TTT Safely Through 'Pirate Alley'

[demonboy]

Sorry, was supossed to post this up the other day, but great news all the same. Extract:

In Salalah twelve yachts of the Blue Water Rally are waiting for transport. After what happened to Quest their insurance was revoked. Their choice for Dockwise Transport seems a problematic one. The shipping company that is to pick up the yachts (Beluga) went Bankrup...

Complete story here:

Convoy of cruising yachts successfully transit Somali pirate

 

[blenkinsop]

TTT convoy

Hello from the Gulf Of Suez

Your recent item on the TTT convoy's safe arrival in Aden prompts a reply from one of the many boats who were signed up for it but subsequently chose not to proceed with it. After we signed up and paid 250 euros to the TTT we were provided with a document outlining the organization and proposed routing and timing together with a list of the boats signed up at that time, 26 plus the leader. Of those on that list, less than a quarter are named as being with the group in Aden. We know that some of the original boats decided on alternative routing, some opted to have their boats shipped and some abandoned altogether either to return to Thailand or cruise India.

We can only speak for ourselves as to why we lost confidence and took another route.

The convoy was designed to be loose, basically almost a sail in company, to Salallah, Oman, and then a tight convoy from there to Aden which sounded reasonable at the time. We had told the organizer that our likely plan was to join in Salallah as we wanted to visit the Andaman Islands and so we left Phuket before the rest of the convoy. When we reached Uligan in the Maldives, one of the scheduled stops for the convoy, there were about 30 other yachts, including 5 other TTT boats, who were experiencing a collective anxiety about the next leg as it had become clear that the main focus of pirate activity had shifted from the Gulf of Aden into the Arabian Sea using mother ships. Meanwhile, we understood that the TTT lead boat, Alondra, was in Sri Lanka having his mainsail repaired and transmission problems. We had received no direct communication from him since leaving Phuket, so did not know what the implications were in timing or routing. On subsequently commenting on the lack of communication, Renee told us that emails to sailmail kept bouncing back and we "should get something better". He had made the same remark to another boat which was not very helpful as eleven of participants had listed their onboard email as a sailmail address. He did not have SSB on his boat, unlike most of the others, so was unable to take part in any of the nets.

Although there was no firm confirmation at the time, it appeared that the recommended route for the convoy from the Maldives to Salallah would now be to go north along the Indian coast, possibly as far as Pakistan, thence to Oman. This major diversion from the original route would involve considerable extra mileage, much of it upwind without gaining extra distance from the areas of pirate activity which had been circulated by UKMTO. We therefore decided to join an impromptu, but well organized convoy from Uligan, taking a route south and west of the most recent attacks. We now felt that the risk had become as great in the Arabian Sea as 95% of attacks in January 2011 had been in there rather than in the Gulf. This 9 boat convoy of diverse sailing characteristics managed to stick together over a 1500 mile passage, a compliment both to its leaders and participants.

During this passage, we heard that Alondra had arrived in Uligan, but soon after leaving, had developed more transmission problems and was being towed to an Indian port by one of the other TTT boats. This further reduced our confidence that the convoy would actually form in reasonable time in Salallah, and so we readily agreed when the proposed destination of our group was changed, whilst at sea, from Salallah to Mukallah, Yemen. Had we continued to Salallah, we would have been there in ample time for the original scheduled departure on 4th March of the TTT convoy but, as it turned out, we would have had to wait almost three weeks for it to happen. Meanwhile, the political situation in Yemen and Oman was making them increasingly undesirable places to linger.

Having reached the Red Sea without the convoy, we felt justified in asking for a partial refund of our TTT fee as the support originally offered had not been given to us. This partial refund was refused quoting Renee's numerous disclaimers, and he also refused to give any account of how the money has been spent

 

[AndrewB]

Just heard today from friends aboard "Balu" that they are safely through. Apparently they joined the TTT convoy at Salalah, though they are not part of the rally. Having reached Port Ghalib they are now back on their own again for the Red Sea passage.

Despite their success it sounds like an incredibly nerve-wracking experience. I'm not tempted to follow!

 

[blenkinsop]

We also know Balu and are in touch by email.
They sailed with another group of boats, not TTT although they have probably encountered some of the remnants TTT along the way.

 

[demonboy]

Thanks for the alternative take on the TTT, blenkinsop. I have no loyalties either way and was just pleased to hear that a group of boats made it safely to the Red Sea, irrespective of who they did it with.

I will just point out that it is normal practice to take a non-refundable deposit when signing up for a rally. I haven't read the TTT contract and I am not defending the organiser but I know of a number of cases on various rallies (EMIR and VdG to name two of them) where people have dropped out before the rally started and were not refunded their deposit. Like I say, I'm not defending anyone, just making an observation.

Either way, sailing in these dangerous waters is a stressful time for everyone involved, from rally organisers to participants to authorities to naval task forces. Sadly there is still no sign of the problem abating.

 

[Pocahontas]

There were 35 boats who wanted to come and just place for 30. The yachts in question pulled out by them selves well before the planned departure date in Uligan where TTT Convoy yacht Alondra was three days ahead of schedule.
All in all the Convoy from Salalah went on as planned and closest of all rallies to the predicted date (12 days late) and all went well. So no, no money back as was also stated from the moment they signed on (see website). Besides, apart from the Convoy, all yachts received all information for the whole route incuding bargains of which they generously made use. No problem of course since they paid for it but asking for a return.....

 

[blenkinsop]

in reply to Pocohontas

There were 26 boats on the list beginning January. Of these, 6 were in the convoy which eventually departed from Sallalah, three others joining later.
By the time we were considering leaving Uligan ahead of Alondra’s arrival, we had received no direct information updating us on changes in routing, or timing. Information may have been sent, but the leader’s email system did not apparently transmit to Sailmail (a system used by nearly half the boats originally signed up for TTT) therefore we and other sailmail users did not receive it. The uncertainty this caused was one of the reasons we decided to go with another convoy. We still had in mind the possibility of joining TTT in Salalah. However, during this passage, it also became apparent that stops in Oman and Yemen should be minimized due to deteriorating security issues in the region.
On the money front, we were told that TTT was to be non-profit making, any surplus funds going to charity (initially for the Chandlers release fund, but undefined since their release). Alondra, although operating as a limited company, has consistently refused to provide any accounting. Up to Christmas, over US$9000 had been given to Alondra by the 26 aspirant participants in TTT. It does not seem unreasonable to ask for some explanation of costs. As we were not with the TTT convoy we did not take advantage of the ‘bargains’

 

[demonboy]

I didn't realise the full extent of the situation, blenkinsop, and I didn't know excess funds were going to charity either. I wonder which charity the money ended up going to.