Month: June 2019

24 June 2019 – Taking care of our Boat

Another week of the rainy season has gone by, and we’ve still managed to stay slightly busy. About six months ago, while in Thailand, we noticed that our 20 year old Lazy Boy Love Seat recliner was getting worn – very worn. In time, we came to notice there were actually holes in the “leather”, mostly on my side Diane said, and action was needed. 

The question was – should we repair or replace? By the time we got to India, we had decided that we wanted to repair, to reupholster this sofa. It was still very functional and did fit perfectly into the space. After all, I did build the cabinetry around it. The challenge then was to find out where to take it. Upon a recommendation from our friend Varghese, we took the sofa to Peter at C.C. Creations, where his team did a complete reupholster in about 10 days time. They used a heavy grade of green dyed leather and we are very, very pleased with the outcome. The cost, by the way, was a little less than $500 CDN, probably a quarter the price of a new model (if we could have found one). After bringing it back to the boat, I sprayed some Corrosion X on the working mechanism and springs and then we bolted it back to the cabin sole. 

I’ve also been working on a modification to my home-grown hookah system, something that I developed when we were in Malaysia last year. Peter on SV Kokomo was throwing out a steel air pressure reservoir. I gratefully accepted this gift, had a welder put on a few fittings, bought a few more air pressure fittings – and had Nazar paint it up for me. The result is a small air reservoir to complement my hookah, and give me more air to breath when I’m a little deeper, at the bottom of the keel. I haven’t tried it in the water yet, but it does hold air – a lot of air. 

We took a step to make our drinking water even better. We have two aluminum water tanks, one for water-maker water and one for “other” water; which means de-chlorinated water from the dock, slightly filtered rainwater and/or recently distilled water from our new air conditioner. Our drinking water NEVER tastes like aluminum because our expensive SeaGull filter (.4 micron) does a very good job of cleaning it. We realized that our rainwater might have been a source of algae, so we had our water tested and both the tank water and the water from our SeaGull water filter turned out to be perfectly fine. None the less, we decided to chlorinate the tank overnight (the first time we did this), clean the tank and add new water. The reason we thought this was necessary was mostly because our expensive ($200 per filter) SeaGull filter only lasted 6 weeks instead of 12 months! In addition, we installed a new 5 micron filter for the rainwater, replacing the curtain shear material we had been using for more than 10 years. Lastly, we added a new filter housing and a new 5 micron filter specifically to protect that SeaGull water filter. I had read online that somebody did this, to prevent the SeaGull from getting gummed up too soon. 

When we went to the market on Friday, I saw something that struck me as unusual – a man carrying an umbrella hooked into the collar of his shirt. When I saw him, I realized that I had already seen many men carrying their umbrella this way, so I had to get a photo. There are different styles here in India!

16 June 2019 – Visit to the Kerala Kathakali Centre

We took a rare evening out to visit the Kerala (State of) Kathakali Centre on Fort Kochi Island. During a few hours, we saw two different cultural things at this Centre, first was a demonstration of the ancient martial arts of Kerala, Kalarippayatu. Kalaripayattu (sometimes thankfully shortened as Kalari) is an Indian martial art and fighting system that originated in Kerala and was practiced by warriors of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It is considered by some to be the oldest martial art still in existence, with its origin dating back to the 3rd century BC. 

Where are the strings, one wonders?

This guy was spinning around with this very dangerous flexible blade sword. 

These two guys were attacking one unarmed man – and they had knives! 

Diane went down into their gym and got up close with them.

Our “main man” at the marina, our tuk-tuk driver and problem-solver —- Nazar —- is a Master of Kalari, having trained extensively in his younger days. This form of martial arts is not only ancient but its still quite popular. 

The next thing we were introduced to was Kathakali, showcasing the ancient ritual plays of Hindu temples and various dance forms that are believed to have been gradually developed in Kerala from as early as the 2nd Century until the end of the 16th Century. Many of its characteristics are very much older than its literature, as they are a continuation of older traditions, but these did not crystallize until the 17th Century when the Rajah of Kottarakkara, a small principality in central Travancore, wrote plays based on the Hindu epic “Ramayana” in sanskritized Malayam (the local language), which could be understood by ordinary people. Before this, the stories were enacted in pure Sanskrit, which was known only to the well educated.

From that point onwards, Kathakali emerged as an individual style of dance-drama into a “people’s theatre”. The plays were performed by the Rajah’s own company of actors, not only in temples and courts, but from village to village and house to house – and became very popular. The feudal chieftains of Malabar (as the area was then called) began to vie with one another in their efforts to produce the best Kathakali troupes and this competition contributed to the rapid development of the art in a very short period. After watching it, my own assessment is that it seems to be a combination of theatre, ballet, opera (but there are very few words spoken) and maybe a bit of pantomime.

Before the performance started, we observed the two principal actors applying their makeup. It looked like a tedious process, particularly when you have to put on your own makeup. 

We went to this theatre with Varghese, who was obviously hyped up to see the performance. It was very dark in the theatre and the use of flash photography was discouraged. Varghese joked that he had to smile showcasing his bright white teeth so that we could see him!

This is a good photo that shows what Kathakali looks like “in action”. There are two principal actors in this performance, with a drummer and a “singer” or “story-teller” in the background. None of this is in English, by the way.

You can get an idea of what’s happening in the story by watching the facial expressions of the actors. They don’t do much talking anyway. 

On the ride home, I was hungry for some street food, particularly fried banana – which I’ve learned is usually available in a bakery. I soon realized that like Tandoori chicken (which is only available in the evening), fried banana is only available in the afternoon and not the evening. In the end we had to settle for some vegetable samosas and chocolate treats, which I usually enjoy. 

This photo is something completely off topic, but I’ve been meaning to talk about it. Lots of women ride side-saddle on scooters and motorbikes, not as the driver – but as the passenger. Sometimes there is only one female passenger, sometimes the whole family. My point is, that there are lots of side-saddle passenger riders and I find it unusual. There are also lots of women driving scooters and motorbikes. 

There was a story in the newspaper a few weeks ago about a woman who had a bad accident because her sarong became entwined with the rear wheel, something to be careful of. 

10 June 2019 – The SW Monsoon is here

The total length of the Indian coast line is approximately 7500 km, and with many inland rivers and lakes as well. You might think there are plenty of opportunities for recreational water sports, but this is not true, at least not from what we’ve seen. The use of the water ways seems to be mostly dominated by the tourist industry and not by the locals (except for fishing and industry of course). In fact, India does not have many marinas or all weather anchorages either. The International Marina in Kochi (where we are staying) is the Headquarters of the Kerala Watersport & Sailing Organization (KWSO). This Organization was founded 10 years ago and teaches locals how to handle a small powerboat or sailboat. Since inception, over 200 people have received a certificate to operate a powerboat and another 300 to operate a sailboat. A few days ago, another powerboat course was successfully completed and the participants (all local) received their certificates. Many officials came to the ceremony and promised their future support for the organization. We were very fortunate in that all cruisers in the marina were invited to attend, witness the ceremony and meet many of the students and staff. (Photos and some of the text – courtesy of Peter on SV Kokomo). We talked with one young man who was excited because he’s going to Halifax Nova Scotia in a few months to enrol in College level merchant marine courses. Amongst the dignitaries was a retired Chief Court Justice (who took the course this year) and a retired Navy Commando turned movie producer.

Since installing our second portable A/C unit in the boat, we’ve noticed that they are both sucking a lot of air. If the hatches are all closed, this air has to come from somewhere. One such entrance is the air intake to the engine room. In order to prevent the unauthorized entry of mosquitoes, we covered this intake with fine curtain sheer material (a mosquito net of sorts). This is what it looks like after a couple of weeks. I suppose this is an indicator of the air quality, although you wouldn’t know it, from day to day. 

Another Ramadan has come to a close. Nazar paid us a visit at the marina and he was all spiffed up and was even sporting a fancy ring on one of this fingers!

When we were out and about one day, I saw 5 Muslim boys waking together on their way to school. For fun, I called out MOHAMMED – and naturally all 5 of them turned around. Maybe they were all named Mohammed?

Today we walked and took the ferry over to the “mainland”. Its an alternative to taking an Uber or tuk-tuk. This is what the ferry dock, and ferry looks like.

Sadly, there is nothing unusual about the amount of garbage or debris, this is India. The ferry was on time, and dirt cheap, 10 rupees (about 20 CDN cents per person, each way). I even got to drive the ferry.

Along the way, we always talk with many people on the street. They are curious to know where we come from, why we’re in India, when we will leave. Many of them want to take selfies with us. This is a Hindu family, or least part of one. 

It started to pour down rain, after all, this is the rainy season. The forecast for the next week, or next 30 days – is rain, cloud, wind – repeat. The daytime temperature has dropped from 36C to only 28C. I feel like putting on a sweater.

This is obviously a very new bus, it has windows or at least shutters!

This was our destination, the Airtel shop – our mobile phone network service provider. Our phone plans were expiring today.

We recharged our phones with exactly the same plan as when we arrived. We each have our own unblocked iPhone 6 and we use Airtel SIM cards on pay-as-you go plans. Each phone network service cost 484 rupees for 84 days service, including daily 1.5GB data, unlimited national calls (in India) and 100 SMS per day. That works out to about $ 3.23 CDN per month, per phone. Its hard to beat these kind of prices! In Canada, it would be 20X as much.

While standing outside, waiting for the shop to open at 10am, I noticed some sparks from the wires above our heads. Then I looked up. All throughout SE Asia, I have noticed the rapid proliferation and untidy, confusion of telecommunication wires. However, this was the first time I’d noticed this similar treatment with electrical utility wires. The transmission lines are actually wrapped (yes, just wire wrapped) with cables feeding down to street-level consumers. Do these lines then feed into meters? I doubt it. 

Does this impact on the reliability of the electrical grid? You bet. In the marina, the power goes out (Monday to Friday) 5 or 6 times per day. Thankfully, the resort has a huge generator which comes on a few seconds later. On weekends the power is much more reliable. 

I didn’t take this photo, but it is very representative of traffic here in India. I don’t think either of us will be driving in this country.