South to Male
Wildfox
Anthony Swanston
Fri 30 Mar 2018 06:00
The problem
with being just about five degrees north of the equator is that there is no
wind. The interminable motoring is
boring; tedious to say the least.
Getting fuel in these out of the way places can be difficult. Added to that, then poor me has to do the
engine servicing.
But the
scenery makes it all worthwhile. Sadly
though there was a major coral bleaching here a few years back and many of the
reefs which are less than 10 metres deep are now dead. We work our way south on day hops. No night sailing in the Maldives. The charts are fiction (drawn by hand in
1835) and coral heads (bommies, we call them) can rise up from 50 metres to
being just below the surface. So it is a
constant lookout with high sun and polarised glasses.
We get to
Male and, to keep the locals employed, have to clear customs again with the
help of my local clearance agent. You are not able to anchor at Male but go to
the adjacent airport island and find a place among the many huge tour
boats. Floating litter abounds with
plastic bags big enough to stall my outboard.
But I am able to fill up with water and diesel from small tankers. Loads of boat movements, loads of speed boats
and right on the airport flight path; but there are good shops ashore. There is
always a consolation …
