It’s smooth sailing for the Jewel of Muscat - After a spectacular send-off from Muscat on February 16, the Jewel of Muscat has been making steady progress on her journey to Kochi, the first stop en route to her final destination at Singapore.

After a slow start, the winds have finally picked up to 15 knots and the Jewel has just enjoyed her best 24 hours of sailing yet, covering nearly 85km and she is now nearly a third of the way to Kochi with 1,400km to go. As the Jewel of Muscat has no engine on board, she has to purely rely on the wind in her sails to make progress. The crew has taken advantage of the calm weather to carry out maintenance on the ship, including some running repairs to one of the masts, which needed strengthening to prevent it flexing too much in high winds.

High spirits

The full crew remains in very good spirits with music sessions and story telling to help pass the time and a couple days before with the ship hardly moving, the crew took the opportunity to have a refreshing swim in the sea — most welcome after a week without a shower!

The sailors on night watch have reported marvellous sights of the brilliant stars and a glowing sea. So calm and quiet is it at night that sometimes they hear dolphins approaching before they can see them come close to the ship.

The crew has also been experimenting with traditional navigation techniques to steer by the stars. As Captain Saleh Al Jabri reported back to base, “For me personally, this is really an amazing experience. I’m learning how Omanis over a thousand years ago managed to cross the Indian Ocean on cleverly designed but simple ships.”

One of the youngest Omani sailors on board, 22-year-old Ayaz Al Zadjali added, “I feel very attached to this ship. It has become a close friend. Unlike many of my crewmates, I do not come from a sailing family. My first encounter with boats came when I chose to study carpentry at the Vocational Training Centre in Seeb. Our models had to be built exactly to scale and precise in every detail. Most people have no idea how difficult it is to build a good model. In fact several people in my class dropped out of the model programme because the work was so hard. I had to learn many new things about mathematics, geometry, and fine woodworking. Yes, it was difficult, but I enjoyed learning all these new things and the ships we built were very beautiful.”

He also added: “During my one-and-a-half years in the model training programme, I built a model of Zinat Al Bahr and a Ganjah. These were large models and both are now on display at the Maritime Museum in Salalah. I’m proud to have built models that Omanis and people from around the world can enjoy and at the same time learn about Oman’s history.”

The ship is expected to reach Kochi in the next few
weeks where it will be lifted out of the water for a full check before it continues its voyage to Singapore.