Thailand to Oman
Click here for a map of the journey.
Thailand to Oman Timetable. We departed Phuket Thailand on January 6th arriving in Galle, Sri Lanka on January 16th. We left Sri Lanka for Oman on January 30th. Our first port of call was Uligan in the Northern Maldives on February 3rd. We left Uligan for Oman on February 8th just after midnight ship's time arriving at Salalah in Oman on February 20th. The journey took 6 weeks of which 4 were under sail. The total sea miles were approximately 2800 time with a journey time of six weeks of which four were under sail.
We left Phuket anticipating a pleasant passage to Sri Lanka. Friends who had done the same journey the previous year reported sparkling sapphire seas with dolphins at sunrise and sunset, pilot whales and seasnakes. Well we had none of that. Instead we encountered squalls, one particularly vicious one catching us unawares and bending the port pole into a U-shape as the sail backed. All we saw at sea was floating debris (an echo of the tsunami) and a huge steel ship's boiler rising 8 feet out of the sea, not something that you would want to meet on a dark night! We were pleased to catch two big-eye tuna, but not so happy when a large piece of sacking caught on the propeller. It took two hours to free the latter but Jim's mid-ocean underwater inspection indicated no damage had been done.
Click here for a map of Sri Lanka.
After ten days at sea it was good to arrive in Galle, though the 4-hour wait for naval clearance before we could enter the inner harbour was the first of a few irritations. A gigantic and prolonged downpour accompanied us along with our agent as we walked between three offices to be checked in by immigration and port control. Customs Officers visited us later on "Avalon" to check on our cargo and departed some time later, depleting our liquor store as they went. As soon as we had moved from the temporary mooring jetty to settle alongside the concrete wharf Barney and Cass took off for beach fun at Unawatuna and Hikkaduwa. We contented ourselves with more local activities including fixing the bent pole, dealing with laundry, stocking up supplies and exploring Galle. First used as a port by Arab spice traders Galle came under the influence of the Portuguese who built the Star Fort. This was extended considerably by the Dutch in the 17th c. and later altered by the British in the 18th c. Much of it remains today and we spent several hours wandering along the walls admiring the seascapes without. Inside the walls is a fascinating mix of historic government buildings, private dwelings, Christian churches and Muslim Mosques. We took refreshment in the recently refurbished New Oriental Hotel (originally built in 1684 to house the Dutch governor and converted to an hotel by the British in 1863) resplendent with leather covered card tables (with built in cigar rest for each player), potted plants, tiled floors and gently whirring fans.
After a few days spent doing jobs we set out on a five-night six-day tour to explore inland Sri Lanka. We were accompanied by Bill from "Nin" and Henry and Mattie from "2 Extreme" and we were driven by Gamini in an air-conditioned minibus. The Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage was our first stop. Elephants may look harmless enough but at one point I was swept to safety by Gamini as one charged across the road in its hurry to catch up the others already bathing in the river. Later, in the ancient city of Kandy, we went to see the famed dancers. This was a real spectacle of dancing and acrobatics to drumming accompaniment. The dancers, both colourfully attired and skilled, seemed inexhaustible. The programme culminated with a firewalking display outdoors. Next day we visited the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in central Kandy, an important pilgrimage site for Buddhists. Unfortunately the tooth, housed in a jewelled casket, is only displayed every 3 to 4 years when tens of thousands of devotees queue for a glimpse. By way of contrast our next stop was the Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya, dating from 1371. These occupy a horseshoe shaped peninsular around which flows the chief river of Sri Lanka, the Mahaweli. We were interested in the fine specimens of double coconut palms (from the Seychelles) and the impressive cannonball trees, as well as an enormous fruit bat colony. Jim estimated maybe ten thousand hanging in the trees like ripe plums. We met up with Barney and Cass at Dambulla to visit the rock cave temples, full of Buddha statues and decorated with tempera paintings dating from the 10th c.
Barney and Cass had just finished a tour with the crew of an Australian yacht "Wetherly": they had climbed Adam's peak during the night to see dawn from the summit. They joined us for a few days, first catching up on sleep whilst we climbed the stupendous rock fortress at Sigiriya (they had already been). The extensive water gardens at the base and the royal palace at the top date from the 5th c. and are currently under restoration. The climb up was a little strenuous, but the view from the top was quite stunning. The next few days we travelled to see the ancient capitals of Anuradhapura (5-10th c.) and Polonnaruwa (10-12 c.). To use a favourite Aussie phrase, we saw more ruins than you can shake a stick at, palaces, pavilions, shrines (many with intricately carved moonstone entrance steps), Hindu temples, Buddhist dagabas/stupas, massive carved stone buddhas - and the mahabodhi tree, the oldest historically authenticated tree in the world (2200 years). Many of the places we went to see are centres of pilgrimage for Buddhists and the old stupas and shrines contrasted with their adornments of gaily coloured flags and flower offerings of lotus and jasmine.
We stopped in Kandy again en route to the hill country and the tea growing areas. A visit to one plantation made us realise how much labour (for so little pay) goes into producing our daily cuppas. Before retiring under our blankets for the (cool) night in Nuwara Eliya we had dinner at the Hill Club (founded 1876). Jacket and tie are obligatory for gentlemen and were loaned by the club for the evening. Cocktails in front of the log fire (the fireboy had to be called to light it) were followed by a 4-course dinner served by white-gloved waiters. Very nice. All too soon it was time to return to Galle and reflect on our glimpse of Sri Lanka. The country is still noticeably suffering from the devastating effects of the tsunami of December 2004 along the southwest coast (5000 people died) and army road blocks dotting the roads inland bear evidence of the civil strife further north. But we had no problems and were treated with friendliness but not overwhelming interest. There was of course some begging and a lot of haggling over prices but overall our experience was colourful and spicy and very interesting.
After the rough sea crossing from Thailand Cass had thought she would depart for UK from Sri Lanka, but to our delight, she changed her mind. So we four departed Galle late on a Monday afternoon. Having checked out early in the day we were suddenly jolted into action when the harbourmaster called to ask if we were leaving that day, we needed to leave before the barrier to the inner harbour (defence against Tamil tigers) was closed by the navy for the night. Dusk soon fell and with it the fishing fleet appeared deploying nets all around us. Though some nets were marked with a red strobe light at one end it was not easy to tell which boat was related to which net. The relief of finally escaping this hazard was shortlived when a large cargo vessel suddenly changed course towards us on a collision course and we had to act quickly to avoid being run down, our closest encounter yet! Jim's angry complaint on the VHF went unanswered! Our 4 day crossing to the Northern Maldives was short but not sweet. With rough seas kicked up by the high wind acceleration zone between Sri Lanka and southern India we all briefly succumbed to sea sickness, the first time in years for some of us! Soon enough we had forgotton these perils when we were anchored in the sheltered waters off Uligan in the northern Maldives. This proved a very pleasant stop. We couldn't fail to be entranced by the local fishing boat activities, since they were so noisy and close to our boat, at one point the divers who were positioning the net were hanging onto our anchor chain! They landed hundreds of small silvery fish to be used as bait to catch tuna which are canned in the southern Maldives for export. The water was crystal clear and we had some good swimming and snorkelling. From the boat we saw dolphins, turtles, manta rays and various other fish. On one windless day a school of about eighty small squid swam round the boat for hours. The local people on Uligama (Muslims) were pleasant but reserved: a list of rules given us by the officials as we checked in gave the impression of protecting the locals from us. We visited three other islands in the same atoll by local boat and had a delicious lunch of traditional maldivian fare on one.
We checked out of the Maldives on February 8, and so began the calm and enjoyable passage to Salalah in Oman. Rosie had set up a radio net to keep cruisers in touch across the Indian Ocean. Cass suggested the name adopted by the net (Flying Fish Net) - very apt as one landed on her in the cockpit during a night watch. They really do fly! With the moon full around the 12th of the month we had moonlight most of each night which made night watches so much better. Most days the winds were favourable and dolphins were often seen. A minor drama occurred on the sixth night when we got caught at night in an unlit drift net (our radar showed we were 2.5 miles from the fishing boat which was on the downwind end of the net). Fortunately with the aid of a bamboo flag pole attached to the net we were able to push the net down and under the skeg so Avalon could drift free. Several other cruisers were similarly caught and had to get into the water at night to cut themselves free. As the dolphins left us halfway through the passage, so the masked boobies appeared; we had to take care that these did not try to catch Barney's homemade fishing lures which had been so appealing to tuna - we had caught another big-eye tuna (2.8 kg, 58cm) and a massive skipjack tuna (6.5kg 78cm).
February 17th was a memorable day; Barney's 29th Birthday, when the galley slave worked extra hard to produce pizza, fresh baked bread and a chocolate covered mahi mahi cake (in lieu of the mahi mahi Barney wanted to catch). At dusk an aircraft carrier was identified by Cass (from her navy exercises experiences) on the horizon, complete with helicopters circling. We guessed this was part of the forces which are acting against piracy off the coast of Somalia. Later, after a lovely sunset, when Jim and I were asleep, Barney and Cass were treated to a light show of phosphorescing sea creatures. Our last day and night were very calm and we were able to see clearly marine life; sea turtles (one with a masked booby passenger perched on top!); dolphins; whales (2 groups); jumping tuna; and flying fish of course. At night Cass and Rosie changed watch, the sea was so calm the stars were reflected in it, with no wind the engine was started and the dolphins rushed up to play in the bow wave. With the moon not up, their tracks could be seen as ghostly trails of light, and as they jumped and splashed waves of phosphorescence lit up the sea. Magic. The moon came up over the horizon as a half orange, and the dolphins were gone.
