Newsletter 2009/03
Hello dear friends
We are finally in Egypt – but not quite!! Let me explain. We are now at P
ort Ghalib Marina, a very new (two years old) and attractive resort complex with diving schools and a large marina with the first phase completed (which means all around the luxury is a construction site)… and the ‘not quite’ bit refers to the ‘baksheesh’ which we have not yet encountered in this controlled environment but which we know we will get our fill of before we are much further on!
We had a great trip from Aden through to the entrance to the Suez at Bab al Mandeb. The transition from Indian Ocean to Red Sea could not be more dramatic as you leave the wonderfully reliable trade winds of the Indian Ocean and encounter the full frontal – usually a quite blustery 25-35++knots of wind which makes for very fast passage for as long as the southerlies last and a rush to a safe anchorage when the wind is northerly.
We decided to coast hop up the Red Sea through Eritrea, then Sudan and to Egypt. We stopped at numerous anchorages, encountered local fishermen from whom we often bought fish and swam in some of the most pristine waters I have ever seen! I even got to practice my first aid on a fisherman seeking assistance for a really swollen foot (poor guy – but I think he’s still alive!)
We often had to wait out the strong winds and then head off north when there was a weather window with southerlies, and managed to get Shumma Island’s Port Smyth (20m southeast of Massawa)– no port at all but an excellent, beautiful anchorage inside a coral reef. We spent a few days here and the coral was among the best I have ever seen.
We bypassed Massawa due to reports about boats being damaged along the harbour wall where the authorities insisted we had to tie up. From here on, the northerlies started and it was more a case of waiting for weather with either no wind, or else north easterlies which we could still sail on.
The extensive reef area around Massawa has some fantastic anchorages and reefs. We would call into an anchorage such at the scenic Khor Nawarat, when the boats which were anchored there have just left for the next ‘hop’, spend a few days waiting for the next weather window, during which time some dozen yachts would also arrive in dribs and drabs, and then all head off roughly at the same time…. And this goes on up and down the Red Sea, with anchorages experiencing a ‘boa constrictor’ expansion and contraction of number of yachts. I have also been running a Red Sea Cruisers’ Net with close to 50 boats calling in on the twice daily sched. We really got to know so many boats at the various anchorages and some wonderful people from all over!
The old port of Suakin (just south of Port Sudan) is incredible – we put down anchor alongside the island which was the last slave transportation depot. The whole fortification was built out of coral and is all crumbling away (see photos – hopefully will get these and previous ones up soon). We took the local bus into Port Sudan and treated ourselves to icecream and some fresh provisions!!
The coral at Tullia islands, north of Port Sudan, was out of this world! – very vibrant colours ranging from white, yellow, bright green, deep pink, orange and the most incredible range of blues. The fish were more numerous in the Sudanese waters, and we caught our first fish – a 1.2metre barracuda here.
Bjorn and I were so thrilled with our first catch that we immediately invited our fellow sailors to share the fish…. We were all ready, fish cleaned, cut up and on the Barbie (Aussie for barbeque) when silly me got out my fishing bible and found out that barracuda, being a predator fish, can be full of ciguatera – so out came the John West cans and overboard when the freshly bbq’d barracuda!!!
On our way north we managed a stop at the very picturesque marsa (natural harbour usually inside a reef) of Khor Shinab, and then continued across Foul Bay into Egypt. Again waiting for favourable winds or calms paid off as we made it to Dolphin Reef which was cert
ainly the highlight of the year… we spend a wonderful night in absolutely flat waters in this coral reef with the most amazingly clear waters (in 12 metres we could see our chain and anchor all the way) and the next morning, - they came… a large pod of around 70-80 dolphins and we jumped in and swam with them for around two hours!
I will never forget the sight! I put my mask on, looked down, and saw some 30 dolphins swimming up towards me and then around me… we saw them mating, we saw mothers with calves, we had some playful ones come and swim around… it was quite an experience.
We have now been in Port Ghalib for 4 days, and have spent the better part of that time doing urgent repairs (we discovered a leak in our fuel tank in Khor Shinab which was luckily less than a trickle and we managed to get to repair it before it became a major problem)… We also have washed and washed the sand and salt caked really thickly on spreaders, sails and ropes, and are generally resting up and re provisioning after endless anchorages in sometimes very desolate areas. Mischief is finally clean-er again!!!
Well that’s all from us for now… next stops more marinas and anchorages to the entry to the Suez, then a stop over at Ismalia to visit Cairo and take a trip to the pyramids, the Valley of the Kings and Queens, Luxor etc …..
Take care all and keep those wonderful newsy messages coming.
Hello dear friends
We are finally in Egypt – but not quite!! Let me explain. We are now at P
ort Ghalib Marina, a very new (two years old) and attractive resort complex with diving schools and a large marina with the first phase completed (which means all around the luxury is a construction site)… and the ‘not quite’ bit refers to the ‘baksheesh’ which we have not yet encountered in this controlled environment but which we know we will get our fill of before we are much further on!We had a great trip from Aden through to the entrance to the Suez at Bab al Mandeb. The transition from Indian Ocean to Red Sea could not be more dramatic as you leave the wonderfully reliable trade winds of the Indian Ocean and encounter the full frontal – usually a quite blustery 25-35++knots of wind which makes for very fast passage for as long as the southerlies last and a rush to a safe anchorage when the wind is northerly.
We decided to coast hop up the Red Sea through Eritrea, then Sudan and to Egypt. We stopped at numerous anchorages, encountered local fishermen from whom we often bought fish and swam in some of the most pristine waters I have ever seen! I even got to practice my first aid on a fisherman seeking assistance for a really swollen foot (poor guy – but I think he’s still alive!)
We often had to wait out the strong winds and then head off north when there was a weather window with southerlies, and managed to get Shumma Island’s Port Smyth (20m southeast of Massawa)– no port at all but an excellent, beautiful anchorage inside a coral reef. We spent a few days here and the coral was among the best I have ever seen.
We bypassed Massawa due to reports about boats being damaged along the harbour wall where the authorities insisted we had to tie up. From here on, the northerlies started and it was more a case of waiting for weather with either no wind, or else north easterlies which we could still sail on.
The extensive reef area around Massawa has some fantastic anchorages and reefs. We would call into an anchorage such at the scenic Khor Nawarat, when the boats which were anchored there have just left for the next ‘hop’, spend a few days waiting for the next weather window, during which time some dozen yachts would also arrive in dribs and drabs, and then all head off roughly at the same time…. And this goes on up and down the Red Sea, with anchorages experiencing a ‘boa constrictor’ expansion and contraction of number of yachts. I have also been running a Red Sea Cruisers’ Net with close to 50 boats calling in on the twice daily sched. We really got to know so many boats at the various anchorages and some wonderful people from all over!
The old port of Suakin (just south of Port Sudan) is incredible – we put down anchor alongside the island which was the last slave transportation depot. The whole fortification was built out of coral and is all crumbling away (see photos – hopefully will get these and previous ones up soon). We took the local bus into Port Sudan and treated ourselves to icecream and some fresh provisions!!
The coral at Tullia islands, north of Port Sudan, was out of this world! – very vibrant colours ranging from white, yellow, bright green, deep pink, orange and the most incredible range of blues. The fish were more numerous in the Sudanese waters, and we caught our first fish – a 1.2metre barracuda here.
Bjorn and I were so thrilled with our first catch that we immediately invited our fellow sailors to share the fish…. We were all ready, fish cleaned, cut up and on the Barbie (Aussie for barbeque) when silly me got out my fishing bible and found out that barracuda, being a predator fish, can be full of ciguatera – so out came the John West cans and overboard when the freshly bbq’d barracuda!!!
On our way north we managed a stop at the very picturesque marsa (natural harbour usually inside a reef) of Khor Shinab, and then continued across Foul Bay into Egypt. Again waiting for favourable winds or calms paid off as we made it to Dolphin Reef which was cert
ainly the highlight of the year… we spend a wonderful night in absolutely flat waters in this coral reef with the most amazingly clear waters (in 12 metres we could see our chain and anchor all the way) and the next morning, - they came… a large pod of around 70-80 dolphins and we jumped in and swam with them for around two hours!I will never forget the sight! I put my mask on, looked down, and saw some 30 dolphins swimming up towards me and then around me… we saw them mating, we saw mothers with calves, we had some playful ones come and swim around… it was quite an experience.
We have now been in Port Ghalib for 4 days, and have spent the better part of that time doing urgent repairs (we discovered a leak in our fuel tank in Khor Shinab which was luckily less than a trickle and we managed to get to repair it before it became a major problem)… We also have washed and washed the sand and salt caked really thickly on spreaders, sails and ropes, and are generally resting up and re provisioning after endless anchorages in sometimes very desolate areas. Mischief is finally clean-er again!!!
Well that’s all from us for now… next stops more marinas and anchorages to the entry to the Suez, then a stop over at Ismalia to visit Cairo and take a trip to the pyramids, the Valley of the Kings and Queens, Luxor etc …..
Take care all and keep those wonderful newsy messages coming.
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