JANUARY 2008
THAILAND - MALEDIVEs - OMAN
After loadingSILVER BLUE with lots of tasty things from Phuket and singing er out we take off in northerly direction, heading for the Similans Islands. We want to do some scuba diving here and wait for more wind for our cruise to the Maledives. Even though this was not the shortest route, it was really worth the extra miles. The Similans once again offer beautifully clear waters.
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And that again calls for a dive. Since the Similans are part of the thai national parks, they're well protected by high entrance and dive fees. Which is why their underwater-world features so many species.
But on January 10 we finally sail out into the Indian Ocean and after a while without wind the highly anticipated north-easterly monsun finally starts blowing. Passing Sri Lanka on a beautiful westerly current we achieve etmals of up to 170 nm a day. There's lots of boat traffic on the outskirts of Sri Lanka that sometimes adds an adrenaline rush to our otherwise quiet board routine of standing watch, watching sunsets and bringing big and small fish onto the table.
We reach the island of Uligamo, on the northernmost point of the Maledives, rather quickly. The officials, all five of them, that come aboard right after we drop anchor, are unbelievably helpfull and friendly. Even though bureaucracy has its headquarters on this paradise island, the official paperwork is easily completed with the help of all the officials. Acutally all the inhabitants are very friendly and helpfull. And the school building is a pleadure to the eye. Not to mention the magnificent beaches surrounding the island.
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After a few day we have to leave again - after all, we're heading for Arabia. Our original destination, the Yemen, is out of the question because we fount a fauly shroud. Therefore our new destination is Port Salalah in Oman. The spare part situation there is much better ... On our way there we get dunked quite literally. For four days and four nights we have to fight our way through a north wind, blowing us in the face with 40-45 knots, with 3 reefs in our sails. A rather wet affair, that obviously doesn't do the damaged shroud any good. As we finally reach the Omanh end of January, we need to wash of a layer of salt - and order new shrouds.
Of course there was more to do, but more about that, and about the beautiful Oman in our next logbook.
Until then,
take care!
Tom & Fabian
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