Photo: Louise

I bet no one who's transited the Suez Canal has had to fish their Canal Pilot out of the Canal? There's no RYA qualification or certificate available for standing and staring gormlessly at the thrashing arms of the guy you're totally dependent upon as he screams at you in Arabic. Can you imagine the might of the Egyptian Navy and Army fixing their beady eyes on you in disbelief as chaos reigns in their beautiful canal? It all began so smoothly....

We left Sänna moored for a month in Ismalia, the Egyptian port half way down the Canal where, it seems, all sailing vessels have to spend the obligatory period tied up paying fees to the 'Ismalia Yacht Club' before they are allowed to transit the remaining part of the Canal. But it's a really nice town, a perfectly safe and friendly mooring and an ideal spot to leave your vessel whilst you explore the unbelievable sights of ancient Egypt. So we did it all and it was fantastic. Egypt is stunning! Then, when we'd done everything, we decided to continue our passage south down the Canal to the Red Sea, which we thought was a fairly straightforward matter....

Well, no....

The skippers on board the two other waiting yachts laughed, "War Ship", they said with knowing smiles. And so it proved that each time I requested a departure date from the Canal Pilot's office they would inform me "Not today, big warship coming." Which everyone knew was just a ruse to get you to stay and pay. After waiting five more days with no warships of any nationality in sight, I decided I'd had enough and confronted the Harbourmaster using a version of the English language that, I understand, is not translatable into Arabic. And, in the middle of my rant, a huge American Aircraft Carrier drifted by behind the Harbourmaster's back with impeccable timing. He didn't say anything to me. He didn't have to! He just beamed a gratifying smile that made me want to knock his block off.

So two days later, we got ready our departure, cast off our lines and waited for our Pilot to jump aboard. But our propeller was completely fouled from four weeks moored up motionless in some of the most growth prolific waters in the world. We drifted instead, despite revving the engine at full throttle in panic. The Pilot jumped, missed as we drifted out... and fell into the canal....
________________________________________________________________________________
Please visit our SV Sänna website for more details of our circumnavigation voyage from the UK. Also at www.facebook.com/SV.Sanna. Like our Facebook page if you'd like to receive more news about our sail adventure. You can contact us here.