Year 3 -1st May 2026 – Sailing and arriving to Gan -Addu Atoll – Maldives

After dinner – the heavens opened and there I was standing at the helm in waterproofs dripping with rain. You could hardly see very far ahead and I had the radar on which showed the rain clouds. We had thunder and lightning and the wind strengthened. This went on for about 30 minutes and I then handed over reefed sails to Carolyn and Joyce.

I was soon woken as the wind had died and so we decided to motor sail. The wind came up again and throughout their shift I had to help them raise and lower sails etc and at one point the wind had swung round to the North. This meant I got little rest and we were being chased by rain clouds.

Keith and Erika took over and the heavens opened again and we had to go through a large rain band again and we were now on the run up to an island off the Addu Atol. I managed to get a hour or so sleep and then I took over at 2.00am until 5.00am and Keith stayed with me for about 20 minutes and although we were sailing we were being pushed off course due to the wind and so it became a decision – we continue to sail as we can go faster but off course or we motor direct and use up more diesel. I decided to sail for an hour and then we motored. However, as we were motoring we came to the equator for the third time on my circumnavigation and so we passed from the Northern to Southern hemisphere again.

Over time the wind came round to the Northeast again and we could sail toward our target but again over time it backed and we were off course.

We had fruit and yoghurt for breakfast and were now motoring again to the pass for the Addu Atol. As we were getting close to the pass a large pod of black dolphins came to greet us and swam fast and well under and passed us. A lovely welcome and you never tire of seeing them.

We entered the pass which had reefs either side with the waves crashing over the reefs in long rolling waves.

We could now see more of the atoll which had a number of islands on certain parts of it with houses and buildings on them and you could see the palm trees and other foliage. The largest island is Gan.

Gan is the southernmost island of Addu Atoll (also known as Seenu Atoll), as well as the southernmost island of the Maldives. It is relatively large by Maldive standards.

The origin of the word "Gan" is in the Sanskrit word "Grama", meaning "village".

Gan is the second largest island of the atoll, after Hithadhoo, and measures 2.2561 square kilometres (0.87 sq mi) in area. Gan was formerly inhabited, but its inhabitants were moved to neighbouring islands after the British naval and airbase was built. It has had continuous human habitation since very ancient times and during the pre-Islamic era was the head island and a Buddhist place of learning in Addu. There were large, cultivated fields of yams, manioc and coconut trees on this island. There were a few mosques in the village. A former havitta at island's east end had to be removed to build the runway.

Gan now has a hotel catering to tourists and is connected by causeways to the neighbouring islands of Feydu, Maradu and Hithadhoo.

In 1922 H. C. P. Bell visited this island and investigated the ancient Buddhist ruins there. These included the foundations of a temple (vihara) and a mound or a low hill which was a very ruined stupa. Gan's ruins were the remains of the southernmost Buddhist site of the Maldives. The mound, as well as the foundations of the nearby vihara, were bulldozed when the airport was built.

British base

In 1941, during the Second World War, the Royal Navy established a base ("Port T"). An isolated island base with a safe, deep anchorage in a suitably strategic position was required, and Addu met the requirements. Once available, its facilities were used extensively by the Fleet.

Royal Navy engineers landed in August 1941 from HMS Guardian to clear and construct airstrips on Gan for the Fleet Air Arm. In the interim, Catalina and Sunderland flying boats operated from jetties on the northern, sheltered side of Gan. Large oil tanks were built on Gan, and on Hitaddu Island on the western edge of the atoll; vital elements for a naval base. These were visible from a long distances at sea, but this was unavoidable, given the atoll's low profile.

Ship's supplies for the fleet were provided from a pair of Australian refrigerated ships, Changte and Taiping that included Addu in a number of bases that they serviced regularly. Three times these ships replenished forty or more ships of the Eastern Fleet. Several large Australian Imperial Force troop convoys also refuelled at Addu on their way from Aden to Fremantle, Western Australia.

The six major islands were garrisoned by the 1st Royal Marine Coast Defence Regiment, manning shore batteries and anti-aircraft guns. To facilitate the defence, causeways were built connecting the western islands of Gan, Eyehook (Abuhera), Maradhoo and Hithadhoo and, much later in the war, they were linked by a light railway. Addu was an unpopular posting due to the hot, humid climate, lack of recreational facilities and lack of socialising with the local population.

The Japanese remained unaware of the base's existence until their plans for expansion in South-east Asia had come to nothing, even during their carrier raids in the Indian Ocean in April 1942. Later in the war, submarine reconnaissance established the base's existence. Despite openings into the lagoon being permanently closed by anti-submarine nets, the German U-boat U-183 torpedoed the tanker British Loyalty in March 1944 (she had been previously torpedoed and sunk at Diego Suarez in May 1942, but was raised and towed to Addu for use as an oil storage vessel); this was a long-range shot from outside the atoll through a gap in the anti-torpedo nets. Although seriously damaged, the tanker did not sink. She was not fully repaired but kept as a Ministry of War Transport Oil Fuel Storage Vessel. There was significant oil pollution after this incident and British personnel were used to clean the lagoon, but they were only partially successful.

On 5 January 1946, British Loyalty was scuttled southeast of Hithadhoo Island in the Addu Atoll lagoon. Despite the fact that she is still leaking oil, she has become a popular diving location.

In 1957, the naval base was transferred to the Royal Air Force. From 1957, during the Cold War, it was used as an outpost as RAF Gan. The base remained in intermittent service until 1976, when British Forces withdrew. My father, who was in the air force, has told me he has landed 3 times here before the base closed.  

From Gan Island several rockets of the Kookaburra type were launched from a pad at 0°41' S and 73°9' E.

Most of the employees who had experience working for the British military spoke fluent English. When the base at Gan was closed for good, they turned to the nascent tourism industry for employment. As a result, there was an influx of Addu people to Malé seeking employment in the nearby resorts and also looking for education for their children.

After the British military left, the airstrip was neglected and remained almost unused for many decades. Recently it has been developed into what is now Gan International Airport and also has a tourist resort, Equator Village.

As we came though the pass I could see certain yachts on AIS anchored, one of which was Sabre 2 which is a boat which was on the Indonesian Rally – owned by an American, Brice Kittle. It took us an hour to get to the anchorage and I had messaged Brice saying we will see him soon. We saw him come up as we came close and we motored round to see where we could anchor. We found a place between Sabre 2 and another boat and settled. We then had some lunch and I let the Agent know we had arrived. We got the dinghy down and tidied up.

Brice swam over and we had a chat and he said he and his 2 new crew were going to the Equator Village, which was a resort on Gan island. They were going about 4.30pm and I said I would speak to the crew and may join them.

I has still not yet heard from Keith Winstanley and hoped all was ok.

Brice and crew went off at 4.30pm and we left at about 5.00pm and we had to motor for about half a mile and then leave the dinghy on a concrete pontoon and then we walked through a boat yard and along a road to the Equator Village which was a resort behind gates. We had to show our passports and be checked in. We then met up with Brice, Charlie (an American) and Michael, an Irishman. It was great to have a few drinks which then turned into a meal and to relax after our passage. We had sailed 328m miles in just over 46 hours and had averaged over 7 kts which was good being in mind the rain and unpleasant conditions.

I had a phone call from Keith which was great. I had been a bit worried as he had no signal in hospital. He had now been discharged and was recovering in a hotel. He is feeling much better although his leg is a little sore still. It was great to hear from him and he is on the mend.

We sat down for a meal which was nice. Whilst at the meal we were introduced to a man called Peter Broughton, who was now the Skipper of a catamaran called No Excuse which we passed on the way to Equator Village.  

The $2.5 million catamaran named No Excuse, which was used in February 2026 to transport Chagossians to the Chagos Islands to establish a settlement and protest the UK-Mauritius handover deal, was funded by British Thai businessman and Conservative/Reform UK mega-donor Christopher Harborne.

Key details regarding the funding and mission:

·       Funding Source: Christopher Harborne provided the funds to purchase the 55ft catamaran.

·       Project Oversight: The operation was overseen by former Conservative MP (now aligned with Reform UK) Adam Holloway.

·       Mission Goal: The mission was a "stealth operation" designed to land Chagossians on Ile du Coin in the Peros Banhos atoll to create a permanent settlement and prevent the islands from being handed over to Mauritius.

·       Crew: The boat was captained by Mike Broughton, with support from his brother Peter Broughton who we were talking to. Mike has now left and Peter is in charge now.

·        

The vessel was used to land Misley Mandarin, who claims to be the democratically elected "First Minister" of the Chagossians, and others on the island, where they were supported by supplies from the yacht.

Christopher Harborne, the financier, was born on 18 December 1962 in Mosborough, Sheffield, to Edgar Harborne, an insurance investor, and homemaker Joan. He is a descendent of English writer R. C. Sherriff and has two siblings, including his late sister Katharine. He was educated at Westminster School and at Downing College, Cambridge, where he received the degrees of MA and MEng. He also received an MBA from the Institut européen d'administration des affaires (INSEAD) in 1988.

Harborne worked for five years as a management consultant at McKinsey and Co., before running a research company in Asia. He describes himself as an "investor in new tech, including open software blockchain platforms". He is the CEO of Sherriff Global Group which trades in private planes, and the owner of AML Global, a firm that sells aviation fuel. He is a billionaire. He has made a donation to enable the founding of INSEAD San Francisco and to create a Blockchain Research Fund. He has set up a company, Singular AI Consulting Limited, with cryptocurrency miner Marco Streng. As of December 2019, he is based in Thailand.

According to The Times, Harborne's name "features in the Panama Papers as an intermediary of companies linked to offshore accounts"

Harborne donated more than £6m to the Brexit Party in 2019, £3 million in the summer and £3 million before the United Kingdom general election in 2019, making him the largest donor that year.

Before switching his donations to the Brexit Party, Harborne had donated smaller sums, averaging £15,000 per annum since 2001 totalling about £270,000, to the Conservative Party. In November 2022, Harborne donated £1 million to The Office of Boris Johnson Ltd, one of the biggest donations ever made to an individual British politician. The government awarded Qinetiq, a company in which Harborne was the largest single shareholder, an £80 million Ministry of Defence contract in January 2023. He acted as an advisor to Boris Johnson on his trip to Kyiv in September 2023 to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In 2024 he donated £5 million to Nigel Farage, shortly before Farage announced that he had changed his mind and decided to stand as a candidate in that year's general election.

Harborne donated £9 million to Reform UK in 2025, and a further £3 million in March 2026, making him the largest single donator to a UK political party in a financial year in UK history. As of April 2026 his donations to Reform UK amount to more than £22 million in total, roughly two-thirds of all the party's donations since its foundation.

Well – it is interesting who you meet on these type of travels and so we sat with Peter and he told us about how they have been back and forth to the Chagos on the catamaran.

Once we had had enough we dinghied back to the boat in the dark and went to bed. It had been a long and interesting day.

The picture of the day is the plotter as we crossed the equator again.

 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 currently in need of potentially 2 crew from Mauritius to Cape Town from about 10 June 2026 and we should arrive in Cape Town on about 25-30 July 2026. If at all interested contact me on my email below or WhatsApp +44 7931360372.

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