The Indian Ocean: Male to Langkawi:Part 1 17- 24 sept
alienkat
david and margaret ritchie
Mon 25 Sep 2006 08:56
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We left Male in high spirits, and after 6 days and
3 hours reached our half way point, 800 miles due east of the Maldives, and well
to the east of Sri Lanka. It has been a great trip so far with only a
slight ocean swell, no rain, blue skies and a southerly wind, allowing us to
coast along at 6.5 - 7 knots with ease.The sea life is fantastic, with something
popping its head out of the water everytime you look out. Unfortunately, we have
been the last resting place of scores of flying fish, who launch
themselves onboard during the night. One even managed to go in the small 6" by
3" hatch in Margaret's cabin. Despite this, I have had no success with fishing
but the cook is doing such an excellent job that nothing additional is
required.
We still are receiving e-mail and weather forecasts
via our Thuraya phone which we did not expect and are carefully monitoring the
cyclone situation, but by Wednesday night, we should be safely in the Malacca
Straits with only 250 miles remaining.
There has been little shipping traffic: only 3
coasters, a ferry and 3 or 4 fishing boats so far, which is a surprise, so we
have the wide, open ocean all to ourselves.We had been undecided whether to head
for Phuket or Langkawi first but the potential situation in Thailand last week
has confirmed our destination as Langkawi.
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