After spending just shy of 48 hours at Uligan, we pulled up the anchor and headed off for Dhapparu(06 54.896N 073 13.720E) a small atoll southeast of where we had been anchored. We'd read good things about it in the Mr John's Guide to the Maldives and decided to head down. I'd put in a call to Yolo(catamaran)who we have known and passed several times since meeting in Suwarrow about four years ago. A while later as we were motoring along(again, little wind) we got a call from Karen that they were anchored in Dhapparu along the northeast side tucked into the curve of the atoll well protected from any northeast blows. We were several hours away and on we motored. It would be nice to catch up with them and trade stories.
We pulled into the atoll about 1430 after threading our way through channels bordered by big coral reef, always watching the depth sounder as bottoms come up quickly. It can go from to deep for the reader to read to 15 feet in a matter of minutes or less. I stood on the bow as we entered the atoll and watched for any coral bommies. I'd downloaded some Google Earth pictures of the area and they overlay over our Open CPN chart program so we knew what was around us but out here, careful watch is a way of life. Places for fixing boats are few and far between out here. We dropped the anchor and got Puff II into the water and I zipped over to talk to Jason and Karen on Yolo. They are having a problem with their outboard motor and we offered our spare(Mercury 8HP)if they needed it. Something beats nothing when you want to go exploring. Jason is still working on his motor trying to figure out what is wrong.
I returned to Zephyr and a short time later, Tracy and I returned to Yolo for a nice evening of story swapping and plan sharing. We are pretty much going the same way with a few diversions. Of course, with all cruisers, plans get changed regularly so we will see. We drank wine and ate snacks far into the evening before returning to Zephyr. We'd been clued in to a big mosquito problem at this atoll so we'd put in screens on all the hatches before we ever left so the inside was sort of mosquito free. Some of those little bugger will always find their way in.
We took off the outboard and hung Puff II from the side so we could keep the wind scoop attached to the forward hatch to get more breeze inside to keep it cooler.
Today, some Sun, some snorkeling, some reading and some downloading. For an island atoll, they have pretty good internet here. Surprising.
As for what it looks like, well it looks like a greener version of the Tuomotus, as cluster of atolls we came through heading west across the pacific. Lots of beautiful sand and trees covering each small island with lighter shades of green just off shore of them marking the areas of reefs we hope to stay away from. There are no mountains here and probably the highest place is 10 feet above sea level so if the ocean waters rise a lot, the entire chain is in danger of getting swamped. It's a beautiful place with very nice people with smiles on their faces and always ready to help. We have a few smaller fishing boats around us but the "long tails" of Thailand are gone. These use a more standard engine but many sound like a helicopter passing close by with the "womp womp womp that says they are here. Not sure what they are catching but if the anchorage at Uligan is a clue, it must be a bunch of squid. The water is quite clear so the bottom is easily seen and we plan on seeing more of it later today when the light is better. The weather forecast is for rain for the next two day and we can always use that. Only problem with their forecasts is that they are not normally right. I'll let you know how this one pans out.