Repair, prepare and provision
Rhiann Marie - Round the World
Stewart Graham
Tue 19 Apr 2011 04:59
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Tuesday 19th April 0925 Local 0425
UTC
04:13.36N 073:32.25E
Well, after a pleasant couple of days off at an
anchorage at South Male Atoll our "delivery crew" have now left and are
heading back to Scotland. The mission to get to the Maldives was very focussed
and though not very exciting and mostly under engine the mission was
accomplished.
This is the first time we have had any "crew" for
over a year. It was great to have the help to share watches and carry out
repairs, but at the same time it was very difficult to adapt from doing
everything alone.
Trish's sanity is just about preserved and her foot
is getting a little better each day. I would say my back is also improving all
the time. The breakages to repair and maintenance required to keep the Rhiann
Marie show on the road continue unabated and for some reason this really upsets
Trish. I don't know why because it is normally me who does all the repairing.
She says however she hates to see the boat pulled apart but worst of all is
looking at my backside sticking out of the engine room. There is no doubt also
that time spent repairing or maintaining the the boat is time lost exploring or
even relaxing.
We have now had just over two months of not really
being able to sail as I would like and passage plans and programs have been
driven by neccessity. I hope now to be able to return to sailing more
freely and digging up some new adventures. I am hopeful that once we start
working our way south we can visit some of the almost 1000 uninhabited
islands of the Maldives and also visit some of the local people on the islands
that are not inhabited by exclusive resorts.
The people of the Maldives we have so far met
have been very friendly. People have now on several occasions just
approached with a smile and said hello or shook hands and strike up a
conversation asking where we are from. I already have three addresses and phone
numbers from people who have said "anything you need in the Maldives just call
me". This is not a "Del-boy" type attempt to
do some deals but a real Maldivian, perhaps Muslim? attempt to welcome
visitors. Our neighbours at the anchorage here are two young Maldivian guys who
work on charter yachts and when I asked if one would take us ashore in
their Dingy, Sumit said "I am Maldivian, I will do anything I can to help you".
Australian visitors arrive in a few days so Trish
and I will probably stay at this anchorage and provision, prepare and repair the
boat for a few days. The fridge is not working and my main engine 24V alternator
gave up yesterday. This is not good.... so off to the forty degrees centigrade
engine room for me for my morning sauna!
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