06 50N 73 42E
Dany II to the Philippines
John Ridsdel
Fri 4 Sep 2009 12:09
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06 50N 73 42E
Sept. 4, 2009
Dany II...hi sports fans, sorry to keep you
waiting...it's been a rather hectic few days since our arrival in Uligan...we
entered the pass to the lagoon at 0645 & proceeded straight for the
designated anchorage on the island of Uligan...unfortunately because of a strong
WSW wind blowing, it was impossible to anchor where we were supposed to, so
continued on the the SE corner of the island & found that the wind &
swell were both wraping around the point making it very uncomfortable & not
safe...we then back tracked to the islands on either side of the pass,
looking for a possible anchorage...nada...our only option at this point was to
go to the W side of the lagoon where we could possibly get some protection from
the barrier reef...keep in mind that the vis isn't great, & we've got rain
squalls all around us, with a big nasty one comming towards us...at last, we
managed to work our way through a bomi strewn area & found a relatively calm
safe anchorage...good to be stopped!...after catching up on some sleep, we
started tackeling our "to do" list...the autopilot had hit the top of the list,
so we started with that...it still refused to work, so we moved on to other
things that needed fixing...the next morning, the Maldive coast guard showed up
& came aboard D2 to ck our papers & find out what were doing in this
particular anchorage...they were extreamly plesant & understanding as to why
we were not anchored in front of the town were we were supposed to be...but
after sever phone calls to the customs & immigration agents in Uligan, we
were ordered to move back to Uligan...conditions were a bit better, but still
not good for the anchorage in front of town, so they allowed us to anchor off
the S end of the island...at this point, the customs & immigration were all
on board, & they could experience first hand how rolly it was, but they
would still not allow us to return to the other anchorage...darrn!!...we
completed all the entry forms, then I had to accompany them to the village to
pay the entry fee & fill out even more forms...you have to wonder what they
do with all this paper work!...at this point, we still had lots to do on D2 ,
but the rolly anchorage was making it very difficult...not point in staying any
longer, we knew it would be calmer at sea, so we opted to clear out & take
off the next day...too bad it looked like a very nice place to do some
snorkeling & exploring...maybe some other time...so we're off on the final
leg "home" to Langkawi...I forgot to mention, the autopilot suddenly decided to
work again...this thing really has a mind of it's own!...so far it's been a
great day of down wind sailing...certainly much calmer than the anchorage!...now
for the last 1,200 mi....seems like nothing at this point...cheers! D2 &
crew
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