Year 3 -20 April 2026 – Himmufuschi -Maa Haa Atoll -North Male Atoll – Maldives

It was another hot day when I woke and I had an early breakfast. I offered to let the guys use the dinghy whilst I was in Male but they declined so I headed off to the port and secured the dinghy and got on the ferry. It left just after 8.00am and we zoomed off past Stormbird and down the lagoon where there is another small pass through which we whizzed.

The journey took about 15 minutes to Male and as we got closer it got busier and busier. There were lots of anchored ships and ferries and commercial boats going about their business. We docked at jetty 2 where I had got off from Crossroads Marina. Thaleem met me on his moped so he asked me to get on the back with no helmet and off we went. I was not that keen but this is the way to get round the city.

We motored round through little streets to the battery shop which was closed and opened at 9.00am so he took me to a coffee haunt he knows and yes you guessed it -black coffee, water, cigarettes and nuts!! He chatted to all sorts of people he knew and the police who also came in for a coffee.

Eventually we left there and I asked whether he had the fuel pipe which I had bought which did not work. He had forgotten it so we went via his flat and then to a fruit market which I got some fruit and vegetables which were not cheap as it is really all imported. We then went to the battery shop and bought 2 more batteries, 4 leads and some oil for the windlass and we replaced the fuel pipe for the dinghy. This took some time and we then got a cab to the ferry and we loaded up the batteries.

The ferry left on time and I had heard from Tim Hewitson, the electrician in the UK, who said that look at the contractor for the bow thruster which should stop it taking from the other batteries when operating. In addition the guy in the battery shop said check the charging which we said we will do. 

We returned to Hummafuschi and got the batteries into the dinghy. We got them to Stormbird and then started to add the two extra batteries to the bow thruster pack with the extra leads we had bought. It then came to the moment of truth and we tried the bow thruster. It now had six batteries and it worked a lot better than with 4 but it was not as it should be. We then put the generator on and checked that that battery bank was charging and also the 24v main bank and the 12 v and engine start battery. He looked at the contactor which was in the forepeak and it looked ok. He suggested we may need 2 more batteries. I said I would think about it and I wanted to leave Hummafuschi and do something different and I was conscious of taking too much time for the crew.

I therefore took Thaleem back to the port. With his help I found a shop which sold some tuna so bought some for supper and returned to Stormbird.

We got the dinghy on the davits and upped the anchor and motored through the reef pass. We then headed North as I wanted to go to Maa Haa Atoll some 17/18 odd miles North. There was no wind and the sea was flat calm. We were soon what felt like the middle of nowhere and we had to dodge some shallow patches and reefs.

As we were going I had a thought. Why not take 4 batteries from the main bank and put them for the bow thruster thereby replicating what was there before and you could join 2 of the 6 new batteries to it and use the other 4 to replace from the main bank. This could work and I messaged Thaleem about it.

We motored on and we saw the odd boat, a solitary dolphin we thought and little else and by 4.50pm we came to the entrance to the lagoon which was marked with a large light. We eased in with plenty of depth and then we headed over to where others have anchored before. This was in about 5 m of water and there had been a few bommies around. We anchored on sand and we went in to check the anchor and to enjoy a swim. I swam round in a large loop to replicate our swinging circle and there was quite a large bommie which we had been unable to see before which was about 10m behind us. Although the conditions were very calm I thought it prudent to up the anchor and move to a little deeper and out the way of the bommies.

Once we were sorted we had a sundowner and enjoyed a beautiful sunset. We were the only boat here and we were in the middle of a lagoon surrounded by a round reef. It was so quiet and still and quite a contrast to Hummafuschi. Cari and Stig tried to fish as the sun went down but alas we did not catch anything.

I cooked the tuna which we had with our home-made pesto with rice and broccoli and everyone thought it was delicious and the tuna was so tender. It felt good to have an afternoon of not maintaining boats and to relax a little and be on the move.    

The picture of today is Stig and Cari fishing from the deck during the sunset in the Maa Haa Atoll.

 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 full which is great but if things change I will make this clear.

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