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.