Wednesday 9th to Thursday 24th March 2022

After stops in two beautiful, peaceful anchorages we were towed into the commercial harbour in Kulhudhuffushi. We were soon visited by Customs and given the all-clear but it took another 36 hours for Assad to get us permission from Health to leave the dock area. Most days small cargo boats come to load and offload cargo here, dropping off containers or bags of sand and collecting pallets of bottled water – there is a new water bottling plant here which bottles filtered borehole water.  Next to the dock is a large area of land reclamation where they are building houses to cope with the fast growing population. There is also a small beach where we could see children and fully dressed women swimming in the early morning and evening. 

Kulhuduffushi island and commercial dock (we are the blue dot):

Assad had contacted an engineer here, Kanburu, who repairs a lot of the local fishing boat engines as well as the occasional yacht. He arrived promptly that afternoon and checked the oil on the dipstick… empty. He decided the engine must be seized and so wanted to take it back to his workshop for further work. We were horrified as it would have been not only a huge job to get access and to lift it out, but also then to refit it under the companionway stairs and realign the prop shaft etc. Hugh rechecked the oil later, after some advice from Craig in Phuket, and found it full and, after emails and calls had gone to and fro with Colin and Jon, it became clear it was most likely a coolant problem. Further investigation by Kanburu eventually discovered a corroded exhaust manifold which was removed and sent off on the overnight ferry down to Malé, the capital, to be welded. He also decided we needed a new head gasket, which Hugh was able to order from Phuket and which would be sent express delivery by FedEx to arrive in 2 to 3 days.

Kulhudhuffushi is the main city in Thiladhunmathi Atoll. It has over 10,000 people living on an island of 1.8 by 1.1 miles. Since we were going to be here for a while I looked up tourist information online….. ‘It can easily be explored within a day, there aren’t many things to do or attractions to visit in this town.’ It suggested a quick snack whilst here and then to visit one of the neighbouring islands. 

We explored on foot, going for walks around the island. There are a large variety of shops, at least seven mosques, three schools, a hospital and sports stadium, a beach, fish market and Saturday morning fruit and veg market. 

Sports day at the stadium:

Kulhuduffushi is famous for its mangroves (kulhi), after which the island is named, which are an area in the north of the island of ecological importance in the Maldives. In 2017 a domestic airport was built, despite some local protests, so reducing the area of mangrove by 70%. Of course many welcome the twice daily flights to Malé… progress and development regardless of any long-term environmental impact, as is so often the case in the world.

We felt a bit of a novelty here as there were no other tourists and as we wandered around most of the locals were incredibly friendly and would say hello, smile and chat. There were several restaurants and we ate out most nights initially. It was disappointing that the food served in these, mainly rice or noodles fried with bits of chicken or fish, or even a submarine or pizza, was not typical Maldives food.

We kept meaning to get up before 6am like the locals and explore before it got too hot, but never quite managed it. By late morning the streets were practically deserted as most people sit in the cool of their air-conditioned homes and the shops are shut, to open later in the day when everyone comes out onto the streets again. By noon we were back on Vega, often to have a nap. It would have been a great place to stop for a night or two, but we were here for heaven knows how long, waiting for the part to be returned from Malé and the gasket from Phuket, and for them then to be refitted.

After seven days here I was hitting a low point. The head gasket which should have arrived days ago from Phuket had gone via Guangzhou in China and was now in New Delhi. The repaired manifold was expected to arrive back the next day on the midday ferry from Malé. 

The following morning the FedEx tracking app showed that the gasket had by now made it to Dubai. Kanburu asked us to meet him at his workshop. The manifold was back, but they hadn’t completely welded it… it would need to be sent back to Malé for the job to be done properly. This meant at least another four days in Kulhudhuffushi.

In the meantime Kanburu’s family took care of us. They very kindly lent us a scooter to get around on and we joined the locals buzzing around the streets on their bikes and scooters. His wife, Habeeba, taught me how to make roshi and took me to meet her mother and extended family. We invited them out for supper at a local restaurant as we were not allowed to have visitors on the boat in the bonded dock area. His son Mohammed, who speaks excellent English, was particularly helpful, acting as a go-between with his father, showing us around and generally taking care of us. He took us on a tour of the island by scooter, stopping at his aunt’s house where she showed us how the locals traditionally make twine from coconut husks ( I was completely hopeless, as I had been trying to make roshi). Habeeba prepared a wonderful meal for us of traditional Maldivian food, breadfruit curry, several tuna dishes, rice, cucumber, fish balls and roshi.

An escape to another island for some swimming and snorkelling was needed and Mohammed arranged this for the following day with his friend with a speedboat. Habeeba, Mohammed and his 13 year old sister Zaina joined us on the outing to Hanimaadhoo. It has a very beautiful long beach stretching the length of the island, a couple of guest houses and an airport where most of the tourists visiting this atoll will fly to from Malé, before continuing on by boat to their private island paradise. Habeeba and Zaina relaxed on sun loungers in the shade, whilst Hugh and I, in true British fashion, changed into our bathers behind the bushes. After a swim we wandered up the beach to the private resort, ignoring the fence that cut the guest house beach off from the public beach we’d been on. A security guard soon stopped us and asked us to leave the resort… we headed back to join the others. Despite the sign I had been assured by Mohammed that a bathing costume would be fine on the public beach and I would not be offending local sensibilities. After a walk round the village, very quiet in the heat of the day, the speedboat turned up to take us back.

After 13 days and several moments of having our hopes raised and then dashed again, the re-welded part and new gasket arrived back on the morning plane from Malé and Kanburu would refit them in the afternoon. We topped up our SIM cards, got cash out from the ATM to pay our bills, including the $12 a night in berthing fees here, and went to the shops to stock up with fresh vegetables and a frozen chicken. Our friends Colin and Izzi on Endorphin and Jon on Hecla had by now sailed down to Dohliyahdoo, 40 miles south of here, and were waiting for us to join them. We got ready to leave early the next morning.

Then Kanburu asked Hugh to come over to his workshop. I waited back on Vega with an increasing feeling of dread. Kanburu had pressure tested the manifold and it was still leaking. To order a new exhaust manifold from the U.K. would take another 2 to 3 weeks to be delivered. Our time in Kulhudhuffushi has been interesting but we only have two months in the Maldives and were desperate to be at anchor off some island paradise. 

The outcome was that Kanburu decided to get a flight to Malé the next day and to personally supervise the welding and pressure testing of the manifold. We also ordered a new replacement one from the U.K., so that we had a backup in case this wasn’t successful, and as a spare should it fail. 

In the meantime we wait and try not to get too despondent. We are grateful to Kanburu and his family who have been so very helpful and welcoming and to have invited us into their home, and we feel privileged to have been able to see how local Maldivian people live.