Gulf of Aden Crossing

So much has been written about the Gulf of Aden (GOA), a body of water that separates the Arabian Peninsula of Asia and the African Continent.  Some stories are scary and dangerous (piracy) and some stories are treacherous (weather).  During the NE monsoon season, winds are prevailing from the E to ENE, which is exactly the season to sail from Socotra Island to Bab el Mandeb at the southern mouth of the Red Sea.  Sea Child's crossing of the GOA was fast, busy, and certainly in good company.  We had been reporting our position daily to UKMTO, a Dubai organization that represents a security coalition of nations (India, China, Japan, Korea, EU) daily at 0800 UTC  since our departure from the Maldives.  This sense of security was welcome on board, giving us at least some comfort that others were paying attention to our location, speed, course and destinations.  This was a part of our daily tasks aboard Sea Child as we sailed down the GOA.  Upon initial contact with UKMTO, we were advised to join a convoy since we were sailing the GOA without hired security on board.  The requirements to join the slowest convoy was that we had to maintain a boat speed of 10 knots under power, and meet at a specific position at a specific time.  This convoy option was not possible for Sea Child as we could not guarantee that we could maintain the required speeds.  The following is a detailed look at our 3 3/4 day passage of the Gulf of Aden:

DAY ONE
Monday, March 28, 2016 12:30pm-Tuesday March 29, 2016 Noon.  Days run 182 Nautical Miles

We departed  Socotra Island at 12:30pm and set a course of 290 degrees, which would take us more northerly towards the security lanes (IRTC) that had been established for commercial traffic transiting the GOA.  There are specific entry points into the lanes (position A or position B) and we were headed towards the east entry lane, located at 14 degrees 26,095N, 53 degrees, 0,189E.  From the west end of Socotra, this entry location was due north, so sailing a course of 290 would have us intersect the security corridor about 174 NM from Socotra Island.  The winds at our departure were gusting to well over 25, having us sail under full main alone as we surfed down the wind waves towards the shadow of Socotra.  Once there, around sunset, we spotted a few anchored fishing boats who we believe were from Socotra Island.  They waved as we sailed on by.  Throughout the night, we were sailing a more northerly course, around 335 degrees to keep the wind angle at 60-70 degrees, which was fine by me since it brought us closer to the security lanes earlier than the 290 course.  We did not pick up any AIS vessels until we were within about 20 NM of the IRTC.

During Eric's late watch, (2am-6am), he had jibed us onto a course of 270 as we motor sailed making water, winds ESE 8 knots.  When I came up for my 0600-1000 watch & realized how far south we were from the IRTC, I became concerned.  We were sailing in an area between the lanes and the Horn of Africa, and I felt that if we were closer to the shipping lanes we would be safer.

DAY TWO
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 Noon-Wednesday March 30, 2016  Noon, Days Run 182 Nautical Miles

Around 1400, a Japanese surveillance plane flew over Sea Child, and within a minute the Japanese Navy contacted us on VHF CH 16.  By this time, we had picked up several ships on AIS and the Japanese Navy asked us if we needed any assistance, was there anything they could do for us, have we seen any suspicious activity? If so, they are always standing by on VHF CH 16.  Eric asked them where they were, as we could not see them on AIS?  They stated that they receive but do not transmit.  Sounds logical.  The seas were 1'-3' following us, winds ESE at 10 knots and we were making about 7.5 knots boat speed under full main & screecher.  We were now 2.8 NM SSE of the IRTC.

During our dinner, we had an EU Warship on our port, and they sailed with us for about two hours before turning S towards the Horn of Africa.  We had cleared the wind shadow of Socotra Island, and were now being affected by the Indian Ocean swells that were coming up between the Socotra Islands and Somalia.  This created a very rolling sea, winds picked up to ESE 17-20 knots, and Sea Child continued to sail around 9 knots with full main & screecher.

During my late watch, 2200-0200, the roller furler on the jib came undone around midnight, and in order to re-furl the sail, I had to wake Eric.  He went forward to hand turn the furler system while I drove Sea Child deep down wind and held out the sheets.  The winds were picking up in the darkness, and once the furler was secure, and we rolled up the screecher, Eric went back down for some more much needed rest.  Our 4 hours on, 4 hours off watch was taking adventure travel to a whole new level of stamina, so any amount of sleep, even a short nap, was much needed and somewhat refreshing though we were both so exhausted.  We were now 400 NM to Bab El Mandeb, and had just entered the HRA (High Risk Area), an area between 49 degrees E to 46 degrees E.  We noticed the Indian Navy sailing with a large group of AIS targets, heading east, about 10 NM from our location.  Another security check for us that again made our passage feel much safer.  We could focus on sailing Sea Child, sending in our daily UKMTO positions, maintaining systems and provisions, monitoring batteries, fuel consumption, and of course, trying to get any sleep we could.

By sunrise, we were 115 NM N of Somalia, 92 NM S of Yemen, seas 5'-6', winds 19-20 ESE, 9 knots boat speed, course 242 degrees.  We sailed deep downwind with main alone, as the waves began stacking up behind us, close together and very steep.  We were now close enough to the IRTC that we could see the giant commercial ships as they headed eastbound.  Super huge tankers and freighters went by, some in convoys of 5-7 ships, some alone.  We heard the EU Warship contact one of the eastbound ships, asking them why the ship did not have their AIS turned on?  The ship replied that they were not in a convoy, that their captain had the AIS off until out of the HRA.  The EU Warship told them that they were safe, please turn on the AIS, and again, the ship denied the warship request.  The ship was then questioned at length about details, last port, next port, cargo, personnel, tonnage, etc.  After a few minutes of talk back and forth, the EU Warship was standing by on VHF CH 16.

DAY THREE
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 noon - Thursday, March 31, 2016 noon.  Days run  210 NM

The afternoon was spent with Eric on the bow, fixing the Harken Roller Furler System that we had bought in Pangkor Marina, Malaysia.  The system was brand new and unused in heavy seas until we left Thailand in February.  On the crossing to the Maldives, the roller furler system failed and as we sailed closer to Uligan, thankfully the jib was not needed in the light air.  Eric tackled the first repair of the furler system, where he found that the hidden set screws that keep the furler attached to the drum roller had backed out of their sockets.  He set them in with Locktight and thought the problem was solved.  However, as problems always seem to happen in big winds, big seas and of course, dark nights, the problem with the furler was not fixed, as the set screws backed out again.

As Sea Child sailed downwind in the GOA, the bows rising on each steep wave, dropping into the troughs and picking up speed, then rising again, Eric held a drill just perfect into the set screw holes and redrilled them, then resest the screws in a tighter puka (hole) so that they would not back out again.  We were now sailing hard and fast deeper in the GOA, and would definitely need the roller furling system on the jib to work properly as we neared the Bab el Mandeb straights into the Red Sea.  We intend to let Harken know that they have a problem with the design of their furler system, and no where in the schematics that were included with the new system is there any picture or description of these hidden set screws that backed out, causing the drum to spin around the roller furler and therefore, system failure.  It would be logical to know how it works so we can fix it or at least diagnose problems while out at sea.  As Eric wrote in the log after his repair, "Harken Sucks". 

By dinner on Wednesday night, we again had company join us as we sailed deeper into the HRA/GOA.  This time, we picked up a Japanese Warship around 1600, right before the main crash-jibed on a steep wave.  They came as close as 2.2 NM from our port stern, and cruised with us through dinner, eventually passing us and sailing literally into the sunset.  Our auto-pilot, affectionately named "Otto" was having a hard time holding any type of course as we were now wing & wing with full main & jib.  We were trying to maintain a course that would keep us within a mile of the IRTC, sailing parallel and south of the lanes without crossing the eastbound head-on traffic .

We were sailing a course of 252, hand steering at this point to maintain course and speed, Sea Child surfing along at 8 knots.  Waves would pick us up and knock us around, and as we sailed closer to Bab el Mandeb, we heard strange noises on the VHF, people making cat calls and playing random music.  By 0100 on Thursday morning, we had finally sailed out of the HRA, a nice feeling at the right time of day.  UKMTO had mentioned to us in an email that the highest probability for piracy encounters were either at dawn or dusk.  We were fortunate to have the two escorts with us at dinner and send sincere thanks to both EU and Japanese Warships for their presence during our sail through the HRA.

By noon on Thursday, we had sailed a total of 501 NM since leaving Socotra Island and had about another 158 NM to Bab El Mandeb.  We again changed sails from the jib to the screecher and another Japanese surveillance plane flew out of the clouds overhead Sea Child.  They again called us on VHF CH 16, asked the same questions as before, and this time I told them we were fine on board and thanked them for their security presence in the GOA.  

DAY FOUR
Thursday, March 31, 2016 noon - Friday, April 1, 2016 noon.  Days Run 170 nautical miles

Our course to Bab El Mandeb now was 280 degrees, which would have us cross the IRTC lanes and sail on the Yemen side of the corridor.  Winds were ENE 12-14, seas 2-5, sunny skies.  We were sailing with the full main & screecher on a starboard tack and crossed the lanes with no problem.  As the day wore on, the winds began to increase and the waves continued to stack up, steeper and closer together as we neared the straights at Bab el Mandeb.  Dinner was a non issue, our minds set on focusing on what we needed to do in the next few hours.  Our boat speeds were increasing too, with 7 knots becoming 7.5, then a jump to 9 knots, 10 knots, surfing like crazy on the steep, fast waves.  At one point, it was so crazy on board that it became hard to make log entries and by 1900, Eric had to put 2 reefs in the main as Sea Child hit speeds consistently of 18-20 knots.  Yes, we were flying down the steep waves and the night wore on, again, hand steering as Otto was not capable of handling the conditions.  The closer we sailed to the straights of Bab el Mandeb, the more ships came into view, both entering and exiting the straights.  The winds started backing off a bit, but with so many ships coming our way as we started to make the turn into the straights, it was difficult for me to trim the sails, keep watch on AIS targets, and hand steer course.  As we neared the corner of Yemen, the  winds began to pick up again, now up to 20 knots, and Eric put a double reef in the main and reefed the jib 40%.  By 0530, the Mayyun Islands of Bab el Mandeb were just to our starboard, and we officially had entered the Red Sea.  But the excitement was still all around us, with the winds and again steep waves, we ended up dropping the main completely and ran with the furled jib alone.  As we entered the Red Sea, the waves became closer together and therefore much higher, 6'-8', some as high as 8'-10' and with the winds, Sea Child surfed down many of them, hand steering since of course, Otto could not handle the winds and waves, downwind sailing.  It was hard to steer the steep waves of the Red Sea, a fine welcome to a mostly busy and safe passage of the GOA.  Winds increased to S 25-30 knots with gusts to 40, and by mid morning, we were sailing 8-10 knots with a 40% furled jib alone.  Crazy, rough ride.  We were excited to have entered the Red Sea, yet so very exhausted at the fast passage of the GOA with all the security concerns and sea conditions.

In summary, Sea Child sailed the 659 NM from Socotra Island to Bab el Mandeb in 89 hours, average boat speed 7.4 knots.  With the rush at the entry to the Red Sea, we'd thought that we would have averaged better speed.  It was a safe, busy, exhausting passage.  Thankfully, the security of the UKMTO Coalition of Nations, including Indian, Korean, Japanese, EU, Chinese and Coalition Warships kept the GOA passage safe and secure.  Given the weather conditions of the passage as well as the security of the warships and onboard security guards listed on several AIS vessels, we could not even imagine a pirate attempting to overtake a vessel.  Hopefully those pirate days in the GOA are all in the past, and all we will read about them will be in the history books.  Sea Child had a successful passage of the GOA.  Now, the challenges of the Red Sea lay ahead of us.

Around noon, Friday, April 1, 2016, a Coalition Warship passed Sea Child to port as we sailed into the Red Sea, just off the coast of Yemen.  The Warship was making great speed, we were doing about 9 knots and she passed us in no time.  We thought that perhaps the Coalition Warship was headed to Suez, up to the Med for security purposes in the Middle East.  Little did we know what was coming as night would fall.  To be continued in our next post, Red Sea Passage

Written offshore Southern Egyptian Coast, Red Sea
Friday, April 15, 2016

POS: 
25 DEGREES, 18.820 N
34 DEGREES, 46.076 E

--   Sent via OCENSMail satellite email service.  www.ocens.com

Socotra Island, Yemen

In March, 2016, Sea Child crossed the Arabian Sea in under 6.5 days.  In all,  1,248 NM were sailed with average boat speed of 8.26 knots across the vast area between Uligan, Maldives and Socotra Island, Yemen.  The seas for the most part were flat with winds steady from the NE.  The crossing itself was pleasant, yet our watch system of 4 hours on, 4 hours off soon became exhausting.  We had always had others onboard for our previous long passages and this new system would take some adjusting.  The fatigue we felt during the Arabian Sea crossing enhanced the anxiety we felt at the upcoming Gulf of Aden (GOA) crossing, and since we were in the HRA (High Risk Area) of the Indian Ocean, piracy was on our minds.  We reported our daily position to UKMTO, a Dubai organization that maintains the security area that includes the tip of India up to the Suez Canal.  We had studied the information available, and while in Maldives, we had met two other vessels that were planning to sail up to Red Sea via GOA, easing our concerns a bit as we were not the only vessels interested in making the passage.

The other vessels we met, Laragh & Tamaida, had their own set of information to share with us.  Dave & Katrina on Laragh shared with us a noonsite.com article about Socotra Island, and the ability to visit and tour the island with Tamam Travel Agency run by Denis Romanov, a Russian expat living on Socotra (see www.socotra.info).  We made contact with Denis prior to our departure from Uligan and he sent us very interesting information about Socotra, inviting us to come visit.  After careful consideration, we decided that a stop in Socotra, after the crossing of the Arabian Sea, would be good for us.  Anchor down for a few days, catch up on some much needed sleep, and tour a new island, previously unexplored by many yachts. A rest before our sail up the Gulf of Aden.

All of our sailing books on board Sea Child, including the Red Sea Pilot, Ocean Passages & Landfalls, and Indian Ocean Cruising Guide (to name a few) have bold warnings about piracy and Socotra, placing the risk at visiting the island akin to visiting Somalia and certain harm.  The Red Sea Pilot does give a more positive review of Socotra, though the anchorages listed were not used by Sea Child.  The Indian Ocean Cruising Guide states that "Socotra Island at the SE corner of the Gulf of Aden has always been well known as an area to keep clear of because of the possibility of pirate attacks" and Ocean Passages & Landfalls states "The island of Socotra and the Somali coast have long been a danger area for piracy......the advice for the past 25 years has been to stay well away from Socotra..."   The idea of stopping there was not taken lightly.  However, the rewards outweighed the risks and Denis Romanov assured us that we are welcome and safe. He even went so far as to write in one email, "No pirates at all here 3-4 years.  Don't worry about it.  It was Lloyds project to raise insurance rates.  But now is better to avoid Yemen mainland and Yemeni Island in Red Sea.....I will give you more details later."  And with that, we decided to stop, take our much needed rest, and trust Denis.  Socotra Island was worth every minute of our time spent there.

Socotra Island is a little larger than the Island of Maui, Hawaii in length.  Over 70 miles long and +20 miles wide, Socotra is mountainous and dry, sand dunes mixed with steep rocky terrain.  The rocky peaks of Socotra became visible only about 5 miles out, and the white sand dunes that towered above the shore could be spotted as if splatters of white paint were thrown against the rock.  Our nerves, at first spotting the island, were jumpy and we tried to put the warnings of the travel guides out of our minds as we stared in silence.  Here we were, Socotra Island before our tired eyes, and as we continued to jibe up the coastline, we continued to squint through our binoculars at the flat, rocky buildings that lined the coast.  Within a few hours of sighting Socotra, we dropped anchor at the rough "Yemen Port", 12 degrees, 40,8 N, 54 degrees, 04,7 E at 1500 local time. 

After anchoring, Denis arrived at Sea Child in a long, Yemeni motor boat with 4 officials.  Being a Saturday and therefore a non-work day, the officials were all dressed in their custom attire.  Long, sarong like skirts, tshirts, and scarfs wrapped around their heads.  They came aboard Sea Child and marveled at her size, and the fact that just the two of us had sailed her across the Arabian Sea.  Denis translated for us and within a very brief period, they boarded their craft back to shore and took our passports and clearance papers from Maldives with them.  That was it, no search of the vessel, no lengthy paperwork to process.  Easy.  Denis offered to show us around Hadibo, the capital of Socotra Island and short 10 minute drive from the anchorage at the port.  We had little time at Socotra, less than 48 hours planned for our stop, so  we took off on a little adventure.

The diverse landscape that is Socotra is astounding, unlike anything we had ever seen before.  Houses and structures are all built single story out of coral rocks, un-reinforced concrete blocks, and a sand plaster type finish.  All buildings are a light brown color, and most buildings have some sort of crumbling damage. A recent hurricane threw two large commercial vessels on the shore, which stand out tall amongst the sandy background.  And rock walls were everywhere, low walls, high walls, all surrounding vacant plots of land, as if to claim the land for future use.  Some of the rock walls lay in crumbled ruin, as if knocked over by accident, other walls were of stunning beauty, tile and coral and rock in fantastic detail.

The capital of Hadibo is another world.  Its dusty streets are laid in a chaotic pattern of shops and supply stores, hidden deep within dark alcoves.  Shops are filled to the brim with all sorts of supplies, from Saudi cheeses to house paint to baby baths, and a little bit of everything else.  The local bakery is a gas fired oven, similar to a pizza oven, and the baker is busy with tiny loafs of baquettes and delicious pita rounds, throwing the loaves into the fiery furnace by the board, and pulling them out in an organized process.  The smell of the fresh bread carried down the dusty block.

We also found delicious hot house tomatoes, tiny fingerling sweet potatoes, delicious giant green squash, and a unique honey co-op that a French organization brought to Socotra Island.  Diesel was relatively cheap ($.70/liter) and the diesel jugs could be filled to the top, unlike Maldives where the 20 liter mark on our jugs were not the same measurement as the 20 liters that came out of their pumps.  The most unique thing we watched in Hadibo was the people.  They all were busy with their wares, local abaya-clad women totally veiled were selling their produce, the cobbler was repairing worn sandals as he sat in the dirt, even the goat sellers were offering their live goats to be hand picked, killed, gutted and filleted for the buyer.  The eyeballs of the goats would then be thrown into the dusty street, perhaps as a later delicacy for the Egyptian Vultures that fly high above.  We felt as if we were in a movie, some sort of adaptation of the sand people from Star Wars, so foreign was our perspective at life all around us.  The buildings bustled with people, while the rooftops crumbled and supports held leaning walls.  Life was in full view, as if the war across the GOA in mainland Yemen was the furthest thing from the Socotra mindset.  We were intrigued.

Denis arranged a special tour for us, up into the highlands of Socotra Island, to the village area of Dixam.  This unique area is rather large, with several hamlets scattered along the clean, large road that climbs up over 2,000'.  As we drove along the spine of the mountain range, several children were seen walking in the road in the heat of the Socotra sun.  A few would seek shelter under giant Dragon Trees, scattered across the vista.  These giant umbrellas gave a fantastic shady patch, a large area to rest as they walked to and from the local schools.  We took an offroad path that finally led us to a giant patch of Dragon Trees, where we stopped for lunch and gazed at the amazing canyons and vistas of incredible beauty in shady comfort.  The unique bio-diversity of Socotra Island is like no where else in the world, home to over 300 species that grow and thrive only in Socotra.  The Dragon Trees are similar to the ones in Canary Islands of Africa, so very far away from Socotra.  We were shown Bottle Trees that bloom tiny, plumeria type flowers on their canopy tops of thick trunks with smooth bark. They resemble a fat, stubby tree with random branches protruding out towards the sky with clusters of these tiny flowers.  Our eyes feasted on our surroundings, unique, lovely contrast of sandy structures against the stunning turquoise waters of the Gulf of Aden.  We were thankful that we took the chance to stop.

Denis was most professional during our time with him, offering laundry service, hot coffee, and his home-made yogurt & home-made jam.  He took care of our every need, translating our purchases in Arabic and extending his hospitality in his office/home.  His lovely wife, Anna, greeted us with a warm smile as she prepared a delicious local shrimp and rice dinner while Denis gave us many books to look at about Socotra and wonderful conversation was shared.  Sea Child can highly recommend Denis and Tamam Agency to any yacht considering a stop in Socotra Island.

On our day of departure, we secured our final provisions and received our departure papers in Hadibo.  As we made our way back to the anchorage at the port, we absorbed as much as we could, memorizing the scenery.  The papers had to be checked by the local port officials, who were found eating their lunch of a shared round plate of rice and meat, across the street from the tent security area they had set up at the port.  They were surrounded by a herd of goats, several fighting cats jockeying for position of any morsels coming their way, and there we spotted the words, "YEMEN PORT", scratched into the concrete steps.  Nothing else would have suggested that the man-made pier that was unloading a small Kenyan or Somali freighter would be a port of access for Socotra.  Another unique glimpse of life in a land that seems frozen in time.

Would we recommend Socotra Island?  Yes.  Was it safe?  Absolutely.  The biggest concern we had was on our departure, where the winds whipped up over 25 knots at the anchorage, and as we pulled up the anchor we started to drag.  We set the main alone and sailed a course of 270 down the coast of Socotra, gazing upon the structures we now understood.  Seeing Hadibo from the sea, observing the birds flying over the fish market, and catching a glimpse of the goats that were everywhere, now all made sense.  The rocky structures appeared as if tucked under the giant ragged peaks of the island itself.  If this is Yemen, its lovely. The people are kind and welcoming, the "tourist police" stopping to check in with us to see if we felt safe, the local Russian tour guide to show us a unique island that had we believed the tour books, we would not have stopped.  Its time to rewrite some of what has been written about Socotra. 

A passage from Maldives up GOA should include a stop in Socotra. For the rest, as well as for an experience of a lifetime in land of many discoveries.  And if you should find yourself there, please say hello to Denis at Tamam for Sea Child.  Bring him an English Language book to read.  He'll appreciate it.

Details:

Yemen Port Anchorage Location:
12 degrees, 40,8 NORTH
54 degrees, 04,7 EAST

Tour Guide:
Socotra Tamam
Denis Romanov
office@socotra.info
www.socotra.info

Costs (USD):
Port = $10
Immigration = $100
Papers & Agent = $250
Ride to Hadibo = $30 r/t
Dixam Tour = $70*
Diesel = $.70 / liter
*plus food/beverage purchased at Hadibo prior to heading out to Dixam

Other notables:
Clothing:
Women:  cover knees & elbows, head scarf in Hadibo town
Men:  Shorts & tshirts ok

Plan for extreme heat inland.


Sea Child location at time of writing:
Red Sea, off coast of Sudan
18 degrees, 34.9 N
38 degrees, 01.3 E

--   Sent via OCENSMail satellite email service.  www.ocens.com

An Arabian Sea Tale

This morning, Eric let me sleep an extra hour, as at the end of my watch at 2am we changed sails again, from the jib to the screecher, since the winds were now more behind us.  This was about a 20 min process, and by the time we were done, I was tired.  I could not sleep before my late2am watch (Eric's watch is 6pm-10pm) so by the time 2am rolled around, I was pretty beat.  I finally hit the sack around 2:30 and with the noise cancelling headphones I was in a deep sleep.  Eric woke me at 7am instead of my scheduled 6am, and he took the noise cancelling headphones and fell into a deep sleep himself.

We had picked up some Uligan bananas before we left the Maldives, super sweet and similar to the apple bananas from Maui.  They were a little too ripe to eat so it was time to bake them.   Yum, I preheated the oven which I finally figured out that it heats to 350 degrees and before too long, it filled the cabin with the sweet aromas of baking banana bread.

While entering in the logs and catching up on my journal, I noticed something that catches my eye outside.  I stop, put my pen down, and go out to see what was there.  I spotted an albatross, a sleek, long winged grey and white bird with a narrow body and long wingspan.  I waved at him, as this is the first sign of life we've seen since leaving Maldives over 5 days ago.  I watched him for a while, he flew high, dipped his wings, then soared down fast, banking left, banking right, complete stop mid-flight, barrel roll down into the water like a torpedo.  He resurfaces, lifting off in the updrafts of the wind waves, a few strong graceful strokes of his long wings and he's airborne again.  Gaining speed, he flies along the surface of the water, just broadside to Sea Child, and waits, looking here and there, waiting patiently.  Suddenly, a school flying fish are startled by Sea Child barreling through the water, they take off away from our bow wake, and there!  The albatross changes direction, spots the flying fish, and dives for them.  As he comes back up again, he takes off again, and I almost feel like he thanks us for our help in his morning meal.

His acrobatic maneouvers have me mesmerized.  I can see how  mankind was enthralled by the flight of birds and wanted to mimic them, taking us into the heavens as well.  I have named my albatross friend, "Sean Tucker", after the famous acrobatic pilot we've seen for years at OSH.  Eric just got up from his nap, and now he is watching the antics of "Sean Tucker".  Oh, the joys of being out at sea.

We are now 214 NM from Socotra Island, sailing fast averaging 10+ knots boat speed on 15knots apparent wind. 

We are satiated by both the banana bread and by the aerobatics show this morning.  This is a glimpse of life on Sea Child.

CURRENT LOCATION:
12 DEGREES 01.244 NORTH
58 DEGREES 07.688 EAST

--   Sent via OCENSMail satellite email service.  www.ocens.com

The Maldives

Sea Child arrived in Uligan, Haa Alifa Atoll, Maldives on Thursday 25
February 2016. After our 1760 NM sail from Similans, Thailand, we
dropped anchor at 11:00am local Maldives time. We were met by some of
the most beautiful sights we have ever seen. The Maldives were visible
from about 6 miles out and appeared low on the horizon. They reminded
us at first of the island in San Blas, Panama, with one exception: The
Maldives are covered in more greenery that just the palm trees of San
Blas. As we sailed closer, we picked up the AIS of other vessels at the
Uligan anchorage, Taimada & Laragh. These two boats appeared as if they
were staged in the ultimate tropical landscape: Vivid turquoise waters,
bleached white sand beaches, massive breadfruit trees and the cobalt
blue waters of the Indian Ocean. The stark contrast of days of open
ocean sailing to the vivid beauty of Uligan was overwhelming. Never had
we seen such incredible beauty, not in all the 36 or so countries that
we have seen to date on Sea Child.

We were surprised at the small numbers of boats at the anchorage,
though. In years past, before the piracy incidents of 2009-2012, Uligan
was a hopping destination. Our agent, Assad of RealSeahawks Maldives,
was quite busy in those days. He has turned out to be a wonderful agent
for cruising yachts in the Maldives, acquiring sim cards for cell & data
service, arranging local dinners in Uligan ($15 per person, a cruiser
MUST) with the families of Uligan, even taking care of our need to make
a quick trip back to California and leaving Sea Child for 10 days to
meet our new granddaughter, Kaia. He assists all his clients, those who
need toarrange repairs for their damaged vessels and even acq uiring
new parts such as our need of a new starting battery which wen bad on
our sail from Thailand. Sea Child highly recommends all entering
vessels use RealSeahawks Maldives and enter in Uligan. Assad is the
very best we've worked with, and we couldn't ask for a more helpful,
kind, interesting and all around good guy.

Sailing the Maldives is exceptional! We had guests on board who needed
to fly out a few days after our arrival. A nice beam reach south to
HIdeaway Resort on Gaafushi Island, perfect flat water sailing along at
7-8 knots boat speed, full main & Jib. A short 16NM journey with
pristine waters, sailing around incredibly beautiful islands and atolls,
past an amazing reef that has waves breaking on the south end with a
lovely white sand beach in the center. The colors of the reef alone
captivated us as we sailed past the turquoise, cobalt, and white. The
waves were smooth and inviting. Trying to capture this beauty with a
camera is most difficult as a picture just doesn't give the perspective
of the beauty of the Maldives. But it does come close.

We dropped our guests off at Kulhudhuffushi Island, the largest
populated island in the northern atolls. With a Muslim population of
over 10,000, we found that the several mosques and their calls to prayer
were beautiful and in sync with each other. We passed several of the
mosques during prayer time as we went to dinner in the city and
witnessed the faithful in their standing poses. We have found the local
Muslim population to be kind hearted, interested, helpful, peaceful and
more. Our Agent, Assad, recommended that western women dress
conservatively, covering arms and legs below the knee. And it really
was more comfortable to walk around the villages and town in this
conservative attire (though it was very hot). While the local women
were dressed in full burka, their demeanor was pleasant and kind. They
were shy, especially the younger teens, who stood together and chatted
with each other as most teen girls do. They had their cell phones in
their hands, even playfully tucking the phones into their head coverings
since they didn't seem to have any pockets. Some of the wives of the
Uligan families were more talkative than others (possibly a language
barrier). We ended up buying some roti (chappatti) from one such family
who hosted our first local dinner in Uligan. These tasty rotis were a
wonderful addition to the provisions on Sea Child and we had made
arrangements to buy more for our crossing to Socotra.

The snorkeling at Maldives was colorful and amazing, several new fish
varieties we had never seen before. The massive bleaching event that
Maldives experienced previously has recovered a bit, with the blues and
purples and pinks returning to the coral reefs. We found a reef just
west of Nellaidhoo Island that captivated us again. Pristine waters,
visibility atleast 100'+, table corals and leather corals and tangs and
dorys and clowns and other new fish were everywhere. Coordinates of
this amazing reef, which we highly recommend on any visit to Maldives
are: 06 degrees 42.9 N, 072 degrees 55.1 E. Check it out. You won't
be disappointed.

Our visit to Maldives also included a night at Nellaidhoo Island, in
their guest cottage, RockSea Beach Inn. A Muslim island, Nellaidhoo is
captivating and is Uligan Island. Nellaidhoo Island has a population of
1200, compared to Uligan (500 people). Both have elected council
members, who dress in pressed white shirts and ties during the work week
(Sunday-Thursday). We were lucky to spend time with councilmember
Imaahd at Uligan, and council member Faru on Nellaidhoo. Both men
shared valuable information on their islands, from cultural practices to
schools and markets. On Nellaidhoo, we enjoyed lunch and dinner at Cafe
Oligo, an excellent outdoor cafe where seating is framed by lush
landscape with an ocean view. We talked through dinner with Faru and
Ahmed, our host from JA Manafaru. We learned much about the Muslim way
of life, and are blessed to have had the experience. If you should find
yourself in Maldives, we highly recommend a stay at the RockSea Beach
Inn. Tour Nellaidhoo. And say hello to the locals for Sea Child.

We sadly bid farewell to the Maldives on 20 Mar 2016 and are currently
underway to Socotra Island, Yemen. The winds have died on us, so we are
motor sailing. GRIB files show little to no wind for the next several
days. Wish we would have stayed in the Maldives a little longer. Oh
well, our memories of them will stay with us forever.

CURRENT LOCATION:
07 DEGREE 33 MINUTES NORTH
70 DEGREES 000 MINUTES EAST

--
Sent via OCENSMail satellite email service.
www.ocens.com

Bay of Bengal into Indian Ocean

+50 NM West of Great Nicobar Island

The SE waves, 6-10 seconds and 3-4', roll steady under Sea Child, occasionally banging the underside of the main salon.  The north swell the jumbled the SE waves yesterday seems to be gone for now, winds steady and light from due east at 8-10 apparent.  Our direct course to the southern tip of Sri Lanka is 267 degrees, but with the easterly winds, we are sailing a course of 230.  This course keeps Sea Child moving along around 6-8 knots, much more comfortable than yesterday, when we saw +15 knots boat speed as Sea Child surfed the +6' ESE waves on a port tack.  The skies are hazy, and the absolute remoteness of our location has us all reflecting on various emotions and excitement.  The InReach Expolorer is continuing to post our position every 20 minutes, and while we have a long way to go, its encouraging to see how far we've come.

Its been quite a while since Sea Child has done an open ocean crossing.  Looking back through the ships log, it was way back in September 2012 when Sea Child sailed from Noumea, New Caledonia to Mackay, Australia, around 1200 NM. We certainly don't discount all the miles sailed since then:  The almost 2,000 NM from Brisbane, AUS to Darwin, AUS, or the 300 NM crossing of the Gulf of Carpenteria which was one of our roughest passages.  The roughest, however, still belongs to our July 2011 crossing from Opua, North Island, New Zealand to Lautoka, Fiji.  On that crossing we saw 35 knots wind from the south as Sea Child sailed into 5 different wave patterns, from almost every direction except south! That 8 day crossing, with our good friend Karen Wyatt, takes the top honor so far of being the roughest passage to date.

The 430 NM crossing from Darwin, AUS to Kupang, Timor, Indonesia was a quick 2 night passage, as was our visit to the Andaman Islands of India from Phuket, Thailand, about the same distance, last year, 2015.  So this current crossing, +1,400 NM from Phuket, Thailand to Uligan, Maldives, is the longest passage in the open ocean that we've seen in quite a while.  Our longest open ocean passage was back in 2009, from Galapagos, Ecuador to Hiva Oa, Marquesas which was over 3,000 NM.  Sea Child covered the distance in 12 days time.  We downloaded GRIB files this morning, and learned that the wind forecast is light.  What we hoped to be a relatively fast crossing, averaging around 200NM per day, is looking a bit slower.

As with most open ocean crossings, our hopes for an event free sail has not panned out, either.  Our first night out of Similan Islands was mostly flat water, steady NE sailing along at 9-10 knots.  As the night grew longer, the half moon rose high above Sea Child, illuminating the dolphins playing in our bow wake.  After moonset around 3:30 am, a large black cloud descended upon Sea Child with a 30 degree wind shift and soon after, heavy rains pelted Sea Child.  We were sailing with a full main and our new screecher (which we love, thanks to Phil & Ingrid Auger in Langkawi!!) became overpowering.  As Eric went forward to roll up the screecher, only a few windows down below were still open.  We soaked the shelves above the fridge/freezer as well as the shelves above the binoculars.  Thank God the windows above the beds & electronics were latched as the squall opened up. As Eric went forward & I fed out the sheet, it was so black I could not see Eric at all and in the deafening, pounding rains I could barely hear him, too.  I was thankful he was wearing his safety harness and securely attached to Sea Child.  After the squall passed, we rolled out the screecher again, sailing fast in the 18 knot apparent breeze and surfing the 6' SE swells.  The rocky, rolly fast sail continued all day yesterday, our 24 hr average was 7.1 knots over 171 NM.  Todays average should be much higher as we speed sailed most of yesterday afternoon and evening, and todays projects include repairing the roller drum on the jib, repairing the broken boom vang, and repairing a broken galley fan that crashed in the rolling seas.

Last night around 11pm, we jibed as we approached Little Nicobar Island in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands of India.  I studied the coastline through binoculars during my watch, searching for 2 listed navigation lights.  A 20 NM 20 S white light at bearing 218 and a second 10 NM 10S light bearing 234.  Even as we passed Little Nicobar on port tack, no lights were ever spotted.  We got as close as 8 NM to the island, and I wondered if they were even working.  We jibed again around 2 am to avoid "Coral Banks" just north of Little Nicobar.  We have vivid memories of Spitfire Banks just north of Moreton Island, Australia, where the rough water was brutal.  At the "Coral Banks" the depths went from 2,300' to 1,030' to 321' to 61'. Plenty of room to sail over, to be sure, we just didn't want to chance the rough water at 3am.

This morning, we noticed that our Ipads and Iphones have changed time on us.  We are using Phuket, Thailand as ships time and built our watch system to that same time.  Thankfully, our wrist watches are keeping this ships time; setting an alarm on my Iphone this morning made me late to wake for my 7am watch as the GPS on my phone changed to reflect local India time!  John Conser took the extra hour for me, thank God!, with no worries.  Since John had a brain injury 20 years ago, he is unable to take a night watch and is taking an hour watch in the morning and and hour watch in the afternoon.  Geri Conser, however, is doing great, holding her 3 hr watch as scheduled.  We are all well rested, 3 hours on and 6 hours off.  With John taking his 2 hours daily, Geri & I alternate a 7 hour off pattern once per day.

We are 721 NM from the southern tip of Sri Lanka.  Uligan, Maldives is another 400NM west of Sri Lanka.  With the projected winds and swells, we are looking at another 7 days at sea.

CURRENT POSITION:
06 DEGREES 47.395 MINUTES NORTH
092 DEGREES 33.730 MINUTES EAST

--   Sent via OCENSMail satellite email service.  www.ocens.com

Preparing for the Maldives

After several weeks in Malaysia and Thailand, Sea Child is preparing for our departure to Uligan, Maldives on 14 Feb 2016.  The preparations include frozen meals, provision planning, topping up fuel and water, and coordinating passengers.  We have taken on John & Geri Conser, our friends who built our Paragon Sailing Charters cats, PARAGON & PARAGON II.  We are excited to share our passion for cruising with them as they have not sailed aboard a cruising catamaran before!

We contacted the Real Seahawks Agency in the Maldives to represent Sea Child during our arrival & visit.  Assad in Uligan has been very helpful to us and we look forward to meeting him in the coming weeks.

As we continue to test our systems, this blog is being posted by a new onboard tech system.  More information will follow as we continue our journey towards the Mediterranean Sea.

Current Location:  Yacht Haven Marina, Phuket, Thailand

A New Adventure Begins

As 2015 begins, we say goodbye to a 20 year adventure, the first big sailing event of our lives.  After much thought and a very long process, we found a wonderful team to take over our reins at Paragon Sailing Charters.  This change allows us to begin a new chapter in our Sea Child adventures, one that gives us the time to explore cultures completely, to savor the foods of new countries and to feel the climate more intimately.

Our return to Sea Child is now booked and we look forward to the new excitement that awaits us,  yet we leave our years at Paragon with a deep fondness.  The more west we travel on Sea Child, the further we get from Maui and the time and distance between the two prevents us from an easy hop back and forth.

The freedom that awaits us on Sea Child is our biggest life dream.  We look forward to the upcoming months in Asia with a deep relaxation and sense of adventure.  And if we are lucky, we will get a visit from www.gingertrek.com.  Sailing into 2015, Sea Child will push into new waters with a renewed spirit of adventure.  We are looking forward to the visits with old friends and family, and to meeting new friends along the way. The freedom to relax and enjoy the ride is a blessing.  We are truly thankful for this wonderful opportunity!