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The Indian Ocean west of the Maldives has become so dangerous that we have decided not to sail back through the Red Sea. We have arranged for Tapestry to be transported to Turkey as deck cargo.
The Gulf of Aden has been plagued by Somalian gangsters for a number of years. The European news coverage of the problem is very scant and we have been very aware of how little anybody at home knows about it.
The coalition navies have failed to make the area safe. The western politicians have allowed the piracy to escalate to the point that the 28 warships in the area have given up trying to control it. Everyone agrees that the area is very dangerous. We haven't met any yachtsman who wants to be there but it is very difficult to get to Europe any other way. A yacht has also been detained without charge in Eritrea since 24 December 2010.
Our plan was to join a group of 30 boats who were leaving Thailand to sail to Turkey. The only pirate attacks on yachts in the last few years had been off East Africa. The plan was to sail independently to the Maldives in mid January and then on to Oman where we would join a convoy past Yemen up into the Red Sea. March and April are the best months to sail north through the Red Sea and we wanted to give ourselves as much time as possible to work our way through it. We expected it to be difficult as the prevailing winds would be against us and the stories of steep seas there are legendary.
Just before leaving Thailand it became apparent that the pirate activity had dramatically increased both in numbers and the area affected. Large mother ships were carrying fleets of skiffs all around the Arabian Sea. There had been 44 attacks in the first 17 days of January, five of them successful. It was too early for yachts to be in the area so it was impossible to know whether yachts were also a primary target.
We set off for Uligamo in the northern Maldives with plenty to think about. The passage was lumpy and several boats found it difficult. Several of the yachts who were planning to join the convoy had gear failures and diverted to Sri Lanka. Although we found the sea uncomfortable the wind was mainly on the starboard beam or quarter and it was one of our fastest passages. We averaged almost 150 miles a day. We arrived in Uligamo where we found a very high degree of anxiety.
The Royal Navy's unequivocal advice to yachtsmen is not to transit the area. They made it very clear that they would not help yachts who were attacked. Unfortunately they cannot offer any credible alternatives for those wanting to reach Europe. Shipping a yacht as cargo is too expensive for most yachtsmen. We were quoted $45000 last year for transporting Tapestry back. The alternative route via the Cape of Good Hope has many drawbacks. It has a fearful reputation for strong winds and hazardous currents. It would take 2 years to sail the extra 10000 miles. There is also a piracy problem in the southern Indian Ocean.
In an embarrassing conference call a Royal Navy spokesman did not know as much about previous yacht attacks as we did. He was prompted by a woman in the background but unfortunately not always correctly! The navy also had no idea that this is the time of year when the weather is right for sailing yachts to leave SE Asia and that about 100 yachts were about to head for Europe. Maybe they are usually professional in their approach but there was no suggestion of it on that day.
Some yachts headed back against the NE monsoon to Thailand but those who had to get to Europe had no alternative but to sail on unprotected. We analysed the attack data and decided we had two route options. There was an area south of the rhumb line where there had been almost no attacks and this would be a possibility provided we then sailed well east of Socotra Island before heading for Oman or Yemen. Alternatively we could motorsail against the prevailing winds and hug the Indian coast almost to Pakistan. Then we would head west to Muscat and along the Oman and Yemen coast. This would be a problem as we did not have Indian visas and it would probably make us late to enter the Red Sea. It looked impossible to make either of these passages in a large defensive convoy. We finally took the decision along with two other boats to adopt the first option. We planned to stay within a mile of each other over the full 1500 miles to Aden. Our defence was to try to spot mother ships well before they spotted us.
Meeting at Uligamo to discuss the piracy in the Indian Ocean The reported pirate attacks in the first 6 weeks of 2011
Our generator sea water impellor failed just before we were due to leave and we delayed our departure for a day. During that day we discovered that we could have Tapestry transported back as deck cargo at not quite such an impossible price. It would still be very expensive and Ian would have to go back to work, but at least we would be safe. Instead of setting sail we booked our place from Male to Marmaris.
A few days later armed criminals boarded and seized the sailing yacht Quest with four people on board. We knew Bob and Phyllis from the Blue Water Rally and had last seen Phyllis in December. This piracy ended tragically with all four shot by the criminals. Since then another yacht Ing has also been seized and the family of five plus two crew have been taken to Somalia to be ransomed. We also know about several other failed attacks on yachts.
In addition there has been considerable unrest in the Arab states. A catamaran with whom we had planned to sail from Uligamo made the trip successfully to Aden but then had to leave hurriedly when gunfire broke out on the shore.
At the finish 19 yachts somehow managed to raise the money to pay for transport and about 10 returned to Thailand or headed for Chagos and ultimately on to South Africa. This left about 70 boats who sailed unprotected to the Red Sea. The 20 Blue Water Rally boats were so traumatised by their passage to Oman that they also arranged a transport ship from Salalah to Turkey.
It is a sad indictment on the western nations that even with all of the benefits of satellite surveillance and a fleet of 28 warships they cannot make the area safer. In contrast the Indian Navy are being more successful. They recently took a mother ship with 61 Somalians on board and freed 13 hostages. Commercial ships have had to protect themselves by building on board defensive citadels and by employing private security guards. Yachts are a softer target.
Unfortunately the NATO policy only reacts to events rather than trying to prevent them. Four US warships including an aircraft carrier followed Quest after they had been taken for hundreds of miles but wouldn't it have been more sensible to avoid this tragedy by one warship escorting a convoy of sailing yachts through this dangerous area? It might even have been the cheaper option. It just might have sent a message to the Somalian armed criminals that the civilised world intends to prevent piracy.
In 1940 a fleet of brave small ships rescued 300000 soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk. It is ironic that today's Royal Navy will not make any effort to protect the present day small ships. There will be more yachts next year. Will the naval forces ignore their plight again?
Once we had decided to transport Tapestry to Turkey we had a couple of months to wait in the Maldives. We wanted to see the atolls as we had not been able to explore the Tuamotos in the Pacific properly and we thought it might be similar if slightly more developed. The colours of the pristine beaches and the azure sea in the atolls were spectacular and the snorkelling is as good as anywhere. Manta rays, green turtles, dugongs, spinner dolphins and countless reef fish abound. The less commercialised northern Maldivians welcomed us and in Uligamo we were invited to a beach party. Further south the policy of segregating tourists onto resort islands meant that we were less welcome and wherever we went we were charged extortionate prices. Around the resorts closest to Male we were often not allowed to land despite having bought a very expensive compulsory cruising permit. Where we were allowed to land we had to spend at least $150 each on a meal. As a result we lived on board and rarely went ashore. We were very disappointed in the Maldivian attitude to cruising yachts but we tried to make the best of it. Here are a few pictures:
Typical Maldive atoll scenery
Uligamo party put on by the locals
Traditional houses built with coral bricks Uligamo main street Uligamo shop
Male market Trading boat Yellow fin tuna
Spinner dolphin Spectacular Coral Spectacular reef fish Squid
Our transport ship BBC Everest arrived a month late. We were loaded early and immediately flew back to the UK to arrange for Ian to return to work to pay for shipping Tapestry to Turkey.
