Dodging the fishing boats as we near Mumbai
Jackamy
Paul & Derry Harper
Fri 11 Feb 2011 15:51
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Friday 11th February
Back on the road again and we had some more
glorious weather. The winds weren't quite as strong and not as far round to the
beam as we'd have liked but the days were still lovely. We had been
warned that there would be more fishing boats than we had seen when sailing
along the Sri Lankan coastline approaching Galle, I would have to disagree
though. Yes there have been lots, both during the day and night but all quite
manageable. Nets were spotted, sometimes at the last minute and all but one were
avoided. I think we've seen every type of fishing imaginable now! There were
tiny boats where the men had rowed single handedly up to 3 miles out, they'd
either be fishing with lines or nets, and the fish they caught were tiny. There
were trawlers as well as boats towing as many as 4 small skiffs far out to sea
to set up nets. And then we saw another type of fishing, a new one to us, where
a big boat would have sometimes as many as 9 men in cross-trees at the bow of
the boat looking for fish. A net would then be thrown off the back
whilst the boat drove in a circle to trap the fish. They were all very
happy in their work and were as excited to see us and we were them.
Our watches were never boring anyway, there
was always something to keep and eye on!
 Towing 4 skiffs..........Miss
Tippy, Island Kea and Sol Maria making their way through the fishing
fleet
 Tiny wooden boats 2 miles
out
 They certainly didn't worry
about cutting us up..................Hauling in the nets
 Looking for fish from the cross
trees
 Bremman Kites diving around the
nets
 Proud fishermen with their tiny
fish, you can just about make it out!...........A net stretches between the flag
and the boat
We made it through our final
night safe and sound and arrived at the busy port of Mumbai just
before midday. It took a while before we could actually see the coastline
as it is so hazy here, much worse than it has been along the coast. But once we
could see through the smog we were amazed, right on the shoreline is the
fantastic Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal Palace.
We've employed an agent to
complete our checking in procedures as well as other things. We expected to be
waiting around all day for him to arrive but Raju is the most efficient agent
we've had so far. The paperwork had been emailed ahead so all we had to do was
hand it over and sign and stamp a few more forms. It was all completed within 10
minutes and with a quick check of the passports by immigration, we were free to
step ashore within just a few hours of arriving.
4 o'clock at the Royal Bombay
Yacht Club it is then!!!!!!
 The Gateway of India and the
Taj Mahal Palace through the haze
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