Sailing the REAL Maldives
May 12, 2024 by The Cruising Kiwis | Language: EN Play Time: 00:13:47 | SAILING YOUTUBERS
Sailing the REAL Maldives with The Cruising Kiwis
After a 14-day sail across the Indian Ocean, The Cruising Kiwis finally arrive in the stunning waters of the Maldives. Dropping anchor near the northernmost island of Igan, the duo explore nearby fruit farms before venturing out to hunt for lobsters. Despite some humorous challenges and close encounters with reef creatures, they eventually head into town to attend to their boat’s engine troubles.
The Maldives offers a vast network of 26 atolls and over 1,000 islands stretching approximately 500 miles from north to south. As the cruisers begin to discover this pristine paradise, they make their way down through the atoll group and set sail for Tusheti – a reef with an adjacent inhabited island where they can have their diving bottles filled. Along the journey, they learn about the mass bleaching of coral reefs and other environmental concerns facing the area.
In this video, viewers join The Cruising Kiwis as they make their first foray into the deeper riches of the Maldives. With full sails up, they cruise along at a comfortable pace while appreciating the beauty of a nearby luxury resort and questioning the high cost of visiting such exclusive locations.
While swimming near the reef, they come across vibrant marine life but also observe the devastating effects of the 2016 El Nino event on local coral reefs. The importance of maintaining healthy ecosystems becomes clear as the cruisers swim with tiny fish and discover various aquatic creatures around them.
A Day in Raushi Reef
Just a couple kilometers from their boat, the duo dinghies over to Na Vatu in Raushi Reef where they need to have two of their diving tanks filled. After finding an open dive shop managed by Manch, a local dive shop owner, they spend time exploring his beautiful island and learning about traditional fishing practices.
Manch shows off the disposable fishing traps used locally for capturing marine life without any harm or pain to the animals. They witness how these clever devices lure in fish, which are quickly released back into the ocean.
The Island Guest Houses
The availability of guest houses and small hotels on local islands has been on the rise, allowing for a more authentic experience compared to staying at luxury resorts. The island accommodations put money directly into the pockets of local residents while giving travelers a unique glimpse into everyday life in the Maldives.
Manch introduces The Cruising Kiwis to a new guest house that he is involved with on this particular island, offering potential visitors a one-of-a-kind experience.
Sailing the REAL Maldives
Last week after 14 days at sea, sailing across the Indian Ocean you saw us arrive in to the stunning waters of the Maldive islands, where we set anchor beside the northern island of Mulligan, like sitting atop our very own aquarium. After a trouble free check in we visited a local fruit farm and purchased our body weight in water melons, then went looking for some protein to grace our table.
Music
David Mumford - Ball and chain
Musicbed.com
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BACK STORY
In 1997, after rowing at the Atlanta Olympics, Rob rowed a tiny 7m (22 foot) plywood boat 2,500 miles from Tenerife (Canary Islands) to Barbados (Caribbean). It took six weeks for Rob and rowing partner, Phil Stubbs, to complete winning the inaugural Atlantic Rowing Race.
Skip forward to 2014 and, married with three children, Rob and his wife Rachel purchased Javelot, a 43 ft Fountaine Pajot catamaran. Armed only with Rob's 3 years of racing P class yachts from the age of 11 to 13, and Rachel's non existent sailing knowledge, We set off to learn the ropes of ocean sailing. We broke stuff, replaced stuff and got to know their boat before heading offshore with the kids, Finn (then 13), Declan (then 11) and Ivan (then 8), in tow. Through trial and error we have become confident wayfarers, kind of.
The plan? To sail around the world.
Part of the journey will be retracing Rob’s eldest brother Kerry’s travels at sea. Using Kerry’s original letters from the 1970’s we hope to retrace his movements from Australia through Indonesia and South East Asia to Cambodia where Kerry’s life was cut short after straying into Cambodian waters in 1978. Kerry and two friends were attacked by a Khmer Rouge gun boat, captured, tortured and executed. www.brothernumberone.co.nz
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Sailing the REAL Maldives Locations
- The Cruising Kiwis start their journey in the stunning Maldives, anchoring near the northernmost island of Igan. (6.983611111,97.553055555)
- They explore Raushi Reef and Na Vatu, where they refill their diving tanks at a local dive shop owned by Manch. (5.199999809,96.666669836)
The Cruising Kiwis
Our sailing videos are almost at the fringe of the cutting edge of informative travel entertainment confirming life is far too important to take seriously. We are a New Zealand liveaboard family of five: Rob (50+), Rachel (21-ish), Finn (19), Declan (17), Ivan (14) circumnavigating nomadically by sail boat learning from nature, new cultures and life experience. We hope to inspire others to explore different ways to live and educate while having a truckload of fun along the way. If you'd like to help keep us afloat and support the creative process for the price of less than a coffee: https://www.patreon.com/CruisingKiwis We also have crypto wallets if you'd like to contribute that way: BITCOIN bc1qds53n9tqepxvauqn9dygtczltyu6genkfp9a8a ETHEREUM 0xB4Cb9e1Aa9c000055DAde5E077809B904EE34CDD CARDANO addr1q9xw6hjjqlad7av2k6facn0277u3q4tylrpyev9x9zs54vjva409ypl6ma6c4d5nm3x74aaezp2kf7xzfjc2v29pf2eqrf7zaz Dash Xh5xLgH4oQ4pwM6V3d9r96A52R6ckereTz DOGE DQGxY6Cak3AuuihR8R7iQHNcBp25z9WnMa
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