Showing posts with label Addoo atoll. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Addoo atoll. Show all posts

Sunday, January 02, 2011

Addoo atoll

29th Guests arrives. Weather is dead calm as all piloting manuals suggest Crew is onboard prepared as usual.

Hankede Beach mangroves

Hankede Beach

30th Check Hankede Island for the beach setup to have sundowners and BBQ. The area has been intended to build a resort by a local entrepreneur but is still pending litigation. Icey’s people built up a lovely setup with a path lined with flaming coconuts for the guests to follow to the beach. I was lucky enough to not get hit by the local squall that pelted everyone at the beach and soaked all crew there. Luckily the rain had passed when the Guests arrived so they enjoyed a thoroughly good night of BBQ.

Maldivian cargo dhoni, they can take a 20' container on aft deck

IE in the distance from Mulikolhu Island

After a passed thunder squall, Luke with rainbow in back ground

31st we are marking the channel to Mulikolhu Island. Me, Luke and Ty end tape reflective tape on empty canisters and up tye them to coral reefs at hazardous points. Same time we see awesome sea life with drop offs going deeper. The weather is not in our favor and the night time BBQ is cancelled. We get the crew safely back onboard although many of our buoys had disappeared with the high waves and passing thunder squalls. New Year is celebrated onboard with a hurried glass of champagne on the port main deck companionway.

Approaching thunder squalls

The "Director's" table


1st We are still anchored off Mulikolhu Island and guests takes advantage of the sun and plays on the Island. The wind is persisting and blowing freshly from NW. I was on the Island when darkness fell and I saw all the hundreds of hermit crabs emerging from the mangrove bushes to wander about the beach. The biggest specimens I came about were the size of a mans fist. In the evening some Guests go for night fishing but returned without booty.

Happy New Year

Neptune and his minions in full swing

2nd We weigh anchor early morning at 6am and set our course for Huvadhoo atoll just north of us. During the passage we cross the equator northbound and again Neptune boarded us to initiate them in to the Mysteries of the Deep. The proceedings went well with each participant sealing their worthiness to enter the northern hemisphere with a Bloody Mary shot.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Diving British Loyalty

28th We reconnoitered the Island of Mulikolhu and found a couple entrances to go through the coral reef with jetski and rescue boat. Having a secured entrance we returned to IE and prepared for a dive at the British Loyalty wreck.

British Loyalty part of railing and a Feather star

C/E Andrei giving the "OK" in the engine room

One propeller blade

Corals

Not taking too much time we loaded our gear onto the Gulf Craft dive boat and headed for the dive site. The guide did not come with diving gear and only pointed out a floating water bottle and told us that there is where the wreck is and follow an N-S course for viewing and do a swim through the wreck.

Current crew of BL, Vermilion rock cod

More railing

Nemo found, Maldives anemonefish

Nemo's cousin found too, Clark's anemonefish

Andreas gives the thumbs up at the end of the dive

Lead by Willy we did all this and saw an ample amount of fish but in my opinion it was not really the best Maldives could offer. The visibility was probably not the best as it was close to dusk. I was still happy to make out the thick riveted hull plating and railings plus other parts such as the propeller and rudder stock, a good dive.

M/t British Loyalty
Photo Courtesy of Library of Contemporary History, Stuttgart

M/t British Loyalty was torpedoed during WWII twice but still did not sink. Eventually she was scuttled to her current location by the British for target practice. For those more interested in the history of m/t British Loyalty can click here.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Exploring Addoo atoll

On 27th we got a local guide onboard to reconnoiter the local Islands for possible beach parties and barbecues. The locally called “Bushy Island” up north proved very difficult to approach and so we settled on the Mulikolhu Island in the south of the atoll that had recently hosted one of the “Survivor” series seasons with Icey teaching the urbanites how to open coconuts and to catch fish.

Addoo beaches

Our local man "Icey"

Same afternoon I lent from Icey and Matty a pair of scooters and headed with Jessie North to explore the northwestern side of the atoll. First I had to stop and change some dollars to local currency for any expenses. It did not take long to discover the scooters needed more fuel so we stopped on Maradhoo Island on a prominent fuel station to fill our vehicles. At same time I discovered Jessie was on a scooter saddle for her first time of her life but she handled it pretty well.

Riding past trees planted by the English


From Maradhoo we continued onwards and passed the commercial port.  I could see ships anchored to offload oil for the local power station and refrigerator ships to load some tuna that seemed to be the common term for “fish”. Then there was some local shipyards that were repairing dhonis and Gulf Crafts, all vey small and compact operations.

Jessie on her "hog"

We passed the power station with its gorgeous trees planted by the Brits on the way on Maradhoo Island and went along to Hithadhoo Island by the western seaside to Koattey were there was supposed to be ancient ruins of a Fort.

Maldivian jungle

We looked for the ruins as far as we could go by road and reached the sea. We parked our scooters and took a swim in the Indian Ocean with the northern swell pushing us back onshore. I cautioned Jessie to stay close to shore as the local currents might be treacherous. The swim was refreshing but the beach really rocky with dead corals so it was not a nice place to walk on.

The northwestern swamplike inner side of the Addoo atoll

After drying ourselves we took a shore path resembling more of a trial track and eventually met a party of local Maldivians and after querying for the Fort they told us the ruins were long gone during their grand father’s time, oh well, so much for the guide books advice.

Coconut juice break

The inside of Koattey

As we were motoring up and down every treaded path we could find with Jessie we stumbled upon a local man who was cutting down coconuts. After some initial sign language he opened a coconut each and we whetted our whistles with the tender sweet juice. After emptying the shell he cut it half so we could get at the meat. I rewarded the man with 50 US cents in local currency for his efforts. He did not show any emotion if it was insufficient or not so I reckon he was happy. After this it was getting dark and we started back south as Avnish had set a dinner date with me.

Hithadhoo

This time we motored straight through the Hithadhoo center main road and saw the various businesses lining the streets along the residential houses. Many were built by coral bricks, i.e. pieces cut out of the surrounding coral reefs.  On the way we passed many dissecting roads that showed us the sun as it was descending lower and lower. So when it was really nearing the horizon we made it through the brush and stopped to admire the sunset. After this I got a call from Avnish enquiring of our whereabouts so we jumped on our scooters and headed for the Maradhoo Island for the “Citybend” restaurant.

Almost sunset again

At “Citybend” we met Avnish and Nina and had a delicious dinner with local curries and other delicacies. Anyway after dinner, we got on our scooters and drove them back to the Icey’s resort on Gan Island.