Season Five - The Plan

Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Thu 10 Nov 2011 06:55
Ok!  Let the new season begin.

We have been back in Malaysia at Rebak Marina in Langkawi for nearly a month now, and have spent all of that time working our way through a list of boat jobs very much like the one we toiled through before leaving Sodus Bay in July, 2007; and before leaving Baltimore in November, 2007; and before leaving New Zealand in May, 2009; and before leaving Australia in July, 2010.  The only difference being the conditions in which we are forced to work.  It's hot.  And humid.  Unfortunately, the climate here did not change while we were away.  The good news is that all those extra pounds packed on during four months of too many parties, dinners, lunches and happy hours at home have melted off in a record 3 1/2 weeks.  Forget about the Atkins diet (which you could never do here anyway, given the lack of pork products) for effective weight loss, we recommend a month in Malaysia, eating and drinking as much as you please while working every day, all day, on a boat in a sweltering marina.

For those that might have an interest in such things, a summary of Harmonie's new installations, repairs, etc. will be provided in an upcoming blog entry.  Try not to lose sleep while you wait for that titillating blog to be published.

So, the plan for Season Five.  Here it is:

Leave Langkawi, Malaysia next week - around November 18th.

Day sail 3ish days north to Phuket, Thailand.

Spend the month of December in Yacht Haven Marina, Phuket while waiting for a new main, and smaller head sail to be constructed at the Rolly Tasker sail loft on Phuket.

January, 2012.  Hmmmm, we don't really have a plan for January yet.  The boat will definitely be in Thailand.  We may be on it, cruising around Thailand, or we may choose to do another land trip somewhere in Southeast Asia, or both.  We'll see.  At any rate, we won't be leaving Thailand until the northeast monsoon sets in and becomes well established.  We need the northeast wind (as opposed to the southwest wind, which is sort of blowing at the moment) in order to sail west to Sri Lanka, which will be our first ocean passage on our way across the Indian Ocean to South Africa.

In early-to-mid February, we'll return to Langkawi, Malaysia from Phuket, Thailand just long enough to stock up on cheap diesel, wine and other staples.  Shortly thereafter, we'll take off for Sri Lanka, which is about 1,100 miles (nautical miles, which are about 15% longer than the 'regular' miles we all know and love) away, and should take us about a week to sail.

We'll stay in Sri Lanka (which is a single island nation just to the southeast of India's southern tip) for two or three weeks before heading west to the Maldives in early March.  The Sri Lanka to Maldives leg is about 840 miles (6 days).

The Maldives is a very Muslim country consisting of a string of islands (really coral atolls) that run north to south (and are filled with resorts populated by European and Middle Eastern clientele), situated southwest of India's southern tip.  We'll cruise south through the Maldives during the month of March, and then make the relatively short ocean passage hop (2 or 3 days) south to Chagos in early April.

Chagos is an archipelago (string of islands) sitting smack dab in the middle of the Indian Ocean at about 5 degrees south latitude (which means a third equator crossing is in store for us).  Chagos is a British Territory, but the main island, Diego Garcia, is leased to the US for a military base.  All of Chagos is uninhabited (a story for another time), except for the military base.  However, Chagos is perfectly situated for cruising yachts like us to sit and wait for the southern hemisphere cyclone season to end.  So, we will sit and wait in the designated anchorage (about 35 miles and a few islands away from the US military base) with the 20 or so other sailboats (many of whom we will know) before continuing further south to Mauritius in May.  Chagos is said to be one of the most idyllic places on earth for boaters like us.  There is nothing there (aside from the military base, which we are not allowed to approach).  No people, no villages, no shops, no roads, no moorings, no docks.  Just a designated anchorage set in a gorgeous tropical blue bay where cruising boats congregate to wait for May to arrive.  The British government allows yachts to stay just 28 days in Chagos, so we will most likely make full use of our allotted 28 days.

In May, we will continue 1,150 miles (~8 days) southwest to Mauritius, a tiny, independent island nation with an interesting colonization history (again, a story for another time).  Mauritius is directly east of Madagascar (which is just across the Mozambique Channel from Mozambique on the east coast of Africa).

At this point, our plan starts to get a bit fuzzy.  We aren't sure how long we will stay in Mauritius before continuing the short 130 miles southwest to Reunion (a French Territory).  Likewise, we aren't sure how long we will stay in Reunion before making the big (and probably most challenging) 1,500 mile sail to Richard's Bay on South Africa's southeast coast.  We do know we'll get to South Africa before November, since we have to vacate Mauritius and Reunion before the cyclone season starts up again in November.  We'd like to fit in a trip home sometime between July and November, but aren't exactly sure when that will happen, and where we will be able to safely leave the boat (Mauritius, Reunion or South Africa).  So, we'll leave that be for now and instead, focus on the next three months in Thailand.

It should be a fun season.  Ok, ok, I'm understating our enthusiasm in a big way.  It should be a fantastic season.  We are really looking forward to returning to ocean sailing and all the joys (and sea sickness) it brings.  We're also looking forward to experiencing new cultures (new to us), and of course, the unique cruising culture of Chagos. 

Anne