We started the check in process this morning. The harbor radio called and said that the Immigration officials were ready to be picked up ashore. Of course Dave hears that differently. He hears that Customs is ready to be picked up on the big fishing charter boat anchored near us. Great! nice short dinghy run.... of course the dinghy motor decides that this is the time to be nasty. After 10 minutes of voodoo it starts running normally. Cautiously, I head for the pick up point. They are not quite finished with the fishing boat so the skipper invites me aboard for a beer. After a half hour we are on our way with our precious cargo of 3 customs agents to Freebird. They all come aboard and start the process.... many stamps and official documents later and we are just about finished. The leader of the pack asks "How much spirits do you have aboard?" I honestly don't know so I make up an number.... "40 bottles"....His eyes go kaleidoscopic...."I must see this" ...Dave says, " It's all over the boat, you sure you need to see it? ...."YES" Okay... into the bilge we go. I open the hatch and show him some bottles of Jack Daniels mixed in with the Best Foods mayonnaise. He pulls out 3 and says.... "Gift for customs agents" I disagree...."No!"..I try and shame him by saying ...."We were told that Andaman/Indian officials were honest....bla bla bla.. without any attitude change. So I raise my voice and say "NO!" ....Now you have to understand that these guys hold all the aces. They can make life miserable for you if they want. He returned to his seat with a little pout. I thought...."now I've done it.... We'll never leave this harbor". So I coughed up one bottle and everybody was happy. (except me) Meanwhile Judy is having a nice conversation with the other two who are trying to hit on her. After an awkward moment of silence.... I herd them off to the dinghy for delivery to the next unsuspecting crew. The thing is, we weren't supposed to pick them up in the first place ....I miss heard the radio directions.... I was supposed to pick up the immigration officials on shore... not the Customs officials on the fishing boat... Oh well it worked. Well, during the whole time that Dave has gone missing in the poorly running dinghy, the Port Captain is radioing judy on Freebird asking her to pick up the Immigration officials. She is calling another cruising boat to go & see if Dave is sitting in the middle of the bay somewhere dead in the water. (They couldn't help at that moment as they were loading fuel...) Another boat hears me & volunteers to go look for him. Another boat hears that coversation & calls & tells me he can see him on the fishing boat... I call the port captain back & tell him that he is instead picking up the Custom agents...... Just another fun day aboard DumbBird Things just settled down when Dave noticed that the immigration officials were on the fishing boat....Hmm.... I should go back & have another beer with my new Thai friends on the fishing boat and pick up the immigration officials..... Turns out they were pretty unhappy with me.... They waited 2 hours on the shore for me to pick them up! After some fast talking and a beer I managed to talk them into a quick ride to Freebird to check us in.... Nice guys..very professional .... Maybe a few too many beers but never the less...professional. Finally at 4:00, the coast guard arrives... 4 men in boots come aboard and ask all kinds of questions, stamp a lot of papers and welcome us to their country..... The sun is now setting. Day one Port Blair... . Tomorrow AM we head into town to check in with the Harbor Master. Oh boy