Ground Support
Bryan suggested that I add a blog entry about life at the other end of the Maldives mission, otherwise known as ‘Ground Support’. In reality, I think ground support was an extension to the role of helping get the boat ready for the big day when Bryan, Laith and Bernard first set sail from Fujairah. It has felt at times like there has been a never-ending shopping list of things for the boat. This list was fairly international by nature, with various bits and pieces needed from the UK, New Zealand, US and Australia. Some items proved more elusive than others and the biggest challenge has been getting the bits back to Dubai when needed. My brother in law Neil has had his postal address abused a few times as a dropping off point for items I had located in the UK for him to then forward on. UK suppliers seem to want to charge an exorbitant amount in overseas postage, usually doubling the price of the item itself.
The latest mission has been getting the sail repaired that had been ripped in our first venture out into the Gulf. It has taken nearly three weeks all up, but finally, the repaired sail is back in Dubai. All being well, the sail will travel with me on Sunday when I head out to meet Bryan for the Sri Lanka port-entry run!
In addition to the never-ending shopping list, a much more vital role of the ground support has been tracking Aroha’s position and checking weather sites, a task shared with friend and fellow DOSC member Phil. We had agreed pre-voyage that I would take and plot the boat’s position and bearing twice a day – 6 am and 6 pm. With these position updates, should anything unplanned happen, we would have pretty good knowledge of where the boat should be. I kept the same large scale chart that Bryan had on board so could see at a glance the route being taken. It was great to see progress being made and even better to see this once the blog was up and running.
Internet access and access to emails is via sat phone and is limited on board so I frequently act as the contact for agents or check web sites for port entry details etc so the last few weeks has seen me chatting to agents in Cochin, India and Sri Lanka trying to work out the best option to get the clearing out certificate we need. The main decision for Sri Lanka is the fact that we don’t need visas. The overall distance from the Maldives to India and back to Gan (southern most atoll in the Maldives) or the Maldives to Sri Lanka is not huge – probably another one to two days sailing. So hopefully Sri Lanka will be the right choice
It is going to be quite strange being the other end for a few weeks – but will be nice to know that we are still in touch with the outside world via the blog:)
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