O WNER REPOR T – M O ANA
“OVERALL WE HAD A FASCINATING STAY FROM MALE SOUTHWARDS. ONCE THE INTENSIVE TIME WITH STRICT REGULATIONS WAS OVER, WE EXPERIENCED SOME VERY MEMORABLE ADVENTURES.”
Homes that were destroyed in the 2004 tsunami, had been re-built with concrete rather than coral sand. T is means that a charming tradition has sadly come to an end but citizens paint their new houses in fanciful bright pastel colours. T e view from Moana of a rebuilt village was a cheerful and colourful panorama. A Maldivian family has on average more than fi ve children and we were not surprised to learn that half of the Maldivian civilians are below 18 years of age. Further to that, Islam allows a man to have four wives as long as he is able to look aſt er them all. Only a few Maldivians speak English but nevertheless, in the southern area they are hospitable, and tolerance, kindness and acceptance are independent of language. We learned a lot about village life, and the demands of a fast growing population has put a noticeable strain on the infrastructure; electricity, water, waste are all a problem in these remote islands and are a ticking political time bomb.
Fishing is traditional in the Maldives. A group of lucky male cruisers were invited to be part of a tuna fi shing crew in T inadoo atoll. Around lunch time all the men leſt the calm anchorage heading towards the ocean in a blue, 25 metre long fi shing boat. Out at sea, all the visitors experienced a spectacle of pure native muscle power. T e tuna are attracted by two things: sardines and water sprayed from the boat. So sardines were thrown into the sea while water rushing from spray nozzles at the back of the boat simulated the sound of a feeding frenzy.
Tuna love these conditions and quickly appeared at the surface. T e crew used traditional fi shing rods to pull the entire group of tuna out one by one! At the end of the carbon fi bre fi shing rod is a fi xed length fi shing line with a special barbless hook attached. Fishermen observe the water surface and with a jerk they get the fi sh and throw their catch overhead onto the boat. T is motion releases the fi sh onto the deck. Very quickly, a lot of fi sh piled up on the deck and from time to time the fi shermen shuffl ed the tuna into big fi sh holds. An amazing spectacle to see, literally dozens of fi sh fl ying through the air and on to the deck! Even big tuna, up to 50 kg, are caught in a similar way – but this takes muscle. For these bigger fi sh three fi shermen join their lines together and use their combined strength to pull out the tuna. On Rolf’s fi shing trip they caught four big tuna – each around 30kg, so in total 1.5 tonnes of tuna. T e crew declared this as a small catch but they were happy to show their technique. T ey sell their catch directly to buyers on one of the nearby islands. Fresh tuna can be sold to the government or to a private buyer, this catch went to a local factory who sun dry the tuna and export them to Japan.
Overall we had a fascinating stay in the Maldives with some very memorable adventures.
Moana is now for sale with Oyster Brokerage. For further information visit
www.oysterbrokerage.com or call +44 (0)1473 69500
Photos: Yolanda Danioth.
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