guns on board and i will use it if i have to …hahhahahahaha!

Djibouti is part of Africa and the people were tall and skinny and unfortunately, even though i haven’t set foot in their country yet, i already have a bad impression about the people. It would get worse … .( Actually, on the same day that we arrived, there was this old French guy who was also moored near us in the same harbor and he owns a catamaran and was on the way to Maldives. He approached us and warned us about the locals and that we should lock up before we go to sleep (we didn’t have to do this in Sri lanka and even in Thailand) and make sure that the dinghy is up at night). Apparently, the locals swim in the middle of the night and steal what they can, including dinghies! We took his advice to heart and made sure that the door going to the lower deck was locked as well as all the hatches or windows) . The language they use is french and all the business establishments were in french as well, as they have been colonized by France. Don’t really know much about this country to be honest and my rusty french didn’t go very far except to greet and ask if they speak English and explained that i don’t understand as i don’t speak french. But I have used what i know in the market hehehehe. In the eyes of an amateur like me… Its a poor country, dirty and lots of flies in the market. The structures in town were low and old and most are abandoned and dilapidated. One thing that stuck to mind was that, all the establishments or buildings being used were all secured with iron grills from the door and also all the windows, and lots of pad locks in a single door. It only meant one thing to me.. . They have a big problem with thieves and robbers! It turned out, they werent the only one who will fall victim to that. On our third day, the original plan was to to get our provisions from the local market and spend the night and leave in the morning of the fourth day. So we all got ready to go to the market and at the same time, give opportunity to the captain and his Gf to see a little bit of Djibouti town we were in ( the 2 German and I go to town everyday just looking around and see what it’s like including the people and what we can gather about their culture. As we were leaving and the captain was getting the money allotted for the provisions..it was gone! We have been robbed!! We investigated how it might have happened and saw a possible entry complete with water marks! It was via the unlocked hatch along the corridor of the guest cabins where my cabin and the captain’s cabin and his gf were sleeping. I always lock my door and the hatch above my bed was only ajar and the bigger dinghy that we do not use was just above it, making it difficult or nearly impossible to move it with few people. A boom is always being used to lift it to bring it in and out of the water. So i was quite safe! I have another window on the side but it’s small for a person, even a child, to get through it. Because of that incident, we decided to just buy the provisions and leave immediately.

The food was very expensive In Djibouti and the few supermarkets or grocery shops that they have only caters to the foreigners or westerners who are mostly French navy servicemen and their families. We only saw perhaps 1 or 2 white people in the local market. We went there thinking it would be cheaper and yes they were, but the quality was very poor and unsanitary. There were flies everywhere. Even The weighing scales in the market were old fashioned (the type where you put a lead weight on the other side of the scale to determine the weight of what you are buying.. I dunno what it’s called.. for me its an old fashioned scale)and although i was fascinated by it… it shows me how behind they are from the modern world. There were lots of beggars as well, kids and adults alike. However, I find the colourful clothes of the women selling goats or sheep in the market quite refreshing! It was just very different from what im used to. I had to close my eyes when we passed the slaughter house and I walked as fast as i can. I know i would cry and will be haunted if i heard an animal’s cry. I already felt sorry for the goats and sheep being touted in that market and i had to harden my heart and tried not to focus and be affected on the sorry state of the animals and those kids. . (We were advised by the harbor master not to give to one as it would invite others and we will be swarmed with beggars if the word gets around). But i gave in to one and got a gentle reprimand from one of the German boys. We were bugged by other kids the whole time we were at the market. My heart was bleeding the whole time feeling powerless to help and i wanted to get away as soon as i can. There was just absolutely nothing i can do but give them a kind smile and accept that for some, it was their way of life. I felt guilty for having a good life and i know i shouldn’t.

We bought fruits and veggies and some canned foods. The favourite was the french bread and surprisingly, even i ate it and loved it! I love bread, dont get me wrong, but those particular french breads were being sold in an open wooden push-cart!. When i saw the captain buying them, i swore i wouldn’t eat it! It was just unsanitary being sold in the open cart using only their bare hands to put it in the SACK!!!! I couldn’t believe my eyes when i saw the breads being packed in the sack and we had no choice as there was no other packaging available. The boys were like santa claus when they hoisted the sacks at the back of their shoulders. And we had 2 sacks.. not one! Unbelievable! … well suffice it to say.. when it was being heated in the bread toaster back on the boat.. it smelt delicious!! and I ate my words.. and yes the bread as well!

We left Djibouti on the 8th of Feb. with not a nice feeling and was actually glad to be leaving…I’m still thankful we stopped there though and experienced and learned something, although not much about that country. I was more glad that I got the experience.. for Free! Imagine if I have to pay to go there and have that kind of experience. I don’t think “charge to experience” mantra would quite cut it. By the following day.. we were cruising the RED SEA! But that would be for another post…. Thanks for reading…

I’m trying to chronicle my recent sailing trip and this is the second part. My apologies that there wont be lots of photos on this blog to assist the imagination . As per my last post, i left my stuffs back in Cyprus including some Cd’s with photos and as of this time, I’m still coordinating with the captain the best way to send it without costing me an arm and a leg. So far, no such luck! During the 2 weeks that i spent in Northern Cyprus, i don’t think i have seen FedEx, DHL or UPS anywhere.According to the captain, the only option i have at the moment is to have my stuffs sent via the post office but, I’m not really happy about the rate, but i guess i have to make a decision soon if i want my stuffs back.Sigh!

Thailand- Sri lanka ( via Andaman sea & Indian Ocean), Jan. 12-19, 2007

As we pulled out of the mooring in Chalong at 2:30pm on the 12th of Jan., i felt really special having to see once again the beautiful coasts of Chalong, Naiharn, Rawai and the many islets that dots the Phuket peninsula. The contrast of the green trees against the blueness of the sea was just amazing. You can immediately feel the difference as you inhale the fresh, unpolluted ocean air and despite experiencing it many times in the past, it still never fails to mesmerize me. and I guess I wasn’t the only one. The 2 German crews were as entranced as i was with the scenery before us..

Before nightfall, we had enough wind that enabled us to switch- off the single engine that we were using and just rely on the sail. The wind direction was also favourable. We were doing 7 to 8 knots and that was already pretty good for us. We were not in a hurry which made it all the better. By that time, we were almost 100 nautical miles from the south of Thailand and can no longer see land. The total miles to reach Sri lanka from Phuket was 1135nm more or less.

I took the liberty of cooking that night ( nothing really fancy–spaghetti bolognese with garlic bread only) but judging by the clean plates and pots, i guess they liked it ( and no i don’t think they sneaked out to throw the food away!).Because i cooked, it meant that i don’t have to do the dishes. Hooray ! To save water, it was decided not to use the dishwashing machine unless we are on the harbor with easy access to the water supply.

After dinner, as we gathered on the upper deck, no one really wanted to talk that much. We don’t really want to break the comfortable silence…. The moon was just starting to shine and though it was dark and we were in the middle of the sea and no land or light on sight, except for the glittering stars.. it doesn’t feel eerie at all.. It was very very special and moving. The particular thought that i had that time was… believe it or not, were the people who survived being on the the sea and were only found after many days .. more often than not, severely dehydrated but otherwise alive. I have read so many stories and watched many documentaries about it. I cant imagine being alone in the dark with no certainty if one will survive the night.But i can now identify the ordeal they went through although i was dry and safely aboard the luxurious boat. It must have been really scary for them…I don’t think i can survive it…but then again.. no one really knows the extent of one’s strength unless the situation called for it.

The glittering stars were mesmerizing and we spent almost the whole time looking up the sky—star-gazing, waiting for falling stars so we can make our wishes. One would feel truly blessed being there that time, with only the sound of the waves lapping the side of the boat as it glides on the water. The sea was very calm and it was just overwhelmingly serene. I wish i am eloquent to put the feelings into words and to describe what it was like. It was just absolutely wonderful…

By the end of the second day of the trip, we reached the Nicobar group of islands. It meant that was the end of the Andaman Sea and once we passed the Nicobar islands.. we will be cruising the Indian Ocean till we reach Sri lanka…It also rained very hard that night..the upper deck was flooded and although we have tarpaulins on both side.. we cant really stay on deck as the seats were wet. Many things played on my mind.. watched too much TV or movies i guess…. i know the boat was stable and we have a very experienced captain. Besides.. the wind wasn’t that strong to capsize the boat… at least that was i kept telling myself and the other filipina crew who was a first-timer.

Andaman sea was okay.. it was when we were in the Indian ocean that it started to get rough.. about 1 to 2 meter waves. But because the swell was coming from the starboard side (right) … it made the boat roll from side to side.. and because we were using the sail.. the boat was tilted to the port side (left). Sometimes it feels like its gonna keel over but thankfully the boat was stable and always righted itself. It’s difficult to do many things when it was rough.. difficult to walk, to cook, to sleep, seat in the loo and take a shower!

We took turns cooking and washing dishes. The 3 guys took shifts to watch over at night. The boat was on auto-pilot but nevertheless, we needed to watch for oncoming ships or God -forbid—pirates!

There were very few ships… Indian ocean is so vast that u cant really see anything farther than 15 miles unless one uses a binocular.At night we have to rely only on the radar screen. The average ship in a day / night that we saw were 3 to 4 ships, if we were lucky. We spent our time mostly talking, reading, playing backgammon, or sleeping. Some days we practice shooting. (Yes we have weapons on board! Nothing hi-powered or what have you! just an old shotgun and 2 old rifles and lots of old ammo!! It has always been on the boat since after the pirate incident in the Philippines back in the late 80’s. The cousin of the captain died while the captain sustained several stab wounds. That was actually the reason why the boat moved to Thailand and stayed for 14years!) I fired both guns. I am comfortable with guns as i love going to shooting galleries even here in Phuket. Not as often as i wanted to unfortunately, coz i find it very expensive. It costs a significant amount for me for a 10-bullet round!)

We always have our dinners after sunset, afterwards, we either listen to our own ipods or just absorb the experience being in the middle of the sea. We don’t really switch on the lights at the upper deck when its not needed. Just the navigation lights and the sailing lights. We have 3 generators but they use fuel also and we have to save as much as we can. All the instruments were running on batteries.

We were dragging a fishing line while sailing as well.. but Indian ocean was not that generous to us and maybe we only caught like 4 fishes about 1 to 1.5kgs. each. Mostly small tuna… Nevertheless, it’s always exciting times when we hear the fishing line makes sound to indicate that we caught something! You cant get a fresher fish than that!!..

Sunset was always the main event of the day! There was no other scenery except the sea, the horizon and the sky…Occasionally, there would be a school of dolphins who will put on a show for us and we have to clap , shout and encourage them to make the show lasts longer. They love to have enthusiastic audiences and they love to race the boat and normally they swim just beside the bow, and we took photos or videos and just enjoyed the spectacle. Communication with Paul was done via fax and he sent me sms via the satellite phone that one of the German crew brought. For the next 6 days our days were like that…

We reached Sri lanka in a town called Galle by dawn of the 7th day. We moored just outside their harbor and waited for day break. There was a barrier going inside as they also have their naval ships there. By 8am, 4 people aboard 2 small speed boats, mounted with machine gun, were coming our way! Thankfully they were the not the trigger- happy bunch and didn’t shower us with bullets! It was my worry coz i know that they have problems with rebels as well! After all the formalities, we were guided inside the harbor till an agent came aboard to take care of the procedures for the immigration, customs and harbor master. We were all given 30 days visa and we had to pay in dollars not in Rupee. We declared the weapons we had on board and brought it to customs for safe keeping till we were ready to leave Sri Lanka. By mid afternoon, we were ready to go ashore!

We first went to town to change money. I was with the 2 German crews - Bernie and Florian and the filipina crew, Rowena. The exchange rate was Rp 107 to 1US$. The fare for the tuktuk (3-wheeled vehicle like the ones found in Thailand) was Rp150 one- way and it took 10 minutes. The first impression i had: the road was dusty and the vehicles were mostly old and the structures were not modern. I still saw remnants of the past catastrophe and i learned afterwards that almost 50 thousand people died in that town alone when the 2004 tsunami hit them. Some structures were still in ruins while some has been repaired although very few were really completely rebuilt. It can be classified as a poor coastal town. But then again, I’m no expert on this. …I’m also happy to be communicating with Paul once again. I bought a Sri lankan sim card as it was cheaper way to use for daily communication than my roaming sim.

We asked the tuktuk driver to take us somewhere where we can eat. He took us to the place called Unawatuna which is a tourist beach area. Lots of little shops selling tourist wares, and small restaurants and resorts. The beach was also beautiful with many sunbeds that one can use for free….compared to Phuket that one gets charged 200 Baht for a sunbed! The road going to the beach area was not paved and very narrow. One has to be an adept driver to survive on the road in that town. I was glad to see that quite a number of tourist have come back to Sri lanka.. although of course not as many as the tourists in Phuket. I know it will help their economy. The weather was perfect and we ordered the native Sri lankan food consisted mainly of curries. Curried everything— chicken, legumes and vegetables! I was surprised to see Filipinos there but then again, we are really everywhere in the world. Those Filipinos were working on the ship and docked in the same harbor. It was a pleasant afternoon and afterwards, as we were waiting for the appointed time for the driver to pick us up to take us back to the harbor, we went to the internet shop to check some mails.

Back in the harbor, there were about 10 sailing yachts, both monohulls and catamarans, a rally organized by BlueWater . These yachts were sailing around the world. Some were private yachts much bigger than ours.. and there was even a cruise liner that docked there and was doing the asian leg of the cruise. Those yachts and the ship stops in Sri lanka, Maldives and India. I wished we were going to maldives as well, but it wasnt part of our iteneraries. sigh!

By 10pm, the 3 of us ( me and my 2 boys as i called them) went to the local disco just to check out the night scene in Galle. It was a beach side disco and lots of tourists as customers. There were some locals as well but mostly men. The cost of drinks was a total rip -off— I mean for Sri lanka! What do i expect? We were in the tourist area.. so we were expected to pay a tourist price. It would be an expensive way for us to get drunk that night!!! But got drunk we did….and we went back to the boat happy as Larry!

The following morning… we woke up with a sumptuous breakfast courtesy of the captain. It was such a feast that eventhough the 3 of us were sporting hung overs, we still managed to enjoy breakfast…! The poor boys have to wash the deck that day as well and clean their own cabin. The boat was covered in salt, whereas i have to clean my own cabin and head (bathroom/toilet).The other filipina crew took care of the lower deck and the saloons. Well she wasn’t of much help when we were sailing as she was sea sick the whole time (?).

We stayed in Sri lanka for a total of 3nights. I also got invited by an old tuktuk driver, who treated me like a daughter, to visit their house and meet his wife and 2 sons. I took the opportunity to see inside a Sri lankan house and learn what i can about their culture and how they live. He even showed me how high the water reached inside his house during the tsunami. They were spared coz they have a 2 storey house but lost some relatives and friends. That same guy watched over us while we were in the disco and made sure that we wont be harassed by the locals. I think it was very sweet of him to have done that. On our last day, we went food shopping and we also refilled our water tanks. We didn’t refuel as we were using the sail 80% of the time on the way there and didn’t use much diesel. That morning after food shopping, Bernie and i went back to the beach area just to relax and to swim in the Indian ocean. The water was warm like in Phuket or Philippines… but it was a little bit rough for me and although it was just a few feet away from the shore.. it was already deep. Maybe it was the time of the year.. i dunno!

We sailed away from Sri lanka at sunset of the 22nd of Jan… it was a beautiful time to leave…the sky was turning orange/red, yellow and all the beautiful hues of sunset.. we rolled the ropes and put the fenders back to where it was being kept. The best location on the boat to watch the dunset was at the bow. I would normally stay there until it gets dark.We had a great time, albeit briefly. Sri lankan people were friendly and not “in your face” kind of pushy people compared to some Egyptians we met…The only thing i bought as a souvenir was a bizarre- looking face of a bird, made of wood but painted beautifully. According to them one puts it above ones door to ward off the evil spirit..kinda like the protective Pa Kua of the Chinese.. and oh yes…a blue sapphire-eternity ring set in gold hehehhe! Im just sharing it not to brag.. but to share that one can get good quality stones there that won’t cost as much compared to other countries..The store was certified by the Sri lankan Tourism board and was in business for quite a while.. so im not really worried that i got a fake stuff although some other people will try to talk to you , even inside the harbor, to sell you stones cheaply. Now that is scary…

I had a good experience in Sri lanka. The people maybe poor but they were friendly and hospitable without really expecting anything in return…I wouldn’t mind going back there one day….

Thanks for reading! More to come….

Long flıght ahead

Im leavıng Cyprus tomorrow. I have learned to love thıs place and the laıdback lıfestyle. I have a very good ımpressıon of the Cyrpıot people and theır culture and have thoroughly enjoyed my 2-week holıday here and would lıke to come back durıng the summer tıme ın the future hopefully. But ıt wıll be unlıkely, as Paul has been here as well, many years ago. Tıme flıes really fast when one ıs enjoyıng oneself and I cant help but feel sad that thıs ıs the end of my adventure. It has been more than 2months sınce ı left home to embark on thıs journey and ı wıll really mıss my cabın and the yacht whıch has been our home for a couple of months. I know ı saıd ım sea -out by now, but stıll…. ı know ım gonna mıss seeıng the sea as soon as ı wake up. I wıll mıss the gentle soothıng waves at nıght and drıvıng the dınghy to get me to the jetty and back to the yacht at nıght.

Thanks goodness someone ınvented the camera and ı have taken lots of photos of most of the places ı have been to and the thıngs ı saw. Some photos however, dıdnt do justıce to the spectacular sunsets and sunrıses, but ı know ıt was deeply etched ın my mınd and ı would forever remember those panoramas.

Im lookıng forward to comıng home, but ı stıll have a long long way to go…

See you on the other sıde of the globe!

Im in Suez Canal Yacht Club, Egypt

It has been a while… almost 2 months since we started the journey..we have yet to finish it. At the moment, we are in Egypt and will be leaving in 5 days time to go through Suez Canal then cross the Mediterranean Sea to go to Turkey.. the final leg of the sailing trip. Will write about the details perhaps when i get to the philippines as I will be flying to Manila from Turkey. But briefly…..here’s the summary of the trip for now…… we left Phuket, Thailand on Jan. 12, 2007 and it took us 7 non stop sailing days to reach Sri Lanka in a town called Galle( our first stop). We re-stocked food and water and stayed for 3 nights. We went to a tourist resort called Unawatuna and met some filipinos……

After Sri lanka, we sailed non-stop for 15 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! to go to Djibouti..Gosh, i now know what it feels like to be in house arrest!!!!!!!!!!! It feels the same. Cant go anywhere…we were on the Arabian Sea for that long…same view everyday.. water and horizon..same faces everyday!!….Highlights: dolphins.. being chased by modern day pirates opposite India…and 2 anxiety -filled -nights while cruising the Gulf of Aden between Yemen and Somalia, as we were on the piracy prone area…. We stopped in Djibouti for 2 nights only.. reason: a thief came aboard in the middle of the night and they took 2 cellphones and money.

After Djibouti, we stopped for 2 nights off the coast of Sudan along the Red Sea…We had to stop as the waves were between 8 to 12 meters between crest and trough…….then stopped for 2 nights in Al Quseir, Egypt to refuel…. I have been ripped- off big time…!!!! ….then crossed the Gulf of Suez to reach the Suez Canal where we are moored right now at the Suez Canal yacht club since Feb 22. It’s bloody cold in here!! We are leaving in 5 days time, but this time, only 3 of us to manage the passage as the 2 german crews will have to go back to germany. We will go through the canal then cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach Turkey. I went to Cairo last Sunday to see the Pyramids and Sphinx…Dunno if I will have time to go to Mt Sinai… Every night we go to a local cafe to have shisha ( smoking via waterpipe).. i love it… my favorite is apple tobacco..and yes i had my shis kebab already and the other local food…

Ok folks.. sorry im in a hurry… did this in an internet cafe here in Egypt..I miss you all…