Times up, itching for Chagos!

Well we have got pretty bloody lazy since staying at Fahala island. We left there after almost a month of good times hanging on the beach but it was time to go. Jim and Helen on Gaia arrived a couple of days before we left and we sailed in company south. Also a couple of American yachts called in just before we left but we didn't get to meet them properly but Hopefully we will see them in Gan.

We called in at a couple of different anchorages but they are few and far between as most places seem too deep or have no shelter or both, the snorkelling is a lot better south though with the coral just amazing with loads of reef sharks, turtles, rays and tropical fish. We are in Gaafu atol now and anchored in a dredged out lagoon next to a town Called Villigilli that is only 45nm north of the equator. Nice anchorage with good shelter from anything east but the wind has just gone NW so we are leaving this afternoon for Gan which is 90nm away and the last atol south in the Maldives. We had a call from Customs the other day saying we had to leave here as it is not on the permit but they soon changed their tune with a bit of sweet talking which was great! It's the only time we have seen any officials in over 2 months and it just happened to be that our cruising permit expired the day before! Anyway with a few calls to our agent he sorted it out very quickly and all was well.

We have still been still trying to get Satphone working for data... Finally got a new sim and that worked for data but then it turned out the Satstaion we bought for it didn't! Anyway we are over the isatphone and Satstation and they are sending out an Iridium which is in Malè now getting cleared by customs and hopefully will get to Addu very soon so we can leave for Chagos. Our Agent Muzhid from Real Seahawks is on the case. So hopefully after all this stuffing around we will be able to download a grib file!

The weather started to change a couple of weeks back with Westerlies and rain squalls. Still nice 90% of the time though although the flies seem to have all hatched and are a pain in the ass! 

We are all stocked up with fuel and water and just need a load of good vegetables to last us the next maybe 2 months until we arrive in Mauritius.