The past couple of days have been hard going with 20 to 25 knot winds gusting 30 at times and huge seas. However two days ago we had a day of very light winds, flat seas and sunshine where we had to motor sail for much of the day before the winds returned. We are now making our way across the Lakshadweep Sea, the piece of Indian Ocean that separates India from the Maldives heading for Uligamu in the north of the Maldives which is situated at 07.04.65N 072 54 93E. We heard yesterday that there were difficulties with cruising permits etc in Kulhudufushi our original destination so today I phoned the listed agent, this information is never correct in the books or on the internet. He was no longer an agent but the friendly guy contact edCustoms in Uligamu for me and the ycalled to tell me that if we head for Kulhudufushi we will only be allowed 3 days in the Maldvies or pay $500US for a cruising permit to be able to sail to the island of Uligamu which is our port of departure in a couple of weeks. We have changed direction and are now heading in a more northerly direction to the atoll of Uligamu on Ihavandhippolhu Atoll.

This passage has been much harder than we expected and we just cannot wait to put the anchor down and have a good nights uninterrupted sleep. Cooking has been a nighmare as everything is thrown around and we both look forward to a good cooked meal served on a plate rather than thrown into a bowl.

Today the seas have calmed slightly but are still extremely confused and the winds have abated to a reasonable level of around 15 - 18 knots from the North East.

The positive side is that we are at least 20 per cent of the way towards the Mediterannean.