Our route around South and Middle Andaman.  From Port Blair in the south to 1, Havelock Island, 2. Peel Island, 4. North Button Island, 5.Long Island, 6.Rangat Bay, 7. North Passage Island, 8. Havelock Island and return to Port Blair
We motored into the bay using satellite imagery to help identify the fringing reef, and dropped anchor in 16 meters, surrounded by mangroves. There was a small motorboat by what appeared to be the remains of a jetty - now in ruins, but it left soon after we arrived.  We were a bit cautious about going ashore with no one else around as this looked very much like crocodile country, but another small boat came and dropped off its customer, so we figured it was OK and got the dinghy ready.  It was almost low water, so we ended up splashing in through the mud to the beginning of the footpath, just a couple of hundred meters to the beach.  The island is uninhabited apart from one small dog: we were not sure how it survives. The beach was stunning at low tide.  Acres of golden sand and, apart from a solitary snorkeller, we were the only people there.  It was a fabulously quiet night on our own in this anchorage with just a few lights visible from the village on Long Island, 5 miles to our north.  There weren’t too many bugs, despite being among the mangroves and the thin sliver of a moon and the stars were beautiful.

Sarah took time for a quick swim

While Phil waited in the shade of the palm trees

The island's only inhabitant
We were due to spend two nights here but that left us with 40 miles to cover back to Port Blair, so we asked permission to change our itinerary and make an extra stop back at Havelock Island.  This was another good sail, starting with reefed sails in the moderate wind but, when we saw another boat behind us on AIS and it was catching us up, the reefs came out and Meikyo kicked up her heels.  The other boat was a much bigger catamaran and continued to catch us, but we still anchored first! This was the first time since we left Port Blair that we had shared an anchorage with another yacht.  The wind was gusty from the east when we arrived, so we found shelter under the cliffs with the local fishing boats.  Despite the shelter a swell found its way into the bay and we rolled all night.

We had some great sailing around these islands

One of the local fishing boats came over to check us out and also to ask for cigarettes
A final fast sail with the wind on the beam took us back to Port Blair and the end of our Andaman Islands cruise.  We only saw a tiny part of the area with its clear waters, beautiful beaches and interesting history and cultures, but we also had some good sailing and continued to learn about our new boat. 
Back in Port Blair we have topped up our fuel and provisions, been shopping for lightweight cotton clothes to keep the bugs off and done some more repairs.  We have ordered a new foresail (Yankee) as the sailing we have done here showed that the old one is really not much good.  It is coming from the same factory as the mainsail we bought earlier in the year, which is in Sri Lanka, our next destination, so delivery should be straightforward. 

On this visit we found the fruit and veg markets at Aberdeen Bazaar.  It is the first real market we have found for some time.  Not a bad range of veg either

Its a real bazaar with shops off little alley ways between the streets

As we had lunch a cow came up to the restaurant door.  A member of staff fed it some Naan or Chapati and then shooed it away
The steady north easterlies that should have blown us to Sri Lanka are forecast to die away over the next couple of weeks, but our visas here run out soon so we have decided to leave on Thursday and accept a slow passage.  As a sign of the changing weather today brought the first rain we have had for weeks.  It was most welcome to rinse the salt off the boat and lower the temperatures.