From Malaysia to the Mediterranean - 1

Part 1 Langkawi  to  Maldives

A picture book start from Langkawi made me smile and being proud about my work in the last months while reshaping/extending CHI. Winds of 16-19 knots from a perfect angle lets me rush across the smooth ocean for several hours with a speed of 10-14 knots before i decide to reef, just to get more comfort and relax time and take some stress out of the boat. 

Etmals with more than 180 nautical miles a day, now I know what for I was working so hard, I am happy. Then my navigation computer decides its enough and stops working, for me having no idea about computers it is impossible to get him back in working mode so laptop nr. 2 has to take over. Near the Nicobar islands I get very disturbing currents, the sea suddenly builds up to 2 meters with very short waves, I am bounced around, doing speed of only 4 knots and 1 minute later shooting along at 8 knots, hoping the spectacle finishes soon. As I don’t like sailing direct downwind I am jibing along my route where the unstable wind mostly tells me when to jibe. Every day several hours of good wind change with low wind patches but I never have to motor, can always keep at least 3,5 knots and that helps me get a lot of sleep.

As between the gap of Sri Lanka and India the wind always picks up very strong. The effect is that large waves build and make it uncomfortable, so I lay my route not directly and make a nice southerly bend first aiming Male before turning northwest towards Uligamo on the northern tip of the Maldives.

Day 8 and 9 the wind is reaching the 30 knots mark, seas are building up but with the 3^rd reef in the main and half of the head sail out I glide along very relaxed with 7 knots. The sight is getting bad, it looks like fog, visibility only about 2-3 miles, the wind is going down and when I set the screecher I, once again, do it wrong and the force on the holding line of the bowspread rips out the fitting close above the waterline. 

This sucks!!! in the middle of the night, having a 6 cm hole close above the waterline. I make water so I should react, but actually I have to smile as I was thinking of some sailor friends who for sure would just check if their insurance is paid, how the life raft opens and what is the procedure for a mayday call. First thing sails down to reduce the speed and decrease the amount of water coming into the boat, then cleaning out the front compartment of all the things living there since years, and check what would be a possible way to provisional fix the hole. Somewhere I find a piece of foam which is used for outdoor cushions and which takes on no water. I press it from the inside against the hole and use a few pieces of wood to press it on and fix it in position. Next step bringing the dingi in the water, prepare a piece of plastic about 20x20cm, drill a few holes around the edges, and mainly put a thick layer of a good silicon on it before screwing it on the outside onto the hull. This reads here a little easier than it was in real as there were these waves and I have only 2 hands and the front beam on a catamaran is very helpful with banging against my head.
And still 120nm to go to the first atoll of the Maldives. Because of this slightly delay I can’t make it in daylight so I very very carefully go into the Dhapparuhuraa atoll as the charts are not correct and anchor in 7 meters of water. Here I fix the disaster the next day with 2 layers of carbon/aramidfibre mats and 6 layers of bidirectional glasmats on the outside and another 5 layers on the inside of the hull. This should be good for the next 30 years.

One day of drying and then heading to Uligamo for the check in procedure, everything very relaxed and the first time in my sailing career a very helpful agent, having fun with his work. Maybe its also because there is nothing else to do on this small island for him. 

Anyway once more I get the proof that the world is just like a little village. 2 days after my arrival a second boat comes along, and believe it or not where are they from? - yes Austria, and not only this they are from the Salzburg area just like me, its Reini Gelder on his newly restored and totally upgraded to the top of what’s available Imoca 50 racer “Mango Roa” and his friend Leo.