07:05.84N 72:25.48E
We encountered our first tropical squall just about to go through a fairly
narrow pass in the reef and leave North Male atoll. We hung about inside
where there was more room, got bashed about for a bit until it passed, then
exited the atoll. These are very isolated storms, which dump a lot of
water, and the wind normally gusts up to about thirty knots.
It was good for Joff and Nik to experience this in day light. We've
encountered about a squall every two hours for the last two days. As they're
easy to see and therefore prepare for, we've been doing a lot of furling and
unfurling of sails to take advantage of the lulls between them.
Unfortunately the foresail furling line parted company with the Furlex
roller furler, and so we have simply secured the foresail in the rolled
position, until the wind drops off a bit and we can work safely on the
foredeck to improvise a fix.
I am having mixed feelings about my decision to sail up between the northern
Maldives atolls. We've been going for two days now, and we're only about
thirty miles from the north most point of the Maldives. Admittedly, this is
a couple of hundred miles from Male where we set off from, but it feels like
we should be further away given our journey destination so far. The 'snail
trail' track that we leave on the chart plotter and the increasing latitudes
in our log entries remind us that we are indeed making progress in the right
direction.
As we leave the Maldives archipelago behind, the sea is slowly changing form
from waves to swells. The sea is still a little unsettled and so tasks such
as preparing food, reading or typing blogs can be uncomfortable or even
nauseating.
I think it's time to stop typing and get back upstairs in to the fresh
air...
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