South...

Rhiann Marie - Round the World
Stewart Graham
Fri 13 May 2011 03:03
11 May 12th & 13th May
 
01:49.629N 073:23.672E
 
After the stunning anchorage at Olhufushi in Kolhumadulu Atoll we set off south this morning before 0800. We made a straightforward exit from the south of the atoll into the Veymandoo Kandu separating Kolhumadulu Atoll from Hadhdhunmathee Atoll ( You can see why they gave them the more simple letters of the alphabet names, can't you?) . "Kandu" means channel,and the term is also used for the narrow chanels into the atolls too. I presume the chanels that are too narrow to enter are called NoKandu's......
 
On the passage down my new lure came good again and I had a long hard fight with a very large and strong Baracuda. I have been told that they eat them here but I have also watched a documentary about fearsome shark attacks which ended by the commentator saying "shark attacks are horrific but they are nothing compared to a Barracuda attack"! So handling this beast on the back of a rolling around yacht has to be done with care. Again though, in this case as in the past with Barracuda, I returned him to the sea. Though he was far too big for us to eat or freeze given our refrigeration problems, I later regretted not keeping the fish as I met some locals scraping a catch of a few small fish from the reef.....
 
Our entry into the next atoll was the most challenging so far but still nothing like the passes in the Tuamotos so we were in safely and headed off down the western side of the atoll searching for another anchorage to spend a day or two.
 
We were rewarded with this stunning anchorage (stunning nor any other word describes this location and despite Trish's best efforts neither do photographs - Google the lat long above). We are just off the inside reef bordering about twelve idyllic deserted islands sitting in about a metre deep of turquise water. All with coconut palms and golden sandy beaches. Though you have to work hard for your anchorages here in the Maldives many of them are spectacularly beautiful.
 
We spent a pleasant afternoon snorkelling and watched the last of series six "24" before an early night. The next day the skies were blacker than grey and it rained for most of the day exactly as forecast so we spent the day "by the fire" pottering around and doing odd jobs. 
 
Odd jobs like dying Trish's hair and fitting one of my new pumps which I got delivered by hand from Australia. This job is not finished thoug and I still need to fit a new electronic grey water tank level sender to the unit to give us all toilets functioning again. It was a shame we could not enjoy the islands on our doorstep a little more but it also felt like the first "day off" in a long time. I know you think every day is a day off for us but until you do it for yourself you will just have to take my work for it that the work is almost never ending.   
 
On Thursday morning we hauled anchor early and went over to a small island at the south end of the atoll where a new resort had been built to see if we could join in the diving. The resort, which was a "Sixth Sense Resort" turned out to have been just opened for two months and the manager greeted us and a "GEM" was appointed to look after us. The place was uber-Zen with prices to match. Lunch was exquisite too ...However we went there for diving and diving we went with the brand new set up. While we enjoyed it, the dive was nothing special and visibility was poor so we made a snap decision to head off and haul anchor just before the sun set and sail down over night directly to Adoo Atoll at the very south end of the Maldives.
 
As darkness fell we had a clear starry sky and half moon. The Plough was behind us with its "pointer" stars pointing over the northern horizon to the invisible north star, and home. To the west over our starboard was Orion just above the horizon but a little faint. Almost directly ahead of us and the opposite direction from home was a radiant Sothern Cross that will be our companion off the bow for the next four thousand miles or so. We must sail now another four thousand miles into a southern winter andaway from home before we can turn north again and head into a northern Winter!
 
We are about forty miles out of Adoo Atoll at the moment (0746 Local - position 00:04.705S 073:22.398E )
 
SOUTH! Good grief I must be a bit dozy after a long night! We just crossed the equator again for the third time and I was not even paying attention!  

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