GAN ADDOO, MALDIVES TO SALOMAN ATOLL, CHAGOS ARCHIPELAGO

GAN ADDOO, MALDIVES TO SALOMAN ATOLL, CHAGOS ARCHIPELAGO

MAY 5- 8

SALOMAN ATOLL MAY 8- JUNE 4, 2016

Gan, Addoo is the most southerly atoll in the Maldives.  It doesn’t have much to offer outside of a service station and supermarket.  It does have a decent restaurant called the Equatorial Village that serves a good buffet in the evenings.  The atoll is low, flat, hot and dusty.  Being very close to the equator, with the SW Monsoon establishing itself, the Wx is unpredictable: strong winds, no wind, squalls, etc.  Other than a small fly infested lagoon where we were anchored (00-41.143’ S; 073-08.657’ E), the outside anchorages are quite deep and require more chain than we carry.  The only advantage that Gan provides is the fact that it is about 300nm from the Chagos Archipelago and about 1000nm from the Seychelles or 800 from Rodrigues and Mauritius.  Most cruising yachts try to get a permit from the British Indian Overseas Territory Administration (BIOT) to visit Saloman Atoll and Perros Banhos.  This year has been especially difficult to get the required permit so many yachts were refused the opportunity to stop at these beautiful places.

We departed Gan on May 5, 2016 at 1000 hrs for Saloman Atoll (05-18.296’ S; 072-14.522’ E) about 300nm distant.  What I did not realize for this voyage was that the Equatorial Counter Current, which sets to the East, was so strong and would require lots motoring due to the fact that the SW’ly winds would not allow us to sail the S’ly course that was required.  At times the ECC was setting at more than 2kts to the East;  that’s 48nm in a 34 hr period!  Phyllis and I have always been able to lie ahull and wait for favorable winds but not with a current of this magnitude.  Many yachts that try to make Chagos are set so far to the East that they just give it a miss and continue on to Rodrigues or Mauritius.  As a result of all this motoring, we were going to be short on fuel for the 1000 nm Seychelles voyage.  That would mean that we would be forced to lie ahull on that voyage.

On May 8, 2016 we entered Saloman Atoll Entrance Pass and anchored between Isle Takamaka and Isle Forquet in on a sandy spit in 15’ water depth (05-19.954’ S 72-15.916’ E).  This would be a decent anchorage in established SE’ly Trade Wind conditions but those we did not have.  Early in the morning of the May 9^th, we had  SW’ly squalls which gave us some concern since Saloman Atoll is strewn with coral heads (bommies) and reefs.  The anchor held and the following morning, on May 9^th, we worked our way down to Isle Bodam which was about 3 nm to the South and picked up a mooring at (05-21.190’ S; 072-12.465’ E).  The passage to Isle Bodam requires good visibility because the it is strewn with coral heads and reefs:  this is strictly “eyeball navigation”.  Phyllis was at the helm and I was on the bow giving hand signals.

The existing moorings are from a time when “yachties” were allowed to stay as long as they wanted.  Some stayed 3-6 months at a time and would return year after year.  They carried chain and mooring lines to set up secure moorings.  The chains were wrapped around coral heads and the chain and mooring line floated on buoy.  Alas, these moorings are starting to show signs of corrosion and disintegration.  It is necessary to dive on them for inspection and upgrade with new chain and mooring lines.  The five yachts that were there all had to do this.  To break loose from a mooring during the night, in a squall, would mean the loss of the yacht because there are so many “bommies” in the immediate vicinity.  Isle Bodam is a beautiful place and well protected but can be dangerous if the yacht “breaks free” of its mooring.

Isle Bodam is “downtown central” of what was once a copra plantation.  In the early 70’s, the local plantation workers, known as “Chagosians”, were forcibly removed and relocated to Mauritius or the Seychelles.  They were not landholders but had been there since the 1850’s.  No consideration was given to them other than a small monetary compensation:  loaded up on boats and shipped off to Mauritius or the Seychelles.  The remains of the copra plantation, cemetery, church,a four man jail, a small jetty, and other mysterious buildings are slowly but inexorably being taken over by the jungle and “strangle fig” trees.  All the buildings are hewen out of the coral that forms the atoll.

Today, the “Chagos Yacht Club” is the evening meeting place of any yachts that are moored.  It’s an abandoned coral stone building with a camp fire place in front.  Yachties meet drink and prepare BBQ food in the evenings.  There are hundreds of “Coconut Crabs” that come out at night.  These crabs are huge and measure up to 12” across the carapace:  they are very good to eat but are protected under BIOT regulations.

It’s a haunting place with all kinds of mysterious objects.  There is abundant water, in several different wells, so everyone does their washing and showers at the local well.  The fishing is unbelievably fantastic is this protected Marine Reserve: Snapper, Grouper and others are there for the taking.  The Black Tip Reef Sharks are everywhere but present no danger to the swimmer.  A magical place because it is so remote and inaccessible without a yacht.  A BIOT boat patrols these waters, for illegal fishing and permits, but the workhorse is the “Spotter Plane” that flies over the area checking on permits and illegal fishing boats.  One is privileged to have had the opportunity to visit this most unusual place.

A little history:  In the late 60’s and early 70’s, the Americans contracted with the British government to establish a Military Base in the Chagos Archipelago on the atoll of Diego Garcia.  This was a Copra Plantation and home to several thousand Chagosians.  The Americans insisted that they be removed from, not only Diego Garcia but all the outlying atolls.  This was a time of the “cold war” and Diego Garcia was strategically located in the Indian Ocean.  The lease was granted for a period of 50 years with renewal options.  As a matter of fact, it was just renewed this year: 2016.  The plantation workers were given no consideration in this deal and were viewed as hired or indentured workers even though they had been there since the mid 1800’s and built churches and filled graveyards.  The first round of forcibly removing them involved killing off all their pets.  Next came shutting down the food supplies that were shipped to the outer atolls.  Finally, they were forced to board transportation vessels going to Mauritius and the Seychelles where they were unceremoniously dumped off on the docks and wharfs to fend for themselves.

The Chagosians or Illois have fought a  long legal battle to return to their homeland.  The British government has done everything possible to prevent this from happening.  They declared all of the Chagos Archipelago to be a National Marine Park:  no fishing, no inhabitants.  Only the military base on Diego Garcia has a shifting population.  No women are allowed to give birth on the island.  Once pregnant, they have to return to their respective countries. Most of the workers that are not with the military are from other countries but do not include Chagosians.  Within the last few years, the British Courts have upheld the Chagosian right to return to their homeland but the way has been blocked by feasibility studies and other obstructing maneuvers.  Also, with the exception of Diego Garcia, the infrastructure to repopulate Saloman Atoll, Perros Bahnos and other atolls doesn’t exist.  Additionally, the remaining Chagosians are aging.  It’s doubtful if the younger generation would want to return to the primitive lifestyle of their parents.  My guess is that they will have to be adequately compensated for the wrong that was done to them and offered a very limited amount of work on Diego Garcia.  No other possibility exists outside of letting some Exclusive Resort come in and rebuild the necessary infrastructure.  This is anathema to the BIOT administration.  They, only reluctantly, grant permits to “yachts in transit” for a maximum period of 28 days at a cost of $75 per week.

The “Chagos Yacht Club” is a place where the visiting yachts gather every evening to BBQ or bring prepared food.  There is a campfire, several lawn type and plastic chairs and a few logs for sitting.  It’s just in front of the beach and to the SE of the old jetty with the remains of a former coral block building and the sign “Welcome – Chagos Yacht Club”.  Almost everything there is from a time when yachts were allowed to stay as long as they wanted.  Many returned year after year and occupied some of the existing buildings.  There is a Volley Ball net and court they used.  One South African couple spent 1-1/2 years on Saloman Atoll after having their boat sunk during a squall.  Their tale of refloating the boat and finally sailing out of there is told in “Shipwreck or Shangri-la” by Peter Lickfold/Sheridan House.

It’s a stunningly beautiful place and the lagoon is filled with fish and coral.  Part of the legendary status of Chagos comes from all the former yachts that spent so much time there and the remoteness of the atolls.  Today, the area is patrolled by a BIOT vessel called “Pacific Marlin” and a spotter plane “Direct Four”.  Their main purpose is to keep illegal fishing boats out of the marine reserve but they check on any yachts moored to make sure they have valid BIOT Permits.  We spent 28 days moored at Isle Bodam.  That was quite sufficient and enjoyable.  The credit goes out to all those former yachties who made this place what it is today. 

We departed Saloman Atoll at 1215 hrs on June 4, 2016 for Port Victoria, Seychelles.