Position 09:59.12N 076:16.09E

India

We are checked into India – a simple 5 hour operation involving 5 different authorities and endless entries in huge hand written ledgers – bureaucracy gone mad !

Luckily we had the expert help of Naza, the local boat man, who ran us ashore in his boat and escorted us through the complicated process. Naza has also refuelled us by transporting diesel in jerry cans and transferring it into our tanks, what a star.

The first two photos show the distinctive Chinese fishing nets along the approach to the harbour. We anchored in front of the Taj Malibar hotel to complete our check in procedures before moving up the narrow channel to the marina.

The Marina is very nice and we have the luxury of water and electric as well as the use of the hotel swimming pool close by.

So Blue Magic has been treated to a good wash, it is wonderful to be able to wash off all the encrusted salt from our last couple of trips as we haven’t had running water available since before Christmas in Thailand.

However the highlight of the mooring is our new neighbour, Millie, who comes to visit us from the yacht next door.

The marina is a very new and is the only one in India so we are something of a novelty and we regularly have day tripper boats packed with tourists waving, shouting and pointing their cameras at us !

We are actually located on Bolgatty Island and transport to the local town is by ferry or by rickshaw over the bridge. The last couple of nights we have taken the ferry into town to eat, back to our staple diet of rice and curry !

There is also another ferry that runs to Fort Kochi which was founded in 1341 and became one of the key ports on the ancient spice route from China to Rome.

We are planning to take a trip there tomorrow to wander the streets and discover some of it’s history.