SEA GEM LOG
February 5, 2000
MALDIVES
 Since
we arrived on January 28, we have enjoyed three anchorages and familiarized
ourselves with getting back and forth to Male' for shopping, hot
mail and business. The ferries that run back and forth from
the resorts to Male' are open to negotiation on price and the ferry
drivers fish along the way.
The resorts here are lovely. We have had meals at three of
them: Club Med, Full Moon Bay and Laguna Beach. All are upscale, all are expensive, some more than others. The food and service are good and the
resorts are the only places that are allowed to serve alcohol in this strictly Muslim country. There are no bars or restaurants selling alcohol in Male'.
The
water here is clear, clean and warm. We are anchored off Laguna
Beach and can swim right off the boat. While in Full Moon
Bay we cleaned the sides of the boat, and all the stainless
on one side. Tom is great on projects like this and works with gusto.
It is wonderful to be in a clean area again where it is a pleasure
to be in the water. The reefs around the Maldives
are dead, the result, we were told, of El Nino and the raised water
temperature. The marine life is abundant as demonstrated by the
number and variety of fish in the fish market as well as all the
fish you see when snorkeling and even off the docks, especially
where they are fed.
Tom Williams left Sea Gem this morning for his flight to India where he will be with the boats that sailed to Cochin. Most of the boats came here from Sri Lanka, so Tom will not have
many boats to worry about in India. Tom has worked hard on Sea Gem and has helped a great deal in solving our refrigeration problems. We will meet up with him in Djibouti where
he will get back aboard to sail with us up the Red Sea. Charlie and I scratched our plans to fly to India. India deserves far more time than we could allow on this trip. Time rushes past
and there is so much to see and absorb. The tourist industry here in the Maldives was developed by the Italians. Germans are the
primary tourists here with Italians following closely. The Italian influence is illustrated by the excellent Italian restaurants in the city as well as in the resorts.
Sandra Cook, our Aussie crew member, found a job on an excursion boat as a dive master. She will leave Sea Gem within a few days and be off on another adventure.
 Tom
William's son, Sean, decided to stay for a few more days with his
hosts on Stampede rather than flying with his dad to India.
As the fleet moves around from anchorage to anchorage it gives us
a chance to visit and make plans for our next leg, the sail from
here to Djibouti.
The leg to Djibouti will be not only long (about two thousand miles) but through waters that are dangerous because of the possibility of pirates. We receive constant
data over Imarsat about incidents of pirates preying on large ships. A recent report also involves a yacht in the Gulf of Aden. We will sail in company and also maintain more radio
contact. We had hoped for a French Naval escort but so far that has not materialized but Jimmy Cornell is still working on it. Until later . . . |
