POSITION REPORT ON FRIDAY 20 JANUARY 2017
POSITION REPORT ON FRIDAY 20 JANUARY 2017 07:46N 098:18 E We’re just about to leave Thailand and South-east Asia, bound for the Andaman Islands. 20 January 2017 Nai Harn Bay, Thailand It was a grey overcast day and we had the odd shower, but the weather forecast still looks for leaving tomorrow. There’s more rain forecast than I originally thought, so we might get a bit wet, but the wind should be good. Glenys tidied away all the provisions that we bought yesterday and I put the dinghy on deck, so by lunch time, we were ready to go. I spent the rest of the day doing administration. I thought that living on a boat would free me from paperwork, but it looks like all the countries in the Indian Ocean are an administrative nightmare. I first sent off an email giving our “Notice of Intended Arrival” to the Indian Authorities in the Andaman Islands. I then prepared and sent off the signed documentation to our (mandatory) Clearance Agent in Sri Lanka. I also sent off an email to a Clearance Agent in the Maldives. We won’t be there until April, but it’s good to know what documentation he’ll want. The clearance fees for Sri Lanka will be $350 US and it will be over $1,200 US for the Maldives, so it won’t be a cheap trip. I’ve been a bit worried about declaring 40 litres of wine (in 12 boxes) when we arrive in the Andamans. It seems to be over-the-top and Indian customs officers are not renowned for being kind. So, I’ve come up with a cunning plan - I’m not declaring the number of litres, instead I’m declaring that we have “12 bxs of wine” and “8 btls of spirits”. Hopefully they will see the number and not the unit of measure… There’s only one sleep to go, the sun is going down and we’re having a nice cold beer; looking forward to three days’ sailing and arriving in India - we can’t wait to try out a real Indian Curry… |