Thursday 24th to Saturday 26th March

In my previous post I left you waiting to see whether the latest repair to the corroded exhaust manifold would be successful and we would have a working engine again. We had been waiting in a state of nervous anticipation for Kanburu’s flight back from Malé and in the afternoon we hurried around to his workshop. Kanburu showed us the repair and was smiling and happy that it had been done properly.

The next day he arrived at Vega with his cousin Abdulla Furu. There was further anxiety, the part initially did not fit as it had been distorted by the welding then all seemed to be ok. They continued to work away whilst I tried not to get my hopes up too much. Eventually the engine started and was left to run whilst they went to the mosque. An hour later Hugh checked and was dismayed to find a pool of oily water under the engine. Panic! After quickly stopping the engine he decided it must be left over from when work had previously be done. Panic over. Kanburu and Abdulla returned to check everything was satisfactory and to refill the oil and coolant.

We had been rather nervous about the final bill as it had been difficult getting an estimate from Kanburu initially. All the delays caused by the work not being done properly in Malé were not his fault at all. Our agent there, who had been handling things at the Malé end, had not taken the part to the workshop that Kanburu had recommended and had not been aware that it needed to be pressure tested before being returned. In the end Kanburu’s bill was less than expected so we added some extra and insisted on covering the cost of his return flight. We hope and think that everyone was happy.

The following day after some last minute shopping, settling the berthing bill and saying a fond goodbye to Kanburu and his family, we were still not completely decided whether to leave. By now it was 10am, the nearest anchorage we felt confident about was 30 miles away, we needed to reach it well before dusk and there was absolutely no wind. Perhaps it would be sensible to wait until tomorrow when there was some wind forecast and so, should the engine fail, we could sail?

In the end heart won over head and we set off, cautiously at first, so excited and relieved to finally be on our way. And the engine held out as we slowly increased the revs and our speed over the glassy sea, to arrived by 4.30pm at Farukolhu island and a stunningly beautiful and isolated anchorage. We slowly crossed the pass into the lagoon, watching as the seabed came up to meet us and we could clearly see coral and rocks pass under the hull only a few metres below us. Then relief as the depth increased and we could drop anchor in 5 metres in a wide open sandy patch. Only then did I have a whoop and little dance to celebrate, followed by a swim and sundowners. Paradise Regained… (sorry, I couldn’t help myself).