24Feb2011

Sailing in the Med

We completed our transit of the Suez Canal late Wednesday and are very glad to be sailing in the Med! We have 300 miles to go to Marmaris, Turkey with decent weather predicted for the rest of the passage.

We stopped for two days at the �"Rowing and Yacht Club�" at Suez city at the south end of the canal and met our agent who arranged the paperwork for the passage. In addition to passports, the �"original�" certificate of documentation needs to be presented to canal officials. In July officials in Indonesia inadvertently kept our original documentation so I requested and got a certified copy from the Coast Guard and had had no problem with it.

But here they insist on the original. I needed to go to the US Embassy in Cairo for other business so we took our certified original hoping that they could put some kind of stamp on. Officials here love stamps. Arriving at the Embassy, which our driver had a hard time finding as the adjacent streets have been blocked by tanks since 911, we were informed that the embassy was officially closed and was only conducting �"emergency�" business. After several �"conversations�", passing through two security points and waiting in lines, I was able to get my other business taken care of (it could only be considered an emergency in the broadest sense but the vice consul was nice enough to accommodate) but got no help on the documentation.

As long as Joseph and I were in Cairo we had the driver take us by the Pyramids. Of course the driver had friends that gave short tours by horseback or camel back. So we had a late lunch of falafels and went for a camel back ride to the pyramids. They are very impressive and well worth the time. I hope to come back with Sally-Christine and Kent-Harris for a real tour.

Tanks and army personnel are everywhere we have been in Egypt. There are outposts along the highway between Suez and Cairo. There are outposts every mile or two along the canal. I don�'t know what percent of men are in the army here but is seems like it is way higher than in most other countries. With the recent unrest here one can understand the prevelance. . .

Cairo with a population of 20 million is noisy, crowded and mostly not very attractive. There are mile after mile after mile of mostly very basic mid rise apartment buildings many in various partial stages of completion lining the highways. Some of the older buildings near the embassies are charming. The traffic is as one would expect horrendous. The pyramids right at the edge of the city make the trip worth while.

Returning to Suez city and anxious to get through the canal, I met our agent to deal with the documentation issue. He said he had a crazy idea and at 9 PM drove over with me to the apartment of the �"manager�" to tell him that my certified copy is the only original the US will issue. The manager agreed and our agent said we could leave the next day if there were no war ships passing thru the canal. Canal authorities apparently at the request of several navies won�'t let small vessels in the canal when there is a war ship transiting. Many war ships do transit and as has made the news, Iran said that they were going to send two ships thru the canal into the Med. They went right by us within ¼ mile at 0600 the next morning while we were sleeping. We were supposed to pick up the pilot at 10 and leave but ended up waiting around until 1 PM for clearance when our pilot came to the boat and we departed. With 3 to 4 knots current with us we made 13 knots down the canal arriving at the half way point at sunset.

We had hoped to get completely through the 75 mile canal in one day but due to our late start we spent the night docked at the Ismalia Yacht Club. Convergence and the 39 ft. Italian boat Decibel were the only two boats tied up at this large first class and vacant facility. We had dinner aboard Convegence with the two Decibel crew who were completing a circumnavigation.

Earlier in the day we were sickened to hear of the fate of fellow cruisers aboard Quest. The hijacking was bad enough for them and the other boats crossing or anticipating crossing these pirate waters up to 1000 miles off Somalia. But in the past the hostages have not been harmed and released after payment of ransom. The tragic killing of the four cruisers sent shock waves and will have the same effect on the world cruising fleet as 911 had on the world. Of course we feel fortunate and very thankful to have made the passage safely as so many others have in the past few years. Times are different now though. The rules of the game have changed.

We were to pick up our pilot for the second half of the canal at 7 but true to form he didn�'t show till about 1030. The Suez Canal was built in 1869, a major feat then or now. Because it is relatively narrow, traffic is one way. Small boats like us are allowed to travel against the traffic which we did on our first day. Passing close by 800 to 1,000 foot ships is pretty exciting! The second day we went with the traffic and actually passed a gigantic car carrier ship! That was the second time we passed a ship, the first was at the southern entrance to the Red Sea when we sailed past a tanker!

In Egypt, especially for those people working around the Suez Canal, Bakshish, or tipping is demanded most. We asked the agent what the right amount is and he said $20 for the pilot and a pack of cigarettes for the pilot boat driver who picks up the pilot after transit. When we presented the $20 tip the recipient would invariably act disappointed and ask for more. Then he would ask for a tee shirt. And not just any tee shirt but a brand new one. We ran out of them but substituted West Marine hats.

Bakshish is just a cost of doing business here, we knew about it in advance and �"when in Rome �....�".

We expect to arrive in Marmaris Friday evening.

Randy >