Funadhoo, Maldives
The crew met in Galle, at the southwest tip of Sri Lanka. We organized ourselves with everything necessary for a two-week sailing trip—food, drinks, and fruits. But before we left, we decided to postpone for one day. There was better wind coming up and since most people just arrived in Sri Lanka the day before, we went for a day trip around the closeby areas to explore. It was nice to get to know the crew better off ship before being on a small space for 2 weeks. After that day and a big meal at a local Sri Lankan restaurant, we headed West, following the compass.
Our crew was overall quite experienced. For no one it was the first time on a sailing boat. Also me, it was already the 3th time sailing on 3 different oceans by now. After that trip I’ll have around 1000 nautical miles on sea on a sailing boat. Our crew was completely German speaking. Moritz, the captain and boat owner, left for his adventure around the world a year ago. I was on this boat just at the beginning of his adventure for a week to help him with maintenance. Now a year later it was nice to be back and see the improvements he did along the way. His trip is very social. People can join for parts and sail with him. He’s posting quite actively on his Instagram and has his website describing the routes and upcoming trips (https://magicaloceansailing.com/).
My holidays were starting. It’s time to slow down. As we left the coast, the mobile data and the sight of the coast were gone. Once in a while, we crossed some container ships until we also rarely crossed such ships anymore. We were in the middle of the Indian Ocean. For 24 hours, we didn’t see anything other than the endless ocean, no boat, nothing. We could sail with the wind and the current was also in our favor, so we were progressing pretty decent for a sailing boat. After 3 days, we had a guest on our boat, a bird who took a rest. This was a sign we’re getting closer to land. But it was still multiple hours away.
On day 4, we reached land just before it got dark. An agent from the Northern Maldives came with the police onto our boat to do the formalities. They also brought ice cream, which we enjoyed. We were delighted to have made it.
My favourite part of the trip was upcoming. We went island hopping towards the South, crossing many untouched and uninhabited islands. Our captain researched a lot and tried to find the most unique spots where we could anchor by boat and enjoy swimming or exploring. It wasn’t easy sometimes since the water is very shallow. Our boat needs some depth and we needed to find proper underground to throw the anchor to lock him in place and not make us shift during the night. Also, the maps were not accurate, so planning wasn’t simple. Sometimes, to drive into a bay one of us had to jump into the water and dive in front of the boat to check the depth of the water and lookout for corals. Another guy was sitting high on the mast to have a overview of the path ahead while they informed our captain where’s the best way to go. He was completely dependent on the communication with our “scouters”. He only had the instruments which sometimes showed 20cm depth left below our boat. Getting stuck would be fatal out in the nowhere and would also damage the boat a lot. Sometimes it was close, but we managed and found some great spots to spend the nights or just stop for a swim.
One evening, we had a sunset bonfire on an empty island. It was so quiet and nice. We brought drinks and snacks from the boat and arrived with the dinghy at the beach. After some chillout, we returned in the dark to our boat to rest.
I only had one week of holiday, when we were sailing a lot and on rough sea. I get seasick easily, so being on the laptop wouldn’t help. But now, between the islands, I was able to work. We also had Starlink on board, which I could use to connect to the internet and work as regular. Just on a boat in the middle of the Maldives. That’s probably the most absurd thing I did as a digital nomad. The life everyone expects who’s not familiar with the topic.
The Maldives is really how it looks in the advertisements, but only if you can go far out. As a regular tourist on a normal budget, you wouldn’t we able to reach those empty places. As we arrived more and more South, many fancy resorts were popping up. They own the full island and they’re private, even the water around is private. We once tried to anchor in front of a resort and within minutes a jet ski was next to our boat telling us we can’t stay here.
Sometimes we crossed some local island with a couple of thousand people. We loved to dock there, go for a walk, and check out a restaurant since we always had to cook our own things in the basic kitchen on the boat. While some people from our boat loved cooking and doing amazing things, trying the local kitchen on land was also nice. Also since those islands were not touristy, we were something special for the locals and they served us well.
Male, Maldives
The last stop was at a famous hotel complex on an island called Crossroads. There, we could dock very cheaply (the price of a hostel stay) and use the luxurious facilities of the Hilton Hotel. So, we could try the beach pool lifestyle with a floating beanbag and a cocktail.
Before we headed to the capital of the Maldives, we stopped at a very touristy “Shark Point.” We saw many sharks but left a little later because it got too crowded for us. Close by was also a nice sandbank, which we reached by swimming or I with the SUP.
When we arrived at the port of Male, we anchored between many diving boats, and it was time to leave the ship. We exchanged with a new crew. Only one guy stayed on the boat heading to Socotra and Dschibuti, two very special places. I stayed in the capital for another week to work. There wasn’t much to do other than going out for food and or walks. Male is quite an ugly city with many concrete houses. Most of the people in the Maledives life on this small island. It’s the heard for supply to the private resorts and the entry/exit points of all the tourists.
