CAPT. MIKE IN THE MALDIVES: DAY SIX

  Well another day begins with coffee at dawn. Breakfast and a stop at two reefs for some snorkeling before stopping at a sand bank for lunch (04 03.253N, 073 23.460E).

At another nearby sand bank a work boat was anchored near shore.

They were collecting sand to be used in various construction projects possibly at one of the many new resort projects that the Maldivian Government has approved to bring more tourism to the islands.  Meanwhile Issac was trying to catch some fish who were creating some excitement near the reef.

 Unfortunately, nothing landed on the hook.  Still as I sat up forward the scene just called out for a beer:

 As Maldives have no local brews. A Tiger beer from Singapore will have to do and it does. Speaking of Capt. Mike drinking a beer.

Well, even though Issac was unsuccessful we still had past successes to enjoy for lunch:

Two more snorkels followed in the afternoon. Making a total of four for the day. It's just delightful to spend a good amount of time in these waters and not just above them as the variety and amount of fish is amazing. We stopped Velassaru Faru and anchored near the Laguna Maldives resort (04 06.928'N, 073 25.635E) for the nights anchorage:

A little after sundown I noticed a pail with some Mackerel bait on the stern. These are called Moshimus locally.

We were relaxing on the trampoline forward reading our Kindles while waiting for dinner. Then we heard some commotion at the stern. Issac and Ibrahim had something on one of the hand lines they had dropped over the side:

You can tell by the smile on Ibrahim's face that he is pretty pleased with the catch;



Who could blame him after catching a nice Red Snapper like this on a hand line:

 

 

It was not long before Issac was scaling and cleaning the fish or as Ibrahim liked to call it "doing a post mortum".  

 

After Issac was finished back in the galley Ibrahim was still smiling at our good fortune as he gave the Red Snapper filets a final rinse:

 

There was a little change in the menu for dinner as Ibrahim provided me with another pinch me moment as he served up some pan fried Red Snapper that was landed less than an hour before:

 

Now that's what I call eating fresh fish. But, that's not all! Neptune was in a generous mood this evening as he also gave us another Red Snapper too. Which Ibrahim holds up before he begins the "post mortum" on this 30 lb beauty:

 

 

It's our last night in the South Male atoll and the Red Snappers are almost like a parting gifts to remind us of our wonderful journey through this part of the Maldives. Tomorrow we head north.

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CAPT. MIKE IN THE MALDIVES: DAY FIVE

Had a nice morning snorkel off of the Rannahi Resort and then motor sailed to small island called Vaagali (03 56.959N, 073 21.439E).

Vaagli according to Ibrahim is what is known as a "Picnic Island" it is a place where the Safari Boats and day trippers from Male would come to have a picnic enjoying the remoteness of the location but, still having enough facilities to make it enjoyable. On this day the only person we could see was the caretaker and the only reason we could see him is because he came out to the dock to to check his fishing line.

We stayed here for lunch lunch and the all important afternoon nap. After which we snorkeled along the reef. Because of it's location on the outer edge of the atoll there was a bit of a current so we just drifted along the reef until we waved for a pick up.  Since it was getting late we had our afternoon snacks while under way:

A some Maldivian fish croquettes and  some more of the Tuna that was caught yesterday in sandwiches too. Mmmm.

We anchored for the night at Vaaredhah Falhu (04 02.636N, 073 22.910E)

As you can see from the above there are quite a few reefs in the area. You really need good light in order to be able to see them. During mid day it's not so bad but, in the late afternoon it does become a problem  to make them out in these waters.

Surprisingly, it's day five and we've yet to see a perfect sunrise or sunset. Despite usually having clear views to the horizon.  That's not to say the sunsets have not been dramatic:

But, so far none of them have been that perfect sunset where the red sun dips below the horizon unobscured by clouds. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

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CAPT MIKE IN THE MADIVES: DAY FOUR

Had a little twenty minute shower about an hour and half after sunrise. But, the boat has a hardtop and sunbrella side pieces so all was dry in the cockpit area.  Ibrahim our skipper speaks English well enough but, Issaq our crew does not. So I'm trying to learn a few words in the local language. A good start is the word shukuria which means thank you. But, here on day four I'm still sometimes say "sugaree" and now have the Jerry Garcia song  by the same name playing in my head. We are soon underway and the boat is now armed and ready to do some serious trolling:

Soon there was that cranking sound from the fishing reel and Issac grabs it while the captain powers down the boat.

Soon Ibrahim joins Issac on the stern with the gaff.

Looks like we've got ourselves a nice Dog Tooth Tuna:

Almost does not fit in the fish tub.

All this excitement and it's only about 10:30 AM. So we head off and jump off the back for snorkel on a nearby reef. The boat drifts nearby until we wave for a pick up. We then headed for and anchored near a  sandbank at 03 50.561N 073.22.482E  We stayed here for the night too.

A Safari boat has beat us to this location though:

And dumped a number of it's passengers on the sand bank:

But, they were soon back aboard their boat and then we had the place to ourselves. We snorkeled around the reef and swam to the sandbank were Issac picked us up in the dingy. We came back to the boat for lunch. Where we enjoyed some of the Tuna caught earlier for lunch:

Now this is what I call fresh fish! But, it gets better. For our five o'clock snack time what could be better than some fresh tuna hors d'oeuvre sandwiches:

And to top the day off with some local cuisine. I requested and Ibrahim cooked up a local Maldivian dish called Garudia with some of the leftover Tuna. It's a fish soup served with rice, pepper, lime, onions and spices:

Just pinch me to make sure I'm not dreaming.  And so another day in the Maldives comes to a delicious end.

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CAPT. MIKE IN THE MALDIVES: DAY THREE

7:45 AM we upped anchor and had breakfast underway. By 10 AM we stopped and anchored off another sand bank at 03 57.283N, 073 27.616E. 

We jumped in for a snorkel on the reef. We stayed here for lunch and usual afternoon nap.  Then headed off toward the Biyaddo resort where we jumped off the stern to snorkel the house reef of the resort located there.

We snorkeled along the north east area of the island. It was full of large schools of very friendly fish. I was wondering if this was  because the guests of the resort might be bringing out some table scraps from time to time to feed them. But, when I looked at the location of the island it is almost smack dab in the middle of the Biyadoo Kandu (cut). So there may be a lot of nice fish food flowing into and around the island which makes it a great place for these schools of fish to hang out and nibble about all day.

Whatever the reason there were lot's of fish at this location:

 We spent almost an hour in the water here watching them.  Then it was back to the boat and we headed over to GURAIDHOO. This is the major town of the South Male atoll with a population of around 1200.

We took the dingy to the island. It was the end of the day when we arrived on the island. The waterfront was very busy with the Dhoni ferries coming in from Male and other locations:
 

You can't help but, admire these colorful well built wooden boats. Notice how the helmsm at the rear steers the boat with the tiller between his legs. Just beautiful wood construction and they seem to hold an enormous amount of passengers.

Meanwhile on shore it was all smiles waiting for someone to arrive off one of the boats.

Our skipper picked out a local fellow to give us a little tour. As we wandered through the sand covered streets. I was taken by how peaceful and quiet the town seemed to me. Then I realised why. No cars, no motor bikes = NO NOISE!

It was just  a great way to end the day watching the street scenes of this peaceful little island from one of the local cafes:

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CAPT. MIKE IN THE MALDIVES: DAY TWO

A CAPT MIKE  NOTE ABOUT DRINKING IN THE MALDIVES:
The good thing about chartering and sailing through a "paradise" like the Maldives with an all Muslim crew is they don't drink. So you are not likely to run into a Captain Ron type of situation. My girlfriend and I have chartered boats where while we were having breakfast the "Captain" was in the galley mixing himself a rum and coke. Happily, nothing serious happened on that adventure. But, it is not a good sign when the Captain's drinking starts that early and you are on an unfamiliar boat in unfamiliar waters. Just in case he should happen to pass out. That won't happen in the Maldives.

The bad thing about traveling through a "paradise" like the Maldives with an all Muslim crew is that they do not know much about liquor and alcohol either. As we found out when requested our after dinner Baileys Irish Cream for our night cap.  Which we usually have relaxing up  forward  on the catamarans trampoline while gazing at the stars. According Ibrahim it was not available from the supplier. OK, that's possible in a dry country like the Maldives where almost everything including food is shipped in. But, we were very disappointed just the same.  I then asked about the bottle of Rum we also requested for our obligatory "boat drinks" at sundown. Rum? The skipper responded.  He then explained that he thought Rum and whisky were the same thing. He had the whisky on board though. Oh well... Happily, he did assure us he had the wine we requested. Looks like the only "boat drinks" we'd be having on board will be Jimmy Buffet singing .

Soon after a breakfast of a choice of various cereals, yogurt, toast, eggs and some surprisingly tasty chicken sausages (remember there is no pork in the Maldives) we were underway. We stopped for a morning snorkel on an extremely healthy reef with lot's of fish and even a turtle which pleased my girlfriend to no end.  The photo below shows what the waters are like in this part of the  South Male we are sailing in today:

As you can see there are quite a few small reefs and sand banks inside just this one atoll. Multiply that by 26 and you can see there are lot's of places to snorkel, dive or get into trouble if you are unfamiliar with the waters. Which is another good reason I'm glad we are doing a charter with a Captain who knows these waters well.

We anchored mid morning for just off one of the sand banks:

 We took the dingy ashore for a little walk and swim:

Some Maldivian fisherman were working the the sandbank's outside reef:

After spending a little time on the sand bank including a delightful swim we headed back to the boat.  A freshly caught Butterfly Fish was on the table for lunch but, not for long

After lunch and our obligatory afternoon nap. We were under way again stopping only for an afternoon snorkel.  We then headed for that nights anchorage which was just off Gulhi.

Gulhi is the smallest of the three inhabited islands in the South Male atoll. It's main industry is the building and repairing of the various boats that ply the waters in this area of the Maldives. From the look of it it is a very busy place:

We anchored at 03 59.702N, 073 30.430E a little before sunset. Another boat soon anchored nearby. It was one of the cargo boats that run supplies to the various islands and resorts in the area.

As the call to prayer sounded across the water from the mosque on Gulhi. Several of the crew spread out their pray cloths on the cabin top for evening prayers as the boat was conveniently pointed toward Mecca.

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