RAJEN SHAH
Sailor and Outdoor adventures
Golden Cat cruise from Surat-Kochi
I, Rajen Shah (skipper), Anand Vaidya, Rahul Sheth and Ajit Pathak departed from Vasi-Borsi, Purna River, Magdalla group of minor harbour, Surat on 14th Feb 2014 in the afternoon on a Indian made wooden sailing catamaran Golden Cat (GC) 10.4 meter.
This time we had decided to anchor before sunset so that we could enjoy sunset with a glass of wine. We would than have dinner and sleep till 4 or 5 in the morning before departing, so that we could avoid stressful night sailing.
Rajen, Anand, Ajit and Rahul on GC.
We reached a beautiful Dandi Harbour on 20th Feb which is south of Malvan port separated by a thin sand bar, east of walled Kurte Island (Sakhar Bav), north of Goa and Vengurla, which was known for clear water and diving spot (see Google map). On the way we stopped and had party at Tithal near Valsad , Danda creek near Satpati, Port Dabhol, Ambolgadh Bay near Vijaydurg and a creek near Mumbri point outside Devgarh Harbour. We played keyboard and were singing old Hindi songs as all of us enjoyed singing. Rahul and Ajit were helping us cooking while Anand and I were navigating and trimming sails. I do not like to sail with Tandels unlike most Indian sailing yachts as I do not like the class difference on board – everybody must be equal in status and do all kind of work to maintain dignity of labor. Secondly, Golden cat is a small 34 feet yacht which can get crowded if there are more than 4 sailors.
Rajendra Sinh, Rajen and Anand with a fresh catch of needle fish
The entry to Dandi Harbour south of Malvan is treacherous with a number of rocks. I had to get my RYA yachtmaster training sharpened. I used radar, paper charts, bearings, depth sounder and Navionics to enter the port. It would be too dangerous to use GPS alone, because a few meters error can result in a ship wreck. We reached the shore and called the snorkeling and scuba company. They asked us to move near the fort. We went snorkeling but this was chicken’s play as we were qualified divers and had dived at Lakshadweep-one of the most beautiful site for diving. We were encountered by a port security boat by two policemen and two police women. One policeman was laughing as if he knew us for years. He reminded that he had met us two years ago at Devgarh Harbor. He told us that he knew that there cannot be anybody else but us when he received a call from locals. After checking our papers he took Rahul – fluent in Marathi for shopping on his two wheeler. Rahul got some ration, beers and water. He also invited him to have tea at his residence. In the evening all three crew members went shopping in the market again, while I stayed on the boat. We got tap water, petrol and lots of beer cans. In the evening an Englishman came close on his kayak. I invited him for a coffee and instantly we became good friends. He had cycled from Europe to India and had pedaled in his kayak from Mumbai to Goa. He was living in Kalvan for six month every year with his French girlfriend and his pastime was fishing. In the evening we invited him for dinner. The next day he arranged a full day fishing trip around Vengurla rocks in a local boat. He would fish as he was an expert angler while we watched him. We got down on one of the rock and trekked to the top. There he jumped in the sea from an over hanging rock from 3 to 4 storey height while Anand and I followed him. We had passed these rocks twice before but would not dare get close to them out of fear of ship wreck but with local knowledge we roamed around close to these rocks. We thought that this guy is going to charge fancy fee and rip us off, but to our surprise and disbelief he did not take any money though we insisted to take at least the cost price. He also dropped Rahul at a bus stop 30 km from Malvan as he wanted to take a bus to go back to Mumbai as his work leave was getting over. We again invited him for dinner and we chatted till 2 in the morning talking about our adventures. This time I invited him to sail with us to Goa or to Lakshadweep. He accepted our invitation. He promised that he would keep our fridge full of fish while his French girlfriend will cook in exchange for the trip. It was a great deal.
Next morning on 22nd Feb we left for Goa. In the evening we stopped at Morjin beach in north Goa where we had food in a restaurant for the first time in the last 8 days. The beach was full of young Russian women in bikinis. On 23rd we stopped at our favorite Agonda beach in south Goa to drop Ajit and to pick up Rajender Sinh Jadeja who had flown from Amdavad to join us and to replace Ajit and Rahul who had to go home. We spent two fabulous nights at Agonda, where we had superb food at Arabian Night restaurant. We made new friends from France, Netherlands and UK. Rajendersinh and Anand bought ration and potable water, while I chilled out the whole day drinking beer in a nice beach side restaurant. We again had a party at night and all our new friends wished us good buy. They were all very helpful in pushing our dinghy whenever we came ashore and went back to the yacht. Every time we would get wet when we came ashore and went back to GC in the breaking onshore waves. We would carry a pair of dry clothes in a dry bag which we would change on reaching shore and wear wet clothes when going back to GC.Once we also capsized but we were safe as Anand pulled the lanyard to stop the OBM of Zodiac RIB immediately.
Deev from Netherlands , Rajendra sinh and Anand
A traditional tourist boat passing by at the marina.
A group of local fishermen in unusual looking round boats.
Rajen, Dhiren and Anand underwater.
Early morning on 25th Feb we left for Netrani (Pigeon) Island and reached there in the afternoon where our scuba instructor Dhirendra Rawat was waiting for us with all gears. We had two dives on that day and one next day. He shot a spectacular film of a very long Moray Eel.
Moray Eel at Netrani. Netrani (Pigeon) Island
Dhiren joined us as forth crew, who wanted to discover newer places for diving. First we stopped at 5 meter under water rock 4 nm from shore near Nancowry rock. Next morning we skin dived but the visibility was not more than 3 meters. Here we lost a handheld depth sounder therefore Anand and Dhiren dived half a dozen of times to recover without any luck. On 26th we reached Coconut Island (google to see fabulous formations) which is one of St. Marry’s Islands near Malpe. We anchored and rushed ashore to see the Basaltic Lava rock formation without making sure that the anchor was holding well because it was getting dark. On top of the rocks we saw that the anchor was dragging and GC had already moved half a mile with the tide away from the island. We rushed to the dinghy and motor full throttle. We brought GC back to the same location but this time we let more anchor rod out and also set another Danforth anchor at 60 degree angle.
Rajendra Sinh, Rajen and Anand at Coconut Island with GC in back drop.
Next morning we sailed to Mulki rocks (google to see pictures) and found anchoring place very close in 7 meter depth. We snorkeled and were amazed to see the fish life in abundance..
We had discovered a new diving location. Rajendersinh climbed the rocks and injured his knee badly with sharp growth on rocks. Anand being a doctor administered first aid. We returned to shore to drop Dhiren as his mission was over and he must return to attend his business. Everyday 15 to 20 knot sea breeze would pick up in the afternoon which would last till about 9 in the evening. We would anchor as soon as wind start reducing and rest till morning. We passed Kotte Kunnu, a beautiful coast line with a town on the slope of a hillock. The wind freshened on broad reach and we touched a maximum speed of 12 knots. We than stopped at Sacrifice Rock, but could not find an anchoring location. The chart was not in detail therefore I did not venture to go too close.
Columnar Basaltic Lava Rock Sea urchins and sea cucumbers
web at Coconut Island at Mulki Rocks
Sacrifice Rocks made of white granite
Before Kochi, we were stopped by a coastal security boat as local fisherman reported our position when we were anchored for the night near the coast. They asked us to follow inside the back waters of Azhikod to the main marine police station.
We moored at their jetty where we were asked to go to the office. We were questioned and our papers were checked. Everybody was courteous and offered us tea. We were lucky to see the back waters unplanned and without permission.
At Kochi, we talked to the port office on radio to get permission to enter. We were met by security and than by a boat of port officer. He said that we will have to wait at Malbar till next morning as all offices were close on Sunday. On request he allowed us to moore at the marina, where we could take bath and eat at the Bogotty Island Resort restaurant.
Anand, Rajen and Rajendra Sinh at Kochi marina celebrated end of our trip.
On Monday we took an auto-rickshaw to go to port office. The officers were friendly and we finished paper work very smoothly. Than we went to customs where the paper work was lengthy but we were done by 3 pm. From the customs office, my Kochi office manager Alphi took us for a short site seeing.
On 4th Feb we flew back to Surat as we had planned to return on 23rd again to go to Kalpeni and Kavaratti Islands of Lakshadweep.
A festival at a temple, where 14 elephants were elaborately decorated.
Back water of Kerala.
