One or two pictures so
far
Convoy in the Suez canal
Awaiting pilots in Ismalia
Fancy costumes in Aden
A nice breeze in the Gulf of Aden but who is steering
and cloud. We had to check in with the immigration, customs and
harbourmaster and had to wait until well after noon before the rain stopped
enough for us to go ashore in the dinghy.
The next 3- 4 days were a marked improvement on this with periods of hot
sunshine but still very violent squalls hitting us occasionally. One squall
which we recorded at just over 50 knots caused the failure of our wind
generator( supposedly rated at 100mph) and a couple of boats dragged but
it did not last long. . After this there was still the occasional tropical
downpour but the force had gone out of the winds and the occasional
soaking was a relief in the heat.
Langkawi was like many Asian places , full of life and very picturesque
but a bit grotty when compared to the travel brochure and Disney
presentations of these places. At first the grotty bits, the noise and the
poverty loom large but soon the character of the place comes through and we
found that day on day,we were more comfortable and at home, and finding more
and more plus points.
Although happy at anchor, we needed to find a marina to leave the yacht.
Our first approach to the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club in Kuah
was a bit of a downer, as they could only offer us a temporary berth for a
couple of days but we landed up with a choice of berths at the other two
marinas only a few miles away. Our final choice was on pile moorings at the
Telaga Harbour Marina, a very posh place surrounded by upmarket hotels and
restaurants.Pile moorings have the advantage of being considered safer in
the event of another tsunami. Another advantage is that they were
significantly cheaper!
Compared to the UK and even Turkey, we found the yachtie population very
friendly and helpful and there was virtually no pretentiousness. Most people
were very far travelled , some from South Africa; Americans ,Canadians and
Europeans who had mostly come in the opposite direction from us, across the
Pacific,and of course a majority of New Zealanders and Australians, some of
whom made the skipper seem downright extravagant in his financial dealings,
a most unusual state of affairs. Manywere considering the trip up to the Med
and were apprehensive about the Gulf of Aden.and the Red Sea..The yachts
were evenly divided between catamarans and monohulls , the newer and larger
yachts tending to be cats, while many of theolder yachts were relatively
small monohulls, around 36 foot, which were obviously in need of some
maintenance but which had covered some considerable sea miles..
The local population are very kindly disposed to the yachties many of whom
are long term residents and have bought properties on the island
It is quite common for restaurants to give a yachtie discount and some even
had yachtie special menus in recognition of the fact that they were not
short term tourists
A striking feature of the locals was the friendliness and helpfulness
which was very much as we had remembered Thailand. Malaysia could be
Thailand but without the razzamatazz. Visiting the Travel Agents to arrange
our tickets home was pure entertainment.The two girls could have sold me a
ticket to the moon.
Telaga harbour is a pretty upmarket location but still very inexpensive in
U.K.terms.We were disappointed to have to leave Alienkat and are looking
forward to returning in February to start our exploration of the area which
seems to be full of good anchorages. It will take us a few years to fully
explore Malaysia and Thailand and at present we have no plans for further
long trips.]]>
At last however, we rounded into the Andaman Sea, where the waves miraculously smoothed away and the sun came out. Our first evening was magical; we saw what appeared to be tide in the water but as we approached, we realised it was whales of all sizes spouting. Most of them were lazing about on the surface and there were so many they seemed to fill the entire sea. The largest were about 15 metres long, longer than our boat, and they looked very black and angular. We were not sure whether to be totally mesmerised by the experience or terrified in case of attack but we passed by without incident, and that first night was clear, warm and without squalls. The sky was lit up by lightning,and we could see for miles around. That however was the good bit and thereafter day and night we were constantly subjected to squalls, rain and lightning until we arrived at Langkawi.
Our arrival at Langkawi was another of those magical times. The sky cleared, we saw yachts sailing for the first time since leaving Turkey and the anchorage was big, with plenty room for us to drop our hook.The holding was excellent,and the surrounding hills and islands were out of a holiday brochure.
We could not believe we had arrived; only 2 months and 2 days since leaving Turkey; almost 6000 miles travelled; no problems with the yacht; we were still speaking to each other and we had sailed through conditions we had never imagined possible. ]]>
We left Male in high spirits, and after 6 days and
3 hours reached our half way point, 800 miles due east of the Maldives, and well
to the east of Sri Lanka. It has been a great trip so far with only a
slight ocean swell, no rain, blue skies and a southerly wind, allowing us to
coast along at 6.5 - 7 knots with ease.The sea life is fantastic, with something
popping its head out of the water everytime you look out. Unfortunately, we have
been the last resting place of scores of flying fish, who launch
themselves onboard during the night. One even managed to go in the small 6" by
3" hatch in Margaret's cabin. Despite this, I have had no success with fishing
but the cook is doing such an excellent job that nothing additional is
required.
We still are receiving e-mail and weather forecasts
via our Thuraya phone which we did not expect and are carefully monitoring the
cyclone situation, but by Wednesday night, we should be safely in the Malacca
Straits with only 250 miles remaining.
There has been little shipping traffic: only 3
coasters, a ferry and 3 or 4 fishing boats so far, which is a surprise, so we
have the wide, open ocean all to ourselves.We had been undecided whether to head
for Phuket or Langkawi first but the potential situation in Thailand last week
has confirmed our destination as Langkawi.
Aileen had found an agent in Male for us from the web, to organise all the official paperwork necessary for clearing in and out of the Maldives, and we hailed him on the V.H.F.when we were about a mile off, and were directed to the north-west harbour.There a troop of officials came on board - police, immigration, customs and health, all of whose main concern seemed to be welcoming us to Male.
Following this, to our surprise, the agent took us for a familiarising walk around the town, pointing out the fish market, supermarkets etc and then treated us to a lovely lunch at a Thai restaurant.Then, while he took away the laundry, we did some shopping before meeting up again when he piloted us to our anchorage at the Hulule lagoon, where a fuel barge was waiting. We could not believe the friendliness and efficiency of the officials, our agent and even the fuel boatmen were so meticulous in their care of our boat.
After a long lie to recover, we spent the next couple of days carrying out minor repairs on the boat and the rest of the time, we took the 15 minute ferry from Halule to Male to explore the town, and enjoy the restaurants, which were incredibly good and cheap, although no alcohol was served!
Many of the shopkeepers were Indian and seemed intent on selling you all sorts of necessities that you didn't know you needed, all at bargain prices. Luckily our training sessions at a certain chemists had prepared us for all this, and we emerged relatively unburdened.
Our final meeting with the agent to get clearance papers and settle our account, was again so unexpectedly pleasant, with everything meticulously completed and the final account being much below the skipper's expectations.
On Sunday morning we set out on our final leg, only 1600 miles to go. Our intention is to keep just a few degrees above the equator thus avoiding any cyclones in the Bay of Bengal , then round the north of Sumatra before crossing the top end of the Straits of malacca to Langkawi where we hope to find a safe berth for the boat. ]]>
Arrived in Male at last after 16 days at sea. Our
longest trip so far - 1850 miles and never less than 200 miles from land after
leaving the Gulf of Aden. After the scary pirates in the Gulf of Aden and
unpleasant weather at Socotra, we expected an easy time but that was not to
be.The winds died down to 25 knots but we were left with a bumpy sea and many
squalls which shot the wind speed up, then drenched the poor crew, who rushed to
reef the sails.We tried reefing before the squalls but then they did not come!
Luckily there was some sun at this stage and we could dry out. A highlight was
Margaret practising the sewing skills she learned as a child and has seldom
practised since although to my knowledge she has never had to sew outside in 30
knot winds. A rip in the mainsail would not repair with a glued-on patch, so up
she got on the coach roof and sewed the patch on.For over an hour, she had to
sit in a most precarious position and patiently sew away and she was pretty
stiff by the time she got down. Not as stiff as the gin she downed
though!!
After the first four days, there followed a really
miserable 3 - 4 days of total cloud, almost continuous rain and squalls, and we,
like the boat, became wet and miserable. Everything we wore was wet, and,
if you opened a hatch, a sea would see it and come deluging in. We had quite a
few drenchings.
At last this cleared and we got below the 10 degree
north line, and we got back our warm sun and the squalls became much softer and
more manageable. The last few days were spent in high spirits racing towards
Male, while every article of clothing and upholstery got its turn to air in the
cockpit. We still got caught by the odd lumpy sea spotting an open hatch but so
what , it was sunny, warm and we were sailing at speed.
The approach to the Maldives was a bit nerve
wracking. We approached from the west, making landfall after dusk, and trying to
read up on how to navigate in coral. Basically, do not make landfall at night is
the gist of it.Armed with multiple G.P.S., chartplotters, radar and the most
up-to-date admiralty charts, however , we were undaunted.As skipper ( ha
ha ), I tentatively mentioned to my lady-wife crew, that I was a bit concerned
but she was on her way to bed , so I was told in no uncertain terms not to be so
stupid, just get on with it and see you in the morning and not before. She
was as always right and it was a very pleasant night, with a full moon and no
clouds. The atolls were lit up like beacons and I spent most of the night trying
to identify the multitude of marks on the radar screen. Totally beyond me but
let's hope that B.S.C. runs a course soon!
Whenever we have discussed our trip to any cruisers, this is the area most
feared.
The Gulf of Aden is considered the Pirate Alley of the world for yachtsmen
and there are many websites with talk of armed robberies in this sea between
Yemen and Somalia.Our insurance insisted on only a stop at Aden, no other.Our
attempt to go as a group failed due to timing and equipment failures on other
yachts. We set out from Aden nevertheless in good spirit and followed our
plan of going up the centre 50 miles offshore from Yemen and about 100 miles
from Somalia.
In the event we had no problems but the skipper lost a good
few years due to panick attacks.
Only 25 miles from Aden, in mid afternoon, we had about 12
fast open boats come racing towards us with half a dozen ruffians on board.They
passed pretty close and looked pretty scary but were obviously the fishing fleet
heading for port.At night ,in the shipping lanes we had to work hard to ensure
we were not run down bybut virtually all the traffic were on AISand so
identifiable. One or two odd wons caused concern for periods but we got through
safely.
Socotra has to be avoided by 100 miles minimum because of
piracy but our main concern was the weather.In July and August it blows F7-8and
upwards virtually all the time. Would the wind know that it was now the 1st
\september. Obviously not,we had 2 nights and days of F& and F*with enormous
seasand a dreadfull period of 40+Knot winds. which forced us to eventually run
north for 6 hours.
We survived intact, albeit with a tear in the mainsailand a very wet
boat but we are now in the Indian Ocean bouncing along at 7knots directly for
Male which is only 1000 miles away
]]>
to be one of the best stops so far.
It was hot but the anchorage got a good breeze and we met up again with the
Italians and the Frenchman we had first met in port Said.There were
virtually no flies, we never saw a Yemeni with a gun and although a bit
untidy Aden was clean and full of character and characters.
The views in Aden are so different with the whole place being built on the
barren rocks , most of the houses clinging to the steep sides of the
hills.The officials, although on the make, were nothing like as bad as in
Egypt and although a major shipping port there was plenty of room and time
given to the visiting yachts.The Yemeni people were so very interested and
welcoming. A major factor for us was always being asked if we were British,
never once English and everyone wished to have the British base back.
The women were all dressed in the full black Burka , many with the full
veil covering the eyes and we did not see any in the restaurants etc but
they were obviously happy and would all say hello and welcome as you passed.
The eyes were dark and very alluring.
We used a local taxi driver to get around during the day which was the only
viable solution but at night we went out and visited the restaurants and
markets on our own,.They were bustling, noisy and so completely different
but
they were never threatening. I have a penchant for heading up back alleys
but
Margaret never complained. The buses were like the Turkish Dolmus's but
older , faster and it was like being on a roller coaster.
When we first met our Italian friends in Port Said we had each taken advice
from different people and landed up at the same fish restaurant at the other
end of Port Said. This time they had asked a taxi driver while we met a chap
on the street who took us via bus completely across Aden to a restaurant but
again we met and had a meal with the Italians.They were 3 , a woman and 2
men , on a 35 ft monohull and were feeling pretty sorry for themselves after
the journey down the Red sea.
After 2 days we decided to head on as it seemed wrong to put off the next
bit of the journey which is perhaps the most daunting , 3 days up Pirate
Alley then 3 days round the top of Socatra where gales are the norm. We had
just checked out and lifted our anchor when Nicollete of Leigh , an English
couple we have been in touch with entered the anchorage. They had given us
really good advice via email but were doing the journey the slow, and hard,
way and were very tired after a trip from Mussawa. As they were talking
about a 2 week stop in Aden we decided to continue but look forward to
seeing them again in Thailand which is also their eventual destination]]>
The last day in the Suez Canal was very interesting because of the number
and size of the ships passing through and also because we had to anchor in the
Bitter Lakes till the northbound convoy passed and we then tagged on at the end
of the southbound convoy.Arriving at Port Suez at dusk, we decided to head
straight out into the Gulf of Suez, following the buoyed channel out through the
multitude of anchored boats before proceeding down the southbound shipping
lane. The chart plotter made this exercise very simple.
Despite dire warnings in the cruising manuals, we found the Gulf of Suez no
worse than any other busy shipping area. After the second night, we entered the
Red Sea and for a day or so encountered the strong winds written about in books.
Things then settled down, and for the northern and central sections of the Red
Sea, it was very pleasant sailing. The southern section lived up to its
reputation, however, and was blisteringly hot, regularly reaching 43degrees
centigrade in the saloon. We both took to sleeping in the cockpit when off watch
to benefit from any breeze. Through the final straits of the Red Sea at
Bab el Mandeb, the traffic was again "nose to tail"and, as we passed
through this at night, the skipper had some much needed practice in his
navigation. We finished this first long passage with an easy sail to Aden,
entering on Friday morning.We were disappointed, though, that the yachts in
whose company we had hoped to travel through the Gulf of Aden had already
left.
Distance travelled approximately 1300
miles.
]]>
Those in authority were hopeless however and their systems are very frustrating. In the end we were glad to get away which is a pity .The shipping in the canal was amazing to see, huge vessels from all over the world alongside small local dhows fishing and playing chicken with the large ships ]]>
03/08/06 Washed boat, fuelled up and left for Port Said about 1000am. Wind
on the nose for the first 50 miles, so engined then sailed close hauled
overnight for another 50 miles before we could ease off the wind. Had beautiful
wind all the way, a lot of the time reaching at over 6 knots. As we neared
Egypt, we had to take down the main and reef the jib to slow down so that we
could arrive in daylight.At 0530 on 6th August, Port Said was in the distance.We
skirted cautiously round the many container ships etc at anchor, to reach the
buoyed channel to Port Faoud where we were to tie up. We were met by a pilot
boat who insisted on us taking a pilot on board for the final 100 metres - and
of course the pilot demanded baksheesh!! The marina is the dirtiest, smelliest
place I've ever been tied up in but the staff are very pleasant and helpful.
David went to check the toilets ashore and couldn't describe the state they were
in . We could not believe our eyes when we saw an instructor and a class of
about 20 children appear for a swimming lesson in that filthy water.The
town however was vibrant and lively into the small hours, we enjoyed a great
dinner at a fish restaurant recommended by the boat next door and we were amazed
at the range of muslim dress universally worn by the
women
]]>
The adventure begins. Left Marmaris at last at 2pm on Saturday 29th July. A
F5 SW gave us a sparkling start with 4 hours at 8 Knots before settling
back for the rest of the trip to a F 2-3 from the west which gave us a good
Goosewing for most of the way. Used the sat phone successfully and arrived in
Kyrenia at 2.pm on 1st August . A sail of 270 miles in 3 days. The sunscreens
round the cockpit were terrific and in use each day from midday onwards and our
chosen night shift/ dayshift routine worked well although the second night is
always a killer.
Kyrenia(Girni) , which had come well recommended, lived up to
expectation. Delta marina, although small, was very friendly and we stocked up
at an excellent supermarket packed with UK brands and very cheap spirits. We
visited the old town and harbour and had a romantic meal on the harbour
front.
]]>
It is only 6 days until we leave for our voyage,
and panic is setting in. There seems to be a never-ending list of things to do
and a finite amount of time to get them done
Hopefully we have put together a comprehensive list
of engine spares, a set of electronic charts together with selected paper
ones,and have a reasonable stock of medicines; all our jabs are now up to date.
Needless top say this does not sound much, but took a long time to do and cost a
fortune. We have splurged out on new lifejackets , which hopefully we will
not use. There are a lot of things in our kit that I hope we will not use, but
better safe ....We are tonight going to try to pack a case to see how we are
doing weightwise; always a problem! I'm wanting to bring quite a few
books.