Year 3 -24 April 2026 – Himmufushi -North Male Atoll – Maldives – a treading water day.

It was another hot morning and we had breakfast. I decided to go into the port about 9.00am to dump the rubbish and to get a haircut which I managed to do. It was quite short and quite severe but there is plenty of time for it to grow again.

When I returned Keith, Joyce and Carolyn were hard at do a provisioning list and noting what we had. They wanted to throw out some jars I had been keeping etc and I stopped that as they are used for relishes or something like that. This took most of the morning.

I had heard from Thaleem that the windlass parts were finished on his part but the motor would not be done today as Friday is a holiday here and should be done tomorrow. I suggested to Thaleem that he come to fit the windlass and to change over the batteries again in preparation for the motor. He said he would try to come in the afternoon but he was in the office this morning.

Joyce and Carolyn made some lunch and by this time Keith was not feeling well and had some shakes. He thought it was because he had not had enough water so he retired to bed with plenty of water.

I got on with further admin to do with Mauritius and South Africa and some further planning. The afternoon went by and the ladies took a dip or two. I liaised with Thaleem and he had to get some parts to complete everything and he missed a ferry. It became clear that there was little point in him coming today and so I said come tomorrow with everything including hopefully the motor. I can charge the batteries to get us overnight.

Keith remained in bed and the shakes went but he did not feel brilliant. He came into the cockpit and rested and then fell asleep. We talked of going to the floating bar and then out for supper. Clearly this was not on the cards so I made some pesto pasta which was easy although Keith did not want any and went back to bed.

I did not feel at all comfortable about this and after a quick call with my cousin Ben (a retired GP) I decided I needed to get Keith checked out as he is diabetic. We therefore got him out of bed and headed ashore. I knew where the medical clinic was and so we walked round there and walked in. There were 3 nurses and a Doctor I think and I asked Keith to take a seat. I explained to the nurse the symptoms Keith had had and that he was diabetic and she said she needed his passport to register him. I said I did not have it but I would go and get it and told Keith what I was doing.

I went off and got the passport and by the time I came back Keith was not there which worried me for a second -had he wandered off? They said he was being seen and I went into the consultation room. He had had his blood pressure and temperature taken and they were doing a pin prick blood finger test. They essentially said Keith had a fever and that he was to take paracetamol to bring the temperature down and hydration sachets. If this did not work they would do a dengue fever test. This was a relief and at least we knew what it was now and hopefully we can manage this.

We returned to Stormbird and we all went to bed.  It had been a treading water day but I had got quite a bit done on the planning side.

 The picture of today is the battery monitors showing the voltages with the problem being the 24-v system which should be 24 and is showing 19.46.

 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