Cruisers Forum
 


Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on Cruisers Forums. Advertise Here
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 10-02-2012, 02:58   #1
Registered User

Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: UK, Middle East, Australia
Boat: Angus Primrose One design 45ft And Duncanson 34 Mk2
Posts: 222
Diego Garcia - Seeking Info

Has anybody sailed to Diego Garcia its below the Maldives and is British Teritory?
It has an interesting History where the UK govt depopulated it on purpose,
The locals have fought and won back but the US are still there occupying until 2016 i think.
but it looks like a nice sailing destination..
nauticalnomad is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-02-2012, 03:11   #2
Senior Cruiser
 
atoll's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: gettin naughty on the beach in cornwall
Boat: 63 custom alloy sloop,macwester26,prout snowgoose 37 elite catamaran!
Posts: 10,594
Images: 75
Re: Diego Garcia

Quote:
Originally Posted by nauticalnomad View Post
Has anybody sailed to Diego Garcia its below the Maldives and is British Teritory?
It has an interesting History where the UK govt depopulated it on purpose,
The locals have fought and won back but the US are still there occupying until 2016 i think.
but it looks like a nice sailing destination..
can you post a link to the us and uk abandoning it as a base in 2016.

i've only been to the archepelago a few times but it would be great if the locals could go back before the sea levels rise enough to make the area uninhabitable......................
atoll is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-02-2012, 03:14   #3
Registered User
 
captain58sailin's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Homer, AK is my home port
Boat: Skookum 53'
Posts: 4,042
Images: 5
Re: Diego Garcia

It is a pre-deployment site for MCS (Military Sealift Command) vessels that are under contract with the US Navy. An industrial area. Have not sail in myself, have worked with several mariners that were there, doesn't sound like much to offer, hotter than the hubs of hell 122* F.
__________________
" Wisdom; is your reward for surviving your mistakes"
captain58sailin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-02-2012, 03:38   #4
Registered User

Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: UK, Middle East, Australia
Boat: Angus Primrose One design 45ft And Duncanson 34 Mk2
Posts: 222
Re: Diego Garcia

Quote:
Originally Posted by atoll View Post
can you post a link to the us and uk abandoning it as a base in 2016.

i've only been to the archepelago a few times but it would be great if the locals could go back before the sea levels rise enough to make the area uninhabitable......................

Depopulation of Diego Garcia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Developments since 2000

The headquarters of BIOT police (2005)


In 2000 the British High Court granted the islanders the right to return to the Archipelago.[59] In 2002 the islanders and their descendants, now numbering 4,500, returned to court claiming compensation, after what they said were two years of delays by the British Foreign Office.[60]
However, on 10 June 2004 the British government made two Orders in Council under the Royal Prerogative forever banning the islanders from returning home,[61] to override the effect of the 2000 court decision. Some of the Chagossians are making return plans to turn Diego Garcia into a sugarcane and fishing enterprise as soon as the defence agreement expires (some see this as early as 2016).

(i read somewhere else about it as well, But cant find it now, Ill keep looking)
nauticalnomad is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-02-2012, 03:48   #5
Senior Cruiser
 
atoll's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: gettin naughty on the beach in cornwall
Boat: 63 custom alloy sloop,macwester26,prout snowgoose 37 elite catamaran!
Posts: 10,594
Images: 75
Re: Diego Garcia

it was my understanding that the islanders were forever banned from returning by the british government.

and by 2016 iran and iraq will have sorted themselves out,so the uk and us will not need to keep a task force in the area............................
atoll is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-02-2012, 04:46   #6
Registered User
 
Dhillen's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: South Pacific
Boat: Oyster 53
Posts: 359
Re: Diego Garcia

Otherwise known to sailors as "Chagos," as in the "Chagos Archipelago," this is one of the ultimate cruising destinations. The only way there is by your own boat. Diego Garcia is a US naval base at the bottom of the chain which is totally off limits to sailors. The US leases the facilities from the British who kicked the original inhabitants out, ostensibly telling them, "We're all going on a shopping trip to the Seychelles." And then nobody was allowed to go back...

We spent several months there and it is a true paradise.

One of the most pristine and beautiful places on earth.

Dhillen
__________________
www.theseaissalt.com
Dhillen is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-02-2012, 05:02   #7
Nearly an old salt
 
goboatingnow's Avatar

Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Lefkas Marina ,Greece
Boat: Bavaria 36
Posts: 22,801
Images: 3
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dhillen
Otherwise known to sailors as "Chagos," as in the "Chagos Archipelago," this is one of the ultimate cruising destinations. The only way there is by your own boat. Diego Garcia is a US naval base at the bottom of the chain which is totally off limits to sailors. The US leases the facilities from the British who kicked the original inhabitants out, ostensibly telling them, "We're all going on a shopping trip to the Seychelles." And then nobody was allowed to go back...

We spent several months there and it is a true paradise.

One of the most pristine and beautiful places on earth.

Dhillen
There are now severe rules and high costs on visiting chagos. Its becoming virtually impossible to stay any length of time there now

Dave
__________________
Interested in smart boat technology, networking and all things tech
goboatingnow is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-02-2012, 05:06   #8
Registered User
 
DeepFrz's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Winnipeg
Boat: None at this time
Posts: 8,462
Re: Diego Garcia

Quote:
It is a pre-deployment site for MCS (Military Sealift Command) vessels that are under contract with the US Navy. An industrial area.
That's a different way of saying "Bomber Base".
DeepFrz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-02-2012, 05:23   #9
Senior Cruiser
 
GordMay's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario - 48-29N x 89-20W
Boat: (Cruiser Living On Dirt)
Posts: 49,128
Images: 241
Re: Diego Garcia

See also, several earlier CF discussions ➥ biot - Google Search

Including ➥ http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...les-51369.html

And ➥ http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...tml#post579399

The UK/ U.S. treaty, that turned the island into a military base, was signed in 1966. It runs until 2036, but either government can opt out in 2016. Meanwhile, there’s the non-trivial matter of supplying, improving, and operating the island’s military infrastructure. This article offers a look into those contracts ...
More ➥ http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/diego-garcia-03556/
__________________
Gord May
"If you didn't have the time or money to do it right in the first place, when will you get the time/$ to fix it?"



GordMay is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 10-02-2012, 05:49   #10
Registered User
 
Blue Crab's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Hurricane Highway
Boat: O'Day 28
Posts: 3,920
pirate Re: Diego Garcia

Rhumb line view.
Attached Images
 
Blue Crab is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-02-2012, 07:48   #11
Registered User

Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Lake Macquarie
Boat: Leopard 47ft "Pussy Galore"
Posts: 26
Re: Diego Garcia

I read somewhere that you could become a life member of the yacht club for just $20 but the cost of mooring there has gone through the roof in recent times, off hand $500 for a minimum stay
Peter Richardso is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-02-2012, 08:30   #12
Registered User
 
rebel heart's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 6,185
Images: 3
Re: Diego Garcia

I went there several times when I was in the Navy; our submarine stopped in there. Two interesting facts:

- There are folks who say the biblical version of "Eden" was really on Diego Garcia. Back before it was a barren atoll it was (according to fossil data) a garden paradise roughly smack dab in the backyard of early humans.

- It's solely an industrial military installation at this point. Private vessels can clear in there with permission from the installation commander because of emergency reasons, but there's nothing really to see and no one wants you there.
rebel heart is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-02-2012, 09:16   #13
Registered User
 
Jon Hacking's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Currently cruising the Philippines, just got back from PNG & Solomons
Boat: Wauquiez 45' (now 48') catamaran
Posts: 1,088
Images: 1
Send a message via Skype™ to Jon Hacking
Re: Diego Garcia

Salamon & Peros Banhos atolls (~300nm S of the southernmost Maldives, or ~100nm N of Diego Garcia) are delightful, but Diego Garcia is strictly off limits to cruising boats, although we did meet a Chinese Journalist(! - who was clueless at sailing) who stopped there for repairs.

I think the Brits actually did pay compensation to the displaced Chagosians, but they paid it to the Seychelles & Mauritius governments, who decided they had better uses for the $$ than giving it to the Chagosians.
__________________
-- Jon Hacking s/v Ocelot
Jon Hacking is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-02-2012, 14:43   #14
Registered User

Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Ko Olina, Oahu, Hawaii
Boat: Hudson Force 50
Posts: 124
Re: Diego Garcia

OK Guys, here is the real skinny on Diego Garcia.

I was stationed there at the begining of the war. All of the islands in the atol are completly off limits. However, the military only occupys the island of Diego Garcia. The other islands are open, but you are not allowed to go to them. Here is what happens.

About every week or ten days, a patrol of the Royal Marine Commandos will set out to patrol the islands looking for cruisers who have anchored in the atoll. If they find you, they tell you to pull up anchor and leave immediatly. They do not send you to jail or fine you.

Thus, if you can set anchor for a few days before they find you, all is well. Good luck.

And as one of those who lived in the "Garden of Eden" it was not all that fun. I lived in a tent the size of my boat with 10 other men. I had rats crawling on me at night and bombers screaming in and out at all times of the day and night. I do not see myself looking to visit there any time in the near future.

The Witchdoctor.
medicrene is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-02-2012, 18:11   #15
Nearly an old salt
 
goboatingnow's Avatar

Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Lefkas Marina ,Greece
Boat: Bavaria 36
Posts: 22,801
Images: 3
Re: Diego Garcia

Quote:
About every week or ten days, a patrol of the Royal Marine Commandos will set out to patrol the islands looking for cruisers who have anchored in the atoll. If they find you, they tell you to pull up anchor and leave immediatly. They do not send you to jail or fine you.
sorry is this information pertinent to 1945 or today? a lot has changed in the last 5 years. see the BIOT site.

Dave
__________________
Interested in smart boat technology, networking and all things tech
goboatingnow is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
arc

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
San Diego Mooring Waiting List Gazelle Family General Sailing Forum 39 20-02-2023 15:52
Diego Garcia - Seeking Info nauticalnomad General Sailing Forum 24 24-01-2013 08:14
Leaving San Diego for Mexico in February ? engele Pacific & South China Sea 76 06-04-2012 10:02
GPS Info Kayamore Navigation 11 26-02-2012 17:30
Seeking Info on Palmer 6-cyl Marine Diesel rpeebles Engines and Propulsion Systems 3 13-02-2012 14:44

Advertise Here


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 02:21.


Google+
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Social Knowledge Networks
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.

ShowCase vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.