2-05-01 Day 6 offshore: Indian Ocean. Our position is Lat 06°06'N/Lon 88°28'E and we're sailing along at a swift 6.2 knots. The last 3 days have been great sailing weather with NNW winds at 5-12 knots and 1 knot of current with us. The first 3 days out of Langkawi were a little slower with very light wind and sometimes current against us. Since we cleared the islands of Sumatra (Indonesia) and Great Nicobar (India) and sailed into the Indian Ocean proper, we've been totally under canvas. Indonesia did send us off with a memorable parting gesture - a huge thunderstorm just off the north tip of Sumatra. It was quite a light show from 9pm to 4am. Luckily it didn't have any of the legendary winds (sumatras) in it which can quickly build up to 50 knots. And it didn't pass directly over us so we only had winds up to 20 knots for a short period of time, but the lightening was scary enough. Clear weather since then, and we've clicked off 670 miles with only another 1,050 to reach Addu in the Maldives. Not much sea life yet, just a couple small pods of dolphins visiting in our bow wake, no fish on the hook to report yet. Lots of big boat traffic around us though, as ships head east/west making way to/from the Malacca Strait. Right now there are 4 ships to our port side, about 12, 14, 18, and 19 miles away according to the radar. It's night time and we can't see their lights, but they are paralleling our course, nothing to worry about. Also friends on 3 other yachts are within 15, 60 and 300 mile range of us and we've been keeping in touch on VHF and HF radio schedules. Nice to know there are others small boats out here among the big ones. It's 8:30pm and Colleen is in the cockpit writing this while keeping an eye on the radar screen, SIMMER's course, and scanning the horizon. Nice night with a waxing moon, shedding light into the cockpit. Pat is up on watch in half an hour. (Just as an item of interest, to give you an idea of quantities of staple-food provisions we left Langkawi with: 20 lbs. potatoes, 20 lbs. onions, 9 doz. eggs, 9 lbs. cheese, 10 lbs. butter, 40 lbs. rice, 40 lbs. flour, 35 lbs. popcorn, 400 tea bags, ... a 6 month supply, since we won't see any markets for awhile. SIMMER is heavier than she's ever been).
2-08-01 Day 9 offshore, 20 miles off the southern coast of Sri Lanka, position: Lat 05°55'N/Lon 81°15.5'E. We've had a change of plans - instead of heading to Addu in the Maldives, we are now sailing to Galle Harbor on the southwest coast of Sri Lanka. Yesterday we developed a couple engine related problems - a leaking raw water pump and water in our main diesel tank, the two are unrelated. The raw water pump brings in salt water to cool the engine, without it the engine would overheat. Our onboard diesel-mechanic (Pat) replaced the pump with a spare and it seems to be ok now. Just need to rebuild the old one with new seals so we have another usable spare. The water in the diesel tank is still an issue though. We've rigged a separate jerry jug of fuel in the cockpit with a hose that now feeds the engine and can run the engine that way. We carry 30 gallons of diesel in jugs on deck, in additional to our 45 gallons of tankage built into the boat. Luckily we've had great wind and have been sailing for the last 6 days, only running the engine to charge the batteries now and then. We need to clean out the main tank and a take on fresh diesel. Sri Lanka is one of the last places that we'll come across to obtain parts and get diesel. The good news is, we should be in Galle Harbor within 9 to 10 hours and we caught a 10 lb. tuna as well. The NE monsoon has finally filled in thanks to the Mongolian High over China. This high pressure system is giving us fresh NE winds at 15-20 knots. We're sailing along at 8 knots with very comfortable seas because we're now protected by the island and the swell is slight. It's a full moon tonight and a lovely sail, Colleen will stay on watch an extra hour and give her diesel mechanic an extra hour to sleep. We'll surely find an internet cafe in Sri Lanka to update our website in the next few days. We'll probably spend a week or so in Sri Lanka, once we get our fuel problem sorted out, we'd like to see some of the country.
2-09-01 Arrived Galle Harbor, Sri Lanka (Lat 06°01'N/Lon 80°13'E) after a 10 day passage from Langkawi, Malaysia. Total miles sailed 1,028. It was actually one of our most pleasant passages, except for one day of little to no wind, and then our engine problems. Once the wind filled in and we were making good time, we really hated to stop. The winds and seas were perfect and we had a lovely full moon lighting up the night watches. Oh well, plans are made to be changed. Will write more after we spend some time here.
2-13-01 We've been in Sri Lanka 5 days and have sorted out our fuel problem, but not the water pump problem - we can't find any replacement seals or additional impellers. We've had the local boat boys from the various yacht services checking for us too. Guess we'll have to go without a functional spare pump assembly. We can't possibly carry spares for everything, so this will be one more item without a back-up. (The original one lasted almost 2,000 hours of engine time). Our detour to Sri Lanka has been pretty interesting. Sri Lanka has a population of 17.8 million and the language is Sinhalese, only a few speak English - most of the officials speak some English and the taxi drivers can understand a little. Makes it more interesting to get things accomplished. It is a democratic republic, but in the midst of a civil war between the Sri Lankan military and the Tamil resistance groups (a.k.a. Tamil Tigers). The Tamil Tigers have been fighting a guerilla war predominantly in the north of the island in order to establish an independent homeland, Tamil Elam. Therefore the internal security is very tight, we were thoroughly searched by the Navy as soon as we entered the outer harbor. There is a smaller inner harbor as well, with a navy base and fishing fleet, but we decided to stay anchored in the outer harbor. The inner harbor is closed off every night at 6pm. They string a huge net across the opening and randomly set off depth charges all night long to deter Tamil frogmen from entering and placing explosives on naval craft. (Sounds scarier than it really is). But they do take security very seriously, and all of the guards are well armed. We must carry a pass at all times when we venture outside the harbor compound. You even need permission from the navy to swim around your boat! To go out to dinner at night, we have to dinghy into the inner harbor before 6 pm, otherwise we could not enter. Once in, we can come out anytime, through a small opening in the net. There is a guard post at the end of the jetty with massive search lights, and they keep a close eye on all movement. The navy guards are very friendly to the yachties and wave every time we go by. Galle city is a dirty, lively place with lots of traffic - mostly peddle bicycles and small taxis called tuk-tuks. The tuks-tuks are three wheeled vehicles, with a motorbike as the propulsion and a covered chassis that seats 3 people. Pretty clever little machines. The peddle bikes usually have more than one person onboard. It's comical to see elderly men on bikes - one peddling and one perched on the frame between the seat and the handlebars. Oh, and they are wearing long, wrap around skirts. We're going on a land tour tomorrow, with 3 other yachties, to see some of the sites around Galle. We'd like to do more traveling inland to see the ancient cities and some wildlife (elephants), but we chose to play it safe and just do a local one day tour.
2-14-01 Happy Valentine's Day. Since it was Valentine's Day and Colleen has a birthday coming up in early March, Pat bought her a gorgeous blue sapphire ring. Sri Lanka is famous for its precious and semi-precious gems. They have vast mines in the mountainous center of the island - sapphires (blue/white/orange/pink/green...), rubies, emeralds, amethyst, malachite, moon stones, topaz, etc... We didn't tour one of the mines, since they are so far away from Galle, but we did visit a gem shop where they cut stones and make jewelry. Our tour was good, we got to see a little bit of the surrounding area: an underground Buddhist temple, tea plantations and factory, gem factory, silk weavers, museums, and Fort Galle. It was a long tiring day, spent in a van on unimproved roads, dodging traffic and pedestrians. Drivers here are crazy, we guess it was part of the excitement of the tour. Thankfully we survived, with only one near head-on collision and a few bicyclist run off the road! Sorry about the lack of digital pictures, many of them aren't good quality. For some reason we weren't good photographers today. (See the only one we posted - a local fishing boat on the beach). Tomorrow we update the webpage, top off on water, stock up on fruits and veggies and then clear out to leave for the southern Maldives - Addu atoll, our original destination. It's only 560 miles away and we should be able to do it in 5 days or less. Not sure if internet there, so this (again) may be out last update for awhile.
2-20-01 Crossed the Equator early this morning and we're back in the Southern Hemisphere again. This was our third time crossing that imaginary line, next time will be our final crossing in the Atlantic Ocean more than a year from now, on our homeward leg. We arrived in Addu atoll, Maldives this afternoon after a delightful 5 day sail from Sri Lanka. Our position is Lat 00°40'S/Lon 73°09'E, just 40 miles south of the Equator. The Maldives are a democratic republic, religion is Sunni Muslim, language is Divehi (with some English spoken) and currency is called ruffiya ($11.72 ruffiya = $1 US). Addu is one of the 19 major atolls that make up the Maldives and is at the southern most tip of the chain. The Maldives are a text book example of coral-based islands surrounded by a circular barrier reef enclosing a lagoon. We're glad to be back in an atoll again, just like our favorite spot in the South Pacific - the Tuamotus in Polynesia. Except Addu is a much bigger atoll with more land mass and a larger population. Addu is a circular ring of 8 small islands, 5 of them connected by causeways which the British built during WW II. We're anchored by the causeway between Gan (pronounced GAHN) and Feydhoo (pronounced FAY-doo) islands. The population of Addu is about 25,000 spread out over the 8 islands. Haven't been ashore yet, the Maldivian Navy has completed their security check, but we haven't cleared quarantine yet. Will do that tomorrow when Customs, Immigration and the Health Officer comes onboard to clear us into the country. We're permitted to stay for 30 days - it costs $5 US for 2 weeks, then $5 US per day after that. Looking forward to seeing this beautiful spot.
2-27-01 Well we've been in Addu a week now, and atoll life is good. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to move the boat from the anchorage here at the causeway. Darn! We wanted to go out into the lagoon and see more of the island in the atoll. But they are very strict about too much intermingling with the locals. Don't blame them, they want to keep their lifestyles and culture intact without outside interference from us Westerners, we guess. So we stay here anchored under the watchful eyes of the Maldivian Navy. We did manage to borrow 2 bicycles from a friendly local on Feyhdoo island and rode around one day to see some of the other islands (hot and dusty roads). Eight miles from Gan to the northern most island of Hithadhoo, some cars on the islands, but mainly motorbikes and bicycles. Gan island is a working island with 3 garment factories, a military base and a very small airport. Sri Lankan women, 1500 of them, live in dormitories on Gan and work in the garment factories. Oddly, Maldivian women don't work in the factories. One of the factories is a US company, not sure what type of clothing they make. One of the other factories is rumored to be a Victoria's Secret house. Can't tell, they don't advertise and are not allowed to sell any of the garments here, everything must be exported. Oh well, Colleen would love some new lingerie, but no luck in Gan. We got caught in one of the small island shops on pay-day and were inundated by hundreds of Sri Lankan women buying shampoo, lotions, candy and other necessities. The shops are very small and cramped so it was entertaining (for them and us). The women are paid in US dollars and it was so strange to see them using our currency so far from home. The shops all accept either US dollars or ruffiya. The other islands north of Gan, are all residential islands with small shops, mosques, schools and cafes. Fresh fruit and veg are very limited here - they only grow bananas, coconuts, papayas and mangoes on the atoll. Everything else arrives by boat or small plane, and is fairly expensive. We ate lunch at a small tea shop on Hithadhoo island that offers local fair called "short eats". Short eats are a variety of snack-size sweets and savories served on 6 or 8 small plates. They bring them all to your table and you can pick and choose what to eat. Then you only pay for what you eat, somehow they can keep track of it. Quite inexpensive too - each item only costs 1 or 2 ruffiya which is about 8 or 15 cents US. Example of shorties - sweet coconut pancakes (dry, no syrup), hard boiled eggs, fried dough pockets filled with spicy curry, bread pudding, cake, muffins, mini pizzas, etc. Great way to taste lots of different things. At the end of our hot day touring on the bicycles, we found a small cafe on Feydhoo island that has ice cream! Yeah! And it is not too far to walk from the boat. We'll become regulars there for the rest of our stay here.
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