Update 61 July 2009 Egypt to Turkey
08 June 2009 | Egypt
Jane
Update 61 July 2009
Hi Everyone,
We did get to leave Hurgharda on the Friday. It was a little lumpy until we were behind the reef, close to shore. Then the sea flattened out and we had a good motor sail with wind not too strong and not quite on the nose. We anchored for the night off a small island protected from the wind. At dawn the next day we were on our way to the Suez Canal, 150 miles away. It took almost 30 hours and we were lucky with our timing as we passed the huge oil fields just before dusk. It was fascinating to see all their 'fairy lights' come on as we passed them. But as the sun set you could also see the pollution on the horizon.
We could have gone straight to Port Suez but decided to anchor in a small bay about 12 miles south for our last Red Sea Party with our friends on 'Orca Joss'. It was an excellent party with plenty of Egyptian wine and beer. The sea was flat calm and a gentle breeze to keep us cool. But about 2100hrs the wind came round to the northwest and picked up rather a lot. We spent about 2 hours as if we were on a roller coaster ride - the Red Sea was not going to let us forget her! Fortunately it calmed back down and we had a very calm night. As you can imagine the Suez Canal is a very busy shipping route and is very well controlled. The times of the north and southbound ships are controlled with small gaps of no ship movement. This was when we made our move to the Yacht Club at Port Suez and is where our canal transit would be arranged. A yacht is treated the same as a ship in that it has to be measured for its cargo carrying tonnage and has to have a pilot to take you through the canal.
The measurer arrived about 1 hour after we arrived. There were 5 yachts to be measured. After taking the necessary measurements and as he left the boat he said quietly, "Make sure we see the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) invoice before we pay any money to the agent that arranges everything". He said this to all of the yachts. The fee for the canal is charge at 8USD /ton so obliviously the tonnage is critical. The agent turned up at 2200hrs with all our bills and to say that the pilots had been arranged for 0500 the next day. When we saw the tonnage all 5 boats complained and asked to se the SCA invoice. The agent said that they did not get one- so lots more protest. He went off to phone someone and came back with reduced rates. Being one of the smallest yachts ours was not too bad but the others were all over the top. So a decision was made not to go the next day. The agent was not happy as he had to cancel all the pilots. The next morning one of the skippers went to represent us all at the SCA and made the decision for us all to be re-measured and for us to see the invoices. Because of this we saved 30USD and our friends on Orca Joss saved 120USD the other boats saved varying amounts in-between. We were all happy but the agent was not. Because we all stuck together we obviously reduced his profit margin that day. Also passed the messages down the Red Sea so that other would yachts ask to see the SCA invoice. So for this year the transit fees are much better.
The canal is approx 90 miles long and yachts do it in 2 days stopping at Ismailia about half way. Our pilot arrived at 0530 and we were on our way shortly after. There are a lot of stories about bad pilots in the Suez Canal. Ours was a sweetie. He arrived on time with a bag of Egyptian breakfast roll for us. He steered the boat very carefully and when he had a break, it was to pray. He spoke reasonable English and showed us photos of his family. Every pilot expects a 'present' from the skipper and there are stories of pilots refusing to get off the boat because they say it is not enough. We put our 'present' in an envelope and he didn't even open it. We also gave him a photo of him with Clive while at the steering wheel. He was very pleased with that.
Ismailia is a good place to visit Cairo as it is only 2 hours and a 1GBP bus ride away. We went with 3 other cruisers and had a brilliant time. Cairo is a very easy city to get round. The metro underground system works very well and is very clean, taxis are everywhere although you have to haggle about the price and walk away if you think they are overcharging. I think only once we were not called back to pay our price. We did old Cairo, Cairo bazaar, the museum and of course the Pyramids. We arrived at the Sphinx entrance to the Pyramids before the site was open. To pass the time we saw a coffee shop that had a rooftop terrace. This gave us the best view of the Sphinx and Pyramids that we could possibly have. Almost thought about not going in! We did go in obviously and it is an amazing archaeological site. I did have fun with the guys on the camels. I didn't want a ride but they kept on about photos but I told them they would want to charge me. One said it was my camera so should pay. The next one I agreed to and he was off and grabbed Clive and so I took lots of photos. He then wanted to use my camera to take photos of me but no way was I going to fall for that so I thanked him and just walked away. He looked amazed and asked for baksheesh and I said no, he told me it was no charge. Even a police man on a camel said to take a photo then asked for baksheesh. I just turned the camera round and deleted the frame in front of him. He didn't know I had already taken several when he wasn't looking.
Back in Ismalia we spent several days cleaning all the dust and sand off the boat. You wouldn't believe how much there was. We eventually booked our next pilot to leave at 0600 on the 1st of June to transit the rest of the canal. Again we were very lucky with our pilot. He arrived on time and brought 12 bread rolls with him. He didn't speak much English but was very pleasant. He started to have 40 fits when we caught a plastic bag on the propeller and Clive wanted to stop. He had a look of horror on his face and kept saying "No, No No very expensive". Eventually Clive just cut the throttle and eased into reverse. Luckily the bag came off and once the pilot saw it, realised why Clive wanted to stop and was happy
At Port Said a boat came to take our pilot off, who was also very happy with his 'present' and photo, and we were now in the Mediterranean again after almost 10 years.
We had decided to go to Cyprus and the easiest stop was in Greek Cyprus at Paphos. This is a small fishing harbour with millions of tourists! Our friends on 'Kirsten Jayne' were already there and the only spot for us was to drop anchor in the middle of the harbour and, with Keith's help in the dinghy, pull ourselves back and tie a line to his boat. It was a very comfortable anchorage and, where we were fairly quiet, but on the other side of the harbour we were in Tourist Ville. Millions (I do tend to exaggerate) of red or white tourists around depending on how long they had been there. But I will say the supermarkets were heaven. You are probably thinking 'poor girl to think a supermarket is heaven' but I have not seen a decent one since Australia. Also these had bacon and pork that we have been deprived of for sooooo long. They even had Strongbow!!!!!! Now you know why I was in heaven. We stayed a week and hired a car for 3 days with 'Kirsten Jayne' and travelled most of Southern Cyprus. We were not allowed to take the car into Northern 'Turkish' Cyprus because of their ongoing troubles, of which we stay very neutral.
We are now in Finike in southern Turkey where we will spend the winter. After arriving, we spent 3 weeks preparing the boat and we went back to the UK for July and August as the temperatures get up into the 40's . We had travelled enough for one year, about 5500 miles and needed a rest. Finike is a small Turkish town with very little tourism. Little English is spoken so I must get on and learn some Turkish. The Saturday market is the most fantastic market we have seen in all our travels. We have had so much fresh fruit and vegetables since we arrived; our body is not sure what's happened.
I will tell you more about Turkey next month.
I'll say bye for now and if any of you are on holiday around the Mediterranean don't forget to look out for Jane-G. You might get a cold beer.
Take care,
Jane and Clive
PS. I am not sure what will happen with future updates. Will it still be interesting? Where we sail to now, most of you probably know it better than we ever will. I hope you have enjoyed our travels over the last 11 years. I must say that we have been so lucky to do and see what we have and it has certainly broadened our horizons.