Muscat: Jewel of Muscat's epic journey from Muscat to Singapore seems to be plagued by slow winds but Tom Vosmer, Project Director, is pleased with the progress made by the sailboat so far on its way to Kochi in India.
"The boat is plagued by slow wind right from the start but under the circumstances, it has made better progress than I thought," Vosmer, who has designed the boat, told Gulf News.
Jewel of Muscat left Port Sultan Qaboos two weeks ago and Vosmer reckons that by 26 to 30 days, the boat will reach Kochi. "Hopefully if everything goes smoothly," he added.
He expects the boat to pick winds over 15 knots once it reaches closer to the Indian shores.
"So far it has had to deal with under 10 knot wind but sometime it has reached over 13 knots but very rarely," he revealed.
Vosmer, who had also designed and built Majan boat, was slightly apprehensive about boat's speed in the event of slow wind.
However, he said he was surprised at the progress made by Jewel of Muscat, a replica of a ninth century boat.
The first stop for Jewel of Muscat, on its 3000-mile voyage to Singapore, will be Kochi.
"I will fly to Kochi with two other members of the team to receive the 17-member crew as they anchor at the Indian port," Vosmer said.
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.
Vosmer, who is in constant touch with the crew, said that the full crew remained in good spirits. According to updates provided here the crew enjoyed music sessions and story telling to help pass the time and a couple days ago.
With the ship hardly moving due to slow wind, the crew took the opportunity to have a refreshing swim in the sea – most welcome after a week without a shower!
"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," the boat captain Saleh Al Jabri said from the boat.
"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," said Ayaz Al Zadjali, one of the youngest Omani sailors on board.
Vosmer informed that the sailboat will undergo a thorough check up at Kochi before being lowered back into water on way to Singapore.
Jewel of Muscat is a model of the wreck of a timber-and- coconut rope dhow, salvaged in 2004 in Indonesia's Belitung Straits.
The discovery of the wreck excited maritime scholars, who viewed it as solid proof of a maritime silk route from West Asia to China.
The salvaged boat had a cargo of 60,000 ceramic plates and pots from the Tang Dynasty, which are currently kept in Singapore.
Fact file: The Jewel of Muscat project
The project is a cultural joint initiative between Oman and Singapore.
The Jewel of Muscat is a hand-built 9th century sewn-plank ship using a 1,200 year old method of sewing the hull planks together with hand-woven coconut fibres and without a single nail or screw.
Inspiration taken from the wreck of a ship found in the western Indian Ocean in 1998.
The story of the ship's construction and voyage will be captured in two exclusive one-hour documentaries to be shown in 164 countries on the National Geographic Channel from early next year.
