Back to the Maldives

We arrived in Gan at about 1 pm today and are now at anchor in the small harbour near the Equator Beach Resort. We reached our first sight of Maldivian land just as the sun rose this morning – just in time as the myriad of lights we were encountering on the first island we saw were quite confusing.

We have been waiting for customs and immigration to clear us in for the last couple of hours and it is a little on the warm side at 32 degrees and 67% humidity. Though we have not yet gone ashore, we are literally a few boat lengths from the harbour wall so plan on heading onto land as soon as the formalities are completed. It’s amazing how many pieces of paper need signing!

The overnight sail was tiring, with a fair bit of rain on the way. Well, it is the monsoon season. But the seas remained fairly flat and with next to no wind we motor sailed pretty much all night. The harbour is reasonably well sheltered and we are in just five meters of water which is great news since we can anchor with all chain and no rope, and no coral beneath us either, so we should be good and secure. I dived to check the anchor and it appears to have bitten in the sandy seabed. The turtle we spotted as I entered the water clearly didn’t fancy a swimming mate once I was in and was nowhere to be seen. A quick check under the rest of the boat and all appears to be well. There are two other boats anchored here. One is called ‘Aventurer’ crewed by Chris and Mary who were really helpful giving us directions as we navigated through the narrow channel.

I can report that despite Dr Dolittles statement to the contrary, there is no red line at the equator (see our “Champagne Celebrations” post). It was very dark admittedly, but even after the glass of celebratory vintage champagne, I was still seeing no lines, circles or talking animals. We crossed the equator just after midnight and Bryan immediately felt closer to the green green grass of New Zealand once we were officially in the ‘south’.

After all that rain, the boat is sparkling clean. We managed to capture a bucket and a half of rainwater and it has been added to our depleting water supplies onboard so we too can be squeaky clean.

Both Bryan and I have declared ourselves clear of Swine Fever. It wasn’t a global pandemic when we lift Sri Lanka six days earlier, so we were a little shocked to see the officials turn up with surgical masks on. As I write this, there are now five officials onboard, not quite sure what each of them does but all seems to be going OK and hopefully we will step foot on dry land very soon.

3 May 2009

Addu Atoll is a cluster of islands linked by a series of causeways, creating the longest road in the Maldives; all of eighteen kilometres! Gan is at one end and Hithadhoo at the other. Being the adventurers that we are, we hired bikes today and cycled from one end to the other. The bikes were a reasonable condition but the seat heights could not be adjusted so Bryan’s long legs were vertically challenged. My seat had a spontaneous tilt, mainly backwards that made for quite a weird sensation. And of course, the inevitable butt ache kicked in pretty early on. Still, we bravely soldiered on, mustered by frequent stops for lime frappes, fresh papaya juice, an amazing curry lunch, a few cokes and a short respite on an isolated coral beach. I can feel your pity from here!

It is the local elections here next week so for the entire bike ride there were posters of the candidates. The youngest looks about sixteen and there is one with very hairy ears- but we are sure that they will choose the right man for the job.

We are now back alongside the anchorage for the obligatory internet fix and to update the blog, before heading next door to the local resort to book a couple of dives for tomorrow.

5 May 2009

My second chapter of the Aroha adventure is rapidly coming to a close. The first being the passage from Dubai to Fujeriah. It felt kinda strange missing out the route to Maldives, though I am glad Bernard and Laith got to share in that part.

The trip through to Sri Lanka already seems like a distant memory. I admit to being nervous about the trip. My biggest concern is always the unpredictability of the weather. Though considerable effort is put in before and during the journey for weather forecasts, when you are so far offshore that it takes days to reach the nearest land, there is not much you can do if the weather turns. I guess experience allows you to relax. It is still only two and a bit years since I started sailing; my only previous experience was the Isle of Wight ferry from Southampton on our many family holidays there.

The most valuable thing I have done to overcome my ‘fear’ factor has been to start my RYA Day Skipper course. I am about 80% through the theory course now and have found it intensive but with real practical value. I felt quite proud when Bryan proclaimed to be pleased I was back on board so he could share some of the sailing decisions with me. I find it quite ironic that no ‘driving licence’ of any description is required to sail a yacht, yet the reality is that there is a level of complexity far beyond driving a car.

Sri Lanka felt quite rushed, largely due to my desire to get boat and body back to the Maldives. Though I had extended my return flight, we were not sure exactly how long it would take to get back to the Maldives. As it has worked out, we have managed to get some real quality downtime here in Gan. The last two days have been spent diving. Each dive is totally different from each other, in an area that claims some of the best dive sites in the Maldives and hence the world. I love the freedom underwater. I liken it to being on the moon (or so I imagine) – a total weightlessness. We dived ‘Manta Point’ today. This is a cleaning station for manta rays. These giant rays glide through the water to an area where the cleaning fish come and do their job on the big guys. It seems strangely disciplined for creatures that live in vast coral cities to come to this point and all the fish to understand their role in the symbiotic relationships. As well as manta rays, we have been fortunate to see turtles, white tip reef sharks, stingrays, moray eels and some breath-taking coral gardens.

Tomorrow is a non-diving day- I can’t dive 24 hours before I fly so we are having a chill-out day. A little sight-seeing in the morning, and then the afternoon in the local resort including a massage each late in the afternoon. I fly at 5 am the following morning.

The good thing is for the four weeks I am back in Dubai, I will know where Bryan is. Having that vision in my mind will help me settle back in Dubai I hope to be able to picture the safe anchorage, the easy access to the shore and the great resort right next door. It also helps to know that the next time I am back I will have the kids with me and we will be ready to start yet another chapter of this great adventure.