To say that we were happy to arrive in Monastir would be a significant understatement. Although the passage took just a bit over 31 hours, it was bumpy and cold. The wind was on the nose for the first 10 hours. Two-meter waves were tossing the boat around like a cork. One of us was seasick (I'm sure you can guess which one). Consequently, the one of us who was not seasick was on deck for 24 of the 31 hours. To add insult to injury, a pigeon landed on deck and rode most of the way across the Strait of Sicily with us. With the passing of the years, I've mostly overcome my bird phobia, but I assure you that at 5 a.m., while struggling to overcome a queasy stomach, a bird fluttering around the foredeck was the last thing I wanted to see. And what on earth was a pigeon doing at sea anyway?
For that matter, what on earth were we doing out there? Both of us had seen the weather forecast. But the thing is, it sounded positively benign compared to the previous days' forecast of 25-30 knot winds and 2-3 meter waves. We'd also neglected to factor in the increased vulnerability to seasickness that, for me, is an inevitable consequence of spending six months on land. But mostly, it was because we had been at the dock too long and were itching to get away.
It was a blessed relief when the wind clocked round to the forward beam late Friday evening, and an even greater relief when the waves finally moderated. By noon on Saturday, we were motoring in light winds on a mostly calm sea. After consuming the lion's share of the lemon cake that our friend Sandra had given us before we left, I was definitely feeling more cheerful. Dolphins jumped beside the boat and four sea turtles swam by (perhaps in pursuit of the platoons of tiny purple-sail jellyfish that also passed us). At five p.m., the familiar turrets of Habib Bourguiba's mausoleum came into view. What a wonderful feeling to step off the dock at Marina Cap Monastir! And how nice to almost immediately bump into three other cruising couples that we know. We had dinner at the Café Calypso with Philip and Kara from Fabuloso, but since we'd all sailed through the same nasty weather, we made it an early night.
For a while, I had assumed we'd never be back in Tunisia. When we'd last been here in the spring of 2009, there were huge photos of President Ben Ali at every 10 paces. Less than two years later, we'd watched the news coverage of Ben Ali's photos being burned in the streets during the revolution with a kind of horrified fascination. How could we not have realized that things were so bad? Not that we hadn't noticed the restrictions to civil liberties. Our Tunisian guide Hamid had been reprimanded by the authorities for visiting our boat without clearance. Our dockside neighbours Tom and Liz had witnessed a citizen being beaten by the police. But we'd had no sense that things were about to blow up.
Fortunately, things have settled down a lot since then, and the cruisers from Marina di Ragusa who visited Tunisia last year returned with good reports. Not so Paolo our electrician, who travels all over the world servicing the steering systems on superyachts. "Don't go!" he said. "It used to be nice; now it's terrible! It's dirty, they drive on the wrong side of the road and they don't even wear helmets!" For him, the helmets seemed to be the last straw. (Sicilians may not be models of defensive driving, but they do observe the helmet laws.) "But you could say the same things about Greece!" I countered. Anyway, we needed to get the boat out of the EU, and a short passage to Tunisia was more appealing than heading 350 miles to Albania. So off we went, and we're glad to be here.
Things in Monastir seem much the same as they did four years ago. Oh, perhaps there are fewer Europeans in the marina restaurants, and there seem to be more headscarves on the streets (although Rick is convinced there are fewer). There's lots of garbage in the water, and the young bucks hassle me when I walk through the park beside the Ribat, but that is nothing new. Last night, we went to the tea salon in search of wireless internet, and drank almond tea while the men at the table behind us smoked a "hubble bubble" pipe and watched the football match. This morning, I walked up to the market and bought a bag of fresh figs and some merquez sausages. The weather is lovely. I wouldn't mind hanging around here for a while. We probably will. Paolo was right about one thing though. I haven't seen anyone wearing a helmet yet!
The downside is that, at the moment, we're "on the hard" which is, in my opinion, a most unsatisfactory way to live. This means that the boat is essentially on stilts. They didn't quite get things right when they put the boat in the stands, so it's sitting significantly lower at the bow than at the stern. Things should get really interesting at bedtime! We can't use the head, so will have to climb down a steep ladder any time we feel the urge to use the toilet. Worse, we have been given a particularly rickety ladder that trembles like a leaf in the wind each time I set foot on it. Or is that my knees knocking? Never mind, it will only be for a day or two. At least I'm not seasick!
Cruisers notes-Prices Marina Cap Monastir 2013
For 12 M boat:
High season (June-Sept): 30 TD (15 euros)/day or 500TD/month
Low Season (Oct-May): 24TD (12 euros)/day or 400TD/month
Water and electricity add 5.5 TD/day
Multihulls add 65%
Fresh market and supermarket in the town
Full service laundry in marina
Several good and inexpensive restaurants in the marina
Reasonably priced apartments available at marina Studio (one room 2 people) 64DT in June 2013 2 Rooms 4 people 86 DT see
Marina Website