Jeff's Log updates ~ Finally have internet service trying to play catch up

Monday, 10/29/07, 10:30pm, Galle, Sri Lanka

We’re here, we’re here! We arrived at Galle, Sri Lanka at about 12:30PM local time and were greeted by two patrol boats with machine guns mounted. Two navy officers came on board and searched the boat. I was up on the boom, closing the sail cover and removing the main halyard when they arrived. Scott hates dealing with officials, but didn’t wait for me to get down. They weren’t searching for bombs or guns; they were searching to see how much liquor and cigarettes we had on board. They walked off the boat with two bottles of rum “for the captain, not for me”. Next, was the customs guy. All he wanted was two bottles of rum. Scott gave him one. Next was port security. Two guys, they wanted booze. I told them we weren’t a liquor store, and they should go talk to the Navy. I gave them each a pack of Marlboros.

Now for the bright side, we went to dinner tonight at the hard rock café. It’s a quaint little place on the beach a short tuk-tuk ride from here. My driver, Edgar is a nice 32 year old chap with a wife he adores, and three children. He promised to take me for a day trip when I get a day off. He’s going to help me find a nice gift for Clara, as he is hooked up with people that guarantee their goods in writing. He also invited Scott and me for dinner at his house, when he learned that Dave and Kendra will be gone. I paid him 10 dollars US at the end of the evening, which is just a ton of money here, and he promised that He would take extra care of me when I take my day trip.

We are the only yacht boat in the general vicinity. We’re all alone on a floating dock that the Navy uses. It’s about a half mile walk to the gate through some muddy dirt roads, but very secure. At night, they drag this anti-personnel net over the entrance to the harbor, and at unspecified intervals, they explode anti-personnel depth charges in the harbor. The guys at the gate are all heavily armed with a variety of weapons. Everybody that we have met treats us very well, and even people on the street will go out of their way to welcome us. It sure is a far cry from what you read or see on TV. So far, I like the food too!

Tuesday, 10/30.07 8:30PM Galle, Sri Lanka

I had a full night’s sleep [except for the antipersonnel grenades that sometimes shook the boat] and boy did I feel chipper this morning. Dave and Kendra left to go to the mountains, and I helped with their luggage and road with them to the gate. On the way, there was a tuna boat being offloaded, and we stopped to let Dave take pictures. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera with me, but maybe I’ll be able to get them from Dave.

I made the arrangements to refuel the boat, and that will happen tomorrow morning. In the mean time, I emptied the forepeak sail locker and cleaned it again. I had a little fuel spillage up there as we were leaving Aden. When the high water problem came into play, the fuel problem got a lot larger, as it floats. Just call it another lesson learned, as that mistake will never happen again on my watch.

After that, Scott took me to lunch at the Hard Rock. We ordered the same thing that was real good last night, and today, the squid was tough and chewy. The house fried rice was excellent, however, and the drinks were strong, so everything kind of balanced out. Chukka, our driver gave us a little sightseeing tour, and the whole experience was very pleasant and relaxing. The view from the beach at the Hard Rock is very tropical and romantic. It sure made me miss Clara a little more than normal. Chukka hooked me up with a Sri Lankan sim card for my phone. And it is now fairly economical to call home. I took advantage of that immediately and talked for an extra bit.

Tomorrow will be fairly busy with the refueling. After that, I am going to change the oil in the main engine, so all of the dirty jobs will be done in one swoop.

Saturday, 11/03/07

We are under way again to the next destination which is Puckett, Thailand. We departed from Galle at about 10:00AM. The mainsail cover would not unzip, so I had to climb up on the boom and wrestle it open. In Thailand, it will have to be replaced.

Sailing along the coast of Sri Lanka was very nice. We were close enough to the island to watch the coastline go by.

Before we left, I had to go in to the agent’s office to pick up our sailing permission. Chukka and Edgar were both there to say goodbye. Windsor the agent was running late, so I returned to the boat and he brought the paperwork to us. Then the Navy came and checked for any stowaways we might have and we were off.