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Andaman Dream : Full Length Documentary

We are proud to present to you our finished documentary.

The documentary traces our first ever ocean crossing together, following our journey between Phuket and the Andaman Islands during February and March of 2013. The 35minute film shows glimpses of life aboard a sailboat during our four days on the way to Phuket and five days return crossing, as well as highlighting all the beautiful paradisiacal islands that we discovered during our month in India. Our message is simple but powerful: the idea that a dream, no matter how crazy it may seem, is achievable through hard work and strong will.

*Please know that there was a considerable loss of quality when uploading the video to You Tube. Please contact us if you would like a copy in perfect quality.

Above and Below

It was hard to leave Havelock Island. But we were already one week into our trip, and the Indian authorities only deliver a one-month visa for the Andaman Islands. The frustration of not being able to spend more time in paradise slowly started creeping in. We had to plan our trip accordingly. It wasn’t easy to find the balance between our yearning to visit as many islands as we could and the need to spend more than a couple of nights in the places we loved the most. With only three weeks left we made our way to our next stop, Inglis Island.

As perfect as Havelock Island had been, Inglis rewarded us with a striking convex stretch of white sand contrasting with the deep turquoise of the water. And we were alone. The island was ours. The excitement grew as we anchored in ten meters on sand. As soon as we dropped the anchor, we were greeted by a group of mouse deer feeding on the beach. The next surprise came from the sky as a very intense experience: a Coast Guard helicopter circling 30 meters above us! We made contact though the VHF radio, identified ourselves, confirmed we had properly checked in in Port Blair and were bid farewell with a lovely “Have fun…and be safe!”

We spent the next couple of days exploring the island: the beach, the forest and the gorgeous sand cliffs rising above the water. Their different shades of yellow would constantly change with the light and amaze us throughout the day; we were grateful to sit in the shade of its caves, protected enough from the harassing heat to contemplate the waves breaking on the outer reefs.

Land Art

Land Art

Mouse Deer Skull

Turtle Skull

Again, it was hard to leave, but we had to stay on schedule. We motored north against a strong breeze and a choppy sea to reach North Button Island.

We both expected a lot from this tiny island as we had read that it was vibrant with sea life. Iva wanted to see manta rays. I was pretty excited about the fishing.

North Button Island from the Water

North Button Island from the Water

Iva hunts for photos, while Phil hunts for food! Here, a beautiful but very poisonous Lion Fish

Iva hunts for photos, while Phil hunts for food! Here, a beautiful but very poisonous Lion Fish

I started spearfishing back in 2003 when I was crewing around the South Pacific on sailboats for eight months. It quickly became an addiction at the time, although I barely caught any fish the first few months. Spearfishing is a difficult sport. You usually have to dive down in at least five meters of water to catch anything. 10 to 20 meters if you want to spear the big ones. The fish can breathe underwater, you can’t. The fish is really fast and reacts instantly to any movement or noise nearby. As free divers we are slow and not very agile underwater, especially if we want to stay long and keep enough air in our lungs to actually catch something. The slightest movement of a fin or the click of the gun releasing the spear will scare the fish away instantly.

Considering fish is our only source of fresh protein on the boat, it’s an exciting challenge.

I had done a bit of spearfishing in Thailand in the past year, but the Thai seas are so overfished that it is very hard to catch anything more than a small parrotfish or snapper. I was finally confronted to a proper fishing ground, as commercial fishing is not allowed in the Andaman Islands.

On the first day I caught a small grouper that was delicious but left us craving for more. On the second day we decided to take the dinghy further past the west point of the island. There was a lot of fish out there, but I wanted to challenge my fishing skills by catching something big, fast and delicious. A big grouper – always hiding in the rocks and very hard to catch – or a jackfish – one of the fastest hunters out there. As I jumped in the water at our second stop, I couldn’t believe my eyes : a school of small tuna was swimming right in front of me ! Tuna are rarely seen that close to the reef in shallow waters. I had caught some in the Pacific trailing a line of the back of the boat in open sea, but never actually seen one underwater. I tried to control the adrenaline pumping through my veins, gave a very smooth stroke of a fin towards the school and aimed at the closest fish with strong determination but little hope. The whole school instantly swam away from me but I shot anyway and rejoiced : I had caught one ! It was the strongest fish I’ve ever had to bring back onto the dinghy. This tuna was fighting hard but I somehow managed to pull it up, throw the spear into the dinghy and quickly finish it’s days of swimming the Andaman Sea.

That catch ended our fishing for the day. A two/three kilo tuna is definitely enough for the two of us ! I cut two beautiful filets out of our little friend that more than filled us up. We first enjoyed an appetizer of sashimi, then had one filet for lunch and one for dinner, accompanied by delicious vegetables, of which our favorite will remain the lovely little Andaman aubergines !

North Button Island also enabled us to do a bit of socializing with two French boats anchored next to us : Sea Lance and Nez Rouge. It felt great sharing stories around coffee in the morning and beers in the afternoon with people who have been sailing for years around the world… But we had to leave, to make it in time to an anchorage we had identified with Iva on the way up as a perfect place to celebrate her 26th birthday… more on that in the next episode !

Phil

Boat Life, Thus Far…

Difícil describir semejante cambio de estilo. De vida. Dormía en la casa de mis padres, en la ciudad donde pasé la mayor parte de mis veinte-y-cinco años. No había pasado mucho tiempo pero algo de rutina tenía, y todo lo familiar. Mis horarios parecían organizarse independientemente, según factores ajenos que me interesaban pero no me pertenecían.  Y aunque tengo padres jóvenes, que con su entusiasmo, energía e insistencia siempre nos acercaron a ella, nunca me sentí muy afín con la naturaleza.

And then you wake up. And though the sun has only been up an hour it’s enough to lure you out and into the water. My favourite thing about the boat is what it sits on. A sapphire blue, an electric, a pastel, a stunning, stunning blue, a turquoise, a cyan, a whole world of crystal hues where you can float suspended in a different reality.  The freedom to jump in whenever you want; however you want. With no one but the fish watching.

I have discovered mornings, which never seemed to last this long in the city and for the first time in my life my body deems breakfast a necessity as everything falls into a more natural routine. Mornings spent chasing fish hovering over coral reaching the beaches touching the trees.

Tiene otro ritmo el día que se pausa a la mitad cuando la tierra lleva como corona al sol. La hora de un almuerzo hecho con las manos, con lo que hay o con lo que queda. Un rato de descanso sin culpas con la tranquilidad de saber que todavía te queda toda la tarde por delante y toda la isla, todo el mar.

As with everything else, afternoons are also determined by the weather. Postcard perfect afternoons taking the dinghy to explore more and more beaches. Underwater afternoons swimming in our private aquarium. Afternoons when it’s too hot to move and we lay belly up reading and dozing. Productive, cloudy afternoons working on things here and there on the boat. Rainy afternoons graciously enjoying the temperature drop inside with a movie.

Of course it’s not always idyllic surroundings and fair weather. As of late, more often than not we are running around gathering materials and hoping for less rain so repairs can move forward. But even the hard work seems more rewarding when it’s physical, and it’s a nice feeling doing something for no one other than yourself, the other person and the boat.

El mejor momento de descanso viene teñido de violeta y nunca dura lo suficiente. Un juego de cartas, algo de música, las preparaciones para la cena y de repente termino el día.

Being on the boat has taught me a lot in these short months. I am braver than I was. Though braver is much too robust a word and it’s more accurate to say I am learning to prioritize my fears. It is a relief in a sense to be thrust into a squall and feel dwarfed by the power of the wind and the waves.

And everywhere is as impressive. Vegetation dripping off limestone walls disappearing into green water mirroring the clouds pass. The crystal water black under a sky with no moon but littered with stars. The same black water lighting up with bioluminescence with every drop that stirs. A jet stream of glittery bubbles behind the dinghy on our way back home.

De las comodidades urbanas extraño pocas, aunque seguramente eso cambie con el tiempo. Por ahora mis mayores preocupaciones están relacionadas con el higiene y el cuidado femenino que tan cuidado lo tenia. Lo peor hasta ahora ha sido tener que ir cortando principios de rastas, mientras mi pelo lucha contra la sal, el mar y el sol.

Thus, life on the boat has been a welcome change for me. I hope it will continue to give me opportunities to grow; learn more about myself, about my surroundings, about it all.

Iva