February 6, 2007 - Andamans to Maldives, Day 7
by George & Merima

Hi Everyone!

Since we cleared the southern tip of Sri Lanka, we've been sailing a more or less direct course westerly to the port of Male in the Maldives. Winds have been up and down, and last night we had to turn on the engine for the first time in 1000 miles as the breeze dropped to less than three knots and left us stalled with the sails flogging. After eight hours of motor sailing, the breeze came up again and we were able to shut the engine off and set the spinnaker.

We've not seen too much out here other than a friendly pod of dolphins late yesterday afternoon and again this morning. We also were chased by a small fishing boat who approached us wanting cigarettes and booze. We managed to repel them without incident. We've finally eaten enough fish to have a small space left in the freezer, but towing a line all day today has been without any joy.

With more than a knot and a half of current from behind us, we've had a good day's run. We made 198 miles towards Male from noon yesterday to noon today, and we are now within 200 miles of our destination. If conditions hold, we should arrive there in time for happy hour tomorrow evening.

Cheers, George, Merima, Thane and Graham