Bay of Bengal - Day 8
Jackamy
Paul & Derry Harper
Mon 10 Jan 2011 12:56
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06:02:017N 80:13.824E
Monday 10th January
The seas definitely calmed down a lot in the
last 24 hours but it has still been far from comfortable on board. The wind is
still on our nose sending waves straight at us. The only bonus is that they
aren't as big and steep as before. We're managing to ride over and
through them with only a couple causing the boat to slam down with a huge crash
and bang. The noises the boat has made over the last few days have been scary,
the slamming into the sea causes an almighty crash, you wonder how on earth the
boat doesn't break in two. And then there's the rigging that shakes violently
every time we crash down. It has not been fun!
As we neared Galle fishing boats started to
appear. We'd been warned about them from boats ahead, as some had been
approached and were asked for cigarettes, beer and food. We had the same
problems, but the men on board were incredibly friendly wanting to know our
names and where we were from. So, against advice we decided to do a trade,
5 cans of beer for a red snapper, not a bad deal! I think we made their day as
much as they did ours.
    We maintained a leisurely 3-4 knots
throughout the night to arrive at Galle first thing in the morning. The fact
that we were only a few miles off shore didn't make the sea conditions any
better for us though. And to make matters worse we were having to dodge hundreds
of fishing boats with nets stretching over a mile in some instances. It was so
bad that for a number of hours on and off throughout the night, Amy had to be at
the bow with a high powered spotlight to spot the floats that were 10 metres
apart holding up the nets.
 Whilst searching with the light
Amy spotted this sea snake
At around 07:30 we arrived at the harbour,
anchored in the channel and waited for the Navy to come and complete an
inspection of the boat. Of course they wanted t-shirts, alcohol, chocolate and
anything else they might fancy but we were stern and denied them anything,
because if one person gives in then they'll try it on more and more.
We initially moored up to a floating pontoon
but had difficulty in getting off the boat, so we moved over to a huge concrete
wall, dropped our anchor and tied on two stern lines and it is much more
comfortable.
Now to begin the checking in
procedures!
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