Voyage of Traveler: A Three Year Circumnavigation 2007-2010
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July 26 Position Report
Noon Local Time
A little more than half way between Honolulu and Hanalei Bay, Kauai
On Board:
Michael, Brian, Erik Higbie, Brian’s girlfriend Natalie, Brandon Evans and his girlfriend Ashley
We departed the Hawaii YC early this morning at midnight in light wind. It is still light, and we are still motoring but also have a full main and jib. We just saw a huge green sea turtle swimming near the boat, a long way from land.
Barbara flew back to LAX yesterday (and I miss her much already) because it is unlikely Traveler will return to Newport Beach in time for her to start her new school year, which begins in mid-August. We hope to be back around August 18, but maybe a couple of days after that. Brandon and Ashley will fly home to Toronto from Kauai.
On one of our last days following the Transpac, we all went to a flea market at the Aloha Stadium. I bought as couple of bags of kava and a ukelele. I learned one easy song, played it for Barbara on our last morning together for awhile. Brian, a gifted guitarist, is now playing it for the crew in the cockpit.
We plan on anchoring in Hanalei Bay for two nights. We may try to stop at Niihau, the “Forbidden Island” on the way from Kauai to Newport Beach, if we can get permission from the Robinson Family, owners of the island. They rarely give permission to visitors. About 150 full-blooded native Hawaiians live on Niihau, and speak only Hawaiian. There are no roads or cars, no electricity, no water system–and they live like traditional Hawaiians. Well, almost. There is a once-a-week barge that brings food, water (very little rain fall) and supplies.
If we do not get permission to go ashore on Niihau, we may still visit the tiny crater island of Lehua, just a quarter mile off the northern point of Niihau. Lehua is very similar to Molokini (off Lahaina, Maui) and has, they say, the best diving of anywhere in the Hawaiian Islands.
Aloha,
Living The Dream,
Michael
To all interested people:
I will be giving the following presentations at the Yachtsmen’s Luncheon at the Newport Harbor Yacht Club, located at 720 E. Bay, Balboa (in Newport Beach on the Peninsula). Each presentation starts at noon and concludes at about 1:20 pm. The cost is $13 and includes a buffet lunch. You do not need to be a member of the NHYC to attend and this is open to the public.
The Voyage of Traveler: A Three-Year Circumnavigation
February 2 — The First Year: The Dream, Preparation, Transpac, and the Society Islands of French Polynesia
Febrauary 9 — The Second Year: South Pacific, Australia, SE Asia, Indian Ocean, Gulf of Aden, Red Sea, Suez Canal and Eastern Med
February 23 — The Third Year: Western Med, Morocco, Crossing the Atlantic, Caribbean, Panama Canal, West Coast of Centeral America, and the Homecoming
Also, at the February 23 luncheon I will have “Traveler” dockside at the NHYC and available for inspection beginning at 11:30 am and after the luncheon.
You may forward this email to a friend. The more the better, but please call to make a reservation at 949-673-7730. I hope to see you there.
Fair winds,
Michael Lawler
February 13, 2010
Hi, Everyone,
We just cleared out with Customs and Immigration for the British Virgin Islands after five fabulous days here. Columbus discovered the archipelago, as with so many other islands in the Caribbean, on his second voyage in 1493. He saw countless islands, all uninhabited, and named them “Las Once Mil Las Virgins” after the legendary St. Ursula and the 11,000 virgins. The Brits annexed the BVIs in 1672, and they’ve British ever since.
Virgin Gorda. The island was dubbed the ‘Fat Virgin’ by Columbus because of its shape. We arrived at dawn and started out the day at 0700 by picking up a mooring at The Baths National Park for a couple of hours or so, but we liked it so much we spent the whole day there. If you haven’t been there, imagine a tropical beach with huge rounded granite boulders piled high along the water’s edge, creating interesting caves and passages to explore and tide pools for swimming. We highly recommend The Baths for a memorable day at the beach. The next day we motor sailed up to the north easterly tip of the island to the Bitter End Yacht Club, the yachting haven for the Virgins. This yacht club has it all: fun bars and restaurants, live entertainment, dive shop, junior sailing program, dozens of moorings for visiting yachts, laundry services, a well-stocked market and a gift shop. I bought a souvenir hat, of course (I have quite the hat collection going, from all over the world.)
Salt Island. This island is famous for diving the wreck of the HMS Rhone, a modern (when she sank 142 years ago), luxury British mail ship powered by both steam and sail. She blew a boiler trying to outrun a hurricane. 124 men drowned with only a few survivors, even though the ship went down just 100 yards from shore. Dive magazines rank it as one of the top five or ten wreck dives in the world and the best in the Caribbean. Kellie and I did a dive on our own, without a guide, using our own tanks and dive gear. This is the wreck where the 1977 movie The Deep with Jacqueline Bisset and Nick Nolte was filmed. It is now the home to many tropical fish, eels and lobster, and covered in gorgeous soft and hard corals.
Norman Island. At The Bight, a well-protected natural harbor, we picked up a mooring for the night then went ashore for a pirate-themed happy hour. No worries, mate. We had an $18 rum drink called a ‘painkiller’ served out of a bright orange child’s plastic beach bucket. ARRRRGH! The highlight for this island was exploring the Pirate Caves by dinghy late in the afternoon, after all the day-trippers had left and we had the popular place to ourselves. The two caves are quite deep, going back maybe 40 yards or so, and turn 90 degrees to the right after the entrance, so you need a flash light (which we had) to see the cave’s walls and ceiling. And all the while the surge is gently pushing the dinghy around in the eerie darkness. Double ARRRRRGH!
Tortola. We stopped at Road Town, the capital of the BVIs, for lunch and a look around, then cruised on up to Cane Garden Bay. We had a good time listening to some live entertainment as the sunset lit the sky with pink and purple colors, looking out at about 30 boats bobbing on their moorings in the bay. Brian and Kellie went back ashore after dinner, met some other yachties their age and had more fun until the wee hours.
Jost Van Dyke. This is the only island I know of that is named after a pirate. Van Dyke, based out of this strategically located island, was so successful raiding Spanish galleons on their way from Santo Domingo back to Spain that he founded a colony here. The island today has only about 500 residents and no paved roads. It does have one very popular bar: Foxy’s, on the beach at the island’s only village, Great Harbour. We also spent some time exploring on the neighboring islet called Sandy Cay, and Brian and Yansen went surfing on a head-high north swell kicked up by a winter storm in the far away north Atlantic.
We loved the BVIs, and easily see how it got the reputation of being one of the best cruising destinations in the world.
Next stop, the US Virgin Islands, where Yansen gets to use his US visa. He is pumped up.
Living the Dream,
Michael
with Kellie, Brian and Yansen
June 22, 2009
Aegina, Greece
Hi, Everyone,
Wow, my last postcard was after leaving Santorini on May 28, nearly a month ago. Lots has happened since then. Mostly good, some bad.
With my son Scott and his girlfriend Natalie (both will be juniors at Berkeley), we very much enjoyed the Greek island of Ios. Once we got Traveler tied up at the wharf, that is. When we entered the small harbor it was blowing about 20 and we had to reverse downwind, stern to the wharf, with the bow anchor out and letting the anchor chain run as we backed down. But the anchor landed on grass, didn’t set properly and dragged, so the wind caused us to bump the concrete wharf, causing a small ding on the fiberglass hull and the wood trim for one of our stern windows. I couldn’t just motor away from the wharf because the wind so quickly caught my bow and pushed it to the side, toward another boat tied up along side of us and I had no room to turn. It took awhile to get the spare anchor out and set it from the dinghy, all while others helped by fending Traveler off the wharf and the neighboring boat in the wind and waves. It was a little stressful. I really could have used Barbara to help me. Scott and Natalie wanted to help but they were new to boating and I needed experienced crew in this situation.
We found Ios to be charming, a lot like Mykonos but without the crowds. Just enough college kids to make the nightlife fun. For Scott and Natalie, that is. I usually fall asleep by 10, totally exhausted from all the day’s activities. As you may know, on most Greek islands the nightlife starts at 11 or 12, really gets going at about 3, and doesn’t stop till dawn. Scott and Natalie would usually roll in and crash about when I’m having my second cup of coffee. I’d try to get them up at the crack of noon, but sometimes they would sleep in til 3 or 4 in the afternoon.
Mykonos was another very windy harbor when we arrived, but we managed to do much better this time, mostly because we motored into the wind as we approached the wharf. And now Scott and Natalie were more helpful, with the lessons learned from Ios docking experience fresh in mind. At Mykonos’ famous Paradise Beach we found a late afternoon beach party with about 400 drunk college-aged young adults, the guys shirtless in trunks, and the girls in bikinis, all dancing to a DJ and getting pretty wild. A lot of loud music, tattoos, silicone and spilled beer.
Our next island, Kea, was very tame, kind of like Avalon in the winter, especially compared to the previous three party islands of Santorini, Ios and Mykonos. But we all welcomed a little chill time.
In Athens, we took a berth at the huge and crowded Zea Marina in Piraeus, just 26 miles from Athens Acropolis (the original marathon route). Scott’s other two friends, Christine and Jillian joined us here for a week. A big highlight for them was seeing their favorite DJ, Deadmou5 (that’s right, the last letter of his name is the number 5 and it’s pronounced “dead mouse”.) He stopped in Athens as part of his world tour. Scott had seen him just a week earlier in San Francisco, and Christine had seen him two weeks earlier in LA. Ask someone you know in their early 20s. Deadmou5 is huge. They got into the show for free (they coincidentally met the bouncers at a cafe just before the show who let them in), they got free drinks all night (the club owner took a liking to Christine), and then Deadmau5 took a liking to Scott, who got to wear his hat (this is a really huge deal, if you know anything about Deadmau5). After the show at about 7 they all got invited to limo it to his suite at the Athens Hilton to order room service for breakfast. They got back to Traveler at about 10, raving that it was their best night out. Ever.
Meanwhile, Barbara took a break from Traveler for a two week side trip. She was with Kathy Smith from our Transpac crew for the first week to see Prague, and then by herself the second week to see Istanbul, Ephasis, Troy and other sights in Turkey. It was great to have her back. We had a Captain’s Dinner to celebrate Barbara’s return and bid a bon voyage to Scott, Natalie, Christine, Jillian and me. I flew back, first to Eugene to see my daughter Kellie’s graduation from the University of Oregon (Scott was there too), and then to Newport Beach for a probate trial, to see my CPA, dentist and dermatologist and family (thanks Drew and Linda) and friends (Dick Higbie, Scott Schubert and Dave Beek from Transpac crew and many other members of the BYC, Keith Lumpkin and his parents, Jim Moodey, my niece Katie and her graduation from NHHS, John Sturgess, and then Susan Hillgren, the Ukropinas, the Weiners, the D’Pallitos and others all at the O’Desky’s great graduation party for Aly.) It felt so weird to be back in NB, especially to walk through my old home on Cumberland and see what the new owners did with their remodel. But it also feft so good just to take a walk in the park with my son, Brian, and our chocolate lab, Coco.
On the flight back to Athens I had a seven hour layover in JFK Airport, so I took the Long Island Railroad out to Bethpage to see the US Open. It felt strange to be watching Tiger Woods do his thing in New York when I should be with Barbara doing our thing on Traveler in the Greek Isles. While I saw some fabulous golf, I really missed sailing on Traveler. So following back to back red eye flights, within a few short hours of getting back to the boat, we set sail for the Greek island of Aegina, just 17 miles SW of Piraeus.
We are pleased to have on board as guest crew Barbara’s friend Teresa for the next 13 days.
When we arrived Aegina and anchored, we noticed the bilge pump was going on, and staying on. This is not a good sound. We opened the engine hatch and saw a steady stream of sea water pouring in from where the propeller shaft goes through the hull. Many boats have sunk from this exact problem. Our bilge pump was able to keep up with the flow, but for how long, and what if it gets much worse? Barbara and I tried for nearly two hours to stop the leak, unsuccessfully. The packing gland already had two hose clamps on it, and they were tight, so we put a third hose clamp on, but strangely that only increased the flow, from about a gallon to two gallons a minute. That’s when I decided to go ashore in the dinghy to the small town of Aegina, at 10pm on a Sunday night, to try to find a mechanic to come out to the boat to help us. After an hour or so of searching, I got a qualified mechanic to dinghy out with me to Traveler. He was able to temporarily stop the leak, but to properly fix the problem we had to haul the boat. So after just a three hours sleep (and no sleep for the previous two nights on planes), we motored five miles to the boat yard at sunrise and hauled Traveler out of the water.
We got the leaky packing gland fixed, and while we were out of the water I had the yard guys patch up some scrapes we got while in Dili, East Timor from bumping a reef, and then put a coat of bottom paint on. We were in the yard, “on the hard,” for two nights.
The boat yard has a head with a shower that’s more for the employees to use at the end of a hard day’s work. But for us and a few other yachties staying onboard while the boat’s in the yard, that’s where you go, when you need to go. After showering, Teresa wearing only a loosely tied sarong, had to climb the 15 foot ladder to get back on Traveler. A gust of wind caught the sarong and quickly unwrapped it, then re-wrapped it around her head as she was hanging onto the ladder’s top rung with both hands, giving a few men working in the yard a little show.
Cheers,
Livin the dream,
Michael and Barbara
Hi, Everyone,
Traveler is on a 12 mile passage now between Santorini and Ios in the Greek Islands. With me is my son, Scott, and his girlfriend, Natalie, both sophomores at UC Berkeley. Barbara is off the boat for a couple of weeks touring Prague with Kathy Smith (one of our crew from Transpac), and then Istanbul and other sites in Turkey by herself before rejoining us in Mykonos on June 5.
Our passage from the Suez Canal to Turkey went fine. It was good to be cruising in the Med. We had two mechanical problems: we were still having trouble starting the engine when it was cooled down (ongoing for the past two months) and our propane solenoid stopped working, plus we were motoring due to light wind and getting low on fuel, so we stopped at Fethiye, Turkey instead of Marmaris. We really liked Fethiye–a picture perfect harbor with Roman ruins, fish markets, lots of local boats and yachts from all over and nice weather. We also found a Yanmar dealer to fix our engine. Turns out he properly diagnosed our problem as a small amount of sea water coming up our exhaust then getting into the engine through an open exhaust valve due a combination of factors: (1) our exhaust elbow did not have a high enough lift to it (the old elbow had only a five inch lift and the new custom built elbow has an 18 inch lift), (2) our vented loop was not properly mounted and came loose so it was no longer vertical, and (3) our custom fiberglass water lock developed cracks and was leaking. After the repairs (three days, $2,300), the compression tested very good, and the engine starts easily and runs well now.
We then motor-sailed through the night, departing at midnight, from Fethiye to Bodrum, another picture perfect Turkish port of call, with an ancient fort guarding the harbor, lots of fun restaurants, and a great marina. It reminded me a little of a Turkish version of Avalon, with the fort at the harbor entrance instead of the casino. Stayed here just one night, and this is where Barbara began her side trip, so I made the crossing from Bodrum, Turkey to Kos, Greece–just 12 miles–by myself. It was weird to be on the boat alone–the first time ever. And it was a little challenging to come into the unfamiliar marina, in 20 knots of wind, and moor Med-style bow in, squeezing between two other boats in a space just wide enough for Traveler to fit snuggly, and handling the dock lines and fenders solo, but I managed. This is where Scott and Natalie join me.
We very much enjoyed Kos, with another great fort, lots of fun restaurants and tourists from all over, mostly European countries. The Greeks welcomed us warmly wherever we went, as did the Turks. We rode bikes around the harbor, sightseeing and spent a couple of hours at a beach in front of a bar having a round of beers.
We left Kos at about 5pm and sailed through the night to Santorini, about 100 miles to the west. The wind was strong (20 knots) and the waves high, making for a bumping passage for Scott and Natalie. I had a double reefed main and jib, and we were sailing along nicely at 8 knots. Then we got hit by a “meltemi” which is a strong, short blast of wind typical in the Greek islands. The wind gusted to at least 30, maybe 35, knots and briefly knocked the boat over on its side causing things to go flying below. I quickly eased the main and we came right back up, then I reefed the main and jib some more. We were okay after that. Nothing broke, but Scott and Natalie were a little shaken on the play–especially when I put on my PFD (inflatable lifejacket) and asked them to do the same.
Only 3 miles to go to Ios, so I gotta go.
Living the Dream, but miss Barbara much,
Michael
Link to Traveler’s photos from Egypt
Hi Everyone,
We finally made it up through the Red Sea’s notorious headwinds and steep waves, and then our passage through the Suez Canal. We are now cruising in the Med! And we’re sailing again, thanks to the wind gods, after motoring most of the way through the Red Sea, due to the strong headwinds.
We liked Egypt, but the Egyptians wore us down. Most of them, anyway (with a very nice exception mentioned below, in the last paragraph,) are on the take, either befriending us to get something or straight out hasseling us. Prices for tourists are typically doubled or tripled, and sometimes much more than that. In most markets and shops, hotels and restaurants, none of the items are priced. You ask the price and get some outlandishly high price, then the bargaining begins. It can take ten minutes just to buy an apple. To provision a boat for several days can take a full day of shopping, with most of the time haggling over prices. To the Egyptians, it is a game, a part of their culture, and they are proud to rip off a tourist. The police are the worst. They demand bakeesh (Arabic for “small gift”) for allowing you just to pass (meaning, just to walk by them), especially if you are carrying something to or from your boat. Sometimes if you have nothing with you at all, they still ask for money or cigarettes. Taxis are un-metered and the prices vary wildly. Typically, a local would pay $2 and a tourist would pay $10 for the same ride. But first the taxi driver would ask for $20, and then after haggling for a few minutes the best you can get him down to is $10 and he still makes you feel either (a) like you have insulted him, or (b) like he is doing you a big favor, or both. Touts (street vendors) walk up to you and try to sell you something. If you politely say no, it just encourages them. It really wears on you after a couple of weeks.
We enjoyed a wild and crazy drive into Cairo in a micro bus, 2 hours. After many connections between bus, subway and mini taxi, all smooth connections, we arrived at Giza, home of the Sphinx and Pyramids. Renting horses and riding in the late afternoon, enjoying the sunset, we rode up the sand dunes and had tea at a bedoin camp overlooking the pyramids. Galloping back down through the dunes, Barbara lost control of her horse and her skirt. (Yes, a skirt. We had not planned this ride when we left the boat.) She had a wrap skirt on and which soon became unwrapped in the winds and wild ride. As she tried to control her skirt, the horse went in to “return to the barn” mode and flew! Our guide had not bothered to give Barbara a saddle with long enough stirrups so she was riding as if she were a jockey with her skirt riding up and flowing behind her and getting longer as it unwrapped! Too funny! Good thing she had bathing suit bottoms on although in this culture, the modesty of a woman is everything where even a bare ankle is considered exposure. She managed to get covered before leaving the dunes and entering the populated area around the pyramids. Upon dismounting, we went straight to a pharmacy for aspirin to sooth the aches and pains. We ended the night watching the Sound and Light Show, narrated by Omar Sharif. Beautiful, and with modern technology of laser beams, the whole performance was awe inspiring. Now needing a place to stay, we lucked out with the Sphinx Guest House right across the way. From our windows in our room we gazed out upon the pyramids all night and woke to see them again in the early morning light. Camels were on their way to work. Spectacular! And we didn’t have to bargain much to get a good price! Leaving the hotel, we rode a camel around the base of the pyramids and got better with our bargaining skills. Finally, we departed for the Egyptian Museum. Our taxi to the subway broke down on the freeway. We ended up hitchhiking in the emergency lane, getting picked up by a bus. This sounds odd, but hitchhiking on freeways is actually common here, as the people try to flag down a bus going their way. We made it, actually quite easily given the breakdown and all, to the Egyptian Museum. We especially enjoyed the exhibit of King Tutanhkammun. Wow!
Our passage through the Suez Canal was interesting, scenic and memorable for the costly error our pilot made. Each vessel, even small private yachts, must hire a licensed captain to act as a pilot, even though it is 99% just following the boat in front of you. At mid-morning on the first day of a two day passage, a very small French navy ship, more like a patrol boat, re-joined the northbound convoy after doing something in one of the wide spots in the canal. The “warship” basically cut in line about a mile or so ahead of us, with a ship or two between us. The very strict rule is that all yachts of any size (the rule does not apply to ships, however) must avoid approaching or even appearing to approach (and that includes following a safe distance behind) any warship. Our pilot should have stopped and pulled over to the side and given the Frenchies at least a couple of miles between us before resuming our northbound passage, following way, way behind him (apparently just a mile was not enough distance.) Every mile or so along the 100 mile canal are military police observation posts. The Canal Police pulled us over and lectured our pilot and made him sit in a room for four hours (while we waited onboard Traveler) before releasing him, so he was able to finish that first day with us (but not the second day–we were assigned a different pilot for that.) When our pilot was allowed back on Traveler he said that he is still in very serious trouble and (although his English is not very good, I got the impression) that he believes he will have to go to jail and probably lose his captain’s license for this offense or pay some serious bakeesh to someone in charge.
In Egypt, there are many laws that everyone breaks. Eventually, the police will stop someone, apparently at random, and point out that they are breaking the law. It is all just a shake down to get a payoff. Here’s a case in point. The dockmaster at the Suez Yacht Club helps yachties get diesel by taking their empty jerry jugs to the gas station and bringing them back full, marking the cost of the fuel up about 10% for the effort, which is well worth the price for the convenience, especially since the fuel here is so inexpensive to begin with. This has been going on for years, and everyone knows about it. Well, apparently this is a misdemeanor, for some reason, and the dockmaster was jailed for it just the day before we arrived. After several hours, he was released on bail pending a hearing. Now the poor dockmaster is saving up for the bakeesh he will have to pay to the police captain to make the problem go away. He offered to do our laundry, which he did after he got off work at the yacht club (five loads for $20, with everything ironed. $20 after Barbara bargained him down from $35.)
Some Egyptians that we met and loved were a sweet family in Suez, the Farouk Family, who are devout Catholics. They were warm and generous and truly welcomed us to their home town. Barbara met Mr. Farouk by chance at a small cafe at breakfast and within a few minutes he had her in his car helping her get a sim card for the phone, provisions, bread and fresh produce. As long as the money passes from an Egyptian hand, even knowing that it is a tourist buying the goods, we got good Egyptian prices. Amazing difference in prices! (Small bottle of water is 20 cents local price and $4 tourist price.)Upon return from Cairo, we called the Farouks and they picked us up and treated us to an evening at their shop in downtown Suez. We were treated like family with one family friend doing the translating. While the women were chit-chatting and eating desserts they had just gone to the bakery for, Michael, Mr. Farouk and another male friend of the family were sitting around smoking a sheesha water pipe, with apple flavored tobacco, in true Egyptian style. We took pictures and went and made copies for everyone. One of the sisters of Mr. Farouk gave Barbara her first cross. Another gave her a ring she was wearing on her finger. They would not let us pay for anything no matter how hard we tried. Truly amazing after all our experiences with bargaining and paying bakeesh! This fun evening lasted until midnight, with the streets of Suez still wide open and full of people, music playing, lights flashing. When we finally made it back to the boat, Michael met with the agent and we finalized our transit for the following day. Up at 5 am, and with no naps and then up again at 5 this morning, it has been quite the long couple of days. It is great to be back at sea with a gentle 13-15 knots and flat seas. Time to get some rest!
Next stop, Marmaris, Turkey, in 3 1/2 days.
Livin’ the Dream, in the Med!
Michael and Barbara
Hi, Everyone,
It is May 8, and we are on a mooring at Bluff Point (27-40N, 033-48E) about 150 miles south of the Suez Canal. I really thought we would have been well into the Med by now. But with several delays due to engine problems, and now with bad weather, we are about a month behind our schedule. The notorious northerlies of the Red Sea, and especially here in the Gulf of Suez, are kicking our butts. The wind is 20 to 35 knots–much stronger than forecasted–and on the bow, with steep waves spaced close together. We just have to wait it out for some relatively calmer winds, like 15 to 18, then we will have to power through it. Right now at 0800 it is blowing 30 knots already. Looks like a good day for Scrabble. Barbara is always busy working, nearly nonstop, with a variety of boat projects, sewing, cooking, whipping lines, re-organizing our food stores, and many other things.
Once we leave Bluff Point heading north there are only two anchorages, at 50 and 100 miles up the coast from here, and they are marginal as far as shelter.
These are our toughest conditions so far.
Three days ago on May 5, just 17 miles south of here (that’s how slow our progress has been), we took on hundreds of gallons of water from waves crashing over our bow in 35 knots of headwinds. First sea water flooded the anchor locker due to a $2 garden-type work glove that clogged the drain, and then the water poured from there over into the forward deck locker, which also flooded, and from there it poured over into our forward cabin. It all happened very quickly. Our bow was very low in the water, making it even easier for more water to keep coming in, and the floor boards in the V-berth were floating. Had we not caught it in time, we might have sank. We turned the boat around and headed downwind, which made a huge difference, and ducked in the lee of a reef called Shab el-Erg, which we renamed Cinco de Mayo Reef. We spent two full days drying things out. It was tiring work. Surprisingly, the damage was minimal. The Waterford crystal and china survived without a chip. The biggest loss was the propane solenoid in the forward locker got soaked and stopped working, so we can not use the galley stove until we find a place to replace it, probably in Turkey.
The reef here at Bluff Point is shallow, about three feet deep when we arrived, with a wall that drops off on a 45 degree angle to deeper water, and the prevailing northerlies keep our boat blown back off the reef. The fixed mooring line is about 15 feet long with a spliced eye to slip our long dock lines (using two so our mooring lines are doubled up) through the eye and back to our bow cleats.
Last night at around midnight, we bumped the reef! A combination of things happened. It is nearly a full moon, so the tides are extreme, and the tide was much lower at midnight than when we arrived mid-afternoon (when we had about five feet of water under our keel). Next the wind backed around a little, from 315 to 295, so the wind–which blew 20 to 25 knots through the night–was no longer blowing us perpendicular off the reef but on an angle to it so our starboard side was a little closer to the reef. Thirdly, a passing ship sent a two foot high wake of three waves that hit us from behind pushing us forward, into the wind, and we surfed these three waves onto the reef. CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! Even though it was midnight, Barbara and I were both awake at the time and sitting in the cockpit, because just before this happened the keel gently brushed a coral head and we were about to lengthen our mooring lines. So we actually saw the ship’s wake in the moonlight coming at us, with about 10 seconds before it hit us, but there was nothing we could do that quickly. After we bumped the reef, we doubled the length of our mooring lines, made sure the chafe guards were well in place, stood a watch for awhile to make sure all was well, and then went back to sleep. About three hours later, Barbara was having a terrible nightmare that we were sinking. In her dream, she was in the cockpit and I was trapped below, and she yelled out my name in her sleep. Come morning, she had no memory of that nightmare until I asked her about it. It was a tough night.
We’re very much looking forward to getting through the Red Sea, the Suez Canal and into the Med.
Livin’ the Dream?
Michael and Barbara
Hi All, bb here, taking a break after 1 1/2 days of non-stop work–drying out the boat. We were headed to Port Suez and as the winds built to 35 kts, we chose a place we could get to to spend the night and let the winds subside. We beat into the steep, close seas and were ready for the 12 hour beating we were going to take. We didn’t make it as we were shipping in water that didn’t drain. Water over the floor boards and the wallowing . . . we turned and headed back to a reef that we had seen dive boats in the lee of. We pulled up a floating rope (no buoys here) after putting our nose almost on to the reef to grab it. It’s just how it is done here . . .they put into the reef a SS eye, and float a short rope off of it. We bailed, bailed and finally got things under control. It was a work glove that had fallen into the chain locker and plugged the drain on one side and gunk got into the other. It all backed up from there. Even with a warning from a boat father north than us that had the same thing happen to them, we thought our drains were clear, having checked them a few months ago. . .
Check your drains periodically, but especially before going to weather . .
Hugs, and time to get back to drying things out.
bb
Hi, Everyone,
We are at sea again, for two nights, having departed from Port Ghalib late this morning, May 4, motoring in rare, light, tail winds (usually strong head winds here), so that’s a good thing. We are heading north up Egypt’s Red Sea coast toward Port Suez, where we plan on touring inland to Cairo to see the Great Pyramids, the Sphinx and the Egyptian Museum. Then it is up through the Suez Canal and into the Med!
You may want to check out the website for Ghalib at www.portghalibmarina.com for some photos. It is a world-class, new marina and surrounding city, now five years into a fifteen year build out and owned by a sheik from Kuwait. It’s one of the nicest marinas we have seen, and quite the contrast from our last port at Suakin, Sudan–complete opposite ends of the spectrum.
While in Ghalib, we hired a driver to take us to Luxor to see the famous temples and tombs. The sights we saw include the awesome columns of the Temple of Karnak, Luxor Temple, and pharaoh’s tombs in the Valley of Kings. Next to King Tutankhamun’s Tomb I briefly joined in on an archeological dig to try to find the tomb of Ramses VIII (really just a photo op.)
It was really hot in Luxor. 104 in the shade. But not much of it.
One highlight was sailing on the Nile in an old, traditional wooden felucca for a sunset picnic dinner. It was much cooler being down on water, especially with the nice breeze. Another highlight was seeing the Winter Palace Hotel, the former palace of King Farouk, Egypt’s last monarch, and enjoying a cold beer pool side.
In addition to our driver, we also hired Aladdin, a tour guide (only $60 full-time for the two days we were there), once we got to Luxor. “Al” earned his masters in archaeology at the University of Alexandria. His grandfather found one of the pharaoh’s tombs, and his family has lived in the same place on the West Bank of the Nile for centuries.
At our hotel, for a late night dinner I wore my traditional Arabic outfit, complete with ceremonial dagger tucked into my belt, and got lots of curious looks from the other hotel guests and smiles from the staff.
The drive to Luxor and back to Ghalib–five hours each way–was memorable, fortunately, for the wide open desert scenery and, unfortunately, because of our crazy driver. He was young, liked to speed, liked to smoke (a national custom) and liked to listen to the most annoying Arabic music the whole way. On the way back, after it got dark, we found out he also liked driving with his headlights off, passing other cars and tour buses, doing 135 kpm! Scared the daylights out of us. Also, an annoying alarm beeped continuously anytime the speed got over 100 kph, which was pretty much the entire way from Safaga back to Ghalib, the last two hours. We had to change cars in Safaga, where the “limo” (it was just a regular Mitsubishi sedan) company is based, because the air conditioning broke while we were in Luxor. So, for four hours or so, we miserably sat in our car seats, drenched in our sweat-soaked clothes, trying our best to avoid heat stroke, while driving the return leg from Luxor to Safaga. Putting the windows down didn’t help that much. It just made it like a blast furnace.
On our cruise up the Red Sea from Sudan, about midway between Suakin and Ghalib, we stopped at an uninhabited island, Geziret Zabargad (Arabic for Sea Mist Island), to go for a tank dive on the outside wall of a barrier reef in clear, warm water. We saw lots of fish and gorgeous coral, but were blown away by the monster moray eel we saw. His head had to be 12 inches wide! There was a cleaner fish swimming in and around his mouth, which was constantly opening and closing–that’s how eels breath, it just appears to be threatening. We only saw his head and neck, from a very close three feet away, but we are guessing he had to be at least 10 feet long, given the size of his enormous head. Amazing!
Livin’ the Dream,
Michael and Barbara
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