NoWhere
27 March 2015 | Gaafu Atoll, Maldives
Steve
The 65Nm sail from Hithadhoo, Gaamu Atoll south into open water toward Gaafu Atoll started at 02:00hrs to allow us enough time to arrive in mid-afternoon and search for that safe anchorage (I think I've become paranoid for not finding safe anchorages!). Along the way we were introduced to 4 squalls, of which three we met and were mild and the 4th, much stronger but we only saw the peripheries of it. Winds were all over the place and sail changes often!
On arrival, we homed in on a few smaller isles in the north part of the atoll but anchorages were too deep and eventually we settled on a spot of 15m in sand on the east side of Kalomaafushi town well away from the reefs. Nice spot with choice of dive and snorkel spots and the promise of pelagic fish.
We met some nice young lads, Thoha and Shenan, on Kalomaafushi where we shared a few drinks (lemonade), chats and viewed his very impressive shell collection. Later we joined them on one of their night fishing expeditions where we had a blast catching fish. Great fun.
We made friends with world cruisers from SV Antje and shared some great diving, snorkeling, stories and dinners together. We later sailed off together to 'NoWhere' in the Gaafu Atoll, away from communities, next to a large reef, uninhabited islands and channels to experience 'Out-of-This-World' diving and snorkeling. It was a great time had by all.
Saw Shark! We saw the Saw shark, which is quite unusual with its saw like snout of blade-like teeth and 2m length. It was impressive to watch it swim circles in less than 5m along the reef during a snorkel.