Galle, Sri Lanka to Uligan, Maldives

Look! A sail!

We made it to the Maldives, a year behind schedule. As we were checking out of Sri Lanka, our agent gave us our port clearance document and said, 'You're going to the Maldives so it's very important that you have this because they're all Muslim there.' We're still scratching our heads over that one (for the record, just about every place you go wants a clearance document from your last port). 

Handy AND stylish propane carry-all

After several weeks of final preparations and provisioning, we tossed off the (by now well-worn) dock lines and were pleased to find that the boat still moved and the props still spun. We moved to the anchorage at Jungle Beach and scraped off most of the jungle that had taken root on the boat bottom. Despite having sat in some pretty fecund water for almost a year, we thought the Coppercoat served us well. It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't as bad as we had envisioned. There were large areas where there was nothing but easily removed green slime. But there were some patches of hard growth (and consequently also the furry stuff that then grows on that), although most of the barnacles, oysters, and other stuff came off easily with a scraper. The displaced shrimp and crabs living in the ecosystem indicated their displeasure by munching on any morsels of exposed skin they could find. The barnacles also exacted some measure of revenge as we all exited the water with varying degrees of scraped knuckles and sliced fingers.

Perry's pre-scraped bottom on the worse-off port side.

The following morning, we left and motored for several hours before escaping the Sri Lankan wind shadow. The forecast predicted 15-knot winds and meter-high waves. Instead, we got 20+ knots of wind and waves that built to over two meters. It was also supposed to be a reaching to downwind run. However, at times we were sailing almost as close to the wind as we can. We had 2 reefs in to slow us down from over 9 knots of boat speed. It was a pretty bumpy and wet ride for our first time out in over ten months. We also faced a lot of shipping traffic as we crossed the busy lanes of all the ships rounding the bottom of Sri Lanka. By the time nighttime fell, there was still no end to the AIS alarms warning us about approaching traffic.

At one point, we were trying to negotiate our way around a 20+ miles-long fishing net that had at least four AIS transponders of its own (the fishing vessel didn't respond to our hail so we couldn't ask how deep the net was or how far beyond the last transponder it continued). We would get to what we thought was the last marker and another one would pop up (and we had to keep sailing closer and closer to the wind). While this was going on, we noticed a different beeping noise than the AIS alarms or the high wind alarms that had been going off up to this point. It turned out to be the bilge high-water alarm. The port bilge had an alarming amount of water (ok, probably only 10 gallons or so, but it was still sloshing around more than we had seen before). Fortunately the water was not as high as the freezer compressor in that area, but it was disappointing that the 'automatic' bilge pump decided it didn't want to be automatic anymore.

Fortunately, we caught it in time and were able to drain the water with the pump (it still worked manually). We added the task of pumping out the water every couple of hours to our to do list until the next day when Matt figured out that the water was coming in through the very hose that was connected to the bilge pump, as the waves would force water into the thru-hull fitting and hose, which would then flow back into the bilge. We closed the valve to the thru-hull and the problem stopped.  The usual solution to this problem is to have a tall loop of bilge hosing installed above the thru-hull that acts as a barrier to any waves that push water in. This thru hull is installed below the sink area and the countertop prevents a high enough loop from being installed (hence the installed valve). You learn something everyday...

The conditions were much the same the next day, except that the big ships had disappeared and nothing more broke. After a stressful day and a noisy, unrestful night, we were not feeling our best the next day. Two of us got sick (I don't want to name names but their names start with the same letter and it wasn't Conrad or me) and nobody felt like eating much. The one good thing was that we were making great speed, aided by a favorable current of up to 2+ knots at times.

Black skies, boo.  Blue water, yay!

 

Finally, on our last full day, things calmed down (which also meant slower going) and we saw lots of spinner dolphins. The next morning, as we approached the island of Uligan or Uligamu (there are multiple names for the many islands here), we were welcomed with a nice rain that washed away the salt covering Perry's decks.

We don't have to sail anymore AND presents?!

 

Our agent Assad brought the officials out (and gave us ice-cream and treats for the boys). Check in was a breeze... Of course, we did have that port clearance document. The officials checked our temperatures and requested that only Matt come out to the cockpit to complete the documentation. We can visit uninhabited islands and it might be possible to go to some inhabited islands with advance permission. We can also have produce and other supplies delivered in some spots. Fortunately, we stocked up in Sri Lanka and, fresh fruit and veggies aside, can easily wait until Male, where we are allowed ashore.

What's better than this for a kid? Nothing! (say ZERO out of 5 dentists)

There were three other cruising boats in the Uligan anchorage, two of whom we had met during our time at Pangkor. It was nice to have some company after being isolated for so long. We had our first cruiser social sundowners in almost a year.

We have also been enjoying clean water and abundant fish. While we were snorkeling today, a manta ray (really a devil ray we think) swam by and we saw a turtle and two stingrays. Matt speared his first fish (a medium-sized grouper). One of the other boats even got to swim with a dolphin for a spell. Matt has been busy fixing what's broke, including MacGyvering a fix to our water maker boost pump (using thread and tape to keep the motor brushes in place while reassembling the pump). Once we have rested and enjoyed this area, we will start heading south.

By the way, one of our containers of preserved eggs must have had a bad egg that spoiled the whole batch. The first couple days of our voyage was scented by rotten eggs. We finally felt up to the task of throwing them away on our third full day. The other container is still there and seems okay for now but I don't think we'll preserve eggs this way again.

Countdown and hoarding

 

You never know when you'll see a random cow

We're about a week or so away from leaving Galle, after over ten months here. We have been fortunate to have a relatively safe place to weather a lot of the pandemic, but are definitely ready to move on.

As part of our preparations, Matt has been checking and prepping our various systems. The genny needed a new impeller. The forest of growth on the engine propellers did not stop them from spinning, so we can probably make it over to the nearby anchorage, "Jungle Beach" to clean off the growth (we couldn't do that in the harbor due to the rules, but even if we could we wouldn't want to get into the dung filled, radioactive pool that we're floating in--okay, it's mostly just diesel, sewage, and dead fish/animals, but still).

 

We have also been Stocking Up (capitals intended). We have heard that it may be difficult for us to get supplies in the Maldives (both because of limited availability in many places and because it is still not clear whether we can go shopping for ourselves once in the Maldives). After our three months or so in the Maldives, the plan is to head to Chagos/ BIOT, where there will be ZERO supplies. So we need at least four months of provisions. Since it is cheap and easy to get stuff here, we are packing ourselves to the gills in flour (50 kg or 110 pounds), olive oil (8 liters), oats (enough to feed a horse), meat, cheese--you name it.

We put 120-plus eggs (there are two containers, one of which is pictured above) in pickling lime (calcium hydroxide). This is supposed to keep them good for a year or more without refrigeration. Of course, most people that use this technique live on land, not on a boat, so we'll see how our eggs do when they get bounced around a bit.

We are glad we got our BIOT permit early. We didn't realize until recently that only three boats at a time will be allowed in. We have connected online with the two other boats that will be there during the first half of our stay.

We have a few more things to buy, including a new 12.5 kg tank of propane and a whole bunch of UHT milk, and then we'll be ready to throw off the dock lines. We will head over to Jungle Beach (the anchorage, not the beach, since we won't be able to go on land at that point) and clean the 'jungle' from our bottom. We'll see how easy it is to clean our bottom after many months in the scuzzy harbor water. Although it's always been one of my least favorite jobs, it will be nice to be at anchor again. Then it's off to the Maldives.

Dogs of the Port

 

'Red Dog' is one of our favorites

Dogs here in Sri Lanka seem to have it better than in many of the non-First World countries we visited. Maybe it's the predominantly Buddhist culture, but people don't seem to mistreat them as readily.

Her tail goes a mile a minute when anticipating rubs

There have been a number of countries we have visited in the past where people regularly kick dogs, poison them, or eat them (as we as we know, we have been spared seeing dogs sold for or served as food). Even here in Sri Lanka though, dogs are shy around humans they don't know. It took a bit of time before the ones that hang around our boat would let us pet them and most of the dogs seem to run away if you pretend to pick up a non-existent rock (our go-to strategy if a dog shows aggression).

However, there are still a lot of stray dogs*, some in sorry shape. There are a few dozen dogs in the port here, loosely organized into 5 or 6 packs with each pack inhabiting an area that it considers "its own".  Of course, the boundaries are a bit fluid and the packs are always pushing the limits of their borders. This often leads to 10-12 dogs barking their heads off at each other for 10 minutes, oftentimes joined in by any other dogs within hearing range.  Not a big deal during the day, but when a dispute erupts just outside the boat at 2 a.m., one's love for dogs can be sorely tested.

Dinner time?

 

There is one exception to the dog boundary rule: the port has a singular male dog that occupies the alpha role over all the other port dogs. He is compact, muscular and has one dull eye, probably from previous battles.  He also swaggers around the port, from one end to the other, ignoring all the other dogs that will bark at him, but never confront him, while peeing on everything to remind all the other dogs who's boss. It may just be a coincidence, but the other significant feature of this dog is that he sports the most massive set of canine cajones we have ever seen. Not sure if that's what made him the alpha, but there you go.

We have seen several port workers who make an effort to feed the strays (mostly bread and rice), but there doesn't seem to be any official program to spay or neuter strays. Private organizations, such as The Dog Care Clinic (DCC), try to round up strays and 'fix' them, as well as trying to educate people, but it is an uphill battle. Some owners are against neutering their male guard dogs--maybe they believe un-neutered dogs will be better protectors. And even dogs that are "owned" by households typically have free run of the neighborhoods, so more puppies are born to eke out an existence and have more puppies down the line.

 

Pedro

This little guy pictured above (he could fit on your hand) started hanging out near our section of the port about a week ago and we thought he had a broken and poorly mended leg because of its weird shape. He also had a terrible skin condition and his fur was thin and patchy. We were able to feed him, get him into a box and hand him over to The Dog Care Clinic (Matt donned some heavy-duty gloves to avoid the nips and subsequent rabies shots that our friends endured when they tried to collect some other Port puppies earlier this year). The boys have given some money for his care to the DCC (thanks Nana for the generous donation). It turns out that he had a calcium deficiency rather than a broken leg, which the DCC is treating with supplements. They named him 'Pedro' after a previous puppy with a similar condition.

We feel much better now that Pedro is being well-cared for. If it works out, we hope to visit him to see how he's doing before we leave Sri Lanka. Despite the many extraordinary experiences living on a boat has given us, we still miss out on some things, like spending holidays with extended family (though this year we would probably be missing that anyway) and having a dog. It will be sad to leave our dog friends when it's time, but we're enjoying each other while it lasts.

Also, the occasional monitor lizard

*There are stray cats as well, but we don't see them as often and the ones in the port seem relatively healthy. Maybe they do alright with the rats and birds.

This is what passes for excitement these days...

 

Galle Port gets a lot of cement and cargo ships of various sizes, but we were surprised to see this ferry pull up a couple weeks ago. It is brand-new and was on its way from its birthplace in Vietnam to its final home in Trinidad and Tobago.

 

Matt made this delicious cherry pie for Thanksgiving

Our minimal activity (mostly walking a lot) since tying Perry to the wall here in Galle back in March has now ground to a virtual stand-still. Sri Lanka conquered the initial wave of Covid-19 by imposing strict lock down measures and seemed to have eliminated community transmission altogether. There were virtually no new cases in June, July and August and the total cases stood around 3000 (the few new cases were through citizens returning from overseas) and only 13 deaths. Then, at the end of October, there was a cluster of cases at a garment factory here. Now, a month later, Sri Lanka has had over 24,000 cases and 124 virus-related deaths. Although there are not many cases in Galle, everyone is being very vigilant.

Our area has not been subjected to any lock downs, but everyone wears a mask and stores require that you sign in, wash your hands, and have your temperature taken. We have chosen to go out only when we need to (mostly for groceries). We don't want to expose ourselves unnecessarily (if we tested positive, it's not clear whether we would be forced to go to an external quarantine facility and we don't want to find out) and we are trying to be respectful of the country's attempt to contain things.

But overall we can't complain (despite the fact that we now have two teens in close quarters <<muffled scream>>). Mark and Conrad made Halloween costumes and shared treats with the guards in the port. We made lasagna and cherry pie for Thanksgiving. We have been eating a lot of stuffing with our roasted chickens lately (bread is cheap here and we generate a lot of bread crumbs), so we decided on lasagna for a change. It turned out to be almost as much work as a traditional Thanksgiving meal since Matt had to make the ricotta and lasagna noodles from scratch. 

We exercise within the port, decide what to make for dinner, and feed/pet the stray dogs, to whom we have given creative names like 'Doggo' and 'Red dog'. Thank goodness for relatively inexpensive Internet and for Netflix (thank you Grandma and Grandpa!).

A couple days ago, there was a ten-foot crocodile in the harbor. By the time we saw it, it was too far away for a picture. That's yet another reason not to swim in the port (the scuzzy water and debris--including dead fish and animals--being the main reasons).

 

Look ma! We have been in Galle Port long enough to show up on the Google satellite images. I guess that's not unexpected when you've been in the same place for over eight months (having arrived with plans to stay for a week or two). The boats with X's through them are no longer here (one of them was a derelict boat that sank and the other two are cruising boats that have left).

The sailboat circled on the left is Nostromo. If you're bored, there's an interesting story behind how the boat came to be in Sri Lanka, involving the attempted rescue of a middle-eastern princess.

Many countries are slowly loosening their border restrictions (with many changing requirements). We plan to stay in Sri Lanka until early next year and then head to the Maldives. Chagos recently announced that it would reopen to cruisers, which is good news for us. If we are able to get a permit, we hope to go there after a stint in the Maldives.

Boring, nerdy sail stuff: How to convert SAS Planet cache files

The Red Mosque of Colombo.  If you are not sailing nerd, this is the last interesting thing you will see in this post.  Run away now.

Your friendly cruise director, Jen, has taken the day off. Unfortunately for you, you're left with Matt to fill the blog void.  And this week, instead of a relentless recap of our boring lives (especially here and now, stuck in Galle), 99.9% of you are going to get treated to something you've probably never wanted: A tutorial on how to convert cache files in SAS Planet. If you've never heard of SAS Planet before, this is probably your cue to shake your head, close the browser, and try your luck again in a week or two. If however, for the remaining 2 or 3 of you, you DO know about SAS Planet, then stick around.

UPDATED Dec 1, 2020- Check the bottom for another option in addition to what's detailed below. 

Why you might want to convert your cache structure:

SAS Planet ("SAS") is a wonderful tool for offline map and imagery viewing. It allows for virtually unlimited storage of all sorts of map types (Google Satellite, Navionics, Bing, ARC.GIS, and many others).  It also allows for integration with a GPS feed to show current position, speed and heading overlaid on any of the stored maps. 

However, as the number of your stored maps grows, the storage container for the maps, or "cache", becomes unwieldy and difficult to move, copy, or share with others. This is because the original cache structure (assuming you are using the standard "SAS.Planet" cache type) was set up on a series of nested folders to organize and contain the literal millions of small images that are stitched together to create the maps shown on the computer. Each image file is only 1-2 Kb, but a good sized SAS cache might contain 10 million of these small files. The problem arises when you go to backup or copy your cache. Computers are becoming faster and faster with passing data, but the problem here lies in the overhead associated with the Windows (or any other) operating system. 

When copying a file, you, the user, only worry about dropping and dragging, or hitting Ctrl-C then Ctrl-V. However behind the scenes the operating system is having this sort of conversation:

OS: Hey, Disk, User wants to copy file x to location y.

Disk: OK.

OS: Does that location exist?

Disk: Nope

OS: OK, create it.

Disk: OK, created.

OS: Are you ready to receive the data?

Disk: Yes

OS: Here's the data [this is where the 1.8 KB gets sent along]

Disk: OK, got it.

OS: Did you get all of it?

Disk: Hold on, let me check... Yep, it's here.

OS: OK, that's it. Goodbye.

When copying a large file, that "conversation" overhead  is almost unnoticeable.  However, when copying millions of small files, that overhead is where the computer spends most of its time relative to the small image file that it passes along. Consequently, copying or backing up a 10 GB cache might take hours, whereas a 10 GB movie file might only take a minute or two.

Luckily, more recent versions of SAS have provided support for a different cache format known as "SQLite3". Instead of storing millions of individual image files, the cache has a limited nested directory structure which ends in one or more small database files. Each database can contain thousands of images.

Let's use my Google Satellite cache as an example. When converted to a SQLite3 format, the cache went from 3,406,505 Files and 114,444 Folders to 1,681 Files and 992 Folders. That is a whopping 99.96% reduction in the number of files!  This allows the operating system to copy and back up the cache files much more efficiently.

How to convert your cache:

So now that you understand the need to convert the cache, let's get in to how to actually get it done. Within SAS, there is Cache Conversion utility.  However, it's rather manual and takes a bit of setup to get it to work properly. That said, it's not terribly complicated and the payoffs are large, so it's worth doing.

The first thing to understand is that the SAS Cache Conversion utility only allows you to convert one map source at a time. So, depending on the number of map types in your cache, you may need to repeat this process several times. Also, to prevent confusion, it's best not to have SAS attempt to download more new files while you're are doing this process, so for now set your data source to "Cache Only".

Step 1- Navigate to the main SAS directory.  This is easily found by opening Windows File Explorer and navigating to your SAS Planet folder.  In this main directory you should see a sub-directory called "cache". This is where your existing cache files reside. Create a new directory called "cache_sqlite". At this point you should now have a "cache" sub-directory and a " cache_sqlite" sub-directory. You only need to create this "cache_sqlite" directory once.  This is the new directory where all of our new SQLite3 map specific caches will reside. 

Proper set up of the directory structures is the key to a successful conversion

 

Step 2- Take a look in your "cache" folder   Within "cache" you should see many subfolders with names like "sat", "both", "navionics", "vesat", etc. Each one of these sub folders represents a different map type that you have downloaded at some point.  Most names are pretty self explanatory, but a few are more cryptic.  Here are a few you may not immediately recognize:

•  "sat" --> Google satellite imagery
• "Both" --> Google Hybrid images (this is the overlay that shows town names, streets, businesses, etc.)
• "vesat" --> Bing satellite imagery

Determine which map type you want to convert. Let's use the Google satellite imagery as an example. Drill down into the sub-directories under that map type ("sat") until you reach the final level that contains the image files. Make a note the type of image file that the map type uses (possible to be .jpg, .png, .bmp or even others). Google satellite imagery uses .jpg. Come back up to main SAS directory.

Step 3 - We now need to make a new sub-folder in our "cache_sqlite" directory  that is the EXACT same name as the sub-folder in the "cache" directory that we want to convert. So if we are going to convert Google Satellite imagery, we need to create a "sat" sub-folder within our "cache_sqlite" folder.  The sub-folder names must be identical or the SAS program won't recognize the new location.

This completes the "set up" required, and we are now ready to start the SAS Cache Conversion utility.

Conversion utility screen

 

 Step 4 - Within the SAS program, navigate to Operations -> Cache Manager

This will bring up a bring up a window where we need to enter some info for the conversion to work properly.

·         In "Source Cache", leave the first drop-down set to "Folder".

·         In "Path", click on the ellipses button to the right of the blank field and navigate to and select the source folder, namely your "sat" subfolder within the main cache folder.

·         Set the "Format" drop down to "Sas.Planet"

·         Set the "Extension" dropdown to ".jpg" (this is the file type you discovered when you drilled down into the cache in Step 2 of the set up process)

·         Ignore all the other fields in the top half, or "Source Cache" area.

·         In the "Dest Cache"", leave the first drop-down set to "Folder".

·         In "Path", click on the ellipses button to the right of the blank field and navigate to and select the destination folder, namely your NEW "sat" subfolder within the newly created "cache_sqlite" folder.

·         Set the "Format" drop down to "SQLite3"

·         Ignore all the other fields in the bottom half, or "Dest Cache" area.

You are now ready  to run the conversion. Click the "Start" button. A progress window will pop up. It will take a bit of time for the system  to determine what it needs to process, but after a few minutes (possibly longer if your cache is really big), the progress window will start showing how many files it has processed.  Just for planning purposes, a large cache of roughly 6 million files (58 Gb) took almost 13 hours to process. However this was on a machine limited to USB2 and the cache was on an external disk. I would assume that the ability to use USB3 would have sped things up considerably.

 

Setting up SAS to use the new SQLite cache type.

Step 5 - Once the process is complete, if you want to check that everything went smoothly, you need to tell SAS to start using the new cache. This can be done as follows:

·         Navigate within the SAS program to Settings -> Options

·         Select the "Cache" tab

·         Make sure the "SQLite3 cache folder" is set to "cache_sqlite"

·         Change the "Default cache type" dropdown to "SQLite3"

·         Click "Apply"

You should now be able to see your newly created cache.  At this point you should ONLY be able to see the one mapset you just converted (make sure the selected basemap is properly set).  All the other map types will be grey, as that data has not been converted yet. 

Step 6 - To finish the conversion for other map types, simply repeat steps 2-4 as needed.

Phew! Did you really read all that anyway? If so, I gotta suggest you find yourself a hobby.

 

UPDATE Dec 1, 2020:

Another option for this process is to use the program called "Sat2Chart" developed by Paul Higgins.  The program is primarily used to create .kap and mbtile charts from imagery sources like Google earth and Sas Planet.  However, Paul has also recently included a utility that automates the cache conversion process detailed in my post.  The utility is called "Convert_Cache" and is found within the "Sat2Chart" program.  You can download the program here: http://gdayii.ca/Downloads/  

To run Sat2Chart, you will also need to download and install OoRexx 5.0.0, which is also available from the download location given above.

When the Convert_Cache window opens, there is a "Tutorial" button you can click  that walks you through the operation and setup of the utility.

Galle (Sri Lanka) - Still Paused

 

Peace Pagoda

During most of the eight years we have lived on Perry, we have been at anchor rather than at a dock. It's also been somewhat rare that we have stayed in the same spot for more than a few weeks.  And on the occasions that we haven't been moving around, we are usually hauled out and working hard to get some necessary work finished or we are on a road trip.

View of the harbor from the Peace Pagoda

This time is different (a common theme for most people these last few months) and we find ourselves on a dock, in one place, and without  major boat jobs that otherwise fully consume the day. Normally this would be the perfect opportunity for one of the aforementioned road trips, but that's off the table at the moment as well. We don't feel secure leaving our boat in the harbor here for very long due to the line chafing, fender popping surges that can come through the harbor.

Sushi made from locally caught tuna (bought, not caught, by us)

So what to do? Perry still finds ways to demand our attention: A cleat that needs rebedding after six months of strain, the discovery of some  small termites that set up shop in the engine room (good thing we don't have much wood), new faucets in the bathrooms, and some leaks seeping in from the torrential rains of the Northwest monsoon. But for the most part, we fill our days with walks around the Galle area, including the Peace Pagoda pictured at top and the rocking surf at the beaches nearby.

Our big day out was a trip to the U.S. Embassy in Colombo to renew a passport. We took the train, which was a convenient and scenic way to travel. Colombo is a rambling and bustling city, and deserving of more than just the few hours spent there running errands. Hopefully, as the seasons change and the swells diminish, the surge will decrease and we will be able to spend more time away from Galle.  

As there have been no reported cases of community transmission of Covid-19 for several months, things seem more normal. Not many people in Galle wear masks anymore except in some stores where they're required (although the train police did walk the aisles ensuring that passengers wear masks). The security guards taking your temperature before entering the supermarket no longer have the look of urgent concern in their eyes, replaced now by the bored indifference of having to repeat the same task hundreds of times each day. 

Unfortunately, even as normal life in some aspects resumes, it's clear that the country is hurting from lack of tourists and the pause in the economy during the lock down.

Paratha making--yum!

Conrad has been creating small aquariums (aquaria?) with a multitude of aquatic plants, a Betta fish and some colorful shrimp. Many of these items are much cheaper here than in the United States, though finding a place to house them is a challenge on a boat. He easily rattles off scientific names and fish/shrimp/plant care instructions. He (with help from Matt) has also used some of the wiring and mechanical knowledge he has gained over the years to put some LEDs in one of the tanks and create a filter (from an old olive jar, some sponges and other various bits and bobs) for the other. It's a great supplement to his homeschooling.