Year 3 -22 April 2026 –-New Crew - Himmufushi -North Male Atoll – Maldives
It was a pleasant day when we woke and we had an early breakfast with a delicious papaya. I went ashore with Stig about 8.30am and we took the washing to Noah who had agreed to do it and got rid of some rubbish.
We then chilled and Stig & Cari packed as they were leaving on the 10.45am ferry to the airport. They enjoyed just watching the water around us and were rewarded by seeing 3 rays, a turtle and lots of different fish.
I took them to the ferry at 10.30am and we said our goodbyes. We were sorry they were going as they had been great fun and really contributed whilst on board. This is their second trip and I think they enjoyed it although we have not had a lot of wind. They are flying back via Mumbai.
At 11.40ish I went to the port again and collected Thaleem who had to have a coffee first, two cigarettes and some water !!. This enabled me to wait for the 12.15pm ferry which was coming from the airport. Carolyn and Joyce were arriving on the 8.55am flight from London and I had not heard from them. I had messaged. They were not on the ferry which was a worry but I could do not more at present. Thaleem and I returned to Stormbird.
I then heard from Carolyn that they could not find the ferry and had actually booked from Male not the airport but a man was helping sort it out and they would be on the 2.10pm. I said I would pick them up from the quay.
Thaleem and I set about removing 4 batteries from the main 24v bank and swapping them with 4 new 6v batteries from the bow thruster bank. The bow thruster then worked well and as it should and I thought that is great. I had also spent some time that morning putting distilled water in the lead acid batteries. Thaleem then set about looking at the windlass. The motor was shorting so the coil was touching something inside.
I went to the shore again and Carolyn and Joyce were on the ferry and I brought back to Stormbird where Keith looked after them whilst I carried on with the windlass work. Keith had kindly made some lunch which
I grabbed whilst working.
Thaleem was looking at the rest of the windlass and thought there was something wrong inside as the turning was not smooth. It took some time to take it apart but we did it with me running up and down getting this and that. He said the bearings needed changing and that they would do it all in Male. He took with him the whole windlass in bags. By this time (5.30pm) I had had enough and I had a shower and we had a sundowner on the aft deck – another day of jobs again.
We then went to have supper in the harbour at a local restaurant which was quite pleasant. It was good to have Carolyn and Joyce on board and I could forget the issues for a while. Whilst it was another frustrating day a root and branch overhaul of the windlass (and not just the motor is) probably sensibly required. Let’s hope tomorrow brings positive news and we will soon have an overhauled and working windlass.
The picture of today is of course the 4 of us having a meal in Hummafuchi– with the new crew.
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