Male, Maldives February 2008

Sailing 1400 nautical miles from Phuket, Thailand an island nested in the jade green waters of the Andaman Sea to the low laying coral islands of The Maldives that rest in the Indian Ocean’s brilliant blue sea, happen to be our fastest and most comfortable voyage. Making Landfall in 11 days, Moorea broke her long held record of 149 miles in a 24 hour run, with a new record of 156 miles and there were many days with mileages over 140 miles. A seven mile gain may not appear to be a great feat, but when many days are spent on the water, every extra mile squeezed out of the wind counts.

As we moved across the waters, the moon followed us at night. Crescent shaped in the beginning and waxing to a full face, revealing its powerful brightness, lighting up the night sky almost enough to snuff out the Big Dipper pictured on our starboard and the Southern Cross on Port. Numerous green and red navigational lights passed us by on many evenings as we made our way through the heavily used shipping lanes, making sure to stay alert and watch as these monstrous mechanisms chugged on.

Making landfall into Male, the capital city of the Maldives, on a Thursday evening, we were greeted by the shipping agent we hired which is required by all foreign vessels in order to clear into the country. Along with our agent, the typical government officials, immigration, customs and coast guard were present and performed all their duties professionally and courteously. Although the Maldives are open to cruisers, there are a few restrictions we needed to adhere to, like only cruising in the allotted locations indicated on the cruising permit issued. The cruising permit we received was only for the Male Atoll, if we wanted to cruise the other 19 atolls, it would cost $400 USD and we could only anchor in areas where the resorts gave their permission. Many of the resorts either charge $20/day/person to drop the hook in the lagoon adjacent to the establishment or they don’t allow it at all.

Deciding to anchor near a village with three other cruising boats, an area within the cruising permit specifications, officials checked our permit and told the captains that all was in order. Later in the day, our agent contacted us and recommended that we leave early the next morning and passed on the information that we were not allowed on the island after 6:00 PM. This was the first time we experienced a curfew and other restrictions when cruising in a country, however this is also the first visit to an 100% Sunni, Muslim country.

Not sure if the restrictions monitored by the government are to keep a western influence from the local population because turning on the local radio station, Rap and Pop songs pour out. There is also massive access to internet and satellite television that residents can acquire. Yet no alcohol or pork is sold in the townships or city, only resorts offer these items to tourists. The women are conservatively dressed, some choosing to wear a head covering while others don’t. The people are friendly and 90% of the population speaks English, so communicating is easy.

Overall this stop has been pleasant and we chose this location over Sri Lanka since there were some surf breaks available to catch a few waves and seemed to be a good place to prepare for the next leg of our trip which is Yemen. We will be on convoy with three other boats and look forward to a new country to visit and on this journey, I will try to keep the emails coming when we have a internet connection.

The little things we noticed in the Maldives:

Friday, at noon is the most holy prayer time of the week for Muslims and the city of Male shuts down from 12 -2:30 pm. Also noted in the brochure guides, is that shops shut down 15 minutes at every prayer time. There are 5 prayer times in a day.

This nation is 100% Sunni Muslim which means there are religious restrictions guided by the laws of Islam. For example, no live pigs maybe imported into The Maldives. Purchasing pork or alcohol is only allowed if the buyer has obtained a permit from the government. This concession was made to cater to tourists visiting resorts, other wise the villages and Male is pork & alcohol free.

No idols of worship are allowed and walking around, one only sees Mosques, no churches or temples.

Women dress in conservative clothing, (long skirts or pants and shirts with short or long sleeves) some choosing to wear a head covering while others don’t. Yet there are exposed belly buttons and mini shorts or skirts revealing most of the body, seen around the city of Male. The uninformed foreign visitor bares the flesh by not heading or understanding appropriate attire for the culture. (Beach attire is completely acceptable within the resorts otherwise, why go there)