Category Archives: Maldives

More About Part 2 of The Unexpected Circumnavigation

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Part 2 of The Unexpected Circumnavigation: Unusual Boat, Unusual People covering Australia to Oman is now on sale! Read the first few pages on Lulu’s “preview” feature and read an excerpt from Chapter 1 here (starts on page 18)!

Jeff Merrill wrote an extensive book review for the Nordhavn.com site.

Many people have asked us why they should buy our book if they can read our blog for free. Just like Part 1, the book is very different from the blog. Here are a few of the differences between the two:

  • Prologue: Picks up where the Prologue of Part 1 left off. It focuses primarily on the research we did as we planned for our journey and addresses the majority of the questions we were most frequently asked.
  • Several new stories from the journey – And there are some really good ones!
  • Many details have been added that were best left undisclosed while we were still on the journey (sometimes we didn’t want our parents worrying about us; sometimes we didn’t want to incriminate ourselves!)
  • In Retrospect sections with great insights — so you can see the situation through the eyes of a newbie as we learn, while simultaneously seeing the same situation through the eyes of experience.
  • Streamlined stories – some complained our posts were too long and detailed, the book is a condensed version they will enjoy more.
  • Formatting is first person, through Christi’s eyes – Some complained they didn’t like the third person format, so they will enjoy the book more.
  • Actual dates on each post. On the blog, the dates are not real time, which is a significant piece of information for anyone hoping to follow in our footsteps.
  • All profits will go to our cruising fund. The more books we sell, the sooner you can start reading about our next journey! So, buy one and get all your friends to buy one, too!

People have also asked us why we broke the series up into four books instead of only three. We had very different experiences in each of the four world regions, so it was best for each region to have its own volume.

  • In the South Pacific, Part 1, we spent most of our time in sparsely populated areas communing with nature. And we did a lot of rough sea time, learning about boating the hard way.
  •  In Asia, Part 2, we were mostly in densely populated areas building cultural bridges. Our sea experiences were also different from the Pacific, with both our best and worst passages occurring in this region.

Travel Summary January 2008 to June 2008

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Indonesia to Egypt

  • West Timor Island, Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
    10° 9S by 123° 34E
    Dec 27 – 31, 2007 & Jan 2 – 9, 2008
    Traditional village tour
  • Flores Island, Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
    08° 50S by 121° 30.8E
    Jan 10 – 15, 2008
    Crater Lakes
  • Rinca Island, Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
    8°39.15S by 119° 42.9E
    Jan 16 -24, 2008
    Komodo Dragons & other native wildlife
  • Labuan Bajo, Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
    08° 29.5S by 119° 52.5E
    Jan 21 -24, 2008
    SCUBA Diving
  • Bali, Indonesia
    08° 44.5S by 115° 12.7E
    Jan 25 – Feb 8, 2008
    UN conference, island tour, whitewater rafting, SCUBA Diving, Monkey Forest, traditional show
  • Karimata, Indonesia
    01°40.7S by 108° 54.2E
    Feb 12 – 14, 2008
    Medical assistance to islander
  • Sentosa Island, Singapore
    01°14N by 103° 50E
    Feb 12 – Mar 08, 2008
    Side trip to Hong Kong, Museums, Rides
  • Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
    02° 31N by 101° 48E
    Mar 8- 18, 2008
    Side trip to Malacca
  • Langkawi Island, Kedah, Malaysia
    06° 21N by 099° 40E
    Mar 20 – Mar 28, 2008
    Sky ride, Geoforest Park, waterfall hike, extravagent gift museum
  • Ko Muk Island, Trang Province, Thailand
    07°23N by 099°17E
    Mar 28 – Apr 2, 2008
    Emerald Hawng
  • Phi Phi Islands, Krabi Province, Thailand
    Don: 07°43N by 098°46E
    Li: 07°40N by 098°46E
    Apr 2 – 4, 2008
  • Phuket Island, Phuket Province, Thailand
    Ao Chalong: 07° 49N by 098° 21E
    Nai Harn: 07° 46N by 098° 17E
    Apr 4 – 17, 2008
    Traditional dancing, Elephant ride, Hawng tour, Fantasea show
  • Port Blair, Andaman Islands, India
    11° 40N by 092° 42E
    Apr 17 – 23 & 29, 2008
    Visit to Ross Island
  • Havelock Island, Andaman Islands, India
    11° 59N by 092° 56E
    Apr 23 – 29, 2008
    SCUBA diving, Elephant training camp
  • Male, Maldives
    04° 13.0N by 073° 32.0E
    May 02 – 18, 2008
    SCUBA diving
  • Port Salalah, Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman
    16° 56.2N by 054° 0.2E
    May 21 – Jun 02, 2008
    SCUBA diving, Guided Tour Dhofar
  • Port Ghalib, Marsa Alam, Egypt
    25°31N by 34°38E
    Jun 13 – 17 & Jun 23 – Jul 05, 2008
    SCUBA diving, Trip to Luxor to see Temples & Burial Tombs

Male, Maldives to Port Salalah, Oman Day 1-4

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We left on Sunday evening. On Monday, early in the morning, winds were light and seas were pretty nice overall, despite the fact it was head winds and head seas. By mid-morning, the first of many squalls rolled through. With each squall, there has been a lot of rain and wind, with gusts as high as 38 knots. The squalls sometimes come from the forward port or forward starboard (an angle that hits us in the front right or left corner). In between squalls, winds drop to about 10 12 apparent knots on the nose. Needless to say, as the day has progressed, the seas got progressively bigger, lumpier and confused. Conditions were in the uncomfortable category and we were definitely feeling the washing machine effect. Given that it was almost as uncomfortable in the anchorage, we still think we were better off out here, making forward progress towards calmer weather, than back in the anchorage, waiting for the weather to cooperate.

On Tuesday morning, we found out that a storm has formed Continue reading →

Checking Out and Final Thoughts on the Maldives

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This morning the anchorage was still rolly and miserable, but we bit the bullet and finished getting the boat ready to go. There was no way in hell we would spend another day in such rough conditions. We headed to shore at 1100. We are sad to report that Kosmopolitan’s front tip got caught under the dock just as a wave was smashing into us and Continue reading →

Mast Climbing and Getting Ready to Leave The Maldives

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When we got up in the morning, the wind still hadn’t changed. We didn’t even contemplate re-anchoring in another spot for a couple of reasons. One, we wanted to check out and we needed to be here to do so, and two, if we were to move, we would probably have to pay that $500 fee. At least staying here we may be able to get out of it.

We bit the bullet and got to work on getting ready for sea, despite the rocking. We had originally planned to leave today, but it wasn’t going to happen. There was too much to do between getting the boat ready and errands. Plus, the wind was coming from wrong direction, so it would be a rough ride. The weather forecast still said nice weather with occasional localized storms, so hopefully by tomorrow this crazy “localized storm” will have cleared up and it’ll be a nicer ride.

By late morning, the winds calmed down to the low teens, but it was still rollier than we are comfortable in. Claire from Fafner came over and changed the navigation light for us. She is a brave (or maybe crazy) girl, climbing up there in less than ideal conditions. We thought changing the light bulb would be easy, but it turned out to be something of a puzzle box getting the cover off. After sitting up there in the rocking for a long time and after lot of tries with assorted tools, Claire finally located the hidden magic screw that held the cover in place. The light bulb was quickly changed and the cover replaced. Thank you Claire!

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In the afternoon, Claire and Jeff went to shore. Since Alex and Karen were staying behind, they offered to give us a ride. Even with the calmer winds, the seas were rough. Our first stop was an Internet café we heard had a fast connection, called Shell. They served food, but it was Continue reading →