Year 3 -1 April 2026 – A day in Uligan - Maldives
We woke to a lovely calm sunny day and Miranda went for a swim. The water was crystal clear and it looked like our keel should be on the bottom, however we had metres of room. J blocked his heads and although we spent time trying to clear it – it would not work-another lovely job to sort out.
We went ashore by dinghy to meet our agent at 9.00am and he organised a golf cart to take us to the Uligan Beach Resort restaurant which was about a quarter of a mile from the port area. The agent sat us down and he gave us our passports back which he had taken the day before so we could enter it into the system. He welcomed us to the island and we had a welcome drink. The restaurant was on a lovely white sandy beach with a beautiful azure blue sea.
After a paddle and a few welcome drinks (there is no alcohol on the island as it is Muslim) we asked to have a little tour of the island. The golf cart took us right to the end of the island and there was one long sand road which had lights and palm trees lining it. We passed the mosque and the health centre and pharmacy.
The island has a population of about 500 and it is basically a large sand island with some trees on it. I was impressed by the buildings and they all seemed well built out of brick and plastered. The restaurant had 10 rooms and building was in hand to make it 30. The island had a few shops (one called Sailors Choice) and made its own water by desalination. There were small streets really all sand and no tarmac at all. You got a sense of pride and it did not seem poor. They had built some showers on the beach and the school was impressive with an astro turf pitch. It was a lovely place to live and beautiful conditions with the sea and the reef nearby.
Once we had been driven round we returned to the restaurant and had another watermelon juice and then ultimately lunch which was tasty and with a bit of spice. We had a wonderful view of the beach and azure sea right in front of us. It was magical.
I had asked the agent Assad whether he knew of an electrician to look at the windlass and I mentioned the toilet as well and the engine room fan. He said Irius was the man and we agreed he would come at 2.00pm.
Uligan or Uligamu is one of the inhabited islands of Haa Alif Atoll and geographically part of the Ihavandhippolhu Atoll in the Maldives. It is an island-level administrative constituency governed by the Uligan Island Council. The island is 327.97 km (204 mi; 177 nmi) north of the country's capital, Malé. Uligan is an outpost in the northwest Indian Ocean. It is the final stop most people make on the way from Thailand before they enter the Gulf of Aden or sail directly up the Red Sea.
One of the major sources of income for the islanders is by selling souvenirs and ship provisions for passing yachtsmen. An airport is planned to be built on this island, to serve Haa Alif Atoll.
Maldives made history with the implementation of the world's first hybrid AC Coupled Renewable Energy Micro Grid in Uligan that will help reduce the dependence on fossil fuel and toxic emissions, which in turn will contribute to reduce the effects of climate change.
We returned to Stormbird about 1.30pm and I had turned on Starlink earlier and it did not work so I had emailed my provider. They said turn it on again and reboot and after a number of attempts it finally began to work which was a relief.
The agent and workmen (Irius & Hammad) came to the boat about 2.45pm and I showed him the windlass motor and he thinks it is the coil in the motor and there is a company in Male who should be able to fix it so we will arrange that. He then looked at the blocked heads and he thought the pipe to the tank was blocked. He took it off and the non-return valve and then we pumped the flush into a bucket and it cleared. The non return valve was quite clogged too bit after some good cleaning the heads was now operational again. Thank goodness.
Irius then had to take Assad back and then to take some divers to somewhere. He is apparently Mr Fixit on the island.
While we were waiting we saw a great pod of dolphins swim past and Jamie got in the water and swam with them and he was astonished by this. There was also a lot of fish around the boat and coral. We had got our anchor in the sand but had floated back over some coral. Jamie got out his drone and took some nice pictures-see picture of the day.
Irius did eventually return and then we looked at the engine room fan. It was not a loose wire but the motor was full of carbon deposits etc. He took the fan out and then took it apart and cleaned the coil, contacts and whole assembly with petrol and then contact cleaner. He then assembled everything and put it back and it worked and worked very well and like new. It is great that in a tiny island like this you can find someone to sort things out like this. Irius did not finish until about 8.00pm.
J had decided to fish off the boat and believe it or not had caught an octopus which Miranda and Jamie cooked. We had a taste each and it was lovely.
We decided to have cheese and biscuits, having had a big lunch. It had been a lovely day and although we did not get the windlass fixed we did get the heads and fan fixed.
We plan to leave early tomorrow for Male where Jamie will get off on the 5th and Stig & Cari get on on the 6th. They are in Mumbai at present and will fly to Male that morning. You can think of a lovely paradise island and I think Uligan comes close to perfection on that description.
The picture of today is Stormbird from the drone overhead with coral around us and the dinghy off the back and the workmen boat alongside.
Need/Opportunity Year Three
I will be going shortly from India to the Maldives and then on to Mauritius, Reunion, Cape Town, St Helena, Azores and back to the UK.
I am looking for one crew from Mauritius/ Reunion Island to Cape Town (mid-June to end of July). If of any interest do email me.
The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com