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INDIAN OCEAN REWARD -  ULIGAMU


Crossing the Indian Ocean was a nerve wracking experience.  The nearly two weeks spent crossing it wouldn't have been that big of a deal were it not for all the Tsunami related debris floating in our path.  The winds were favorable and seas manageable, but the debris was terrible.  When we finally made it through the last of the debris field southwest of Sri Lanka, we were ready for a break, and what better place to take one than in the Maldives.

We pulled into the Maldives in the early afternoon and put our anchor down in sixty feet of water.  We chose to stop at the northernmost island of the Maldives called Uligamu, and it was a great choice.  Clear water and calm seas accompanied us wherever we went in this patch of Indian Ocean paradise.

We spent our first night at anchor getting caught up on sleep.  Sailing through a debris field is the recipe for sleepless nights, and it would take a couple of nights before we felt rested once again.

Our first Uligamu sunset was spectacular; orange skies reflected on silver water.  It was one of those sunsets where the horizon disappears as the skies meld seamlessly into the sea.

The Maldives are low lying island just a few feet above sea level, and you can't see them until you are only a few miles away.  It's easy to understand why tsunamis and melting icecaps are a worry to the people living there.  A twenty foot tsunami would wash right over the islands destroying everything in it's path, and global warming with rising sea levels could easily put these islands under water. 

When the sun rose the next day, customs and immigration came out to Exit Only and checked us in.  There's nothing grandiose about officialdom in Uligamu.  They have one small runabout that carries the officials over the reef and out to the anchorage where anchored yachts await their arrival.

Uligamu is suited to yachts, but not to ships.  A shoal bottom and shallow reef extends out from land for at least half a kilometer.  The pier is several hundred feet long by necessity; the water is simply too shallow close to shore for big delivery vessels to bring in supplies.  There are larger islands to the south that can accommodate ships, and it's up to shuttle craft to bring in supplies from other islands.  The cell phone comes into its own in the Maldives; cell phones form an electronic bridge over turquoise waters.  When you need supplies, you call in your order to the big islands, and later in the day the supply skiff shows up with your stuff.

Uligamu is a one stop oasis that contains almost everything cruisers needs to restock their panty on the voyage across the Indian Ocean.  Fresh fruit and vegetables may be a bit pricey, but they are available, and believe it or not, they have unlimited stores of diet coke to quench the cruiser's thirst.  Diet coke is ubiquitous.  It's like air, it's everywhere.

 

Turquoise water is also in unlimited supply.  In some areas, the water is so clear that you can see the bottom at sixty feet.  Fish are in abundance and if you like fresh squid, you simply put your squid lure into the water, and before you know it, you can have all the squid you want.

Fuel and water are readily available as well.  The fuel was expensive, but good quality.  I can't say the same for the water.  Rain water and well water were both available.  We paid for rain water, only to later discover that it was full of green algae that didn't make it's appearance until several weeks later in Oman.  By the time we were in Oman the interior of our water jugs were stained green by Uligamu algae.  We treated our water tanks with bleach and used the remaining jerry can water for showers.

 

We could have spent months exploring the Maldives, but had to move on because we needed to start our journey up the Red Sea before the weather turned hot.  After a week in Uligamu, we reluctantly raised our anchor and sailed north into the Arabian Sea.  In less that a week we would be in Oman.

Life is good.

 


Log 1 Peter Pan Around the World
Log 2 Weapons of Mackerel Destruction
Log 3 Pirates of the Malacca Straits
Log 4 Kissing Cobras
Log 5 Debriosaurus Rex
Log 6 Go Ahead - Live Your Dreams

Log 7 The Man Who Built His House on a Rock
Log 8 Ambivalent Eagles
Log 9 One-Shovel Full at a Time
Log 10 Hitchhiker's Guide to Planet Earth

Log 11 Keeshond

Log 12 The Red Sea Blues

Log 13 Feel the Freedom

Log 14 The Danger Zone

Log 15 Lucky Man
Log 16 Dream Machines - Land Rover Defenders

Log 17 Trade Wind Dreams
Log 18 Logs With Fins
Log 19 Everywhere, Everything
Log 20 Shark Slayer Is History

Log 21 Viking Funeral - Burial at Sea
Log 22 Improbable and Impossible

Log 23 Keep on Trucking
Log 24 Dream Machines II
Log 25 Bodysurfing Whales
Log 26 Hitting the Wall
Log 27 Surviving the Savage Seas

Log 28 The Next Step
Log 29 Welcome to Barbados
Log 30 Atlantic Rally for Cruisers
Log 31 The Man with the Unplan
Log 32 Dali Dolphins
Log 33 Flying Like a Turtle
Log 34 The Foolish Man Built His House on a Pitch Lake
Log 35 Go West Young Man
Log 36 Crossing the Atlantic in a Row Boat
Log 37 The Unsinkable HMS Diamond Rock
Log 38 Catamaran Capsize in 170 mph Winds
Log 39 When Are You Coming Home?

Log 40 Master and Commander of Anegada - Frigate Birds
Log 41 Baths of Virgin Gorda - Batholiths of Central Arabia

Log 42 Free at Last
Log 43 Stalking the Wild Manatee

Log 44 Spreaderman
Log 45 Attack of the Flesh Eating Bees
Log 46 Sharks and Coconuts
Log 47 Stingray Picnic
Log 48 Boo Boo Hill
Log 49 Whale Slayers
Log 50 Noddies (Not Naughty)

 

Log 51 Exumas Land and Sea Park
Log 52 David and Goliath
Log 53 Turquoise Clouds of Paradise

Log 54 Momma Nightjar
Log 55 Maximillian The Great
Log 56 Chiton Kingdom
Log 57 Flying and Holding On
Log 58 Far Horizons
Log 59 Clouds Are a Sailor's Friend
Log 60 Getting Connected
Log 61 Fear
Log 62 Grand Schemes and Other Important Things
Log 63 If Jellyfish Had a Brain
Log 64 Cousins That Don't Kiss
Log 65 Swimming With Sharks
Log 66 Perfect the Way You Are
Log 67 Space Travelers
Log 68 Aliens
Log 69 Monsters of the Mind
Log 70 My Butterfly Collection
Log 71 Somewhere Other Than Here Societies
Log 72 Five-Hundred Pound Spiders
Log 73 Red Sea Sunsets
Log 74 Gibraltar Sunrise
Log 75 Big Sea - Small Ship
Log 76 Just Cruising
Log 77 Castle Mania
Log 78 You Must Know the Sea
Log 79 Flying Like a Goat
Log 80 The Joy of Photography
Log 81 Universal Camouflage
Log 82 My Rainbow Collection
Log 83 Indian Ocean Reward
Log 84 Fiber W
Log 85 Turkish Reflections
Log 86 Mirrors and Mirages
Log 87 Lycean Tombs Rock
Log 88 Rigging Emergency
Log 89 Pamukkale
Log 90 Volcano Land
Log 91 Sniffing the Air
Log 92 Why I Don't Kite Surf
Log 93 Resurrecting Exit Only in Turkey
Log 94 Greased Pole Competition
Log 95 Tsunami Damage
Log 96 Afraid of Living
Log 97 Living on the Edge
Log 98 Borneo Adventure
Log 99 Uligamu Tree Tender with Full Benefits
Log 100 God's Fireworks Display

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