Yala National Park - Look what we (caution: bad pun ahead) spotted!

 

Yala National Park borders the Indian Ocean

We took our first road trip in Sri Lanka, even if it was only for two days. What's been stopping us? First, we needed to be allowed out of the port. Check. Second, we had to figure out how to leave the boat safely.

Sea Eagle

 

This second requirement turned out to be mostly a mental barrier borne of past chafed lines, popped fenders, and a marred hull paint job. At times big surges would come into the harbor and toss the boat around. But the forecast predicted calm water and a friend on another boat here generously agreed to keep an eye on our boat. So we felt comfortable enough to leave Perry for a couple days and one night to take a trip to Yala National Park.

 

Water buffalo

Yala is one of the top attractions in Sri Lanka for good reasons. It's a bit smaller than 400 square miles and is filled with wildlife, including one of the highest densities of wild leopards in the world.

 

Asian elephant enjoying water lilies

 

Yala is one of the best places to have the chance to see a leopard in the wild, but you still have to be pretty lucky to spot one. You can tell that finding leopards is the main focus for the drivers/guides. They all keep in touch with each other on their phones and when there is a sighting, it's a mad dash, with tires screeching and dirt flying.

There were a dozen-plus jeeps at our leopard sightings but on the weekends there can be a few hundred jeeps in the park

 

We did an afternoon safari on our first visit and a morning safari the next day. In the chaotic zooming around at the news of our first leopard, our driver went too fast over a big bump. Conrad and I both flew up and hit our heads on the roof of the jeep (I managed to get 3 pretty good sized knots in various spots on my head). The next day, one of the guides/trackers from another jeep said that people have actually cracked their skulls in the past and suggested that we should tell our driver not to speed (because there is a speed limit in the park).

Spoiler alert: We saw a leopard.

We felt bad that the leopard was seemingly chased non-stop by the the jeeps, but he seemed completely unfazed by the hullabaloo. I'm not sure if that's because the dozen or so vehicles were actually a much smaller number than usual or because he is just used to it. The apparent harassment is a double-edged sword because the tours and visitor dollars (the entrance fee on the website is literally in U.S. dollars) help ensure that the park will continue to provide protection to the animals. But maybe one of these days a leopard will go all Sean Penn on its 'paparazzi'. If so, there will be someone there with a camera to record it.
 

We were lucky enough to see a leopard on both our safaris. Our driver said it had been a week since he had seen one, so he was excited too (we think it was the same leopard both days because it was in the same general area). 

On the second safari (which came with an unpopular 5 a.m. pick-up), a leopard was spotted sleeping in a tree. Promising something more interesting than just a hanging tail and some half-obscured fur, our guide suggested to wait. We waited about an hour for the leopard to come down out of the tree (did you know that teenage boys can be impatient about waiting around doing nothing? and in this case, their mom too...). Finally, the gamble paid off as it got warmer and the sun started to creep onto the leopard. He got up to get a drink from the grimy-looking pond nearby, before strolling off into the underbrush.

 

We were glad that we waited, but who knows what else we missed. At least my headache from literally hitting the roof is mostly gone now.

Malabar Pied Hornbills

Kingfisher

Purple Heron

We also spotted this Spotted Deer

Mom and baby

Carpenter bee - about the size of a pecan

Our hotel had its own wildlife. Matt was surprised (he may have shrieked a little) as he was resting on the bed when a tree frog dropped next to him from somewhere. We figured out later that they like to sit in the air-conditioning unit above the bed. After we turned the AC on and the unit started cooling down, they were less happy inside and wandered out. And then--gravity. 

That evening, one fell on my foot while I was sleeping (I definitely shrieked). I'm glad I decided to move my head to the other side of the bed. The kids loved the frogs ('they're so cute') but we all had to be extra careful not to squish them when going to the bathroom in the dark and it is disconcerting to turn on the lights and see five of them staring at you from various places in and around the toilet.

Freedom!

 

The lighthouse at
Galle Fort

After four and a half months of being confined to the Port in Galle, we have been granted shore passes. Although we still don't have visas, we can now leave the port on our own. This means we can finally go shopping on our own and actually see some of Sri Lanka.

Dutch architecture
in Galle Fort

We have been taking full advantage of our new-found freedom. The boys have not even complained about the length of our walks (the first day we walked 6 miles in the pouring rain and 8 miles the second day).

 

Galle Fort, apparently usually bustling, was fairly empty and many of the businesses and eateries were closed because of the lack of tourists. That doesn't mean we were completely unable to find an outlet for our restaurant and ice-cream needs.  Unfortunately, our freedom has come with a literal cost: we managed to spend way more money in our first few days out than when we were trapped in the port with almost nothing to buy.

We are still getting used to being able to buy groceries when we need them, rather than sprinting through the store trying to buy enough for the next three weeks.

In addition to old buildings,
there are some huge mature trees

We also enjoyed some 'fun' time for the first time in months: A nice beach is just around the corner from the port and the boys were able to get in the ocean. Conrad even managed to surf some decent waves. 

These fishermen have challenging
surf to navigate when going out

For now, we plan to stay in Sri Lanka while we're allowed, while we wait for countries to open up along the route back to the U.S. 

We visited the Mahamodara Sea
 Turtle Hatchery Centre

A Shikra (small bird of prey) with
a broken wing that Conrad rescued.

Our friend Ruwan cutting
some King Coconuts for us

Ruwan and family

Waffles, anyone?

When the swell is up, the waves splash
over the rocks and onto this twenty-plus foot hill

'Waffles', because we can't seem to make up our minds about what to do next--stay in Sri Lanka or go to the Seychelles. Of course, waffles are a bit of a sore subject on our boat since I nixed the waffle-maker when we moved aboard and Matt still hasn't quite gotten over it.

Matt put out an anchor to keep us pulled away from
the dock, so we don't bang into the wall when the surge is up

On the one hand, we have been in Sri Lanka for over four months and still don't have visas. We have been out of the port area only a handful of times, always with an entourage and only to get groceries and other essentials. We don't know when or if we will get visas and are going a bit stir crazy. Also, our new paint job has taken a beating and we cringe every time the boat jerks against the dock lines. We could possibly go up to Trincomalee and anchor, but not without visas.

We had a visit from a special guest. Reverend
Mendis lives in Chicago and happened to be in Sri Lanka
 now. Friends of my parents contacted him about us.

The Seychelles (where several of our cruising friends are now) has granted us access to enter their country (and the Maldives would allow us to stop on the way), but we would be fighting wind, current and weather a good chunk of the way. Once there, we would need South Africa and, preferably Madagascar, to open up for us at the right time (basically October). With the virus on the upswing in those countries and their borders closed, the situation is far from settled.

So we go back and forth on what to do, depending on the day and how bad the surge is. In the meantime, we have gotten better at shopping for three weeks at a time. Each of the four of us gets a shopping cart and then Matt gets to use his packing skills to make everything fit 'just so' in the fridge and freezer.

My last few pictures are sort of a metaphor (on some days) for our outlook on the world situation right now: rubbish. Everyone probably feels that way occasionally these days, right? Unfortunately, the downwind location of the harbor makes it the final resting point for tons of garbage that flows in from other places. It's a never-ending battle.

 

Three months in Galle Port (Sri Lanka)

Old deflated volleyball +
plastic bags = 'bowl'. Not
for soup though!

You know it's been boring when the best we can lead off with is a knitted bowl.  Not much has changed here for us in Sri Lanka. From what we can gather from our brief, Navy-escorted forays and reports from those fortunate enough to be able to leave the port, Galle seems to have returned to 'normal'.

A net to keep garbage from collecting
alongside the boat. Otherwise it builds up and
bumps, bumps, bumps, the boat all night long

We got our hopes raised and then dashed when the U.S. Embassy in Sri Lanka told us that they had talked to an Immigration official that said we could go to Colombo (the Capital) to request visas, which might allow us to go outside the port on our own. Unfortunately (frustratingly), the trip to Colombo didn't get organized in time and we supposedly lost our 'window of opportunity'.

There have been some rumblings that Sri Lanka might open up to tourism on August 1 with strict restrictions (including 3 Covid-19 tests and being required to stay in a 5-star hotel). This plan has not been made official and there is no guarantee that we would be given visas.

We are fortunate to be relatively safe in a place that has made good efforts on the Covid-19 front. Things could definitely be worse. 

But they could be better. It is hard to see other tourists being allowed to go about their business and spend much-needed tourism dollars, when we have to go through extraordinary measures just to get groceries. It is now over two and a half weeks since our last outing and our agent has been too busy to take us shopping.

In other minor grumblings, there doesn't seem to be any real garbage disposal here in the port, so we do our best to reduce the amount of waste that we produce. I'm back to crocheting plastic bags into something more useful (see photos above). It also helps keep my insanity at bay.

Let's see, what else? It rains most days, if only briefly. We continue to fight the rubbish in the water (it collects between our boat and the wall and clunks loudly against the boat in the wee hours) and the crows (they drop bits of food and poo on the boat and have managed to bend one of the tabs on our Windex). The cement factory is gearing up for business again. When operating it sounds like the worlds largest commercial clothes drier where someone is trying to dry their shoes.

We have received permission to go to the Seychelles, which is Covid-19 free, and are considering whether or not to go. Unfortunately, the trip to the Seychelles would be a couple weeks and the start would be an ugly bash into wind and waves. Also, the path to South Africa is still blocked for now as both it and Madagascar have closed borders. 

Once in the the Seychelles, there is a pretty small weather window to make it to South Africa (basically the month of October) and if South Africa (and probably Madagascar) doesn't open up by then, we would have to figure out what to do and where to go.  With the virus ramping up in mainland Africa right now, the best plan may just to be to stay put.  

Still in Sri Lanka

The view from our stern

There is not much to report here, which is why I haven't done an update in awhile. As for most of the world, the Covid-19 virus has hit the pause button on life for us. 


Sri Lanka put tough curfew measures into place and has been aggressive in its contact tracing and quarantine measures, with promising results. Although the country has been in curfew (lock down) during most of our visit, things are starting to ease.

Perry next to the wall.
Lots of garbage makes its
way into the harbor.

Unfortunately, we have continued to be confined to the Galle port area (it's coming up on two months now). Thanks to the efforts of a kind-hearted and influential Sri Lankan Navy Commodore, we have at least been briefly allowed out two times. This has enabled us to go grocery shopping and run other errands like taking out money, buying cooking gas, and looking for boat parts. We can only do this with a Navy escort and representatives from our local agency (you have to use an agent while you are in Sri Lanka if you are a cruiser). There is a lot of paperwork and manpower involved in these outings. It's a far cry from our usual excursions pre-virus, which involved a lot of walking with oft-whiny kids.

In the forty days before we were allowed outside, we had to have our groceries delivered to the harbor. I will spare you the sordid details, primarily because we are still here for the foreseeable future. Suffice it to say that in any 'crisis' or time of need, you are fortunate to encounter gems like our friend the Commodore. On the flip-side, there will be those that seek to profit from the hardship of others. 

We highly recommend Seafair Grocery for being a life-saver by delivering much-needed food to us and accepting U.S. dollars (as well as putting up with the port bureaucracy). They also have the best selection that we have seen so far (which admittedly isn't saying much from our limited vantage point).

Recently, we have also been allowed to buy baked goods from the local choon paan man. When we hear 'For Elise' playing, Matt sprints to the gate before the bread tuk-tuk moves on. At only 33 cents per loaf, it sure beats heating the boat up by baking our own bread. It's an oppressive 95 degrees in the boat on many days, without firing up the oven.

It is seeming unlikely that we will be able to buy a replacement for our broken sail batten, so it looks like Matt will need to sacrifice his favorite fishing pole spear. Our computer fan will have to wait until deliveries can be made from Colombo. On the plus side, Matt was able to fix the mounts for our grill, which had rusted through and threatened to plop everything into the deep blue at some inopportune moment. A local 'fabrication' place (read: one drill press and lots of hammers) miraculously (and on the first try!) fashioned some stainless steel clamping mounts for us based on a detailed drawing and much gesticulating by Matt and (with only a couple extra mystery parts being manufactured as a result of the communication barrier).

We continue to wait for countries to open up so that we can escape the impending large swells of the southwest monsoon that have the potential to smash our boat into the adjacent concrete wall with great force. 

The following article, although mostly focused on the Caribbean, does a good job explaining the predicament that we and a lot of fellow cruisers find ourselves in. Peace and light to you all.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/12/long-journey-home-the-stranded-sailboats-in-a-race-to-beat-the-hurricanes

Galle, Sri Lanka

Photo taken by our friend Tycho from
the mast of a neighboring boat

After a relatively fast sail, Perry is in Galle Harbour, Sri Lanka. Before we left Phuket, there were no cases of COVID-19 in Sri Lanka and there were no issues for a foreign yacht checking into the country. Cases in Italy were rising, but no major changes in travel policies were occurring worldwide. By the time we arrived over a week later and even within a day of our arrival, the situation was rapidly changing.

Broken (shredded really) batten

We enjoyed favorable winds and current on our trip from Phuket and all was good until just before we entered Galle Harbour. A squall hit and we got our mainsail down just before a 60-knot wind came roaring through. The batten pictured above (the top one from our mast) was luckily the only casualty. It could have been a lot worse. We will attempt to get it fixed here in Sri Lanka but we have some options on board that should work (a much larger batten that we can cut down or even a fishing polespear if needed). 

Here in Sri Lanka, the government has stopped airlines from bringing passengers into Sri Lanka and has closed its borders. There is currently a 24-hour curfew that lasts through this weekend, confining us to the boat. Even after the curfew is lifted (IF it's lifted) we ourselves will remain confined to the port area until at least the end of the month and cannot leave, even to buy groceries. 

But we consider ourselves fortunate. New yachts are not allowed in except to get fuel and water and then are pushed out. Other nearby countries have gone a step beyond a 14-day quarantine and have completely banned yachts from entering their borders. This can leave boats in a serious situation without necessary fuel and water and with nowhere else to go. Our best strategy at the moment is to wait and see how things go over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, we are playing volleyball in the port area with fellow cruisers (when there isn't a curfew), rediscovering baking, and playing card games. And I in particular am grateful for what we do have.

Stay healthy and safe, everyone. This too shall pass.

Langkawi to Phuket (Thailand)

Splash Out Water Park
Photo by Amber Lim

In Langkawi, we met up with our friends on Irie, Angel Wing and Whisky Jack in Langkawi, lowered our waterline with booze and provisions, and then headed up to Thailand.

Ko Phi Phi

We wanted to cruise some of the areas in Thailand that we missed the first time, as well as shake down the boat and pick up some parts. So we headed up to Phuket.

The beach from "The Beach" movie.
Closed off but lots of tour boats coming to look.

Our Jabsco Rule pump that got stuck on and
heated up so much that the plastic melted.
We seem to go through a lot of these that become
defective for one reason or another.

It has been good to get Perry into shape for our next voyage in a place where parts are readily accessible. Of course, being in a 'good place' to do things leaves us open to the time sink of actually doing them.

We found a place in Phuket that would fill our hard-to-fill fire extinguisher that was accidentally set off in Pangkor. If there is a fire in our engine room, it is meant to automatically release an engine-safe gas. We figured it would be a good idea to have it in place for our next journey and it is very hard to find a place to fill it. The special 'cold room' gas meant it needed to be sent to Bangkok, which was supposed to take 3-5 business days. 

As the winds that would have allowed us a relatively fast passage to Sri Lanka started dying and we started to question our decision to have the fire extinguisher filled, we finally got to the day it was supposed to arrive and started making preparations to leave.

But, no.  Somehow, the fire extinguisher began to leak or was deployed in transit and needed to be refilled again. So now we are in round two of waiting (hopefully not as long this time).

At least the kids have been enjoying being in clear water once again. Hopefully our next post will be from Sri Lanka.