Greece to Sicily

Wednesday 14^th September.

Well we are now on our way to the first of the Greek Islands – Limnos – in the Eastern Sporades.  Limnos is quite beautiful.  We stop off in the port of Myrina and climb the hill to the Genoan castle with its marvellous view of the town.  The weather is perfect.   Here we see the local deer roaming among the old ruins of the castle and even coming into the outskirts of the town.  Then a couple of days later with the wind on our stern we set sail again, having  good runs, stopping in the Northern Sporades at Kira Panyia, Alonnisos, and Skiathos.  It was at Skiathos that we pick up our Dubai friends Rob and Suzy, and after spending a day with a hire car exploring the Island, it was time to up anchor and continue south.  It is now getting cooler and we had heavy rain, thunder and lightning the day before we left.  The morning we decided to up anchor and go – NO - we are stuck fast to the bottom.  Alec had to go over the side and see what our problem was. He found our anchor chain around a huge old anchor that had been abandon, so, with a little manoeuvring and a couple more dives we were free, only to get caught up again.  Down he goes again, and this time the chain is caught around two more unused anchors.  It takes just under two hours for us to get clear of all the rubbish on the bottom before we are on our way.  BUT, we now have another problem. We have a broken anchor chain guide.  This is the second time it has broken on us.  The first was on the Australian Coast.  This will mean we will have to pull the anchor up by hand till we can get a new one.  Thank goodness we have a strong man Rob on board. 

Istanbul - Gallipoli

Hello Again,

 A lot of water has passed under the hulls since I last sat down at the computer to send out my screed.  Actually I am very lucky to have a computer to write to you on, and it is only thanks to Alec’s brother Rich, that I do – will fill you in on that shortly!!

 Our first night just outside Istanbul was spent anchored outside the fishing harbour of Yesilkoy.  The following morning Alec decided to take the tender in and see if there was space for us to tie up inside. Most fishing harbours the berthing fees are quite reasonable but finding a vacant berth can be a problem. He found only one, a corner berth, so we upped anchored and motored on in.  WRONG MOVE – the wind got up just as we went in and we were blown sideways getting the starboard keel caught on someone’s mooring chain. For the next twenty minutes we were held fast, fending ourselves off the bows of a couple of other boats.  No one came to help, they all just stood and watched.  The wind kept pushing us sideways onto the chain, and being a corner berth we had no room to manoeuvre.  I climbed on board the offending boat and loosened off their mooring line, then suddenly we came free, so we motored on out deciding to give that place a miss, to find a small swimming bay next door which was surrounded by a break-water, so we dropped anchor right in the middle of the bay and there we stayed for the next couple of nights. No problem!  Better than paying 100 Euros per night in a Marina/Resort.

Marmaris To Istanbul

Hello From The Sea Gypsies Again

 We are really feeling like Gypsies at the moment as we have spent the last ten days crossing back and forth across Marmaris Bay from the town side where we anchored just off the main beach, to the other side where we sat outside the Marmaris Yacht Marine – a big Marina – where we could pick up the internet, dispose of our rubbish and spend quieter days and evenings swimming and relaxing.  On the town side we got our maintenance done.  Alec did a complete oil change on both engines and sail drives, the watermaker got a haul over, we had a broken hinge on one of our big front windows, which was successfully welded.  We found the correct shaped batten for our main sail as we had to replace one after breaking it coming up the Red Sea, we had fender covers made for the fenders to help protect them from the sun, plus we visited nearly every boat shop in town, and I can tell you there are HUNDREDS of them.  Alex now has ‘spares’ for everything.

Turkey Alanya to Marmaris

Turkey

 Alanya to Marmaris

 Hello Again

 Well, eventually we were checked into Turkey after 48 hours sitting around the Alanya Marina waiting, and waiting and waiting!!!!  A long story, but it turns out there is a bit of a political battle going on between the new marina with the officials.  Something they really need to get sorted.  We did manage a couple of trips into town, one on the second day, before we were checked in as there was no one around.  Alanya is a modern tourist resort around a high peninsula which was known as Calonoros, and in the 2^nd century B.C. was a very big pirate stronghold. (Thought we were well clear or that area!!) The restored castle and walls were worth the visit, along with the stunning views up and down the Mediterranean coastline.

Cyprus And Lebanon

Hello Again

We left Ashkelon Israel on Tuesday 31^st May, and the run to Famagusta in Turkish Cyprus took us 32 hours covering 230mn.  We managed to sail most of the way which was great.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus – the fact that the only country in the world that recognises this state is mainland Turkey does not faze the locals at all.  They still regard themselves as Cypriots, but realise that they can’t return to the old days when it was one country, as the Greeks want to run the whole show. Back in 1983 we visited the Greek side of the Island, so this time decided we would visit the Turkish side. 

Israel and Jordan

Hello to you all again

As we settled into the marina here in Ashkelon, we did all the usual jobs one does including giving the boat a good wash down, then, a couple of nights later we had the most wonderful downpour of rain.  It was amazing what Red Sea dust and sand we still must have had in the rigging as it was all over the decks again in the morning.  So we are very clean now having washed the boat down again.

As I said in our last note, Ashkelon is just north of the Gaza Strip – only 16ks.  The Gaza Strip is only 45ks long and 10ks wide.  The locals here have given it the nickname of ‘Hamastan’.   In March of this year the Palestinians sent rockets into Ashkelon, but no one was killed thank goodness.  In fact one of the American yachts that was here at the time told us they came out of their boat to watch to see where they were landing!!  Alec reckons the reason why this is the cheapest marina in the country is because of its location.

Port Suez – Egypt to Ashkelon – Israel

SHAMAL has completed just over 21,000nm and we have reached the Mediterranean

Hello again.

Haven’t we done well. It really is a great feeling to have come this far. Looking back on the trip to date we really have had a wonderful time. No complaints, and SHAMAL has behaved so well and given us a very comfortable trip. She is a great little home. Everyone we have met to date, particularly those with catamarans, and who have come on board have been most impressed on how much Seawind has put into a boat of this length.

The Suez Canal

In Port Suez before we transited the Canal, every boat has to be measured up as a fee has to be paid for the privilege of using the Canal. The Suez Canal Authority [SCA] come on board your boat and physical measure the dimensions. A very complex formula which we are quite sure they themselves do not even understand. It comes from the 1888 Constantinople International Tonnage Convention!!!! It does not recognise that yachts have fin keels so this makes for some very interesting outcomes. We were measured up one day, and the next day a different guy came back apologising profusely that it had all been done wrong and did it again. That worked out well as in the second measure up we shrunk and so did the price!!! This was partly due to the fact that the guy got Alec to hold the other end of the tape. He also got Alec to measure the engine room size as this was to be deducted from the total volume. Our total bill came to US$335 which included the fee for the two pilots that one must have. You change pilots at the half way point. We paid US$225 for the Canal fee, $50 Agent fees, $40 Port Clearance and $20 for two passports.

Port Ghalib to Hurghada to Port Suez

Port Ghalib –Tues. 26th April

Hello Again

Well we have now been here for nine days. The plan was to leave today, but once again the northerly winds are still blowing strongly enough to churn up short sharp seas making the first part of the run to our next port, Hurghada some 110nm north of here, rather uncomfortable. The plan now is to leave in the morning. My ribs are still quite tender and we are in no great rush as we have heard that temperatures in the Mediterranean are still quite cool. Looking at the ANZAC Dawn Service at ANZCA Cove in Turkey yesterday morning on the net, we saw that everyone was dressed in hats, blankets and warm clothing. NO I do not want to swap shorts and T-shirts or swimsuits for winter clothing!!

Suakin Sudan to Port Ghalib Egypt

Hello To You All Again


Yes another update from The Red Sea

As I start this letter we are STILL in Suakin – Sudan, having been here for nine days now waiting for the wind to drop enough to move north again. There are now 15 yachts sitting in the harbour waiting for the weather window. We seem to spend our daylight hours doing boat jobs, of which there is never any shortage of, and the evenings are spent visiting each other to watch a movie or just to socialise, or, going shore to have a ‘local’ meal. It is all good fun and the group are a great bunch. We have done some exploring of the area of course.

Massawa Eritrea to Suakin Sudan

Hello again.

Last night – Thursday 17th March - we motored into Suakin, the last slave-trading post in the world, and our check in Port for the Sudan. It lies just south of Port Sudan. The old town looks more like a movie set from a WW2 movie which has had the heart bombed out of it. In fact what has really happened is since Port Sudan was established as the main trading Port, much of Suakin has been abandoned and the buildings which were made of coral are now crumbling and deserted. They are now considered a tourist attraction and one is asked to pay to see them. We are anchored just off them so I have been able to take photos from the boat.

Salalah Oman - Massawa Eritrea

Hello Again

Well as you can see we have made it safely through “Pirate Alley”. The yacht from Dubai arrived a little later than expected but that is cruising. When it came to departure there were only the two of us. That was Sunday 20th February. There was another boat in Salalah which was to come with us but decided to wait for friends to arrive who were still making the passage across the Indian Ocean. Also a couple of other boats had bypassed Salalah in a convoy they had joined in the Maldives and went straight on to AL Mukalla in Yemen. We heard about the American boat that was taken by the pirates as it was crossing the Indian Ocean, so we had several meetings with Wendy -the captain from the boat from Dubai ‘Selinaris’, and her crew, to plan our tactics on the next leg which was to Al Mukalla. There is a shipping corridor approximately 60nm off Salalah and runs down the coast of Yemen which is patrolled by the coalition warships, and here the ships form convoys to make safe passage to Bab el Mandeb – the entrance to the Red Sea. Being a yacht with a cruising speed between 5-6ks we are too slow to join the shipping convoy as a minimum of 12kts or more has to be maintained. However yachts are welcome to parallel the shipping corridor if they so choose. We decided to take the coastal route between 10 -20nm off the coast which is more direct, as we thought it would be more of a liability to be closer to the warships in the event of being captured by the pirates – which by the time we reached Al Mukalla we heard the sad news that the American yacht crew had been killed. Also the Yemen Coast Guard seem to have their pirate problem from the past pretty much under control. We employed the tactic of “stealth” as Alec puts it. During the daylight hours if we had the wind we sailed, or motored sailed and kept our speed up. At night we had no sails and no navigation lights. We became Seagull 1 and Seagull 2 as our call signs to each other, and never used Channel 16 for radio work. Every day we changed our ship to ship channel and we had predetermined waypoints which were numbered. Over the radio we never mentioned our departure point or destination. The first couple of nights which took us into Al Mukalla some 300nm down the coast were not too bad as we had a fading moon, but after that it was very dark. Even though we were only a very short distance apart we lost sight of each other at times and would put the radar on to check the others position. Seagull 1 which was ‘Selinaris’ decided to follow us and sat off our Port stern a few hundred yards away. We kept in tight formation. These are the sort of tactics most of the convoys have been taking as they cross the Indian Ocean and come down The Gulf of Aden. During the first night we heard one of the larger ships put out a mayday call reporting two small skiffs off his Port bow which thank goodness turned out to be a false alarm. His position was 60nm off Aden so it was well clear of us. We monitored Channel 16 all the time, and from time to time a Coalition Warship would put out a general call to all shipping in the area saying ‘please report any piracy or anything suspicious on Ch.16.’

Salalah - Southern Oman

Hello To You All Again




Well we have now been in the Port of Salalah for nearly two weeks. Yachts have come and gone off in both directions, and one returned from his onward passage to Dubai due to strong head winds. All is well. We are waiting for a boat from Dubai to arrive with spare parts for us. We have just had news from them that they will arrive tomorrow. We will continue on with them and possibly another one or two boats. Been good reports from yachts going both ways. Anyway we have been wandering the docks and spoken with the Somali traders who are bringing in livestock, so Alec says he has made ‘good’ contacts there in case of a diversion!! We have also said hello to different members of the coalition forces who use the same Wharf as the Somali traders. In port at the moment are the Korean, Japanese and British Navy’s. The Italians, Chinese and a British ships have just left to go out on patrol.

Muscat to Salalah

Hello To You All


Well we are on the move once more, this time making our way down the coast of Oman towards Salalah where we will join our convoy around mid-February. Our three and a half weeks in Muscat over the Christmas New Year period seem to pass very quickly. Christmas was lovely and the evening was spent with our English friends Annabelle and Blair Tame who had also invited five other guests which made for a fun evening. The dinner was magnificent, and Annabelle had decorated her home beautifully with all the Christmas trimmings.