Hi all. Long time no update but I'll try to be brief. We finally left Panaji a couple of days late due to a 60th birthday breakfast which turned very drunken, and sailed to Palolem in the very south of Goa. Couple of nights before carrying on south? No way. Birthday boy arrived with all his guests and we ended up spending over a week drinking on the beach with them. Palolem itself seems to have a more hippy/long term traveller feel about it rather than the package resorts in the north. Finally pulling ourselves away on 27th November we head for the beautiful Belekeri Bay. As we were looking for a spot to drop the hook the phone rang. It was Ted, Chris' father, very concerned and telling us to be extra careful. I told him I couldn't talk just now and we would call back. Settled at anchor we returned the call to be told about the Mumbai attacks and again were told to be careful. As there was nothing ashore and only the occasional fisherman come to anchor to clear his nets we tried to assure Ted that we thought we were ok. The wind changed overnight (It is northeast monsoon but suddenly we got strong southerlies making the anchorage uncomfortable). Just as we were thinking of leaving a trawler came alongside manned by police. They demanded copies of everything and that we go into the nearby fishing port. I refused to move and things could have got a bit nasty until I showed him the chart and that we couldn't possibly get in. I don't think they'd ever seen a chart before! Eventually we managed to satisfy them and they left without baksheesh. Uncomfortable as the anchorage was when we did try to leave it was impossible with big head seas and wind so we returned for another rolly night. This west coast of India has some very promising looking anchorages and ports, far more than the available guides indicate. Unfortunately, because of Mumbai, we were constantly hassled by police and coastguard, not being allowed to enter ports, woken up in the middle of the night and were generally not welcome. I'm sure in other times the coast has much to offer. Thankfully as it was NE monsoon we could drop the hook just about anywhere off the shore for the night. In the end we just wanted to get to Cochin where we arrived on 9th December. We had a great few days with John & Christine, my parents, and saw the start of the Volvo Ocean race leg to Singapore. Some of our fellow Vasco Da Gama boats were there so some catching up was done. We decided to go south and explore Kerela a bit more. Just before arriving in Trivandrum by train the conductor came to check tickets and asked what we were doing here? Apparently we could have been in luxury seats with AC rather than in our cattle truck! However, we somehow lost the desire to travel too much at that time. After a few days in the toursit resort of Kovalum we went north to Varkala which is a bit more of the back-packer scene. Here, Chris got some less than acceptable massages and then found a school offering Ayurvedic lessons, Yoga amongst other things. He enrolled and passed with flying colours so went on to study reflexology. His Yoga was also progressing well. I wanted to check on Reckless so came back to Cochin. Paul and Rachel, Lynn Rival, returned from UK with boat goodies for me for which I thank them very much. It is very difficult to get spares into India without paying huge bribes unless you carry them yourself. After a couple of weeks Chris returned to Cochin with all his certificates. Following many discussions he decided to leave Reckless for a while and couldn't think of anywhere to go other than UK where he is now. I decided I really didn't want to spend another SW monsoon in India, despite being in discussions about a job helping to run a boat yard. However my insurers, my Panaji doctor and family would not be happy if I sailed alone. I was in a bar in Fort Cochin talking to a group about this but they were on a short holiday. When they left a guy came over and said he'd overheard, not done much sailing but would be interested in crewing if I'd have him. I invited him to come over and see Reckless and we could discuss it. It turned out that I got on very well with John and we decided that he would sail. The next day he phoned me and said he'd met another guy who may be interested too so we agreed to meet again. After that we agreed that Malcolm will sail too. What luck to get a crew so easily even if they're not experienced. Departure date agreed and we checked out of India. The next day, preparing to leave I turned on the instruments to discover we had no autopilot, log, depth, wind etc. So the day day was spent stripping the system, emailing Raymarine suppliers around the world and feeling very red-faced. I eventually discovered a work-around and emailed Raymarine to check I wasn't doing any harm. So we left the following dawn (18th March) and met Queen Mary II at the harbour entrance. With many fishing boats and the occasional squall I decided to show the crew the Radar. Also not working. 3 days later we arrived in Galle, Sri Lanka and I was happy that the crew had learnt enough and they were happy to continue with Reckless. They went off travelling the country while I pestered Raymarine Sri Lanka about the radar. I have to say I was very disappointed with them. They charged me a lot of money not to sort out the problem but I really had to make a decision. It was now mid April, cyclones had started in the Bay of Begal and the weather will get worse, visa expiring and had enough of Galle anyway. I felt it would not be a good place to spend the monsoon. So on 18th April we sailed. We caught the tail end of one cyclone (which had gone far north by now) and had three good days' sail. Then the wind died. Reckless was painfully slow, using a lot of fuel when we motored and it took 13 days to cross to Phuket. The hignlight of the crossing was seeing two blue whales almost alongside the boat. What enormous, magnificent creatures these are. There was one vicious squall, thankfully I was on watch but with all sail up (oops). I managed to throw the crew out of their bunks before getting the sails down. After that the mainsail came down at night. In the Andaman Sea, after passing Nicobar Islands, we had the most strange phenomena. What appeared to be overfalls would approach from astern, overtake us and disappear. I've never seen anything like it before. We arrived in Ao Chalong on 1st May, launched the dingy and cleared in which was an absolute delight after the beaurocracy in India and Sri Lanka. So my crew left and I'd like to say they were a pleasure to sail with and I hope they feel they've enjoyed the passage and learnt something useful too. Now my attention is all for Reckless and the TLC she desperately needs. I do a deal with Royal Phuket Marina and sail at dawn on 11th May to get my lift at 1000. So we are now shored-up, antifouling stripped again (Jotun does NOT work in the tropics boat owners). Deck is being re-caulked, new sprayhood and cockpit tent being made, new cockpit cushions being made; the list goes on. But I'm having a holiday. I go to Bangkok on Friday and when I get back Alison and Mark (sister and hubby) are visiting which I'm so looking forward to. I do enjoy hearing all your news and hope you all have fair winds and the best of health. Tim Moore SY "Reckless of Hamble" Phuket, Thailand www.oceanyachting.co.uk

Ok, here we go part two.....

After our mini jaunt around the north we arrived back in Goa to grey skies,
rain, and the tail end of the monsoon. Chris was preparing to fly back to
the UK and we were trying to get some of our monsoon jobs completed as we
wouldn't have long after we returned from the UK in October, we were
scheduled to leave the berth on the 15th October. Chris caught his flight
to Heathrow as scheduled and had a warm reception back with the Brown
family, spending some time with his folks before they flew off on holiday
the middle of the following week. The plan was that Chris came back early
to spend some time with his parents before they went on holiday, and then
would collect Tim from the airport and drive down to Southampton for the
boatshow, before going to London and Derby, then back to Luton for the
wedding of Peter and Melissa.

0730 on Thursday morning, the day before Tim is due back the phone is
ringing in the Brown household. A sleepy Chris picks up the receiver It's
Eva, one of our friends from the pontoon in Goa. Tim is in ICU, he slipped
on the companionway steps on Reckless and has hurt himself quite badly.
Early indications are that he has broken at least 3 ribs and punctured and
collapsed his left lung. He won't be going anywhere anytime soon. You can
imagine how Chris felt
thousands of miles away. To cut a long story short after a couple of days
Tim was moved into a private room, he had 4 fractures to 3 ribs, his lung
had reinflated, he was fitted with a chest drain, and a CAT scan revealed he
also had a fracture on a lumbar vertebrae. After 10 days in hospital he was
discharged and moved into a local hotel. His parents were on their way out
to take care of him. He was told to take complete bed rest and was required
to go back to the hospital for regular x-rays and check-ups. After one of
the routine x-rays some fluid was noticed in the pleural cavity and wasn't
going away so Tim was back in ICU overnight after having the chest drain
re-fitted. While all this was happening Tim's visa had expired so there was
an awful lot of activity in the UK and Goa to get him a visa extension as he
was unfit to travel for some time. Thanks to all our good friends in Goa
and bugger all help from the British consulate a formal extension
application was filed with immigration and under review.

Meanwhile back in the UK, Chris is having a pretty stressful time. All
plans are on hold as he waits for news and tries to do all he can from his
parents house, trying to sort his own visa out, and prepare for the wedding.
The wedding day arrives and is a fantastic day. Everything goes to plan,
the bride and groom look a million dollars, and Chris manages to complete
his reading in the church without fumbling his lines or tripping up on the
way to the
pulpit. Everyone was devastated to hear of Tim's accident and many words of
best wishes were sent his way that day. I bet his ears were burning!

So on the 10th October Chris arrives back in Goa via Columbo. Straight to
the hospital to find Tim propped up in bed in his lumbar support and the
drain is still in as there is still a little fluid left the tube cant quite
reach. The nurses are constantly repositioning the tube which is extremely
uncomfortable and Tim is on a cocktail of painkillers that he says made
watching the endless re-runs of National Geographic quite bearable. After
his second 10 day stay in hospital the doctor finally gives the all clear to
remove the tube and Tim is discharged. We join John and Christine at their
hotel where they have very kindly booked us in for a week for Tim to rest.
The doctor has seriously advised Tim to stop smoking and Tim tries really
hard to go cold turkey before caving in on the 18th day, and he has since
cut down considerably. After a week of 5star luxury we move down the road
to a smaller hotel where we stayed 10 years ago on our first trip to India.
During our hotel stays 2 CID departments take statements from Tim to assess
the validity of his visa application. The deadline to move from the pontoon
has passed and the captain if ports (COP) wants us to move Reckless. After
a lot of discussion Soniya and Lo persuade the COP to let us stay on health
grounds. Tim is still in pain with his ribs and he is weakened through so
much bed
rest. Thankfully his back has given him no problems whatsoever. We move
back onboard for a few days and try to start to get Reckless ready to sail.
The powers that be decide that Tim's visa extension is valid and we trot off
to the immigration department to sort out the paperwork. Tim is shocked
when his expired visa is cancelled, but he is then issued with temporary
residency. We now have to get out of the country and get him a new visa so
we book flights for Colombo in Sri Lanka where we are told we can get a new
visa within 5 working days. After a tense time in immigration at Goa
airport, where it looked like Tim may not be allowed to leave the country,
we fly to Colombo early monday morning and dash straight to the visa agency
to log Tim's application. Unfortunately due to the Diwali holidays we are
told the visa wont be ready until the following Monday morning, that could
be a problem, we have flights booked for friday morning. We decide to catch
the train down to Galle to visit Jerry and Caz on Mandarina for a few days
before returning to Colombo to chase up the visa. We spent a very pleasant
couple of days in Unawatuna just outside Galle, catching the sun, eating the
best lobster we've ever tasted and chewing the fat with our good friends.
On arrival back in Colombo the gate staff at the indian embassy wont even
entertain the fact that Tim's visa might be ready early, "it says monday on
the ticket so it will be ready on monday" So, now we have to cross town to
the offices of Sri Lankan airlines to change our flights. In the twin
towers of the world trade centre (a strange feeling being there in a country
in the midst of civil war) we are told that the next available flight is the
following saturday, we've no option but to stay another week. What a shame
I hear you all cry. Indeed. Sri Lanka is a beautiful country, with very
friendly people. Like India in some ways but so much more civilised and
developed. Far fewer public bodily functions!

After a week in Ngombo, a beach resort north of Colombo, where we took long
walks along the beach, swam, and soaked up the sun we were back in Panjim
and getting the boat fit to sail. We have been given final notice and we
must leave the pontoon by the 17th November. We did as much as possible to
provision, service the engine, check everything over and clean inside and
out but without the water supply and then the electricity it was not easy.
We did what we could before moving to the anchorage in Verem bay where we
moored on our arrival in Goa in April.

I'm sure you'll all be pleased to know that Tim has almost made a full
recovery. He still lacks a little of the strength he had but it's getting
better all the time. We're currently in Cochin, Kerala in south India and
the next installment will fill you in on our eventful journey down here.....

Love and lumbar supports

Tim & Chris
xx

ps We're having trouble with the new windows live mail system. There are so
many recipients on our mails they are being flagged up as spam and blocked!
We've tried splitting the list but that's not working. We're gonna have to
be ruthless and chop some names off so if you don't receive any more updated
after this one that could be why. We post all the mails on our blog at
www.oceanyachting.co.uk so you can still read them there. Sorry about that
but it's the nanny state of internet security.

Ahoy there.

Last you heard from us we were high up a mountainside in the Himalaya. We
left Dharamsala, (too many stoned travellers comparing healing crystals and
auras) and hired a car and driver for the 6 or so hour drive to Amritsar in
the Punjab. The Punjab valley is the breadbasket of india and extremely
green and fertile. Amritsar was hot, noisy, and very dusty and once we
found our hotel we crashed out in the cool of the bar. The next day we took
a rickshaw to the golden temple. We fought our way through the crowds to
what appeared to be a grey stone building. "Where is it?" Chris asked
somewhat downcast, not a glimmer of gold in sight. We deposited our shoes
and got our head coverings and splashed through the disinfectant troughs and
up a set of steps, following the flow of people. At the top of the steps we
passed through a courtyard and down another set of steps. The scent of
incense was wafting through the air as the sounds of chanting, sitar and
tabla soothed the ears. Then you saw it.....Shimmering in the sun and heat
was a vast golden temple set amid a lake gently rippling and distorting the
image reflected in it. The most holy place for Sikhs. Chris let out an
audible gasp as a shiver went up his spine and tears sprung to his eyes. It
was the most beautiful and moving sight he'd ever seen. We spent the
morning at the temple just walking around, soaking up the atmosphere. That
afternoon our car took us to Attari on the border with Pakistan to watch the
border closing ceremony at sundown. Each side of the border are grand
stadia filled to capacity with cheering flagwaving Pakistanis and Indians on
their respective sides. The army strut back and forth looking like
something from the ministry of silly walks as they scowl and glare at their
opposite on the other side of the gates. The crowd are being egged on by
the comperes on either side chanting "Hindustan", "Pakistan" each crowd
trying to outdo the other in volume and patriotic enthusiasm. Finally as
the last rays of the sun are dwindling the flags are lowered, each side
respectfully making sure one flag is never lower than it's counterpart.
Then everyone just got up and went home.

Next day we flew to Delhi and were met by our next driver to take us to
Agra. Four hours later dusty, sweaty, and weary of dodging cows we arrived
at our hotel. "Where is it?" Chris ever impatiently wanted to know "You
think they'd light it up at night". The hotel respectfully informed us that
as the Taj Mahal is in fact a muslim mausoleum and they don't light up the
dead. That told us! Next morning we breakfasted on the roof terrace with
the Taj in all her splendor as a backdrop. A guided rickshaw took us to the
Agra fort, the "baby Taj", and a viewing site on the other side of the river
to see the Taj from behind (incidentally this site was where the moghul
ruler planned to build a mirror image of the taj mahal in black marble
before his son, worried his pa was spending his inheritance, had him
imprisoned in the fort where he could gaze out over the Taj Mahal built in
memory of his beloved wife) , then the Taj Mahal itself. The Taj Mahal was
breathtaking, but so busy. The bunfight to get a picture at Diana's bench
was shameful.

From Agra we caught a "luxury" bus to Jaipur. We arrived at the bus stand
in good time and Chris went off to buy some fruit for the journey. Laden
down with bananas he returned and stood in line just as a monkey swung down
from the roof of the shelter and swiped the booty from Chris' hand. Tim and
the locals thought it highly amusing that Chris was scared of a 3' tall
primate. The luxury bus had two classes of seat, one chair, the other
sleeper. Chair was an ordinary reclining seat, sleeper was a mattress on
the luggage rack. Thankfully we chose a chair (that refused to recline).
We lurched out of the bus station at the allotted time but then proceeded to
crawl around the suburban slums of Agra touting for business. So many
people all carrying what looked to be their worldly possessions wrapped in a
bedsheet squeezed onto this bus, a sea of faces peered out of the luggage
rack, people were sitting on bundles of hay and fodder in the aisle. After
six hours we finally lurched into Jaipur and were relieved to see the hotel
rickshaw waiting to collect us. Beautiful hotel in a quiet suburb with a
gorgeous rooftop restaurant and a short walk from the city. We decided to
walk into the city the following morning. It was damn hot and we were soon
wandering around the bazaars dodging the filth and squalour desperate for
somewhere cool to sit and sip a cold beer. Hot, tired and grouchy Chris is
stumbling through the dusty streets, all he can think about is some shade
and a cool drink. A little boy, maybe 5 years old appears at his side.
"Hello, hello, rupee mister, hungry mister" as he tugs at the hem of his
shorts. Head down, Chris is cross, hot, tired and determined to find a cool
drink. "Hello, hello, hello please mister, rupee, chapatti". Chris strides
on ignoring the annoying child's pleas. Suddenly the boy is gone. A street
vendor has just dumped a pile of rotting garbage into the street, the
annoying child is now cramming a rotten tomato into his mouth as he fights
off the half a dozen more desperate children. Chris hails the next rickshaw
and flees to the comfort of the hotel. Back at the hotel he cries tears of
shame, shame because he ran back to his comfortable hotel room and didn't
stop and buy the poor kid and his friends a decent lunch.

Next a bus trip to Lake Pushka, another luxury private bus. This time only
4 passengers. Unfortunately the lack of bodies onboard meant we could see
out of the front windscreen and belief me I would've rather shared that bus
with half the population of india and their livestock. Tim had the worst
position, seated just behind the driver, he had a clear view of the road
ahead. At speeds touching 80mph the bus lurched, bumped, swerved and at one
point drove the wrong way down a dual carriageway scattering people, cows,
carts and livestock in it's wake. Lake Pushka is one of the most holy hindu
sites in India, and as such is ultra conservative. Meat, alcohol, drugs,
and even eggs are strictly forbidden. On the road up through the hills to
the lake the bus stopped to pick up a group of pilgrims and our gang of four
multiplied many times over. Soon faces where grinning out of the luggage
rack and the aisles and seats were fit to bursting with happy hindus on
their way to bathe in the holy waters of the lake. Yes, bathe, and boy did
they need to bathe! Our hotel overlooked the bathing ghats and on arrival
our cheerful staff asked us if there was anything else we needed,
Marijuana? beer? Just two beers please which we sinfully supped as we
watched the sunset over the holy lake.

One night was enough for us in Pushkar and we elected to take a train next
to Udaipur. Udaipur is famous for it's fairytale lake palace and for being
the location for James Bond's Octopussy. It had a very relaxed feel about
it, and contrary to the lonely planet and rough guide was not full of
theiving crooks ready to rid you of your rupees. The town was enchanting
and set around a lake with a maharaja's palace as the island centrepiece.
We spent four glorious days just relaxing and recovering from the dirt and
dust that plagued the rest of our Rajastani experience. Our hotel room
balcony had a fine view of the lake, which was unfortunately nearly dry
after four years of failed monsoons. On the 6th September our northern
India experience came to an end as we arrived at Udaipur airport to catch
our 8am flight via Delhi to Goa. As we checked in we were greeted by an
airline employee informing us our flight had been cancelled. We were sat
down in the lounge as they tried to arrange alternative travel arrangements
for us. Basically we had two options, fly tomorrow or drive 4 hours to
Ahmenabad then to Goa via Mumbai, arriving 10pm, or same flight next day.
"Next day please, but of course you will be paying for our transport to and
from the airport and our accomodation won't you?" "One moment sir" She
bustled off, returning at a run within minutes. "Hurry, this way please"
Next thing we know we are through security and running across the tarmac.
Once on board we are finding our seats as the plane is taxiing to the
runway. In Delhi we have 45 minutes until our Goa flight and the ground
crew do a grand job of getting us (and our luggage) onboard and we are soon
back home onboard Reckless..........

Ok, I know I said I'd try to be brief. Watch out for part two.......

Much Love
Chris & Tim

Dear All

Yes we are still alive and well.  Why has it taken us so long to write?....
No excuses.  We have a lot to catch up on but we must start by telling you
we're typing this message sat on the terrace of a guesthouse perched on the
mountainside high above Dharamsala in the foothills of the Himalaya.  Today
the cloud that has shrouded the mountains for the last week has lifted to
reveal a beautifully clear blue sky and the first sun we have seen for
weeks.  More about our travels in a later mail.  What have we been up to?
The simple answer is "not a lot" but by the time I finish this mail I'm sure
you'll disagree.

Shortly after our last mail they finally completed construction of the
walkway linking us to the shore, fresh water supply followed soon after.
Electricity finally arrived July 1st, but only after Soniya got sick of the
pen pushers pontificating (including Chief Minister for Goa, Tourism
Minister, Electric board and Captain of Ports) and got them all together,
banged their heads together and got the right stamps in the right places on
the right pieces of paper.  It turned out that no-one had any objections to
us having power, they were just going through 'the process'. We then settled
into a routine of inactivity and getting the boat monsoon ready
as it was still very hot and humid.  The monsoon arrival was officially
announced on the 7th June so Tim won the sweepstake.  The monsoon arrived
with more of a whimper than a bang as was a bit of an anticlimax in a way.
We'd read accounts of a line of black cloud advancing up the coast from
Kerala bringing strong winds, thunderstorms and a wall of torrential rain.
In reality the showers we'd been experiencing increased in frequency and the
wind changed to the west then south west and that was it!  When we say
showers though they are quite something else!  We soon saw a pattern:  A big
black cloud would loom up over the town, then the wind would come, 10
seconds to go, Verem bay would disappear, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, cloudburst.  You
would literally see the wall of rain advancing up the river and in the 5 to
10 minutes or so that the shower lasted we could collect over 40 litres of
rainwater to top up the water tanks.  We would get several showers a day and
this continued throughout July which was a lot drier than anticipated.  Mid
July rainfall was more than 40% below the seasonal norm and the locals were
getting worried.

During the "dry" spell Chris went on a karmic road trip with Soniya and
Shammi to Mangalore to visit "the goddess".  Driving in India is an
experience to say the least.  Priority on the road follows something akin to
the caste system.  Bottom of the pile, the untouchables, are pedestrians,
then the cyclists, followed by the car, the truck, then the bus, and finally
top of the pile is the holy cow, the bovine Brahmin of the road.  Nearly
eight hours of bouncing through potholes and near mishaps later our weary
trio arrived in Mangalore.  That evening a short drive out of town to a
small village that housed the very modest temple dedicated to kallouti, the
goddess of truth.  Clutching his offerings of flowers and red powder our
budding Hindu with translator Soniya were thrust into the bosom of the
goddess.  Now the "goddess" is actually a man who is believed to be the
current incarnation and oracle of Kallouti.  The goddess showered Chris in
rice and holy water and thrust a coconut in his hand.  Then came a barrage
of words in Konkani, many back slaps (to expel negative energy), chest slaps
(to charge the positive energy), bear hugs (Soniya had never witnessed those
before so was equally confused), and high pitched girlie giggles.  Then
packets of rice, sandalwood, and that red powder in hand he was ejected,
bemused, back into the throng of devotees awaiting their audience.  What did
it all mean?  In brief, on translation, the goddess had told him things that
neither he/she or Soniya could ever have known about his thoughts and
feelings and concerns for the future.  In the days that followed visiting
many other Hindu temples and another audience with the goddess Chris felt a
profound sense of peace (bear with me here I never thought I'd find myself
writing such **** but it's actually true).  However after an equally scary
trip back crammed in the back of the car with a neurotic Swiss woman his new
found positive energy had been sapped, and his cleansed aura was distinctly
tainted.

The last days in Mangalore, the monsoon returned to Goa with heavy rain and
thunderstorms.  Thankfully the return journey was unaffected.  There then
followed a spell of intense rain for days on end which felt like months.
Even with the dehumifier running humidity below decks was in the high 80%
range and mould and mildew was springing up in the most unlikely of places.
Leather goods were the worst affected, pluck a t-shirt from a locker and it
would covered in mould.  Pretty miserable.  After nearly ten days of solid
rain monsoon Sunday dawned and we experienced strong winds and nearly 8" of
rain in a 24hr period.  The river responded accordingly and sent a barrage
of trees, branches, palm fronds and dead, bloated animals upon us to get
tangled up in the pontoon, fenders, and anchor chains.  Clear up was
draining and used muscles unused for a long time!

We then decided to book our trip north and start our travelling. We will
soon (around 5th Sept, maybe) be back in Goa and will then tell of these
last weeks' adventures. We have also booked our trip to UK: Chris arrives
12th Sept and Tim 19th. We could like to visit the Southampton boat show and
need to spend some time in central London renewing our visa so any offers of
accommodation gratefully received ;o).  We come home on 10th Oct to get
ready to sail again (Hurray).

Hope to see as many of those of you in UK as possible. If not, you are
welcome to join us in India or wherever we happen to be.

Good winds and flat seas to those sailing.

Lots of love to all

Tim & Chris
xxx
www.oceanyachting.co.uk
(no new pictures yet, technical hitch)

Hope you are all well and the european yachties are enjoying the start of
another season. It feels strange to get ourselves settled into a secure
berth and laying up the boat when at this time of year we are normally doing
the opposite. Reckless is now on her monsoon berth after 5 weeks at anchor
in the bay, the berth however is by no means finished and we are currently
attached to a floating pontoon closer to the town awaiting electricty,
wifi!, and means of getting ashore, it'll happen but at a rate only the
indians can determine. There is a definite sense of expectation in the air
as we await the arrival of the SW monsoon, it's on it's way due to hit Goa
on May 29th sometime around 3pm. I kid you not, all the locals seem to have
a method to forcast it's arrival based upon the flowering of the cotton
trees, the spotting of a certain type of butterfly and the ripening of their
mangoes. All we know is that the temperature and the humidity are rising
(as I type at 9am it's 34'C and 75% humidity, will probably reach 37 this
afternoon) the wind is also steadily rising and turning more to the west /
south west which does bring some relief from the heat. We not quite sure
what to expect from the monsoon, from what we have read, strong winds will
preceed fantastic lightning storms and then it will rain, and rain, and
rain, sometimes as much as 900mm in 24hrs. Apparently it's not all rain,
sometimes you can have weeks of glorious sunshine, interspersed with sudden,
short, sharp, thunderstorms. The air clears and cools, the countryside
turns green, and the locals PARTY!!!! We're actually quite looking forward
to it, we'll keep you updated on how we cope.

So what have we been up to in the last 5 weeks? I tell you this is going to
be a tough update to write as we have experienced so much. India just has
to be seen to be believed. The sights, the colours, the smells, the tastes,
the culture, the people, the new experiences. It's truly mindblowing. We
got our first taste of the beurocracy as we tried to clear in to the
country. The captain of ports kept us waiting 6 hours before we could get
the right rubber stamp on the piece of paper, which we then needed
photocopied and stamped again to allow us to proceed to immigration, where
again papers where photocopied and stamped in triplicate, before we could
then proceed to customs where again papers were shuffled, stamped, copied
and stamped again. The whole process took two days in which time Ted &
Jacqui, Chris's parents, had arrived and were waiting to meet up with us at
their hotel. After a few days we had to bid a sad farewell to Sandi who had
been with us since Salalah and great company and crew for the 6 weeks she
was aboard. Thanks again Sandi! The next few days we toured Old Goa and
went to a spice farm, and more importantly spent some quality, relaxing
time. 14th April was Jacqui's birthday and also the marked the arrival of
Micheal to stay aboard for the next 3 weeks. After a champagne reception
onboard Reckless we went over to Ted & Jacqui's hotel to chill out by the
pool and enjoy a meal and a very luxurious shower! We hired taxis for days
out to beaches in the north of Goa and the famous flea market at Anjuna
which was a big hit with all. The vendors learn their english from the
people they meet on the beaches as they tout their wares so it was not
unusual to hear phrases like "Cheaper than Primark", "Harrods quality, Asda
price", one of the best was "Come take a look at the cr*p I've got here,
come take a look at the s**t on my stall" We chatted to a few of the
stallholders and one in particular, Sarah, told us the story of her life.
Married at 15 in an arranged marriage she'd never been to school but had
learnt her english from the tourists, she had 2 young children by age 20 and
was heavily pregnant with her third. She worked every market alone, and on
non market days carried a heavy bundle of merchandise up and down the
beaches selling to the tourists. Her husband in contrast didn't work, drank
heavily, and regularly beat her. She wanted to divorce him but if she did
so she would be cast out by her family and the rest of the community, so she
stayed. It was one of many sad stories, it really made us realise just how
fortunate we are and the choices and oppurtunites we have but take for
granted, however what struck us about her was her tremendous spirit and
resolve, and despite what we would classify as a dreadful situation the
smile that shone from her face and the strength and fortitude you could see
in her eyes.

Another truly indian experience came in the form of four legs. Micheal and
Ted had both agreed that while in India one has to ride on an elephant! So
after some calling around we located a suitable mount and mahout. Tim and
I joined in too for the experience which was an enjoyable if slightly
uncomfortable experience. For the first ten days we were alone in the
anchorage as the rest of the rally went to Mumbai en route to Goa. On the
17th April however they all arrived en masse into the anchorage. The
following day there was a presentation and prize giving at a local venue.
It was nice to meet up with everyone again and the local yachting agencies
laid on a fantastic spread for lunch. On the way to the presentation we
took a detour through the town food market and Ted and Jacqui experienced
what we have labelled ARSE. Acute Retail Sensory Experience. Whilst we were
thoroughly impressed with the choice and standard of the fresh fish, fruit
and veg, gasps of shock and surprise where heard from Ted & Jacqui, and
whispers of "oh god, there's a live goat overthere", "Jacqui did you see
that? that chicken's still alive" Ted's face was a picture as we came out
the exit, and was, for once, totally lost for words. "Not quite Waitrose is
it?" we remarked.

All in all we think Ted & Jacqui enjoyed their Goan experience and it was
with a heavy heart we waved them on their way home at the end of their stay.
Micheal still had another two weeks and was keen to head for the jungle so
we booked a two night stay away at a mountain "ecotel" called the
wildernest. Set in the mountains on the borders of Goa, Maharastra, and
Karnataka in tropical forest at the head of sweeping valley the wildernest
was an enviromentally friendly retreat comprising individual huts set in the
forest around a central open air bar, restaurant, and pool. The pool was to
die for, set on the edge of a ledge at the head of the valley, fed by
mountain stream water which cascaded down a waterfall into the pool which
then overflowed the lip of the pool and disappeared into the valley below.
The resort organised regular treks into the surrounding forests and peaks
with experienced guides. We were well fed with all meals, including high
tea, provided. Unfortunately Chris picked up a nasty stomach bug the
morning we departed for the retreat and after enduring bumpy bus and jeep
rides, spent the 3 days doubled up with agonising stomach cramps, a high
temperature and never crawled far from a wc.

For the remainder of Micheal's stay we had a trip on a river boat up the
Mandovi river to Old Goa, went back to Anjuna market several times, spent
days on the beach, and spent time exploring the old portugese quarter of
Panjim which is absolutely delightful. More sad farewells as we waved
goodbye to Micheal at 5am on the 3rd May. Since that time we've taken a bit
of a breather and are trying to get the boat back in shape. We've also been
involved with the positioning and anchoring of the pontoons and have become
firm friends with Soniya and Shammi who run a travel agency here and have
worked tirelessly to get the permissions for the berthing and to get the
pontoons organised. I'm sure they'll feature heavily in our indian monsoon
experience!

So what are our future plans? Well we plan to be in Panjim for the onset of
the monsoon to ensure the boat is safe and secure. Chris is toying with the
idea of an ayurvedic or yoga retreat (ayurvedic medicine is the ancient
indian "science of life") to detox, destress, whatever. We are planning on
travelling to the north of india for a month or so, visiting, rajastan,
punjab, kashmir, himalaya, taj mahal, and the holy heartlands of varanasi,
amritsar, dharamsala, and gangotri glacier (source of the holy ganges). We
are also planning a trip back to the UK late September, early october for
the wedding of Chris's brother Peter, and Melissa.

Well I think we'll leave it there. So much has happened we've only
scratched the surface but don't want to bore you with too much detail.