Year 3 -4 April 2026 –Cross Roads Marina -Male - Maldives
I woke about 7.00am and had some tea. I could see the reef nearby and it was a rather quiet still day. We had breakfast and then at 8.15am began to raise the anchor. This went quite well with J & I winching, Jamie moving the hook after each winch and Keith sorting out the chain at the windlass, we completed the exercise or raising the anchor and were able to start moving at 8.38am.
We retraced our route through the reef and then prepared the lines and fenders for entering the marina as we knew it was a starboard side to berth.
When we were about a mile from the marina I called them up on the VHF and they answered and we were to go to a berth on the right as you go in and next to a large superyacht. We motored on through the reef and breakwaters and a man was waiting to take our lines. We reversed in and sorted ourselves out. The superyacht was called Beca.
This island is a resort island with a few hotels, several restaurants and a beach club. People come here for the day and there are regular ferries to Male. The marina was not that full and circular with lovely blue water. In fact J and I saw a turtle swim pass.
The man explained about the facilities and I had to go to the office to deal with the formalities. We put our washing in to be done.
J & Miranda took Jamie off to the beach club and I waited for the engineers to arrive and tidied up whilst waiting. Keith cleaned the galley and hoovered. The engineers said they would come about 10.20am. When no one had arrived by 11.15am I messaged to be told it was election day and they would be there at 1.30pm. Why they could not have told me this earlier I do not know. I am coming to realise that Moldavian time is a moveable feast.
Keith and I went to join the others at the beach club. This was a nice area with a landscaped pool and a beach with 2 bars, restaurant and an ice cream hut. It was well done and we found Jamie, J & Miranda on sun loungers relaxing. Keith and I joined them and had a welcome dip in the pool and then a beer. They had good showers and facilities.
We had a snack lunch and then Jamie and Keith caught the 1.30pm ferry to Male. Jamie had to get a flight to Sri Lanka and Keith’s phone was not working so he was going to find a repair shop. It had been good to have Jamie on board and he is very handy. It is also interesting to have someone of that age on board.
After lunch I returned to Stormbird and the engineers came by boat at about 2.00pm. They looked at and removed the windlass motor and will take it away to replace the coil. They hope this will be about a day. They then looked at the generator and found nothing wrong and when we started it – it was charging. Perhaps the chargers etc got too hot the other day. They then looked at the starboard navigation light and removed it and they may have to replace it or redo the wire. They looked at the forward-looking sonar which had lost the network. I did not know where the Garmin box is so I will have to try to find out where they have put it. They then left and said they would keep me informed. I am hoping they would probably come back on Monday.
We therefore spent the afternoon at the beach club and we showered and had a sundowner at the bar about 6.00pm. It had been good to get off the boat for a few hours and to relax and enjoy the surroundings. We then had supper at the Monkey Crab restaurant which was good, although not cheap and Keith joined us there from the ferry and his phone had been repaired.
We will go into Male tomorrow to provision in preparation for Stig & Cari’s arrival. I hope I will also hear some news on the windlass too.
The picture of today is an image of this island and showing the circular marina. Stormbird is on the long pontoon as you come in on the right.
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