Gutted! Yes. Arrested? Nearly. Maldives. Made it.

Gutted! Literally! We’ve pretty accustomed to having to unpack our big fishing reels every time we go through customs, but this time was a first. The Dubai customs muppets decided the gut on the reels presented a security risk, and insisted that we would not be allowed to proceed unless they stripped both our reels off all their line.

They then laboriously took off all 600m of line as slowly as humanly possible, all whilst being treated to dagger stares by Wright Inc. Particularly since this was our deadly red stealth line that was a guaranteed fish catcher. Ah well, lucky fish. Nearly not so lucky me, I was trying to surreptitiously film the saga with my GoPro when the one customs ou spotted me. Next thing my camera gets yanked outta my hand and he’s demanding I show him the pictures and telling me I'm in big trouble! “I didn’t take any Sir!” He kept turning the camera over and over after making me switch it on, saying "Where are the pictures!?" Thankfully the GoPro doesn’t have a LCD screen, saved my bacon…and my camera!

A mad dash through the capital island on arrival to get some new line, and then we were off. Missioning down to our special spot in the hope that the swell gods would roll the dice in our favour.

One room for our boards and rods, the other for us. A good balance. Took a flyer and asked the boat owner to try find Garth an el cheapo guitar so he didn’t have to lug his one over. Turns out el cheapo guitars sound like el cheapo guitars. Or maybe even more like screeching cats who’re in the process of being snacked on by Bruno the Bulldog.

So far one fish in the boat. Been travelling a bit too fast to trawl. Caught by the R10 handline tied to the rudder strut, not the $$$$ Shimano Tiagra 50 stuck in the rod holder. Fish aren’t fussy.

Been off grid whilst we sailed down to our spot, only arriving late Thursday arvo. A quick surf (OK, make that a swim with our surfboards) to rinse the grime off and then go set anchor in a nearby lagoon for the night. The swell that klapped us over the last weekend should pull in on Friday. Fingers crossed! Mates of ours are also anchored down here – said we’d missed cooking surf on Tuesday. Bogger. But a good sign they’re here, cos that means my call on the swell prediction should be spot on.

Could get used to living here. All you have to do is surf, fish, sleep, read and get fed like a King. Gonna start investigating how to enter that $200 US Mega-million lotto…..