10 April Hithadoo, Hadhdhunmathee atoll

01 47.53N 073 22.11E 11 m sand

Sailing yet again! We departed Veymandhoo in the south id Kolhumadulu atoll crossed the deep water channel and sailed in through the wide S shaped pass on the west side of Hadhdhunmathee atoll. Mid way across the channel we hooked two dorado. These are the first dorado since we were in Australia four years ago.

two fish, one happy cat

With the booty on board we located the first of the two channels which would lead us in to the lagoon. Going in on the afternoon high water the minimum depth was 3.8m on the outer pass, a natural, albeit narrow, break in the outer reef marked by poles on either side. The second channel wasn't as clearly marked and we had to watch a fishing boat coming out to define which path we should take. Coming in there is a port hand marker on the outside, a small island to starboard and a starboard hand marker on the inside of the channel. This is a man made cut in the reef is wider but slightly shallower. Safely through we turned to starboard and picked a spot in the large lagoon in 11m sand.

We stayed overnight and made a dawn exit for a long run across the One and Half Degree Channel to North Huvadhoo atoll. Following our incoming track we arrived at the first channel and came to an abrupt halt as we grounded on the reef. We were able to back off leaving a cloud of new sand from where keel hit dead coral. It was low water and we were perhaps one or two metres to the right of our original line and found the patch of rock.

Alba was following us out and had a chuckle at our misfortune. However, we had the last laugh. They took the same line we had and they hit the same rock! On second attempts both boats kept closer to the small island side of the channel and exited without incident. A third boat, also an Amel Supermaramu, also hit the same rock. The lesson learned for leaving Hithadoo lagoon is keep east on the inner channel and try to wait for mid to high water.

To add insult to the day the wind blew on our nose and the current was against us all the way. We arrived at Kolaamafushi at 8pm. It had taken 14 hours to cover 60 miles.