CLEARING IN

Port Control will probably pick you up on AIS long before you get to the harbour area and call you on CH16.  They will check that you are coming in and that you have a valid visa.  Anchor off the Taj Malabar Hotel 09 58.15N 076 15.43E.  Immigration may already be waiting for you in a boat.  Do not be fazed by them.  Get your boat well anchored in shallow water which will seem too close to the hotel – space is limited.  You will need to leave your boat here and probably stay overnight.  Holding is mixed with some debris on the bottom so do not let Immigration rush the anchoring process.  They will understand if you delay setting your anchor.

After Immigration formalities aboard you go ashore either with the officials or in your own dinghy.  You complete Immigration paperwork at their office.

t this point Nazar comes into his own +91 9895 164090. He may be only a tuk-tuk driver but the officials all know and respect him.  He knows where all the offices are, which forms to fill in at the State Bank and which desks to go to.  You could stand in a queue for 20 minutes to be told it is the wrong form or the wrong queue and you have to start again.)

Next to Port Control, down the road, a classic building with a clock tower.  It will take a while to find the correct office.  After paperwork here, you need to go to the State Bank close by to get a cashier’s cheque for about 850 Rupees – impossible to know which desk to go to or which form to fill in. (NB The bank closes at 1530, so if it is after 1530 all bets are off for today and you stay at anchor overnight). Bring the cheque back to Port Control.  Do more paperwork.

Then to Customs across the road. Again difficult to find the right office.  They will retain your Ship’s Papers and issue a receipt.  Expect this process to take two hours minimum. Back to the boat and await a customs officer to come aboard to do more paperwork and an inspection. They will not come aboard after 1700.  Any alcohol valued at more than 3,500 Rupees will be bonded with your satphone if you have one.

Then you are good to go to the marina.

CLEARING OUT

Use Nazar to save time. It is 15 minutes by planing RIB to the offices from the marina, 45 dusty, bouncy minutes by tuk-tuk.

First to Port control.  Nazar organised my paperwork.

Next Customs to recover your Ship’s papers.  If you have lost the receipt you are in trouble.

Then Immigration.

The total process is about two hours but customs could be that on their own if you hit them on a wrong day.

Port control and Customs give you three days to leave.  NB, not Immigration. If you clear out the morning tell them you are leaving in the afternoon.  If you arrive in the morning and tell them you are going tomorrow they will tell you to come back in the afternoon.

None of these offices seems to share any information.

When you slip lines call Port Control on CH16 and ask for permission to leave (Port Control are nice helpful people).  They will ask you to keep a radio watch on CH17 and not CH12 as you might more normally expect in a large commercial harbour.

BOLGATTY MARINA

You can get in here with a draft of 2.2 metres but only approach at high water.  There are some pontoons on the south side that you can just drive straight into.  The remainder requires a tight turn to port and on making the tight turn many go aground if it is not high water.  It is all soft mud so you will do no harm but you will be stuck.

This ageing marina has had a small amount of remedial work done but it is generally untidy and unkempt – litter and rubbish everywhere. Do not step onto the marina in your bare feet – huge splinters everywhere.  The fingers are all the same size and all too short. At only 38 feet even I had to be inventive with my lines. Your electricity may not work but the hotel electrician will fix it (the marina is part of a three-star resort – nice pool, adequate restaurant, a bar next door but no booze allowed in the restaurant).  The marina water is not potable.  Do not even think about drinking it despite what it says on the website. The toilets and showers are unisex, the gents urinals open for all to see.  Some of the showers drain the block.  No loo paper so bring your own.  Cleaning inside and out is minimal.

NIGHIL

Nighil (+97 47 057 015) is the marina manager and is there every day except Sunday from 1000 until 1800.  Nobody is quite sure what he does all day but his English is good and he can answer some questions.

NAZAR

Nazar sadly speaks terrible English and understanding him is a challenge.  Remember that he cannot read English and cannot add – just do the adding for him. He is very helpful but you need to know his limits.

Clearing in and out he is a godsend. He charges 230 Rupees per hour to drive you around and help you; a modest price.  He is proud of the fact that his tuk-tuk is 18 years old.  But it looks and feels it.  And he does know lots of places that cruisers may want to go to. On longer journeys, you may want to use Uber but their local intelligence will not be as good.

SIM Cards – he has a pocket full but they may not work first go. Just check and if they don’t work get him to give you another.  Buying SIM cards directly in India is an uphill challenge and if you succeed it may not activate for 72 hours.

Water – Nazar will bring you sealed 20-litre bottles of drinking water, right to the boat and will even decant it for you. He charges 70 Rupees each for them.  The actual cost is 20 Rupees but given the service, you get the difference is worth it.

Diesel – this is where Nazar tries to get his arm in.  He wants to charge a “commission” of 60 Rupees a litre for fuel.  That represents a surcharge of 20%.  Pulling into a filling station for five minutes to fill two jerry cans was the equivalent of three hours normal hire fee.  If you are buying large quantities his price may come down.  I got the ferry across to the filling station (10 Rupee fare and a tuk-tuk back 60 rupee fare).

IMPORTING PACKAGES

Now, this is not fun.  Being a glutton for punishment I had four deliveries all from different carriers.

A postal packet from the UK was handled in India by DTDC.  Then three “Yacht in Transit” packages, essential parts eg raw water pumps, self-steering parts.  These couriers were FedEx, DHL and UPS. Everything had a duty of 65%. But I hope that you are not in a hurry. From the time your parcel arrives in India expect the delivery to take another five weeks, minimum.  You will have numerous frustrating telephone calls and many wasted emails. There is a lot of online paperwork and you have to prove your local address – Nighil is of some help here but Fedex initially would not accept his letter.  You cannot pay the duty online unless you have an Indian credit card so you need to pay the delivery driver in cash.  This in itself causes further delays.

Anthony

sv Wild Fox

www.blog.mailasail.com/wildfox