Red Sea Part 2

Sea Fever Journal

Egypt to Israel

By Wendy Catlin                                    

Safaga, Egypt

As we did not approach the port in the usual manner, checking in became quite an issue with the local coast guard boys. While waiting for the boss, we were taken to a small Coast Guard office and served a wonderful and tasty Egyptian breakfast….fire baked bread, dal, beans, roasted chilies and falafel…we were hungry and it was a great introduction to Egypt.

Eventually we were properly checked in with not too much drama and free to roam Egypt as we pleased.

Our crew person, Bob, has decided to leave us at this point. He has been missing his family and is anxious to return home. He has been with us for four months and we could not have had a better crew person on board to help us get through the long crossings and our many other adventures. I think Bob’s goal was to do some sailing in remote regions of the globe. He certainly experienced some of this while on Sea Fever! We will miss him but wish him well. I am sure his family will be happy to have him back.

We meet the yacht services person, Nageeb. We are happy to give him our laundry and he finds us a mechanic to look at the engine problem. That evening he took us out to a local restaurant for dinner, which served BBQ meats, fresh veggies, pita bread, tea. We note the locals puffing on hookahs, huge water pipes, using a very sweet tobacco.

It takes lots of advice and several days to solve our engine problem, the details I will not go into.

After the repair is completed, Rob and I take a trip to the city of Luxor to see the ancient monuments, tombs and temples of the pharaohs and queens. On the way to Luxor, we pass through the most desolate of deserts I have ever seen. Hardly a tree, bush or plant is to be seen. As we approach the valley of the Nile River, there is a sudden abundance of green, a complete contrast to the landscape we have just passed through.

Along the river banks, houses are made of mud, fields are green with crops of wheat, vegetables and citrus orchards.

We find a little hostel located in the busy bazaar area. Our room has a balcony overlooking the street. It is fascinating to watch the colorful and boisterous activities of the venders, small donkeys pulling heavy-laden carts of vegetables and fruits, children playing and the men smoking hookahs, drinking coffee while watching their world go by.

Later on as Rob and I are walking along the Nile River, we notice a bit of wind. We decide to take a Felucca, which is a boat of ancient design and has been sailing on the Nile for centuries. It is a nice introduction to the Nile and helps to slow us down a bit.

That evening, we went to the temple of Anun at Karnak to see a sound and light show. This presentation tells stories of the temple and the Gods it is built for. We walk through it listening to excellent commentary accentuated with dramatic lighting on statues, obelisks and columns.

The temple was built over 4000 years ago to worship the God of the Sun, Anun. It took centuries to build as each Pharaoh left his contribution to this great monument. The size of the columns, the hieroglyphics carved in almost every stone left us in awe of its massive size and intricate beauty.

I cannot go on any further without mentioning the food! It is wonderful to taste fresh falafel in pita bread, right from the street vendor. The bakeries sell fresh bread every morning which is easily devoured by afternoon tea. The coffee is very strong with lots of sugar and the tea full of milk. Rich vegetable/meat casseroles or beans, lentils, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and parsley all spiced perfectly to go into freshly baked pita bread. Yumm!! I tried it all!

The second day, we signed up for a small tour with Mr. Sunshine, an Egyptologist tour operator who has been in the business for twenty years. We are going to visit the tombs of pharaohs and queens.

We travel from the lush green of the Nile Valley to the dry, harsh, rocky region of the Valley of the Kings. The tombs were put underground in this remote area three to four thousand years ago after the ancients found that pyramids made the gold laden burial sites too obvious to thieves.

As we enter the first underground tomb, there is a dramatic drop in temperature. We see beautifully colored, intricately painted hieroglyphics covering the walls and ceiling. We are amazed at the preservation of such ancient art. The hieroglyphics depict the daily life of the people of the time, the life story of the person who was buried there, and legends of the gods. The sarcophagus is empty and the treasures for the afterlife long gone, either to thieves or to museums of the world.

We visit two other tombs which are quite similar. They are decorated in even more intricate and elegant paintings. One we particularly loved on the ceiling depicts the journey of the sun through the sky. The sky is being represented as a female figure.

We returned to town, crossing the Nile in a small ferry. Had a good walk around town, then an early night to bed.

After breakfast the next day, we went to the Temple of Luxor which again was very impressive with its size and beauty. We try to imagine what it was like three to four thousand years ago, elegantly dressed peoples living in these architectural wonders.

That afternoon, we catch a bus back to Safaga , get provisions and return to Sea Fever. All in all, we have spent ten days in Safaga. The voyage from Safaga to Port Suez will be 200 nm. Our direction is northwest and we plan to day sail the whole way, anchoring each evening.

We depart in company with another vessel Cowrie Dancer, a fifty-seven foot Swan. Swan makes some of the best sailing yachts in the world and they sail very fast. We will always be a bit behind her, catching up each evening.

There was enough wind that we were able to sail most of the way to Port Suez. The winds were very strong, sometimes up to 35 knots, coming from the northwest.. This means we had to tack most of the way north. We stayed closed to the shore of the Sinai Peninsula, seeing some spectacular cliff landscapes, stark desert regions and remote camel trails along the sea.

The dust in the air was heavy. It combines with the salt of the sea, making our ropes so stiff they are like boards. Salt and dust cover everything, I mean everything! It seems that Sea Fever will never be clean again.

Fighting the wind and continuous tacking took a lot of our strength, so by the end of the day we were very happy to get the anchor down. We never went ashore, as the winds were too strong to put the dinghy in the water. In some regions, we passed many oil platforms. The ships that service them surrounded us in one of our anchorages. We had radio contact with a helicopter pilot named Mo. He flies crew back and forth from the platforms. He was quite helpful giving us weather advice for the day…but the weather was usually the same…20 to 35 knots out of the NW with short steep seas.

This last 200 miles showed us what the Red Sea is famous for to those who sail her…strong winds, right in your face and short high swells…..it is very hard work.

It took us eleven days to reach Port Suez. The boats that had arrived before us, gave us a warm welcome calling to us with "Congratulations!! Welcome!!!". Everyone who has sailed the Red Sea appreciates what it takes to get through it. Rob even said I certainly earned my "Advanced First Mate" certificate!

Port Suez is the entrance to the Suez Canal. We have never seen so many freighters in my life! The air smells very heavy with oil. Sometimes it is so hazy the port is closed to all shipping.

We will stay here a few days to rest up taking a mooring at the local "yacht club". We also want to visit Cairo and see the Great Pyramids of Giza.

All ships that pass through the Suez Canal must have a pilot on board. We make arrangements for this and plan to leave in three days. Our mooring is just off the canal, so each day we are able to watch a "parade " of ships from around the world.

One Year of Sailing! 23 May 98 to 23 May 99

May 23 marks the first anniversary of our departure from our homeport of Airlie Beach in Australia. We have come a long way and learned a tremendous amount in that time. We have seen and understood cultures, countries, and landscapes we would never have thought we would experience. The adventure of this voyage is something we will always treasure. Cruising is a satisfying and demanding lifestyle. You never know what will happen next! Murphy’s law seems to reign much of the time! We have been fortunate to meet many wonderful and interesting people along the way, making many new friends. We are going to continue this voyage, with no plans as to when or where it will end. It is great to travel with your home on the sea, as it has been done for centuries by many before us.

On this special day, Rob and I take a day tour to Cairo to visit the Pyramids. We have a driver and a guide. Cairo is a major world city with an ancient past. The Nile River passes through it, which gives it some appeal and interest. Like all major cities, it is excitingly busy and has twenty-four hour rush hour traffic.

The Great Pyramids over look the urban sprawl of modern Cairo, which has spread out to the foot of the pyramids. As we approach the pyramids it is amazing to realize we are here in this great place. Hawkers, selling everything from camel rides to lucky scarabs surround us. This has been a tourist destination for hundreds, maybe thousands of years!

The Great Pyramid was built ca 2589-2566 BC and is long considered one of the great wonders of the world. It contains about 3,076,400 cubic yards of stone, the largest weighing 15 tons. There was a smooth outer casing of blocks at one time, but these were taken away for the building of mediaeval Cairo. The other pyramid was built ca 2258-2532 BC and still has some of the smooth outer casing at the top.

It is still not clear as to how the pyramids were built.

We went into a museum to see a boat that was discovered buried near the pyramids. The Cheops Boat is a four thousand-year-old vessel that was dismantled and packed lovingly into the ground, covered with a "roof" of heavy stone. When it was discovered, each piece was in remarkably fine condition and with "instructions" as to how to reconstruct it. It has been restored completely and is incredibly beautiful to behold. Vessels such as this were very important enabling the dead to pass on to the next world.

In the afternoon, we drive to downtown Cairo to visit the Egyptian Museum. This museum houses some of the greatest treasures of the world, among them the exquisite burial goods of King Tutankhamun. We spend several hours in the museum, leaving with a clearer insight in to the history and culture of ancient Egypt.

After a full day, we return to Sea Fever to make final preparations before departing tomorrow, to head up the Suez Canal.

Our pilot meets us in the morning and off we go. We are to have a minimum speed of 5 knots per hour (motoring) and he complains we are not going fast enough. We were going fast enough plus a current was pushing us along at 6 knots per hour, so all went well.

Both sides of the canal is desert, so there is not a lot to see along the way. It is also heavily guarded. The freighters pass us by very closely!

There is a town half way through the canal and we overnight at anchor. A new pilot comes on board in the morning and off we go again for the second day journey. Here we start coming into farming country before approaching the city of Port Said, the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea!!

After we drop the pilot off, we go directly through the busy harbour of Port Said and enter the channel to the Mediterranean Sea. As we pass through the Canal freighter traffic leaving the land behind, the air is suddenly clear, the sea a brilliant blue, the wind is easily taking us to our next destination in Israel. As the sun sets, we feel exhilarated that we have made it this far. We have definitely had our trials and tribulations over these months and now we have reached our goal of entering the Med! IT FEELS GREAT!!!!!

We have an overnight voyage to reach our next destination in Israel. We will go to Ashkelon Marina where there is plenty of water. We will wash Sea Fever for as many days it takes to get all the dust, dirt, and salt off the sails and out of every rope, nook and cranny.

We will catch up with other yachts we know and meet a good friend who will be joining us for ten days. What a treat!

I Finish this part of my journal in Ashkelon, Israel