We are in the Gulf of Thailand, heading towards Sihanoukville, Cambodia, where we arrive tomorrow morning.  Since I last wrote we sailed from Da Nang, (we could see the dock and harbour this time) and set courses for Phu My.  This is the large-ship port for Saigon, or Ho Chi Min city as it is known.

You remember in my last post, I mentioned the cargo ships in Da Nang and one in particular was discharging sub-sea cable?  It actually was being loaded onto a barge, one with pipe-laying facilities and this was moored alongside us.  While we were preparing for the departure from Da Nang we, on the Bridge, watched the antics of the men working to prepare the cable for the ‘laying’ operation and it brought forth some hilarious comments from us.  We adhere to Safe Working Practices, obviously the Vietnamese, (at least in this case), don’t.  The riggers were wearing flip-flops (or none at all) and they cared not one jot for fire risk.  Not only did they have a huge barbecue burning in an oil drum on the aft deck, the sparks from welding were flying everywhere around the deck, near cans of fuel and 1 man had the task of making sure the cable (and deck) remained fire-free-with a small scoop and a bucket of water  🙂 

From Da Nang, we paralleled the Vietnamese coast, the fishing boats out in the hundreds once more, it’s a wonder there are any fish left in the South China Sea, (or maybe there aren’t)?  We make for the estuary of the Sai Gon (sic) river, ships anchored everywhere as make our way towards the pilot boarding ground.  Amongst the mass of lights, we make out the lights of the boat and at 4 a.m. he boards.  I don’t why we bother picking them up actually, he said little except ‘coffee’ and left the 18-mile channel transit to us, occasionally talking into the VHF, (in Vietnamese), he could have been ordering breakfast for all we knew  😕 

We fight the tidal current all the way up-river, it’s running up to 2½ knots and still is as we make the approach to the dock; a container berth.  It took a few minutes to get the ‘feel’ of the current’s effect and how much power to apply to counteract it and get to the dock, joystick (but of course) and we’re alongside.  

I am a bachelor as I write, K1 and K2 are in Angkor Wat, Cambodia, on an overland tour and return tomorrow, (no doubt laden).  Saigon was about 40 miles, (65k) from our berth and as a consequence did not go ashore.  I’m afraid that you’ll have to put up with some dull photos of the ‘attractive’ berth 🙂