The Crossing

We left Phuket as the sun got up over Mai Thon Island. A strong 20 knot breeze pushed us through the few islands lying south of Phuket, and we quickly rounded Promthep Cape, heading North West, to the Andaman Islands (India), 400 nautical miles away ! Finally we were at sea. My first time crossing a sea with Dali. Iva’s first time in the open waters. I had been waiting for this moment since I started living on my boat in 2011. Island-hoping along the coast of Malaysia and Phuket is one thing, but being out at sea for four days is totally different experience.

Finally we do not need to worry about the coast, the reefs, the fishing boats. Time and days as we know them on land disappear. All of a sudden, it’s only about making the boat sail well in the right direction. The sun gets up on one side, and before you know it, it’s down on the other. Activities are limited to maneuvering the boat, cooking and reading. Life becomes very simple.

The toughest part of the crossing is to get used to the incessant movement of the boat and to find your new sleeping pattern. The sea is in constant movement, and so is the boat. Everything needs to be stored away. Your body needs to adjust. For most people who are not prone to severe sea sickness this takes two to three days. Luckily Iva and I felt at ease straight away.  We just needed to get our night shifts in order. At night, someone constantly needs to keep watch. It is not easy getting used to sleeping in three hour shifts. Unfortunately we were sailing without any moon, and I can tell you, it gets dark, really dark. Luckily Dali’s radar is in good functioning order and most ships are therefore easily avoided.

On our first morning we were welcomed in the Andaman sea by a school of dolphins, about a dozen of them playing around the bow of the boat ! What an amazing sight to have these large mammals guiding us towards our destination are the sun gets up… We felt welcomed. Our second day at sea, we maneuvered a lot, trying to get the most our of the five to ten knot breeze pushing slowly towards Port Blair. As the wind died, we motored through the night.

Our third day at sea turned out to be glorious. Thanks to a fifteen knot wind from the North East we managed to cover 80 nautical miles on a beam reach (the wind blowing on a 90 degree angle to the boat) in 12 hours. It felt perfect, being in the middle of the Andaman Sea, just the two of us, with only water around us, and the boat, so happy, singing in the waves. I wish that day would have lasted forever.

As the wind died we enjoyed a swim in the crystal clear Andaman Sea waters.

We mainly motor-sailed the last stretch to Port Blair, the last night being cloudy and amazingly dark, with it’s share of rain. We were happy to see the sun get up as we were 40 nautical miles of our destination !

Reaching your destination after a long crossing is one of the most amazing feelings one can experience. Your eyes have only been used to the blues of the sea and the sky divided by the horizon for more than four days. And all of a sudden there is so much to see, to hear, to smell… Port Blair is a lovely tropical Indian town on a peninsula. We anchored in a very large protected body of water, close to a few other sailboats and not far from very large cargos on their way in and out of India. Finally the movement stops. It feels strange.

In India as a sailboat, you are treated like any other ship. Which means that as you enter the port you need to contact the authorities and wait for Customs, Immigration and the Coast Guard to board your boat and complete the necessary paperwork. We had read that this was a very complicated experience and that dealing with the local bureaucracy was a nightmare. What a pleasant surprise to be welcomed by lovely officials, most of them all smiles, interested in our story and very happy to help ! Of course it is a big change from dealing with the authorities in Thailand or, even easier, in Malaysia. We had to prepare some paperwork prior to our arrival. But in India people are just interested and care. They try to do their job, sometimes too well, but who can complain about that ?

As the sun set we were done with the 12 people that came on the boat that day, and enjoyed a few cold beers while chatting away into the night, about the crossing, our boat, our life, and the many amazing years that are still to come…

 Phil