16 Mar - 23 Mar 2008 Uligamu

Indian Ocean
Laccadive Sea
Republic of Maldives
Ihavandhippolhu Atoll
Uligamu Island
SY "Kamu II" at anchor, southwest of Uligamu Island, at 12 m of depth, good enough holding on soft sand.
Anchoring fee of MVR 50.- or US$ 4.- for two weeks, payable at the Island Office before departure.

Click below for an interactive satellite view of our anchorage off Uligamu Island:
N 07° 04.60' E 072° 55.33'










Moving the ship from our risky one-night anchorage to her final laying-up position at N 07° 04.60' E 072° 55.33' and welcoming on board a weird bunch of well-groomed and very polite youngsters, all sitting in SY “Kamu II’s” cockpit with five different newly starched, fancy uniforms (customs, coast guard, immigration, health, defence force), completing together at least a dozen of meaningless forms and so-called “nil lists”, letting our ship’s stamp work overtime, getting sheaves of signed forms and permits back, eventually being issued with the coveted 30-day entry permit to the Maldives on arrival, free of any charge, and wondering about the unknown donor for this operetta-like job-creation scheme in such a small and poor country. 

Exploring “properly dressed” (in accordance with one of the leaflets) the straightened up, swept and raked village of Uligamu with its traditional and rather conservative Muslim community, meeting friendly locals and stocking up with provisions from the well-prepared Sailor’s Choice Shop.



Refuelling with 80 litres of diesel fuel for MVR 16.58 or US$ 1.30 per litre and 40 litres of petrol for MVR 19.12 or US$ 1.50 per litre, delivered to SY “Kamu II” by the young entrepreneurs of the Sailor’s Choice Shop.

Buying an additional gas cylinder with 10 kg LPG for Chagos (MVR 190.- or US$ 14.90 for both tank and gas) and having our laundry done (MVR 200.- or US$ 15.70 for a 10-kg load) at Sailor’s Choice.

    
     

Partying with our friends Nana & Spencer on board of their SY "Adverse Conditions" far into the smallest hours and having a very, very good time together (thanks, Spencer, for sharing your last Maraschino cherry with us and for your perfect Dry Manhattans; thanks, Nana from Colombia, for all the rest of it...), thus giving evidence to the fact that Jimmy Buffett was spot-on in Margaritaville: “We are the people our parents warned us about!” - Can anyone remember how our faithful dinghy managed to take us back to SY "Kamu II"?
   
“In wine there is wisdom,
in beer there is freedom,
in water there is bacteria.”


DM Konni: Scubadiving underneath SY “Kamu II”, meeting my first moorish idol (Zanclus cornutus) after a long time again, which got its name from the Moors of Africa who purportedly believed the fish to be a bringer of happiness, thus understanding to be back in the Indian Ocean, whilst checking the holding of our heavy and reliable CQR anchor.


Click below for a summary of this year's travels
Recommended books - click below for your Amazon order from the United States:
 
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For Amazon bargains from the United Kingdom, please click here