Indian Ocean Crossing: Part Two - Sri Lanka to Maldives -

Well, well, well, we’ve made it to the land of crystal-clear water and remote atolls!

Here’s Part Two of our Indian Ocean Crossing—the three-day passage across the Laccadive Sea.

Indian Ocean Crossing: Part One – Thailand to Sri Lanka

DAY ONE: 04/02/2025

Around 08:00, we threw the dock lines and headed off, leaving Galle Port behind as we motored northwest up the coast of Sri Lanka. The morning was smooth sailing (well, motoring), cruising along at 6-7 knots and making good ground. Our course was pretty northerly to set us up for the right wind angle when the breeze filled in.

Later in the afternoon, we were watching a movie when suddenly—BEEP! A super loud alarm went off. Everyone scrambled outside, trying to figure out what it was. Dad got there first, pulled back the engine revs, and shut it off fast—the engine had overheated.

Opening the engine bay, we found the culprit: the alternator belt had shredded. Since that’s what runs the saltwater pump, no cooling water was circulating through the engine. Luckily, we have two engines, so we switched to the other one and continued on course, thankful for the redundancy! We had to let the overheated engine cool down before working on it, so we finished our movie, then got started on repairs.

Replacing the belt was quick and easy, but checking the impeller (which pushes the water through the system) revealed a missing blade… which meant we had to track it down. Cue an hour of pulling pipes apart and checking the heat exchanger. Eventually, we found it, put in a new impeller, double-checked everything, and fired the engine back up. Success!

Around that time, the wind filled in. Once we were happy with how the engine was running, we hoisted the sails and shut the engines off. The wind was perfect—60 degrees apparent on our starboard bow—epic conditions! We sailed into the night like this, with a steady breeze and no drama.

DAY TWO: 05/02/2025

I swapped with Dad at around 05:00. We were still under white sails, though now we had two reefs in the main and one and a half in the genoa. The wind had picked up as we entered the compression zone between Sri Lanka and India, funnelling through to us. We were flying at 7-10kts boat speed!

The wind stayed strong all day, keeping our speed up. The swell was just wind swell—not too bad—so it was a comfortable ride. By sunset, as forecasted, the wind lightened, setting us up for a smooth night at sea.

DAY THREE: 06/02/2025

There had been a few sail changes overnight, so Dad let me sleep until nearly 06:00. When I got up, we were still cruising under white sails. The ocean was calm, with barely any swell—super chill sailing.

The day was uneventful, which is exactly what you want on a passage. We cycled through school, reading, a movie, meals (always a highlight), and then wrapped up the day with a workout and a game of chess.

As sunset approached, we reduced sail to slow down overnight. We needed to arrive in daylight because of a reef at the entrance. With our speed cut to under 5 knots, we settled in for our final night at sea.

ARRIVING: 07/02/2025

At 05:00, I was up, keeping watch as we crept toward the pass. As the first light crept over the horizon, I spotted a faint glow off to starboard—checking the charts, I realised it must be one of the islands! The sun rose as we sailed through the pass and into the anchorage, where three other boats were already anchored.

The depth was 20m with patches of reef to watch out for. Dad jumped in the water to check it out, and we found a good sandy spot to drop anchor. We’d made it!

Main Takeaways

The compression zone is real—expect strong winds coming from between Sri Lanka and India.

Leaving in the morning worked well, but since we made such good time, we had to slow down on arrival.

The reef pass was easy to navigate and would be doable at night if needed.

Always check your alternator belts!

Summary

This was an awesome passage—fast, fun, and relatively smooth. We’re stoked to have made it to this incredible destination and can’t wait to explore!

If you’ve sailed this route before or have any hot tips, drop a comment—I’d love to hear your experiences!

Indian Ocean Crossing: Part Two – Sri Lanka to Maldives