MARMARIS, TURKEY

We are now at the end of our voyage. Marmaris Bay is a wonderful natural harbour guarded by Suleyman`s castle. The marina is great and we have spent some time relaxing by the pool. The weather has been great. We plan to keep the boat here for a few years and explore the Turkish coast and Greek islands. We fly home on 21st May but plan to return in September. We will have been away from home for 2 years and will find it strange adapting to life on land again. However, we are looking forward to our first pint of decent beer and catching up with family and friends.

STARGAZER UNDER SAIL

Just to show that we did have some pleasant sailing in addition to the rough passages. Mostly downwind with twistle rig, cruising chute or poled out genoa goosewinged.

CRETE

Crete is beautiful in Spring. It`s great to be back in Europe and civilisation. We are in Aghios Nikolaos in the east of Crete. We hope to move on to Turkey this weekend. A moment of sadness as the Blue Water Rally ends here and we have to say goodbye to a lot of our friends. We had our end of Rally party where we all had to wear something we had bought around the world. Unlimited wine and our Rally broke the record by consuming 70 litres. We all suffered the next day.

SUEZ CANAL

Approach to Suez Canal was a nightmare as our engine overheated due to cooling pipes perishing. We were towed into Port Tewfik by a pilot boat and sustained damage to our stantions as a result. The canal transit was straightforward but the pilots demanded backsheesh for everything. The transit took 14 hours leaving early in the morning and we were dumped outside Port Said with no option but to carry on in the dark with strong headwinds, swell and lots of shipping. We arrived safely in Crete but our autopilot gave up and we had to hand steer for 6 hours (hard work). Boy are we glad to see the last of Arab countries.

PHOTOS OF EGYPT

Note the contrast between the desert and the fertile Nile Valley. We visited Karnak and Luxor temples and the Valley of the Kings. Passed through the Souk in Luxor in horse drawn carriage. Saw the Sphinx and pyramids in Cairo.

EGYPT

We visited Luxor in the Nile Valley. The change in scenery was stricking as we left the desert behind and entered the lush cultivation of the Nile valley. It is amazing what a bit of water does. We saw temples and tombs which were magnificent. They are still discovering new tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Tomorrow we are going to Cairo to see the pyramids.
We are at the bottom end of the Suez Canal awaiting our transit on April 11th. We nearly came to grief getting here when our engine concked out in the middle of the shipping lane and there was not enough wind to sail . We were taken in tow by the pilot boat which crushed all our guard rails down the side of the boat and almost demolished our shrouds which hold the mast up. It was a very scarey experience. Hugh is now becoming quite proficient at engine repairs! Crete is our next stop.
No photos because the internet link is too slow.

RED SEA TO EGYPT

We have now arrived in Egypt as you can see. It took 19 days to sail up the Red Sea to Port Ghalib due to strong headwinds which necessitated taking refuge in desert anchorages called marsas. We were visited by local fishermen who in exchange for a mask and snorkel gave us fresh fish for supper. Port Ghalib is a purpose built marina resort in the middle of the desert. This is a popular dive resort. Entrance to the harbour is marked by a wrecked yacht which illustrates what can go wrong. The restaurants and bars are very expensive. However the moorings are comfortable. We took a day trip to Al Qusayr the old port 50 miles up the coast. Desert all the way apart from half finished resorts. Restaurant prices in local towns are more reasonable. Houses are painted with illustrations to commemorate a pilgrimage to Mecca and the Haj. They also illustrate how they travelled to Mecca. Tomorrow we move on to Hurgada 120 miles up the coast and will be visiting Luxor from there.

DJIBOUTI

French colonial architecture in Djibouti. First impressions were good. We travelled inland and stayed in a nomad camp. We saw volcanic pinnacles gushing hot springs and the salt lake was 150 m below sea level. Only the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee are more saline. The roads were poor and there was a continuous convoy of lorries transporting goods to Ethiopia which does not have a sea port. The E.U. are funding a new road here. Djibouti was surprisingly volcanic not sandy desert as we had imagined. Camel trains were also heading for Ethiopia and families move their worldly goods by camel. Sadly the end of our stay was marred by the fact that we were robbed as we slept on board. Hard to believe but 2 other yachts were also boarded at night whilst they slept. Now we face the Red Sea and strong head winds.

GULF OF ADEN

We transited the Gulf successfully under the protec tion of coalition forces warships. However, we did have 3 threats from pirates. Safely in Djibouti.