A Sunday stroll around town
Everything here shuts down on a Sunday – kind of like Canada in the 1950s. It’s wonderful – the city is quite a distance from most of the tourist accommodation so the tourists aren’t strolling around and the locals know there’s nothing open so they stay away. One can almost walk down the middle of the main street and not have to worry about being run over and you can take your time gawking in the store windows looking at plastic buckets next to razor blades or anything the merchandiser can find to add to the window that might sell.
So this is a pictorial of a Sunday stroll through Victoria.
The official Seychelles logo with sailfish, turtle and coco de mer – Finis Coronat Opus (The end crowns the work)
Entrance to the main market – expensive but huge amounts of fresh tuna and snapper
80% are catholic here but can still here the call to prayer from the Mosque
The movie theatre – hasn’t yet been a movie we want to see but we keep hoping
The clock-tower roundabout in the centre of downtown
Gorgeous blue sky with frangipani flowers (plumeria rubra)
Being the tropics plants abound and quickly take over
A stroll down by the art centre
Land turtles abound
People to meet on Sundays
The yacht club is very close to downtown so returning to the club for lunch and reading of the local papers is a good idea on Sundays
Friday night party time
Seychelles etc
Not our boat – Ferry harbour, Victoria
Oh yes, we have been very lazy. We are so enjoying the time here in Victoria that we haven’t been out to any of the outer or inner islands. Time has flown by and we are coming up to our fourth week here.
It doesn’t mean that we have been able to go anywhere anyway. The first order of business was to get the fridge back in full operation. That we did quickly with local assistance. The next order of business was to get the spare part installed that came from San Francisco – $80 for the part and $130 for couriering!
With those two items done we thought we would head out for an extended weekend to one of the closer anchorages. Went to start the engine, which it did quickly, but with an odd sound. With Connie down below and the engine running she called up to say there was smoke. Running down below we determined it was coming from the starter motor. Okay, turn off the engine and cancel the night of music at the bar in Eden Island and cancel the quiet anchorage in the national park.
Entrance to the botanical gardens
We solved our problem fairly quickly with again land based help. Hauled out the starter motor, gave it to Tony for repair and he had it back in 18 hours (no island time here) and we got it reinstalled on the Monday and the engine up and going again without having to turn the fridge off (no sun).
That was great but now the weekend was gone and we awaited the arrival of our friends on Pipistrelle, Elaine and Bob. They have been the two unluckiest sailors we’ve met and we were hoping they had a good trip from Chagos to Seychelles. We followed their progress and were relieved to hear winds were good and they were doing well. As they approached the Seychelles the weather deteriorated and being cautious they anchored to wait till the morning to enter the quarantine anchorage and clear customs. We now have 11 foreign boats in the area – Pipistrelle, Nightfly, Garamar, Divinity, Totem, Imagine, Paradocs, Utopia, Zephyr, Helias and ourselves. Most are anchored out in the quarantine anchorage but Nightfly, Paradocs and ourselves are in the Inner Harbour.
The harbour holding is not great but we are on a mooring close to the yacht club. We are serenaded every night but the live music at Club 55 on one side and the Japanese, Korean fishboats on the other side and then occasionally by announcements forward of the bow by the either Oz, American, British warships/submarines that are in and out of the harbour on the hunt for pirates.
As for the weather – the favourite subject of Canadians. Here are the local headlines – Strange Weather.
Strange weather
Excessive rain, cloudy, high winds etc. Climate change? Certainly makes it a challenge to predict where to go and what to do. Yes, it’s cloudy but you know what we are enjoying it. Above the anchorage lie the mountains allowing cooler air to cascade down the hills in the evening spreading a cool scent laden layer across the anchorage making sleeping at 4 degrees south of the equator a pleasant experience. We have no complaints even though it rains intermittently every day.The article talks about Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO) by Wikipedia interacting with a low over the Arabian Peninsula. Interesting but complicated. One learns something new every day which is wonderful. This is something I have not heard about before and it’s quite complicated and not something easy to explain. Read the Wikipedia if your are interested .
In the meantime we will enjoy the Independence Day celebrations and watch closely the political antics that are starting due to an upcoming election
Stay tuned
Mahe, Seychelles
Where do you dream of having a vacation? Not everyone wants sea, sand and surf but if that’s what you are looking for then contemplate the Seychelles. (I think I’m sounding like a tourist brochure!). It’s a mountainous group of islands with some wonderful hikes through verdant jungle, alongside spectacular waterfalls and beautiful vistas.
Overview of the Mahe coastline and Victoria
We have been here for two weeks and have nothing negative to say about the Seychelles. From the friendly welcome the fisherman gave us 60 miles off the coast to the post office philatelic counter everyone couldn’t smile more or be more accommodating.
Who, me?
We have spent the last week finding and getting someone to look at and repair our refrigeration, getting our bearings as to where to find everything from sugar to internet, setting up our folding bikes and enjoying the independence day holiday.
Well, I guess that isn’t all we have been doing. The anchorage in Victoria, Mahe is quite tight. There is little room to maneuver and find good holding. It’s a very well protected harbour with hills towering 300 metres over the town and the harbour. However, the bottom is not good holding and for the first time since we have owned Sage we dragged. Luckily it wasn’t in the middle of the night but was first thing in the morning. Connie we serving me tea in bed (as usual) and I felt/heard the anchor bouncing along the bottom of the water. At the same time Connie called out we were dragging. Racing into the cockpit to get the engine going I of course forgot clothes! Just habit I guess.
We managed to stop Sage from backing into all the fish boats on the wharf and got ourselves re-anchored. Later in the day we found a mooring we could use much to the good graces of the tourist catamaran Anahita.
Anahita and two other cruisers from Mexico in the anchorage – Ben and Nicolas
We went to start the engine to go over to the mooring but I noticed that the water coolant was low and I had just filled it the day before. Ummm – now what. Sure enough a rubber hose connector had rotted through and squirted the water all over the engine. This must have finally collapsed totally when we had the engine going to stop our dragging.
We got a tow over to the mooring and felt secure once again (not that we trust someone else’s mooring). So not having a spare part and one not being available in the Seychelles we put a call our to our friends in the states who quickly found a supplier and mailed the part to us via DHL couriers. Was mailed to us from San Francisco late Thursday and arrived today, Tuesday, and now installed. Not cheap! $80 for the part and $130 for shipping! Ummm, I think shipping must the business to be in.
Only 5 years old but seen a little wear and tear
If you enlarge you can see the cracks just back from the leading edge
Without the part for the engine we were immobile. That was OK though. The weather was lousy, rain off and on, a new place to discover and a friend here working on assignment for the Nature Conservancy.
Jo is working with Seychellois stakeholders to come up with a Marine Management Plan with a target of 30% protected area for their key coastal and offshore waters. It’s an ambitious target and the work monumental. Jo is from Smithers, BC and travels down here at key times to move the process along. In her spare time we have commandeered her and had ocean swims, tours of the island, dinners out and dinners both on the boat and at her temporary home. Jo has been a wonderful connection for us right at a time we were immobile and we have greatly enjoyed hearing the stories she has of working here and simply hanging out.
Connie and Jo on our round the Mahe Island tour
And hanging out is great. We love sitting at the Yacht Club
Seychelles Yacht Club and anchorage
for a sunset drink meeting a few of the locals. The club is incredibly friendly and one of the best eating deals in town. Best of all though is just to sit and listen to the people talking. Here people speak three languages – Creole, English and French. The resulting mix is this wonderful sing-song lilting language for which they mix all 3 languages and more. One minute you think you understand what they are saying and the next just shaking your head. The life is relaxed (don’t expect to get anything done in a hurry), the food interesting, the music wonderful, the ambience tropical and the weather almost ideal.
The market is one of our daily stops. Some things are a little expensive compared to other stores as the market does attract a lot of tourists. The fish choices are spectacular with mainly fresh tuna and snapper. There are also hints of the spices grown from cinnamon, nutmeg. allspice, vanilla etc. Get there early – the best produce both imported and local are on offer.
Market day
Snapper at the market
The market is colourful, loud, fish smelly and full of life. It’s located on Market Street (surprise, surprise) which is closed off to traffic and which is also the location of a great gelato and Italian food deli. Yes, almost everything is available here at a price.
I can’t say it’s cheap but then when one has been in Asia as long as we have nothing is cheap! I have put a picture of a menu in the blog and the prices are in rupees – divide by 11 to get the equivalent value in Canadian dollars
Local lunchtime menu – they love their big lunches here
The ‘other’ gelato shop
From a cruising boats perspective it’s not so expensive depending on what you choose to eat and where you eat.
Takamaka rum distillery. A beautiful property on their old estate
Liquor is unaffordable ($50 dollars for a bottle of rum but we buy the local – Takamaka Rum at $30/bottle) imported cheeses available at a price, fish at a bargain and steaks/meat being imported around $20/kilo. So, fish and local rum it is.
Our own Mexican pirate before he went on a raid
Our Mexican pirate after he came back from the raid
Chagos and Beyond
Approaching Chagos – 2 miles out. Notice how difficult it is to see the land
How long has it been? No internet, no phone calls, no weather reports and no shopping for X weeks. And did we really miss anything? Not really.
Connie did an awesome job on provisioning enabling creative simple menus supplemented by local catches of a variety of local fare. I can’t say that I didn’t dream of strawberry shortcake smothered in whipped cream but without that we are fit and healthy and look considerably lighter! Svelt I would say but then I am biased or myopic.
Chagos – a dune soon to become covered in mangrove then palms
We started our southern Indian Ocean affair by visiting Chagos, a protectorate of Britain, administered by BIOT (British Indian Ocean Territories).
BIOT (British Indian Ocean Territories Organization) is looking for our paperwork
There is no-one who currently lives in Chagos unless you include Diego Garcia which is an American military base, key to their strategy of penning in China’s expansionist desires. Chagos was inhabited up until the mid 70s but the population was forcibly removed by the British. For an interesting documentary watch John Pillger’s video called Stealing A Nation.
This photo is taken from a go pro mounted on a drone. We are the boat far off to the right. What looks like patches of brown rock are actually ‘bombies’ underwater coral heads and there are hundreds to navigate around within the atoll Photo by Mark
Now, only parts of Chagos are open to visitors. The only way of reaching the atolls is by sea and no commercial vessel is provided a permit. The longest length of stay allowed is 28 days and one must have both yacht and health insurance neither of which we normally carry. However, we wanted to visit so now we are insured for a year.I doubt though our insurance company will ever pay out a claim!
We shared the Chagos anchorage with up to as many as 12 other sailing yachts from Germany, Austria, France, Australia, Britain, America, Seychelles and Canada. We supped on the beach through numerous BBQs, drank copious amounts of various liquids during sundowners, foraged in the jungle, swam with numerous sharks, fished for dinner, hunkered down during vicious squalls, madly collected water during intense rainfalls, kayaked over coral reefs and chased rainbows across the lagoons. I think the only thing that was missing was a local population to connect with and share stories and life experiences.
Silver Girl blessed with a pot of gold
However, there is always drama once more than 2 boats are in an anchorage together. That’s why we opened the Couples Therapy Centre (see photo). There wasn’t much business for the centre. The biggest drama involved a change of crew, one person jumped ship and left Chagos on a different boat, a French catamaran I was druelling over that is able to average over 200 miles per day at sea. The boat was an Outremmer 49 and I am sure the new crew had the voyage of a lifetime. Apart from that drama, crew on all boats remained the same as they were when they arrived. I think that the therapy centre can put that down as one of their successes. It’s not easy living in a small space for a long period of time with one other person!
Signage a group of us posted at the main collection site onshore
The Chagos Yacht Club
Coconut crabs abound on the islands as there is no resident population. Coconut crabs can grow to 1 metre in length and live as long as 60 years
After 20 days everyone was itching to leave but the SE trades were not cooperating. Planning ahead and making an early departure was not working. Long periods of calm hot weather persisted and day after day the required winds did not arrive. Finally the grib files showed a change and people started to prepare. A last potluck on the beach for the yachts headed to Rodrigues. Those headed to Madagascar and the Seychelles waited.
May 22nd our day came. The previous night had brought rain and easterly wind. Looked promising for a good start.
Note the blue line indicates the direct route between Chagos and the Seychelled. In order to keep the wind we headed south and then looped back north and into Victoria
Offshore sailing provides plenty of time for reading. It’s not like we can just get off and go for a stroll. Supine is the best description for offshore sailing especially when there’s not much wind and the temperatures are in the mid 30s. So, supine and reading take up many of our hours and here’s a list of the books read:
Path Between rhe Seas by David McCullough – a story of the building of the Panama Canal
by Gavin Young – a story of a Vietnamese family the writer befriended in the 1960s in Hue
Lonely Planet’s guidebook for the Seychelles, Mauritius and Reunion – have to know something about the place we’re visiting
The Last Train to Zona Verde by Paul Thoreaux – a recent account of a travel odyssey through South Africa, Namibia and Angola
Amy, My Daughter by Mitch Winehouse – a father’s account of a daughter’s struggle with fame, fortune, drugs and alcohol and her eventual death
Return of a King by William Dalrymple an historical narrative about the English in Afghanistan in the early to mid 1800s
After Dark by Haruki Murakami – I love the way he twists reality
Dark Age Ahead by Jane Jacobs – a must read for those intrigued by urban design
The Devil’s Teeth by Susan Casey – A true story of obsession and survival among white sharks set on the Farallone Islands
Apart from being supine, things that keep us busy are; changing sails with changing conditions, navigation (although with electronic charts and chart plotters the time here is severely reduced from our time with a sextant), making a flag for the next country we enter, repairing or trying to repair broken down refrigeration, avoiding crashing into other boats and all the other mundane day-to-day duties of cooking, cleaning and personal hygiene. All this in a space no bigger than your suburban bathroom!
The most unusual event on this crossing was seeing, at very early dawn, a sail not far in front of us. This is an exciting event and one that happens rarely. Of course, whoever is on watch has to alert others. There ensues a mad attempt to get even closer for identification purposes and to say hello. In this case catching up was not a problem and soon enough we were close enough to realize it was an american boat called Zephyr, a 48 foot Liberty, sailing from the Maldives direct to the Seychelles. Greetings were short and soon enough they disappeared and on we moved.
A few days later we are roaring along under a full moon across the eastern Seychelles bank towards the island of Mahe and the capital Victoria. The last 12 hours of sailing saw us averaging 6.8kn yet no water on deck. Excitement built as we approached the lights of Victoria and dropped our anchor down at 0800hrs at the quarantine buoy to await clearance.
Seychelles – Victoria Harbour
We were happy to be in and glad to have taken only 10 days. I can’t say we loved the trip. The seas were like a washing machine despite generally light winds. However, we had wind all the way and we only turned on the motor a couple of times to generate a little more electricity.
We are happy to be here.
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Postscript: since we have arrived we have three close friends where tragedy has struck
1 – Silver Girl – our Australian sailing buds we met in the Maldives were dismasted 220nm NE of Rodrigues and lost mast, boom and sails as everything had to be cut away quickly due to heavy seas. They motored the remaing distance and now have a big job to get r
2 – Nausicaa – our Italian sailing friend was hit by lightning sailing north from the Philippines to the Aleutians. He lost self steering, HF radio, radar and GPS. He is now in Hong Kong affecting repairs
How do we beat the heat?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nHLBy2BMkM
Never? The heat in areas 5-10 degrees north or south of the equator is unbeatable especially at times where there is little or no wind. The Maldives are extraordinary as much of the time there is no wind or very little. The one positive aspect in the Maldives is that when night falls there is little land to hold the heat and temperatutes drop to the equivalent of the ocean temperature i.e. 28C
What are the tricks to keep cool?
1 – keep the sun off the decks. Here is not a very complimentary picture of Sage at anchor with everything up possible to keep the sun off the boat
1 Awnings
Awnings are critical. We have awnings on the fore deck, mid deck and cockpit area. Ideally they would be made with a double layer. The first layer would to be to break the sun. The sandwiched layer would be to capture the heat and allow the wind to blow it away. Then the lower section would benefit from a breeze that loses heat quickly. Practically this is not possible; it increases weight, storage and man handling all making a double awning awkward. So single layer it is and it does help.
2 – Fans.
The biggest you can find. Limitations are only related to how much power you can use either 12 or 24 volts from the batteries or, 110 or 240 volts through a transformer. I have seen on an Australian 10m boat two wall-mounted household fans running through a transformer. They rotated and for that size of boat were great. They used a lot of power but they were mounted for whenever you wanted to move air. No storage problem!
You might find this strange but the picture below was taken on Silver Girl and mounted above the companionway is a 12 Volt fan. Aren’t we supposed to be in an environment where wind is constant. By no means. In the 6 weeks we have been in the Maldives we have only seen once a wind over 8knots and most days have been dead still with temperatures in the shade up to 34C. On the boats there is no protection from the sun and inside boats the temperature rises to 39C
Cockpit fan onboard Silver Girl
On Sage we have 6 fans. We have two over our V-berth, one mounted on the forward bulkhead pointing aft and another on a suction cup mounted to the hatch above the berth to push the night-time cooler air into the boat. The other fans are scattered around in various places where it’s our habit to sit
3 air conditioning.
The problem here is that one has to produce enough power to run an air conditioner and for most boats that’s a problem. Tied to a Marina, as Elaine said in the video, is about the only place they use their air conditioning. However, a number of years ago we were sailing in company with a 64 foot boat and they turned on their air conditioner from 1600-1900hrs to quickly bring the temperature down on the inside of the boat so that with nightfall they could turn the aircon off and have a cool boat for the evening.
4 – ice
ummm, nice thought as cubes can be used for drinks as well as for the forehead! Again the problem is generating enough electricity to run the freezer. An estimation of the number of boats with freezers is 25%. I may be out here but am just taking this from the we have met. Everyone these days has refrigeration but freezers are power guzzlers and one has to generate that power from either having a genset, solar panels or start the engine to run the alternator. We are not willing to start the engine or have a genset just to have a freezer
5 – Plenty of swims and showers.
Yes but with the surface level water day time temperature of the water here at 32C there’s not much relief from the heat and the fresh water rinse doesn’t last long. The other problem is sometimes the water is too dirty i.e. main harbours or like here in the anchorage as I write I have been stung by too many jelly fish to make is desirable.
6 – Fly back to Canada – but now it’s getting too warm in Canada!
Would love to hear your ideas on how to keep cool on a boat.
Those reading this in Canada do not need to tell me how to keep warm on a boat. I say head south….
North to south continued
We are still heading south weaving our way between coral heads, leaping across 50 nautical mile gaps between atolls, squeezing between bolts of lightning and gliding amongst myriad colours of fish as we snorkel the passes. There are limited opportunities for intriguing photography as one either needs an underwater camera to photo the aquatic wonders or an ultralight plane and/or drone to capture aerial views which would be spectacular. I have neither!
Sage at anchor
We experienced one dramatic sail when we made a two day/one night passage from Meemu Atoll to Gaafu Alif Atoll. We had a lovely 10 knot westerly pushing us, and our companions onboard Silver Girl, along at a comfortable pace.
Silver Girl wit Ann and Chris onboard
It was a wonderful sail during the day. Then as we were making the last part of the trip across open water, night fell and the drama began. Off in the distance ever darkening clouds, hints of thunder and lightning. The radar indicated an enclosing circle of heavy rain and the lightning and thunder rolled closer. Soon enough the wind rose to 40 knots and we were desperately clinging at the sails to reduce their volume yet relishing the freshwater rinse. But the lightning took all the fun out of the freshwater rinse.
Luckily we escaped unscathed but frustrated at the loss of wind an hour later when the storm passed. Another boat, Pipistrelle, was not so fortunate. Pipistrelle suffered a direct lightening hit. Pipistrelle is a newer Wauquiez and much more electrically reliant. The lightning took out all instrumentation, the alternator, the genset and the electronic self steering. As she was motoring at the time she was hit she no longer had control of the engine as all engine controls are electronic.
Pipistrelle with Bob and Elaine onboard
Neither Bob nor Elaine were injured but nevertheless quite shaken by the experience. They managed to limp into a harbour at the north end of Gaafu Alif Atoll called Kudafushi. Meanwhile Sage and crew were struggling along trying to make use of a dying wind that was turning southerly and a current that was not helping.
By the end of the day we managed to drop our anchor in Kudafushi and much to our surprise there were seven other foreign boats anchored there! Since starting our southerly sojourn through the Maldives, apart from Male, we have only seen two other boats so it was very much a surprise to see so many foreign boats in one anchorage. Of course, the conversation centred on Pipistrelle’s adventures and in what way could we all help. In the end Pipistrelle was able to jury rig the electronics enough to continue on south towards Gan. Somewhat crippled on some of her systems she has made it south here to Fares Mathoodha where they are bringing in a new alternator so that Pipistrelle can generate enough power to keep her 6 months worth of freezer inventory from spoiling.
Boat and weather woes are not the only thing keeping us occupied. Kudafushi was a wonderful gem. Great snorkeling and diving, a well protected anchorage and a welcoming town. Each of the towns we have been to in the Maldives have been pin neat with wide streets covered in blazingly white coral sand along with walled homes that hide some real gems. We did visit a few homes and the one below has a lovely garden with gazebo and an incredible fully air-conditioned home.
A lovely home worthy of placement in a place like Laguna Beach, CA!
Garden and gazebo
Gateway entrance to a Kudafushi home
The layout of the homes here reminds us of Mexico with the walled perimeter and gorgeous interiors with plenty of vegetation and outdoor living.
Our only other unusual adventure was one day, with our sailing friends Ann and Chris,
Ann and Chris waiting in the bar for the buffet to start at the Medhufushi Island Resort
we headed to a friendly resort for a buffet lunch at the Medhufushi Island Resort and a laze around the pool. Wow, we did the buffet justice and then with the temperature on our boats hovering around 38C at midday we lounged around the pool savouring the copious amounts of fresh water. What a luxury.
Poolside – what a luxury to have a fresh water shower for 3 minutes!
The view from the bar! The only place in the Maldives to get a drink as it’s not available in the stores
So our last jump is to Gan. Gan is where the star is on the satellite image screen shot and it’s our entry point into the southern hemispehere as right now in the anchorage we are only about 20 miles north of the equator. This will be our last stop in the Maldives before heading south….
Salaam Aleikum
Salaam aleikum is the usual greeting used in the Maldives. It’s a common greeting used in many Muslim countries and the Maldives is definitely Muslim, no liquor (except in the resorts) and no pork which I love and truly miss!
But ‘Wow’ is what sums up the Maldives. It’s not the tourist brochures with images of infinity pools perched out over the azure ocean or dining on a private balcony that makes one feel you are in an aquarium but rather we get to see the villages that those who toll for months at a time in the resorts return to when they get a little time off to be with their families.
We see pin-neat villages with schools, clinics, parks, sparkling fresh paint, new harbours and the most amazing extensive cellular coverage that rivals anywhere we have been (8gb of data for $38). The people are curious, friendly, helpful and inquisitive. It’s also a young population. It’s difficult to find someone over the age of 60 and of those my favourite are the old women who stand a few feet away from us and stare at us for what seems an age. What breaks their concentration is when you say ‘salaam aleikum’. They are bowled over. And then of course they are delighted and the traditional muslim treatment towards visitors cuts in and they will do anything to help out.
So far we get greater hospitality from the local villages than we ever get from resorts we have tried to anchor next to. We were given the advice that we should give notice of our arrival. So we usually pin point an island to sail to but the realize there’s a resort. We look up the phone number and/or email and send a note or phone asking if it’s OK to drop the anchor close by and come in for a lunch or dinner. Examples of the responses we’ve received are “anchoring will cost $120/night” or “tonight’s buffet dinner will cost $150/person” or “it’s forbidden for yachts to anchor in the lagoon”. I think now we have the picture. Resorts are off-limits. They are very exclusive and located in magical settings. They have everything from the jet skis to the parachute sailing, diving to water skiing and dessert trays that are making us cry out in anguish (at least that’s what the pictures show us on the web). I think they even have ice for their drinks.”I’m coming right over!” But, no, we are decidedly not welcome so we hunker down below sipping on our warm sodas and ginger beer and search in the dwindling stores for something enticing to eat.
Our forays to local villages aren’t that often. However, once we arrive we always find something to entertain us. The other day found us sitting around the tea shop with the winner of a national election in Milandhoo. We were entranced by the following statement from the local president of town council who answered the question “why are there no women on city council?” with the words ” they don’t care” to the recently re-elected MP who avoided the question ‘why is your previous prime minister in jail?”. For a recent update on the politics of the Maldives click here and for an interesting movie on the ex-president take a look at this movie which won accolades at the Sundance and T0r0nto film festivals
For all the wonderful aspects of the Maldives sailing is not one of them. Two days out of the Maldives coming in from Sri Lanka the wind died and since then we have not seen a wind over 8 knots except when stronger short-lived gusts are accompanied with lightning, thunder and torrential rain. It has been very frustrating and slow going. Under power we don’t make good progress but sometimes we are forced to. When there is some wind we limp along counteracting contrary currents and slowly seeking out a good route that will see us to another anchorage. Daily averages run about 20-30 miles.
Now as I write we are making our way from Faadho to Kashidhoo. The sea is lumpy, there is not enough wind for the sails to hold shape and the engine thumps its rhythm to push us forward against the current. Forward progress is about 2.9 knots. We’re not going to make Kashidoo by nightfall and the thought of being out overnight is not pleasant as there are black clouds surrounding us and the rain squalls drench us every hour or so. We keep going hoping conditions will improve. Turning back is no option as we don’t know the area well enough to choose a safe and comfortable anchorage.
We managed to make an anchorage by nightfall. We were precariously perched on the edge of a reef that marked the entrance into North Male Atoll. We had an uneventful nights anchorage and the next day reached Male, the capital of the Maldives.
Male, the capital. Male clings to a reef and there is hardly one square metre of recognizable land left. Every square metre has a building on it and have never seen a city that is such a hive of activity. Considering it is the main gateway for all goods entering and leaving the Maldives it’s understandable why there so much commercial activity. But what surprises us are some of the stores. Male’s overloaded with hardware stores and one can buy the most modern kitchen/bathroom fixtures to be found anywhere. I guess it’s because of all the very high-end resorts. In terms of food the choices are limited. We can’t find the bacon (ha, ha it’s a Muslim country) nor can we find the duty-free alcohol (for the same reason). However, those items can be found in the resorts but it doesn’t matter what wholesale place we poke are noses in the answer is no luck.
We don’t stay in Male but rather a 30 minute ferry ride away in Hulamale. There is an anchorage in Hulamale albeit a jumpy one what with ferry traffic, speed boats, dive boats, float planes and fishing boats. There is a village in Hulamale, built by the chinese and I swear modeled on the old Soviet model of mass housing. It’s block after block of 5 storey numbered cell blocks with very little public space and virtually no green space. Modern, full of guesthouses owned by the chinese, coffee shops every 50 metres but a pathetic choice of eateries the best being the Airport Beach Hotel restaurant offering a set meal for 25 dollars. Not a bargain but we treat ourselves to our first meal out in three weeks.
We make quick work of Male exiting in 6 days, provisioned up, full of water, tired of our umpteenth meal at the Seagull Cafe (quite good by Maldive standards), an extended cruising permit, canvas work sewn, a new dinghy pump (actually one given to us by Sam onboard S.V. Ramprasad) and 1,500 dollars poorer. That’s about $150 dollars per day but then for the next two weeks we have nowhere to spend money as we head south to Gan.
We are definitely glad to leave Male. It’s not the most attractive place and after sitting on deck one lazy afternoon I counted 30 seaplanes landing or taking off between 1630 and 1730. They fly over the top of the anchorage as do the jets flying in from around the world. One wonders when a jet will miss the runway and try to anchor beside us. It’s not only the planes. On the weekend the charter dive boats come in to pick up and drop off their guests. They have the oddest way of anchoring – all rope rodes and two anchors. One anchor is set forward of the bow and the other trails off to the side floating on the surface and I assume ready for wind to come from another direction. This makes it extremely difficult to think about moving in the dark by either dinghy or yacht and if the wind did change it would create pandemonium for those of us anchored on a single chain. Needless to say we were relieved when they had their new guests onboard and left on the Sunday. We got out of there before another weekend passed.
We have another 12 days before we have to be in Gan so that we stay within the time limits of our cruising permit. Our problem again, no wind. The sea is as smooth as a mirror and the sun is directly overhead as it moves north for the season. Daytime temperature inside the boat rises close to 40C and with no wind it makes it easy for the yeast to raise the dough – and perhaps even bake the bread!
The anchorages continue to be spectacular in terms of water clarity, sea life (including sharks) and sunrise/sunsets. This is definitely a place to come to if you enjoy surfing, diving and snorkelling but not a great place for the water sports like windsurfing and kiteboarding. I am not sure where the resorts get their pictures from where guests are shown wildly maneuvering their windsurfers through the 20-25 knot gusts out over the azure ocean. I don’t think we have yet seen a wind over 10 knots and we’ve been here now for more than a month!
Today we got our first positive response from a resort. The Hotel Mehdhufushi Island Resort is actually allowing us to come in for a buffet lunch and, we hope, a chance to lie around the pool. Not once has a resort been reasonably welcoming (meaning drinks and/or food at a reasonable price) which we are very surprised at. Here we are asked to pay $U.S.10/person just to land on the island and we are paying $U.S.35/person for a buffet lunch. Seeing as we haven’t spent a dollar in the last week we figure we can splurge and run away from the heat onboard and lie under a palm tree till the sunset. We are shaking with anticipation!
Here is a picture gallery of the Maldives to date. First off Google Earth screen shots of some of our anchorages – there are plenty of these you can look at and Google Earth. Due to comprehensive internet coverage in the Maldives, Google Earth has become a key navigational tool to enable us to find nooks and crannies to anchor in that with electronic charts would be impossible to do as coverage is terrible. We get terribly upset if one of the satellite pics has clouds just where we want to go! These two screen grabs show you just how amazing it would be to be anchored in the atoll and the myriad places to go for snorkelling/diving.
We always have our eyes pealed for pretty boats. What a better example of this one found waiting to be put to work
Quintessential photo of a Maldivian boat at anchor
And one under construction. This one was about 15metres and was an impressive site considering the available tools and materials available.
Impressive construction of a local boat
We met Chris and Anne at our first anchorage in the Maldives, Uligamu. They are onboard their Australian yacht called Silver Girl. We have thoroughly enjoyed have a companion boat to make our way down to Gan. They are great fun and we’ve had lots of shared adventures and scares
Connie, Ann and Chris – tike to relax but no drinks
Locals have been very welcoming. Tours of villages, cups of coffee over political discussions. The only negative is that Maldivians are not allowed on foreign vessesls without prior permission. We found out the hard way but we still don’t understand????
Connie, Ann, Chris and Tony on tour thanks to friendly locals
Not only do the Maldivians have to leave home for work but the doctor in the picture below talking to Connie was from India on a 2 year posting
Market day in Khuludufusshi and discussing life and politics with the local doctor who is from India. Photo by Ann
Trying for height I took this from the rooftop of a downtown hotel. I was more tempted by the pool on the rooftop than the view!
Male – there’s very little land left and the water continue to rise
To get to Male from Hulamale where Sage was anchored we had to take a 20 minute ferry ride. Perhaps this is the solution for BC Ferries. Check out the seats – economical and easily replaced
BC Ferries? No, actually the ferry from Hulamale to Male
Male was in turmoil. The court had ordered the imprisonment of the ex-president, protestors and signs were everywhere. See links in the above text for more of the story but here are a couple of posters. Unfortunately, in one protest by migrant workers two Pakistanis were beaten to death and a number of others jailed. What is going on?
Check out the provided links on the story behind this poster
And the next evening the government supporters were hard at work covering over the above poster
Ditto
Male is a maelstrom of activity. It’s the commercial centre of the Maldives and has almost everything
Impressive deck on this Maldivian fish boat
And best of all are the smiles. I have to say very friendly people
Always a sucker for a nice smile
But Male couldn’t hold us back from heading back out into the islands and further south. You can see why in the photo below. A navigators nightmare but behold was is below the surface
More ‘bommies’
And who is headed out there?
Out for a snorkel
Musings in the Maldives
We are approaching Uligamu and all the trials and tribulations of the last 10 days will be behind us.
We’ve been drenched by a tropical rainstorm while picking our way between reefs and anchored fishboats10 miles off the east coast of Sri Lanka. We’ve been accosted by fishermen asking for fags or booze, followed and harrassed by large and intimidating fishboats from who knows where, swum around by pairs of turtles, led by pods of dolphins, let sea snakes slither along the hull and watched flying fish by the hundreds struggle to maintain their flight over the ocean waves to avoid their pursuer. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen the pods of blue and sperm whales that we had been expecting and we haven’t caught any fish for dinner but our speed has been slow for catching fish and appetites minimal (I think that’s just to make me feel better!).
As we approach Uligamu we peer over the sides and into the clearest water we have seen in years. Shafts of torquoise shoot from the depths below seeming to so want to paint the deep blue ocean a different colour. The clouds on the horizon, we know from our weatherman, lie overtop of the atolls beckoning us forward. Reminds me of the Maori name for New Zealand which is Aotearoa, the land of the long white cloud. Has to be one of the most descriptive and beautiful country names.
For the last two days we have been motoring and for those of you who know me this is not something I like to do. It’s coming to the end of the second day and soon the engine will be switched off to give us some relief from the mechanical rhythms and a chance to enjoy a quiet dinner under the stars with the night’s menu of fresh baked foccaccia with pasta and a cold ginger beer. Then we will get a few hours sleep rising before the sun to probably motor the last miles into Uligamu.
0300hrs comes soon but no-one complains. The stars are out in full force and while we slept the drifter kept us moving in the right direction and shortened the motoring by 12 miles. We both slept well and with the lights of the atolls shining up into the sky we know we are close. Oddly enough it’s not only the visible lights shining skywards that beckons us but also the occasional, actually frequent, ringing of the cell phone welcoming us to the Maldives and advertising their company rates that are available. Where’s the romance gone?
To be honest we do enjoy the connectivity our modern technology has brought to sailing. It is truly astounding to be enjoying a morning coffee and a fresh fish breakfast while talking on Skype to someone in the more frozen parts of Canada (sorry to rub it in). The Maldives, due to its economy which caters to the very wealthy vacationers of the world has 4G connectivity along the entire string of islands and atolls from 7 degrees north to just below the equator. So for a while we journey through the playground of the wealthy at least being able to sample some of the benefits while munching on our local fare of processed cheeses, UHT milk and dahl!
There is, at times, an ‘other worldliness’ here that makes it special. For me this usually comes at sunrise and sunset with the call to prayer. Don’t get me wrong, I have not taken to being religious but last night it so struck me as we were sitting on deck watching the sunset and as the orange ball sunk into the sea the muezzin sang out from the mosque. Yes, amplified for which I hope never happens in Canada, but such a sound. I would never have said this for the many anchorages we had in Malaysia and Thailand where the muezzin screeched like a wounded cat from the mosque not only as a call to prayer but also to proselytize. Here the call to prayer was called out from someone who must have been trained at the prestigious Julliard School of music in New York. The call seemed to rebound off the clouds as they turned pinker and pinker and then rebounded off the pallet of the ocean. Having the call to prayer at this time just seemed perfect to slow the space of time and giving a contemplative mood. Our introduction to the Maldives and Uligamu in particular.
Now, the negative part of the call to prayer comes early in the morning – 0530hrs. Umm, I’m not so contemplative that early in the morning.
Smiles
There are two very amazing characteristics of Sri Lanka. The first, unlike India, is that women are seen out in both the country and the cities participating in all aspects of life. I noticed this on a recent trip to Colombo and was so excited to have picked up on this key piece as it has been quite some time since I was last in India. There were many times in India where we noticed the lack of women particularly in the cities in the evenings. This made Connie feel very uncomfortable and for good reason considering some of the recent internationally reported incidences of assaults on women. However, in Sri Lanka, the feeling is far different.
The second characteristic of Sri Lankans is their wonderful smiles. No matter where we have been we have been met by kind and expressive smiling faces. People are welcoming, curious and courteous. The questions are generally the same; ‘where are you from?’, ‘how many children do you have’, ‘how long are you in Sri Lanka’, ‘do you have a pension?’ and very commonly ‘can you give me some money’! It’s only the last one we get tired of but there others are welcomed and it always leads to further conversations as we get to ask the same questions and more.
So, below are some of those smiling faces. They’re not all smiling but we can’t be happy all the time!
Who is this guy taking my photo
Working hard selling flowers
Top of Sigiriya so must be happy not to have to climb any higher
Philomena, Connie and Margaret having a great chin wag
Can’t tell why Myra’s laughing but it must be something our guide, Kallum, is doing1
Happy?
Well, he’s not laughing but certainly vigilant
Another wonderful Sri Lankan welcoming smile
Ecsttic – out of school
Seems happy on this branch
Karen from Yolo – having a great time looking for elephants
Getting ready to enter the temple
Pictoral travels through Sigiriya and Dambulla
We made a two day trip up to two places designated as UNESCO world heritage sites.
Our 2 day path
The two places we wanted to visit were in Sigiriya and Dambulla. Both are high on people’s must see list for Sri Lanka and I certainly, with our limited chance to see the sites, that they are both well worth the effort.
Sigiriya is a stunning example of early landscape architecture and the scale is mind-boggling and the water features complex and extensive.
After passing through the gateway entrance one crosses a moat that once encircled the site
Entrance to the site is different for foreigners. We paid 3,900Rps/person or Cdn$33/person – a hefty price when a day’s wage for a tour drive is Cdn$10! What it does encourage is Sri Lankans to visit the site as it’s quite cheap, 30rps ($1), by Sri Lankan standards.
Main approach to the rock outcrop
The approach to the rock outcrop, the centre of the attraction, is about 300 metres and on either side are water features with underground plumbing feeding each of the ponds and pools.
From the gardens that surround the rock
Even Sigiriya has its wardens
Reaching the end of the gardens and approaching the climb to the top of the rock one first enters between the two rocks seen below
The entranceway to the lower portion of the rock face takes you through two giant rocks leaning against each other
Climbing up the wall took a little nerve as the stairways (1,200 steps) clung to the rock face for part of the way
But the reward soon comes upon reaching the top of the rock
Looking down on the main approach
Stunning 360 degree views of the surrounding countryside
Looking north from the top of the rock outcrop
But most stunning is the complex once build on top of the rock combining pools, stairways , thrones, terraced walls etc
On the top of the rock outcropping they build this amazing pleasure garden with stunning views out over the countryside
Climbing in 30C heat and humidity takes it out of us and so after this site we headed to a hotel for the night. Accommodation can be cheap. Ours wasn’t although it should have been! No more to be said on that one.
So, next day it was on to Dambulla.
One has to be ready to view more buddhas. It’s kind of like travelling in Europe where one has to get used to the cathedrals.
Wait a minute I’m not just a chimney sweep
Dambulla is another climb. Not quite as strenuous as Sigiriya but a little uphill slog.
Yes, more buddhas
It’s uphill till one reaches the caves and carvings.
Cave upon cave built under the protection of the rock houses hundreds of Buddhas
Another buddha cave
Small stupa inside one of the caves
Sleeping or just contemplating
Hennaed feet for anyone
One of hundreds of Buddhas carved inside the caves of Dambulla
And that’s it as we trek back to Trincomalee
Sage on sail 