October 2009 eBook all pages (free PDF, 36.6 - Latitude 38

LATITUDE/NICK
Spread; 'Toucan Tango', the Catana 47 the
Starks bought in Malaysia last year. Insets: An
older Thai woman. Ruth and Marvin.
city, you will see men carrying sacks of
produce, rice, bananas or concrete that
are heavy enough to stagger an ox.
Eating out was unbelievably cheap.
Ruth and I had lunch at a nice air-conditioned
restaurant and the total bill came
to 85 rupees — which is about $1.70 U.S.
The next day I had a 10-course lunch,
all I could eat, for $1.60 U.S. There are
no Wal-Marts or super stores in this part
of India, and all shops are very small
and very basic. In one, for example, we
found an old bicycle wheel used as a
tool to make rope from coconut husks.
When you buy some paratha, which
is a delicious local flat bread, it comes
wrapped in old newspaper. You can buy
handmade hoes or shovels made of all
steel that will last a lifetime. It jars my
teeth just thinking about them!
When we were at Bolgatty Island,
there were about 20 other sailboats
anchored out. They flew the flags of the
UK, the U.S., Australia, South Africa,
Germany, Holland, France, Canada and
several other countries. Many were part
of the Vasco de Gama Rally that takes
the fleet from Thailand to Turkey. Most
are doing an around-the-world trip.
In this part of India, it was pleasant
and comfortable in the countryside,
where people live in simple
harmony with nature. Most
have running water or
wells, and even electricity
and television. The name of
the state is Kerala, which
literally means the land of
coconuts. And there are
plenty of coconuts, bananas,
mangoes, papayas and
everything else that grows.
However, Cochin harbor/
river, where we anchored,
is no garden spot. And
Cochin itself is crowded,
chaotic and dirty.
One of the main seaports
of India, Cochin is
PHOTOS COURTESY TOUCAN TANGO
IN LATITUDES
home to 600,000 people. The traffic is
unbelievable, with countless buses rocketing
around at full speed while spewing
diesel fumes. There are lots of other
vehicles, and each one has a horn. And
I mean a really loud horn, a horn that
is sounded incessantly. If, for example,
there is a small traffic jam, everyone who
is stuck in it lays on their horn until
everyone starts moving. Then they go
back to intermittent honking.
The three-wheeled tuk-tuks all have
horns, and some are driven by absolute
wild men. They drive on both sides of
the road, think nothing
of bouncing over
the sidewalk, and won't
give an inch. But you
can ride across town
for $1 or less. The tuktuks
reluctantly shared
the streets with large
busses, trucks, small
cars, motorbikes, push
carts with huge loads,
and finally, pedestrians
fearing for their lives.
We only crossed the
street where there was a
divider. Even then, we'd
Morning tuk-tuk
traffic was light.
wait and look carefully before dashing
across traffic to the safety of the other
side. You can usually get through a few
motorbikes, and maybe a tuk-tuk or two,
but don’t try bluffing anything bigger. It
is so dusty and dirty that we usually had
to take a shower as soon as we got back
to the boat.
After a month in Cochin, in February
we headed another 1,500 miles west
across the Indian Ocean to Salalah,
Oman. The northeast tradewinds blew
from the west for two days, then from the
northwest at 10-15 knots for most of the
The famous cantilever fishing nets of Cochin.
The nets extend 60 feet into the river, and are
counterbalanced by heavy rocks for lifting.
SHEENA RONSON