Photo: Saman, 'Secretary' of the 'Galle Yacht Club'
The insufferable Saman offered to supply a diver to recover our anchor. Which was fine except they turned up at the harbour gate and were unceremoniously refused entry. I was told by the army guards that Saman was a crook, but I already knew that. I found him arguing in the office with his 'diver' standing innocently beside him. I asked Saman if his friend had any dive gear and he reliably informed me he didn't because his diver was special and could hold his breath... and could I pay him the 5000 rupees in advance...
The officer in charge told me that no one was allowed to dive in Galle harbour, ever since the Tamil Tigers had sunk the Sri Lankan navy with crack scuba teams. The navy now threw hand grenades into the water every thirty minutes as a deterrent; which explained why we hit our heads on the cabin roof each night when we flew off our bunks...
Saman was unduly thrown out and the navy offered one of their divers to find our anchor (they never did). But, of course, Saman did not give up so easily. Three hour chases were not uncommon...
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Read more about the mishaps and mayhem of
Nellie, The Ship's Cat