A TASTE OF THE SEA

My girlfriend had the week off from her teaching gig because it was Spring Break. So we jumped in the car and as we often do head to a place where we could be by the water. In this case it was Ocean City Maryland. A few days in a hotel with an ocean front view over looking the Atlantic Ocean can do wonders for the soul when one still has the boat stored on land for the winter.

Just watching the waves, having the smell of the sea and the sound of the surf can rejuvenate ones plans for the up coming season. Add to that the taste of fresh seafood at meals and one feels once again close to waters that surround us. Though for me the most impressive part of the day is the sunrise:

You can get a feel for how impressive and vast things are by noting the person on the beach in the lower left of the above picture. On another morning I may notice a local fishing boat heading out at dawn to get the catch of the day:

I'll watch the boat pass by and wish I was out there with BIANKA.  In another few months I will be.

FISHING WITH A PURPOSE

I have rarely fished from BIANKA despite often having fish jumping around the boat in the evening. I keep thinking about it from time to time. But, until I implement the stern washdown system the idea of cleaning the deck after catching and cleaning the fish seems like a lot of work for a boat that stays on a mooring and not at a dock. Then I came upon this story of a charter boat captain who routinely tags and releases fish he catches. One of his tags showed up after 16 years on a 1,200 pound Blue Fin Tuna:

"In 1997, Anderson was working the Mudhole, a fishing spot southeast of Block Island. A man on his boat caught a very young bluefin tuna, weighing just 14 pounds. Anderson, of course, tagged it and returned it to the ocean.
As the years passed, bluefin tuna grew ever more valuable and ever scarcer while Anderson continued to take sport fisherman out to sea aboard his charter boat, the Prowler.
Then, about a month ago, a fisherman out of Nova Scotia was tending his longlines about 700 miles offshore when he hauled aboard quite a catch. It was a bluefin tuna weighing an estimated 1,200 pounds."

I might start doing the same there would be less mess and I would not have to worry about constantly cleaning the boat and not always feeling obligated to eat the fish I caught. But, I would also be helping to advance the study of the world's fish stock. Something to think about.


Tuna: An Angler's Guide to a Great Gamefish
Giant Bluefin
Tales of Swordfish and Tuna

THE LURE OF SWIMMING

I do love to swim  off the boat. There is something nice about just jumping over the side for a refreshing swim without having to pack things into a car and head to a crowded beach. During the summer I usually jump in for a swim two or three times a day. Though it is not without some surprises. The other day I jumped and was doing a breast stroke up toward the bow when one of my hands meet some resistance. I thought it might be a thin reed floating along the surface. Then my other hand met the same type of resistance. I soon realized I had run into a piece of fishing line.  It seemed to be connected to BIANKA's mooring buoy. I pulled on the line and pulled and pulled until I had a handful of fishing line. Then I saw a lure popping along the surface toward me. I soon had a new lure to add to my collection of others that I had found in previous swims and dives around the boat. Swimming is good!

CAPT. MIKE IN OCEAN CITY MARYLAND

Capt. Mikes companion wanted to head to  Ocean City Maryland for a few days in the off season to walk on the beach. As always Capt. Mike goes along to get along. Actually, if I can't be on the water an ocean front room looking out over the Atlantic Ocean is not so terrible:

As with shores on the East Coast man often has a prolonged battle with trying to make the restless ocean halt or at least postpone it's efforts to move the beaches further inland. You can see this most vividly at the Ocean City Inlet. The inlet was made in 1933 by the Chesapeake Potomac hurricane.   You can see the offset where the undisturbed Assateague Island shoreline has moved further west when compared to the Ocean City shoreline at the top of the picture which has been replenished over the years by dredging:

From my 11th floor room I also noticed how the paths to the beach are arranged in a chevron like pattern:

Looking a little closer you can see why this pattern makes sense when storms threaten. The chevron pattern makes it harder for ocean waves break through:

 This pattern might very well help the sand build up on the path in storm conditions rather than have a straight path to the streets of Ocean City.

One day we took a drive over to Assateague Island  where there are two kinds of horsepower on display in the beach parking lots:

The hurricane that opened up the inlet also opened up the opportunities for the local residents to participate in one of the east coasts major fishing industries. The inlet allows easy access to the Atlantic Ocean. While heading back from lunch one day this boat caught my eye:

Is it a sailboat or is it a fishing boat?  The answer it's both! While it was built when fuel prices were cheaper and is currently just sitting at the dock. With today's rising fuel prices it will probably be out on the ocean again doing some long line fishing before too long.

SHORELINE: Good Intentions

Hanging out on a boat just offshore offers a unique view of the shoreline and how the people and other creatures use it. With the fishing pole by his side I'm sure this fellow came to the harbor with good intentions to do some fishing but, somehow the washed up piece of dock looked like a good place to take a nap instead:

It also reminds me I need to put this Otis Redding tune onto my IPOD SHUFFLE.

MALDIVES TO DOHA

Woke up at dawn and had breakfast and then it was time to head back to Hulhumale the airport island located next to Male for or flight out. Ibrahim docked the boat next to the Departure terminal:

Talk about convenience nothing like stepping off a boat and walking into the airport departure terminal. Not many places in the world where you can do that I imagine. We said our goodbyes to Ibrahim and Issac and sadly had to leave the beautiful Maldives. Getting some last looks at the reefs as our plane climbed into the sky:

It was about a four hour flight from the Maldives to Doha Qatar. I dozed off a little and as the plane was landing in Doha I had the sultan of swing, Frank Sinatra playing in my headphones as the wheels touched down. We had an overnight stay in Doha before our flight back to Washington D.C. the next morning. Checking into our hotel room near the airport I noticed this disk with an arrow in a corner of the room:

Qibla is the ahrab word for direction. The arrow in this points in the direction of Mecca. By the way there is a prayer rug in the room too.

Since it was early afternoon we decided to take a car and visit the waterfront of this desert city. We are a few miles away from the center city of Doha. But, the skyline of downtown Doha is pretty majestic from this location:

I'd say it rivals New York from this waterfront view. And like New York it is still growing as construction cranes are all over the city. Pretty impressive. I think an ad I saw in a magazine says it all:

"Without ambition this would all still be desert."

As we walked along the water front we came upon this giant Pearl monument:

Qatar was once known for it's pearls. Which were gathered from it's waters by free swimming divers. Of course that changed when oil was discovered in the country. Though there still seems to be a pretty robust fishing industry still operating here judging by the scene in this area:

Along with some boats that judging from their bright work look like they are more for pleasure than fishing:

Looks like there is some business being transacted on this boat too:

After spending some time on the waterfront we wandered across the street to a nearby Souk. The Souk is a fascinating place to wander around. It is the Arab version of a mall or probably I should say the mall is an westernized  version of a  souk. Personally I'd rather shop in a Souk. It's alleys are filled with delightful small shops.

If you just looked at some of the architecture of the buildings you might think you were in the desert southwest of the United States:

But you would be mistaken:

It looks like you can get just about anything  you would want here from rugs and carpets:

To pots and pans, spices, food and clothes:

To exotic pets a long way from home who seem to enjoy the passing scene too:

You could even find a dugout canoe or two (needs work):

If that's too much to carry home. The fellow working in the shop would be glad to build you a hand made model: 

Or something larger like a cross section of one of the dhows that sail these waters:

Since Capt, Mike likes things of a nautical nature I of course had to visit this shop. The owners proudly told me they had been here for twenty five years. They had just about everything a fisherman or sailor could need in their small shop: 

 Need some line they got it:

A hand line setup or fishing line? Sail twine? What color do you want?

Sinkers? Check! 

 Need a new bait net? Again what color? 

The Souk is a pretty overwhelming place and one could spend hours wandering all the little back allies looking at the small shops. Happily, there are many comfortable places to sit and relax too:

and enjoy a cup of tea or a hookah smoke if you want.

Well, that's about  it for Capt. Mike's adventure to the Maldives and Qatar. One of the top ten experiences in my travels. Now it's time to head back to the United States and rejoin the winter which is already in progress. Hope you enjoyed the trip as much as I did.

CAPT. MIKE IN THE MALDIVES: DAY 11

After a very beautiful sunrise we had two nice snorkels to start the day.

  The snorkels we've made have been great. From my experience some of the best I've ever seen. I would expect the diving to be exceptional too. We we are both open water certified divers. Unfortunately, my girlfriends back issues do not make strapping on a 60 pound tank very comfortable and worth the pain. Another reason we are not diving is that it requires special schedules to meet up with dive guides. This would limit our wandering around the atolls and also take more time out of each day to do just the dives. So snorkels seemed the way to go for this trip. After the snorkels we headed for our lunch anchorage at 04 24.787N, 073 35.466E:

After lunch we headed over to some islands that were Maldivian military bases and snorkeled off one that Ibrahim called a "carbon neutral" island. As the power for the islands electric needs were made from renewable resources as you can see from the two wind generator towers:

Lucky for us the light was just right making the channels very easy to see:

You can see how traveling when the light is right is important when navigating these waters.


We then headed for the night's anchorage 04 15.720N 073 30.270E:

While waiting for the sunset I spent my time watching the colorful fishing boats heading back to the ports in the evening. The next day Friday would be the holy day in this Islamic country:

Once again we had very a beautiful sunset for our next to last night night in the Maldives:

It was worth the wait...

CLICK HERE FOR THE CAPT. MIKE IN THE MALDIVES POST: DAY 10