Decisions, Decisions - Rebak Marina, Langkawi, Malaysia
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Sat 3 Mar 2012 04:58
| 6:17.710N 99:41.848E February 2, 2012 - February 17, 2012 While it's true we had the best intentions of leaving Langkawi, Malaysia around February 15, and heading west to the Maldives, we didn't. It was a good plan - a 14 day sail to the Maldives, then a month in the Maldives sailing south through the fabulous coral atolls (shades of French Polynesia's Tuamotus, minus the Polynesians), then south to Chagos, Mauritius, Reunion, and South Africa. Unfortunately, some Maldivians decided it would be a good time to create major political upheaval and oust their president. We waited a week or so to see if the whole thing would blow over, but there was a series of protests in support of the ousted president in Male, the capital city, which spread south to the island of Gan in the southernmost atoll. Police stations were burned, rioters were arrested and there were rumors of torture in Gan and a death in Male. Our plan had been to arrive in Male, and sail south to Gan. Hmmmm. Here's the dilemma. Indian Ocean crossing routes are fairly limited, especially now that going up the Red Sea to the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean is not an option due to piracy. This leaves two choices: the northern route - west to Sri Lanka or the Maldives, then south to Chagos, Mauritius, Reunion and South Africa; or the southern route - south back down the Malacca Strait to Singapore, then nearly to Bali in Indonesia, and west to Cocos Keeling, Chagos, Mauritius, Reunion and South Africa. Each route has it's own set of challenges. We've chosen the northern route because the thought of backtracking with little wind all the way down the Malacca Strait to Singapore and on through Indonesia is not appealing. So, the northern route it is. Other Indian Ocean crossing complicating factors include few island groups to hop to and from, and the delicate timing associated with traveling through four major weather system areas: the northern Indian Ocean, which is governed by the northeast monsoon and southwest monsoon seasons, the doldrums on either side of the equator, the southeast trade winds in the southern hemisphere tropics, and the parade of low pressure systems that sweep over the tip of Africa in the higher southern latitudes. To hit the right winds at the right time and miss all the cyclones, timing for the northern route goes something like this:
Plan B Hello Sri Lanka! We had thought about going to Sri Lanka in the past, but the boater grapevine said the mooring situation in the one suitable harbor Sri Lanka has for sailboats (Galle) is appalling. It's said the harbor water is filthy, and the plastic floating dock yachts are required to Med moor to (anchor down, stern to the dock) is flimsy and moves with the incoming swell. The highlight of Sri Lanka is inland travel to the mountains where all the tea plantations exist in a heavenly sea of green (or so we've imagined it to be). Unfortunately, you wouldn't want to travel inland without having someone watch your boat (and run the generator to keep the batteries from dying since there is no power hook-up on the flimsy, plastic, floating blue dock). We wrote Sri Lanka off when we we put together our Indian Ocean crossing plan because we weren't confident any other boaters would be there at the same time. Since then, we've met several boats that are either currently on their way to Sri Lanka, or plan to leave shortly. That's all we needed to know. Plan B is a go. Galle is the only place to take the boat in Sri Lanka, so we decided two weeks was plenty of time to spend there. As a result, we pushed our departure date back by a few weeks from February 15 to March 1. Had we left for Sri Lanka on February 15 and stayed only two weeks, we would have arrived in Chagos two weeks too early and thrown off the timing for the rest of our crossing. We also decided to leave from Phuket instead of Langkawi. This departure point will give us a better angle on the wind and allow us to spend a little more time in the southern Thai islands. Yes, yes, March 1 has come and gone, but never fear, we plan to leave Phuket Sunday, March 4 for Sri Lanka. Really, we do. Next up: Final Preparations - Ao Chalong, Phuket, Thailand Anne |