Year 3 -8 April 2026 –Depart Crossroads-for Anhenunfushi -Baa Atoll- Maldives
I had messaged Parth Amin to let him know that the windlass had been repaired and if his kind offer still stood, we would love to visit his island. He replied that he was still in the Maldives and he was leaving on the 10th. This would mean we would have to get there tomorrow on the 9th and it was about 80nm away.
It was a greyish day with some wind which was good. However, we could not leave until we had paid the bill when the staff arrived.
We had breakfast and then I went through the boat front and back, inside and out with Stig & Cari. They had last been on boat in Barbados -January 2024.
I went to pay the bill and we left the marina about 09.49am and headed out round the reefs and toward Male. We then bore West to go round the South of the North Male atoll in order to turn North up the West side of atoll.
We sailed for a bit but due to the wind direction we were going parallel to our destination and no closer. I then decided to motor sail with the main which enabled us to go at a better angle and to start to head more toward our destination.
We were not going to be able to make it in one day and finding an anchorage amongst the atolls and to get in in daylight was quite tricky. It took a little consideration and I therefore decided to go to an atoll called Gaafuru Falho which was about 45 nm away. There were two passes -Northwest and Northeast with the Northwest being closest and we needed to be there by 6.00pm in order to get in during light. We therefore sailed and motor sailed. The problem with sailing alone was that the angle pushed us on to the North Male Atoll. We therefore did a combination. There was a bit of chop but we cut through that.
We continued on with little traffic and we fished but to no avail. Miranda made courgettes fritters and coleslaw for lunch which was good and at a bit of an angle.
We could not see the atoll as it was underwater and I wondered whether it would be choppy in the lagoon. We carried on and the sun began to come down. We could see a boat in the lagoon and we gradually began to see the lighter colour in the water of the reef. We got the sail down and then with the aid of google maps on satellite and the plotter we approached the pass. The satellite clearly showed the pass and we could visually see it with the deeper coloured water. The satellite gives direction of travel in live time due to Starlink so we followed that in through the pass.
Once in the atoll and behind the reef we turned right behind it and using the satellite I looked for what looked like a sandy patch in front of the reef. We came to an area and anchored in about 14-15m and the anchor chain ran out well and we put out 60m. It held well and the snubber went on.
There we were anchored in the middle of the ocean with no land around us except an island about 8nm to the East. We got the chairs out and had a drink on the aft deck with a lovely warm fanning breeze. The swell was less as we were behind the reef. We had arrived and just in time as the sun had gone down so that worked well. Otherwise we would have had to carry on through the night.
We had got out the fish of the freezer we had bought in Male and we had this with Okra and cauliflower. It was delicious.
We had about 40 nm to go so I decided we would get up at 5.45am tomorrow with a view to leaving at 6.00am. The wind was coming round to the West more so that will help with our sailing angle.
It had been good to leave the marina and get going again and to having a working windlass.
The picture of today is the motley crew in the cockpit on way to the 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 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