Year 3 -9 April 2026 –Anhenunfushi -Baa Atoll- Maldives

We were woken by the alarm at 5.40am and by 5.55am we had upped the anchor (which seemed to work well, pausing every now and then). There was enough light and we followed our track out the pass using the satellite maps as back up. The wind was about 13-14 kts which was now West, Southwest and so a good angle for us to sail. We initially got out the genoa and mainsail and were soon making 7-8 kts and in the right direction for Baa Atoll which is the atoll where Anhenunfushi island is situated. We had kindly been invited by Parth Amin who I blogged about recently and who runs a Hydroponics farm.

The wind over the morning gradually begun to veer more Westerly and so we had to sail close hauled and we put up the staysail as well. We were making good time and 7-8 kts and we covered 40 odd miles before we took down the sails and then we had to motor the last 12 odd miles under engine. I had made water on the way whilst sailing.

We arrived at Anhenunfushi at about 12.45pm and Parth had been tracking us. He came out in a boat with his men and led us to a large buoy outside a channel through the reef to the island. The island was a reasonable size -about 55 hectares and had a reef around it with beautiful light blue water around it. It looked lovely and had great sand along its shore.

We picked up the buoy which had a large strop and I hoped it was of sufficient size for Stormbird. We put out fenders and he said come ashore and so we got on his boat introducing ourselves again. We motored back between two markers and a clear channel between the coral to a concrete and wood pier.

We were greeted by Japs, the man who runs the island, Jennifer who ran the catering and Parth and his business colleagues Jose and Gerati. We were given a cold towel to clean our hands and face and then a coconut drink.

We sat down and had a chat and then were led to an area on the beach and between Mangrove trees where tables were set for lunch. This was ingredients all from the farm (except for spaghetti and fish) We had salads -and pad choy, red snapper and fruit – a variety of melons which was lovely and very tasty.

We then could relax and Parth and his team had a rest and we swum – for those of us who had trunks and others rested. We ended up with an area on the beach with chairs overlooking the beautiful blue lagoon and being shaded by palm trees. At one point we saw a reef shark swim past and a shoal of fish. We chatted away and drunk water and learned about the farm and got to know each other better.

We discussed potentially bringing Stormbird alongside the pier as they had diesel and high water was at 5.00pm. We started the farm tour about 4.00pm and were led by the hydroponics expert toward an area on the island where there were some very large water tanks. They have capacity for a million litres of water on the island. We then led into a large netted large green house (nets not glass) – which was an acre and there were several on the island. They were growing courgettes in this one and plants had been guided up string supports and at the bottom of the plant you could see little pipes which drip watered the plants with water combined with a cocktail of nutrients. The plants were also sprayed with water to control the temperature.

The watering and drip feeding etc were all controlled by computers and in addition to the green houses there were some outside areas of crops growing. We saw the powerhouse and the computer area, the desalination unit -which draws water from the sea and the filter house where the nutrients are mixed with the water and pumped round. We also saw the 3 cold houses where the fruit and vegetables are stored before they are shipped to the local islands and Male. It was fascinating to see and we tasted the produce at lunch and again at supper -more later.

We then went to the pier and checked the depth and it was only 2.1m. I therefore did not think we could bring in Stormbird so agreed to use jerry cans in the morning.

There were two jet skis and Japs said one of them needed using so Stig went first and I followed. I thought I went quite fast but did not go full throttle as there was a little chop but they were great fun.

Parth suggested a sunset cruise and so we got on his motorise catamaran at about 5.00pm and headed out around the island. As we were on a boat we had a beer and some wine and others Sake -which Parth liked. We watched the sun go down whilst circumnavigating the island and the atoll and continued our conversations. It was a treat to do this and a lovely evening.

We came ashore and were then led to a candle it and fairy light area on the beach and we had another pre dinner drink and some nibbles – delicious lobster and red snapper goujons.  Parth had heard that J & Miranda were recently married so he found a bottle of Moet and we kindly toasted them and thanked our guests.

We were then led to dinner which was inside a covered area where there was a buffet laid out -with some curries and salads which was again delicious. There was no alcohol served as we were being served by the workmen and chefs on the island. Pudding was mini toblerones and mars bars.

Once dinner was done we were motored off back to Stormbird. Parth suggested we collected all our laundry and that they would do this overnight.

We had had the most amazing day and Parth and his team had been so kind and generous and welcoming. It had been great to see the farm and island and to have a day ashore in such a lovely location.         

The picture of today is all of us on the island having drinks in the evening.

 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