Chagos Archipelago
Vega
Hugh and Annie
Thu 5 May 2022 07:33
05:20.0S 72:15.9E It seems a long time ago that I was in Bristol emailing the British Indian Ocean Territories section at the FCO seeking a permit to visit the Chagos Archipelago. And yet here we are, at anchor in the Salomon Islands, just off Ile Fouquet after a three and a half day passage from Gan. There is no one else here so it is probably the most remote anchorage we have ever been or are likely to be ever again. There is absolutely nothing here in the way of human presence other than the remains of the former plantations that until recently had been the attraction for an annual pilgrimage of live aboard yachties. We met a couple in Uligan who were part of this pilgrimage and they gave us a hand drawn map of Ile Boddam showing all the old buildings, individual fruit trees, where to anchor etc. It is just across from us and we plan to visit while here. Now permits to visit are hard to come by unless, like us, you really need to stop here to catch the right conditions for onward passage to the Seychelles. Chagos has a controversial history that has led to its current status of BIOT - a status successfully challenged by Mauritius in the international courts. All the residents (originally brought here to work in the plantations) were moved to Mauritius when Diego Garcia was let to the US for use as a military base. Personally I think I would rather live in Mauritius but that is not the point. The former residents have the legal right to return. Given that BIOT is now a marine reserve and, apart from Diego Garcia, a haven for wildlife it puts an interesting perspective on the impact of human activity on the natural world. From the perspective of Chagos the impact of human activity is overwhelming. There is only flourishing wildlife here because there is no human presence. If people moved back here and created settled communities there isn’t an aspect of the natural environment that wouldn’t be affected. In the presence of humans some wildlife can adapt and even generate new forms of habitat which was the case in the British countryside until post war intensive farming has all but destroyed the semi natural habitat that we used to have. It also gives an interesting perspective on the development of tourism in the Maldives. For wildlife the presence of humans means adaption or extinction. The only way, it seems to me, to protect the natural world is to keep people out. This is presumably why groups such as Greenpeace are calling for 1/3 of the world to be protected from human activity. I’m surprised there is still one third left to be protected. Adaption is possible where human impact is sufficiently low key - hunter gatherer communities in places such as the Amazon for example. It may also be possible in protected areas where human access is permitted but low key (National Parks for example). Even then be in no doubt that ‘protected’ areas in the UK are in reality devoid of abundant wildlife and diversity - activities such as sheep grazing and grouse moors see to this. They may look natural and pretty but in reality are a wildlife disaster that we seem determined to perpetuate. Sailing to remote places enables a perspective almost impossible to appreciate from within areas subject to human activity. If we really want to make a significant part of the uk attractive to wildlife - and as a result more attractive and economically valuable to ourselves - we should stop subsidising a handful of people to destroy our countryside wildlife. Our government says that is just what it is doing. I have read the new Environment Act and can assure you there are opt outs in place at every turn to ensure this will never happen. Like the ban on nicotinoid insecticides that kill bees. The government will have us believe that they have introduced a ban. The reality is that opt out clauses ensure they are being used just as ever before. We are “world leading” in our targets to reduce CO2 emissions - with absolutely no policy in place to ensue we have a hope of meeting these targets. This is the reality of populist government based upon lies and deception. Sorry to go political again but my current perspective gained through our travels is that government pandering to short term expedients is ruining the future for our children. Individuals can take action if they choose to do so - just eating less meat would be an effective start! On the boat front we have two significant issues, both possibly linked. We left the Maldives with 360 litres of fuel which is enough for 7.5 days of motoring. We had to motor for around 36 hours to get here which means we have enough fuel left for around 6 days. It will take about 10 days to reach the Seychelles, possibly less if we have favourable conditions. We do not have enough fuel to motor all the way however and so arrival timing has to be tentative! The second issue is that when motoring on our final night before arrival there started to be an intermittent loud metallic vibration. It lasts a second or two and occurs every 20 or 30 minutes. There are several possible causes but the fact that it resonates through the boat and is difficult to pinpoint suggests something related to the prop, rope cutter or driveshaft. I checked all of them while they were running (one of the best uses of a go pro camera on a pole in the case of the prop and rope cutter) and everything seemed fine. I was amazed how clean the prop and bottom of the boat are! Other than the new intermittent vibration the engine and propshaft run very smoothly so I will double check for any loose fittings and hope we don’t have to use the engine too much going to the Seychelles. |