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In January, it's time to head west and towards the Med...but there is a threat of pirates as there has been for many years, both to cruising boats and shipping vessels. Since it seemed like the pirates had been attacking the larger vessels and not harmed cruisers in years, we decide to tackle this next step. We left Phuket, Thailand January 15th and in only a few days we arrived at the Andaman Islands, part of India. We'd read so many fine things about cruising there but we were so very disappointed. All the best cruising areas were now off limits and the rest of the anchorages were just average and they were charging $10+ for every night. As far as we are concerned, India is not worth the gigantic hassle to visit...they can stuff it!!!
After that fiasco we headed to the Maldives, SE of India and through rough, wet weather and busy shipping lanes south of Sri Lanka. When we arrived in Ulagamu, Maldives, all hell broke lose! The 25 or so boats anchored there were in quite a "stirred up panic" over increased threats of pirate activity. Several boat crews were changing plans to ship their vessels to the Med [$30,000+], return east, sail around South Africa in a few months, or head to the Red Sea via the coast of Pakistan which added over 1000 miles to the voyage. There were a few crews left who felt that the threat was not against cruisers and were ready to go ahead towards the Gulf of Aden on the usual course. It seemed to us that it was maybe 1/3 of the boats had decided to proceed. We met up with 4 other boats who were leaving at the same time as we were and we decided to stay in close contact and meet again in Aden or Salalah. We actually had a wonderful sail NW to the Middle Eastern shore and pulled into Aden, Yemen just in time for the revolution and some gunfire. Also during our passage the pirates took possession of our friends boat, Quest, from LA, CA. During a USA rescue attempt the Somali bastards kill our friends and their guests, 4 in all. We hope the US, which took 19 prisoners, wipe them off the earth...but they won't. We were heartbroken and very much more tense about our continued passage west towards the Red Sea and even more hazardous areas. A few days after the Quest tragedy the pirates also boarded s/v ING from Denmark with a family of 6 and took them to Somalia where they are still held and probably tortured.
From the beginning of our course in the Gulf of Aden we'd been traveling closely with 2 other boats of similar size while hearing other vessels on the radio being aggressively approached and having to call the patrol vessels. These pirates are unmerciful and they are encouraged and financed by a large cartel based on a mothership in the Indian Ocean. We had been told to not fly our flag because the pirates were targeting Americans, but that wasn't an alternative for us. The world forces need to get busy and intercede agressively....soon!!! We had no direct contact and finally we crossed over into the Red Sea but safety wasn't found until about 100 miles north of the entry point. We were relieved and thankful to have made it safely and appreciate the huge amount of concern and support we got from friends and family at hime and other cruiser friends abroad. Below are some shots of our passage.
Our route across the Indian Ocean 
flying the flag
Aden traditional boat 
Mosque in Aden
Aden Shore 
Spices in Aden
