India has this slogan that says: Incredible India! Well it's true! There's something about this place that is just mind blowing, people, food, cows hanging out with the goats in the middle of the street and things you just wouldn't imagine! Colorful, lively and vibrant for sure, I feel like the Andamans, from what I heard, is fairly representative of the rest of India in a manageable way. There's people but not 1.7 billion people in the same town! Chai tea, samosa and thali as become my shore leave habit!
Our trip started from Phuket, Thailand where Infinity undertook this shortish voyage across the Andaman or Burma Sea. We stopped to do some diving on this bank. Crazy feeling to go diving and not see any land 360 degrees around. This amazing reef was filled with heaps of pelagic fishes and some coral. We only stayed there for the day and set sail after dinner to make our way to Port Blair where the clearing in procedures would start. Infinity sailed in with the sunrise behind her! And the long wait started in Port Blair, capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Being prepared sailors, we had planned to arrive in Port Blair at 7ish to be sure we'd be able to clear in the same day. From a lot of blogs, travel books and cruising guides, we knew we were in for the long haul. It was sure no mistake. For the boat and the crew, we need a full forest of photocopies. 8 copies of this, 20 copies of that and so forth. Immigration, customs, navy, port authorities, forestry and agriculture, you name it! At some point there were more officials than crew on board, which got a little bit hectic. Cleared in, stamp in the the passport and legal, it was time to go get some chai masala. What a delicacy! Pretty eventless evening, with some good food, our trip in India was happening!
Next day, it was time to leave! Knowing that there's was a pristine white sand beach awaiting the quite eager to feel sand between your toes crew. North it was to Neil Island where we anchored in front of the picture perfect beach for two days, winding down from a hectic last couple of days and weeks for some of us! Pretty little village where I was able to find a phone and call my folks. Phone call that felt like the 60's, delay, bad connection, I almost had to go through a lady in front of a switchboard to get connected!
The journey continued to Havelock Island where most of the diving, hotels, dive charters and such can be found. There, more Indian food (hooray!) and a grocery for the boat with Noémie. It's something else to shop for 15 people. Luckily enough I've done it more then once with the scouts for 24 hungry teens! On Havelock I went for a shave with the boat's engineer and it was the best shave EVER. 5 minutes shave with a cut throat and a 25 minutes head-back-shoulder massage! It was phenomenal! A few dives happened around Havelock with some really nice things to see, but the real deal was a bank called Minerva Ledge. Best diving many people have seen in their life time, even the captain was stunned by it! Schools of Giant Trevally, Napoleon Wrasses bigger then me, hundreds of Bluefin Trevally, coral that is just so vibrant and healthy and a safety stop at 5 metres surrounded by a school of Barracuda! Doesn't get better then this. Seriously amazing.
From the "mainland" we sailed to a Volcanic Island called Barren Island and did some more phenomenal diving in volcanic sand, solidified lava flow underwater, it was just incredible. Infinity sailed in the morning and we were not allowed to drop the hook floating around all day it would have to be. It also meant we could dive directly from the back of the boat which is really nice! One day, four dives and many amazing things, Infinity sailed back to the main island overnight.
From there it was back to Havelock for a bit of provisioning and then we headed into the mangroves of Baratang. With a shallow estuary, we managed at high tide with 50cm under the keel to squeeze Infinity's massive hull into many miles of mangrove networks. The saltwater crocodile hunt was on! We navigated the narrow rivers all the way to a ferry landing about 4 hours into the island. Surprisingly, mangroves are quite deep, generally in this case at 20 metres. We anchored into a small turn off of the main river and enjoyed a ¨Connect Dinner¨ which I describe in "Pumpkin pie, love and tropical mangrove" Next day, we made our way to a mud volcano where I learned a little bit more about the formation of the Andamans, the tectonic plates of South East Asia and India meeting.
For my birthday, woke up in the mangroves, slowly made our way out and got to sail! I was so happy to be at the wheel with this beautiful wind. We anchored close to a small island called North Button. Picture perfect beach again and I got a cake! Rum and strawberry cheesecake! Da bomb!!!
Back to Minerva Ledge because it was just incredible diving and stayed there two full days where we dived relentlessly and I was lucky enough to see a Black Tip Reef shark. We also had the chance to host a french family of seven. A real trooper of this world. Two parents dedicated to home schooling and having their kids discover the world so each year, they leave four months with minimal travel gear and off they go backpacking in India, South America, South-East Asia. Truly remarkable! One of the dives was just breathtaking (sigh) I lay down on my tank on top of a pinnacle at 20 metres and looked at school of fish circling us. So many of them that you could barely see the surface, so close I could extend my arm and touch them, so big that I could see the teeth in the Barracudas mouth, so elegant I could have bought a pair of tickets for the ballet, so peaceful I felt in Harmony. To conclude the awesomeness, during the safety stop at 5 metres we could see the redness of the sun setting and sure enough when we surfaced, the sun was about 5 minutes away from setting. One of Those moments.
And then the last day in the Andamans, Surf, fun, beach, samosa and Chai Masala. It started with a headache… Oops! Noémie, Vicki, Matt and I decided: today we're getting day tipsy! So on the bells of midday it was cocktail hour! Why not, we're on a boat, down south, in front of a paradise beach in really good company! Sounds like a plan…well sunset came and the party went on, the captain cooked some amazing pizza for us, the music was good, the crowd was keeping the energy up and it was a good night! 10 o'clock came and I couldn't do it anymore, too tired, but that's what happens when you wake up at sunrise to make bread and coffee and then go for a dive, and another dive, and a third dive and then steered Infinity to Beach (paradise) No 7. Anyway headache… coffee, Advils and off we go to the beach! With the surfboard and a smile. Well I hadn't had fun at the beach like that in a while. Sand like you see on a postcard, water that is just at the right temperature, sun that's feels nice on your skin and the breeze that keeps it fresh! So we hung out on the beach, got a couple of waves, on a tiny surf board. Thanks to Aya and Mia concentration: so I'm on the board, unable to get up and suddenly I remember it all. I started surfing because a good friend of mine in Vancouver told me more then a year ago I needed to go surf in San Juan, La Union, Philippines. So I did and learned to surf and every good wave I took was because I was thinking about her and she was helping me concentrate! Sure enough it worked out. And Mia, I surfed with her in San Juan and she gave me good tips! So there you go girls, thanks for the waves! They might have been small but they were sure fun! After that it was time for some samosas on the beach. Two of them. Back in the water for body surfing and finally a run down the beach. Wow that felt amazing. I hadn't run in ages and I could feel the blood rushing through me and that was just brilliant. Quick trip in town to call my folks, Internet, read a message I had been waiting for and made me happy. Dinner that was just too good, back to the boat and off to Port Blair to clear out.
In my ear: Movies
- Jamie Woon - All.I.Can
Mirrorwriting (album) Extreme ski & environmental awareness
- The Other Tribes - The Art of Flight
Skirts (original) (song) Extreme snowboarding
- Harry Manx - Wind
Isle of Manx (album) 1992 - Sailing movie about the America cup
- Miike Snow - Core
Happy to you (album) Extreme Rock Climbing and Bouldering
- Ratatat TV Series
9 Beats (unreleased album) - The Glades
- Elementary
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