March 8/9
Ross Island is right next door to Port Blair and apparently a very interesting place, being the British HQ, a prison and Japanese holding in past years. We were given permission to anchor by Port Control but were knocked back from entering the island by the Forestry management: more Indian rules!! Despite phone conflabs with various officials we were turned back, on the basis it was the day before a public holiday. What we did see was the herd of spotted deer (some with handsome antlers) that populated the front lawn. Very odd seeing Christmas-card type deer in the middle of the tropical Indian Ocean. On our return to Port Blair, the wonderful Ravi met us at the dock and we did some rounds of shopping, lunch, more samosas etc. About half the shops were closed due to the Holi day, the Indian festival where they pelt each other with coloured paint. There were brightly coloured splotches all over the pavement and many of the younger men were simply technicoloured. We arranged diesel fuel with Ravi for delivery to the dock the following day, in preparation for our departure to the Similan Islands (Thailand). This is where the hassle started.
Pic shows bright paint splotches on the street, next to fruit vendor