Eastern Mediterranean Sea

The weather looked good: Sunny blue skies, winds north at 6 knots, a slight bump on our port bow.  We had entered the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.  The mosques and smells and sounds of Port Said Egypt, the long rock jetties that protected the northern entry to the Suez Canal all faded in the distance behind us.  We had done it.  We were so proud of our personal accomplishments at sailing successfully through the sporty Gulf of Aden and through the pristine waters of the historic Red Sea.  Here, before us, lay the Mediterranean Sea.  The crown jewel of our global circumnavigation. We made a note of that slight bump in the waters from the west.  Marmaris, Turkey, was our destination, 390 NM to our NNW.  

We left Port Said under motor sail initially, with main only.  The radio was active with Israeli navy calling vessels asking their intentions, and the winds starting picking up to 16-18 knots NW with a small current behind us.  Our course to Marmaris was 298-300 degrees, and by 2300 on our first night in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, we heard warnings again for “live fire exercises” on VHF Channel 16.  The swells were bouncy and UN Warships were active on the radio.  Between sailing Sea Child, dodging Suez-bound ships and monitoring radio calls, the first 24 hours into the Eastern Mediterranean Sea was busy.

Our second day at sea was again active, this time with more unusual happenings on board Sea Child.  The winds had turned north, though light at 12 and with them a chill in the air.  We resorted to light sweatshirts as a light rain fell through high clouds.  A small bird actually flew into the master stateroom of Sea Child, a first for our world journey.  We had a blue-footed booby catch a ride with us as we sailed from the Galapagos Islands to the Marquesas Islands back in 2009, and random insects held on to our life lines throughout our various passages, along with a net full of flying fish on our trampolines.  The sight of a bird flying around my sheets and pillows was so unusual! How was I to catch this bird and set it free, without it making a mess all around us?

At noon, we put more oil in our starboard engine and Eric again made adjustments to that troublesome Harken roller furler system on our jib.  Winds became more variable, seas still bouncy, and by 1400 the winds were all over the horizon.  We had the forecast, a western system was rolling east, bringing with it good winds (as in 18-25, gusts to 40) but also, big seas.  I can take the wind, just reef the sails and sail the boat.  Its the seas that get me.  Their size, especially with this system they became 8-10’ on the beam and even larger, with wind gusts to 40.  We triple reefed the main and hanked the staysail in preparation for the winds a few hours prior, but as the winds increased, we ended up dropping the staysail and sailing with triple reefed main alone.  The use of Otto, the infamous auto-pilot, was barely possible, as each wave had to be approached by steering to port as we went up one side of the wave, then steering starboard as we went down the backside.  Each wave hit Sea Child with a vengeance, and at 2315, our metal coffee pot flew off the stove and crashed into the floor.  This loud racket had Eric fly up from his sleep, sure that the mast had just come down.  At this point, I recommended we slow Sea Child way down, 5.5 knots was just too fast over these building seas, now at +10’.  

We dropped the staysail again, slowing Sea Child down to about 2-3 knots.  While slow, we were more comfortable in a strong Eastern Mediterranean gale. The dark night brought more high winds, steady at 36 knots, and by dawn, the winds were steady at 40.  Our log is filled with notes such as “this is not fun” and “slow but steady sail to Marmaris” and “crashed by big wave’.  We were 100 NM from Turunc, Marmaris, Turkey, so close yet so far in these storm conditions, so uncomfortable was our final passage of this marathon journey.  Our friends on Laragh and Taimada experienced much of the same weather as we did, and our other friends on Cool Running II had set a course to Cyprus instead of Turkey to wait out the system we decided to sail through.  During my night watch, I considered changing course and steering more east, to go with the winds and seas.  But due east of our position was the coast of Syria with the UN Warships and that just did not seem to be a good option.  

At 10:00am on our third day, our SUP boards which were lashed onto the center beam on our starboard trampoline came loose, jerking their way to freedom in the thrashing waves.  Eric, while in his life harness and tether hooked to the jack stays, went forward to re-tie the boards down.  I steered the most comfortable course I could, all the while watching him retie our boards. After further inspection, Eric found that one of our trampoline leads had broken through the support rod that the trampoline is threaded through, causing the boards to shake loose.   The break even ripped up a small bit of the fiberglass that holds the trampoline rod itself.  The power of those waves left a lasting impression on both of us, as we have such respect for mother nature and are thankful to have been able to sail through the most powerful system we’d seen since the nasty sail north from New Zealand to Fiji back in 2011.

By noon on our third day, we had shaken out the 3rd reef, now sailing along with a double reef main and staysail.  We were picking up speed again, the winds backing down to 21-25 apparent with the wind angle at 40-60 degrees.  Turkish weather forecasts were now heard on VHF Channel 16, and the skies cleared.  We sailed through the lee of Rhodes, Greece, which tamed the seas enough to pick up more speed, now averaging 11 knots boat speed.  Our ETA to Marmaris was midnight.

The sun set on our last night at sea, the silhouette of  Rhodes shadowing the orange sky.  At 2251, on Wednesday 4 May 2016, Sea Child dropped anchor at Turunc Buku, Marmaris, Turkey.  The lights high above us suggested that the terrain was mountainous, as Turkish music floated over our empty anchorage.  We were exhausted from our crossing, but ecstatic all the same.  We made two beverages to enjoy as we sat in the cockpit and took in our surroundings.  We made it, we were in Turkey, our anchor was down, Sea Child was quiet.  Tears of relief slowly ran down my cheeks as another new country lay ahead of us.

As the sun rose on Sea Child, we peeked out of our stateroom windows at a new landscape.  Turkey, Turunc, this quiet little bay surrounded by the highest peaks dotted with little hamlets high above us.  We were reminded of the Pacific North West, with tall pine trees crowding the steep terrain.  Little coffee shops were open and a few people were visible on shore.  Rows and rows of closed umbrellas dotted the sand, and a little footbridge was shadowed by a red ice cream boat.  Civilization was all around us, Western Civilization. We were in a whole new world.  

To be continued in the next post: Turkey and the Failed Coup

Notes:  

Turunc, Marmaris, Turkey

36 degrees, 46 min N, 28 degrees, 15 E

Total miles sailed from Port Said:  391 Nautical Miles

Average Boat Speed:  6.5 knots

Total miles sailed from Langkawi, Malaysia to Marmaris, Turkey:  5,697 NM broken down as follows:

Langkawi, Malaysia to Similan Islands, Thailand: 200 NM

Similan Islands to Uligan, Maldives: 1,760.2 NM

Uligan, Maldives to Socotra, Yemen: 1,248 NM

Socotra, Yemen to Bab-el-Mandeb (Mouth of Red Sea) 651.9 NM

Bab-el-Mandeb to Massawa, Eritrea: 311.8 NM

Massawa, Eritrea to Suakin, Sudan: 278.5 NM 

Suakin, Sudan to Port Ghalib, Egypt: 483.5 NM

Port Ghalib to Suez Yacht Club (southern entrance to Suez Canal) : 300.8 NM

Suez Canal: 71.4 NM

Port Said to Marmaris, Turkey: 391 NM

We left Similan Islands, Thailand on 16 Feb 2016, arriving in Uligan, Maldives 24 Feb 2016.  We made a quick trip back to the USA to meet our 3rd grandchild in Newport Beach California, and were away from Sea Child in the Maldives for 7 days. We then set sail from Uligan, Maldives to Socotra Yemen on 20 March 2016.  From then onwards to Turkey, our adventures through the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, Red Sea and Eastern Mediterranean Sea (the Muslim world) left indelible memories we will cherish for our lifetime.  

Please come back for more Sea Child Adventures.

EGYPT: Sailing to Suez Yacht Club and the Suez Canal Transit

Approaching the Gulf of Suez

Up to Suez

We left Port Ghalib on Friday afternoon, after an amazing side trip to Luxor.  We had 300NM to sail up to Suez Yacht Club, at the northern tip of the Red Sea and southern entrance to the Suez Canal.  The winds were light offshore as we headed north again, cruising up the coast past the Port of Hurghada where cruise ships used to call prior to the piracy issues of the Gulf of Aden.  The facilities at Hurghada were large and impressive, visible from several miles away.  Our friends, Dave and Katrina on Laragh, were there at Hurghada and as we continued on, we sailed past the amazingly beautiful reefs off the northern Red Sea coast of Egypt.  

Sunrise over Sinai, Gulf of Suez

By nightfall on our second night, the northerlies returned with a vengeance.  They arrived as a slight bump from the north and as night fell, the bump turned into a steep wind chop.  For the last 150 NM up the Gulf of Suez, aware that the Gulf of Suez is only approximately 25 NM wide, we sailed up wind against the current in an uphill battle.  The sides of the Gulf are lined with oil rigs that light up the night sky, Sinai Peninsula to our starboard and the coast of Egypt to our port.  The last line of the log entry that was written at Port Tewfik, Suez states, “ROUGH PASSAGE Sat 10pm-Sun 8am.  I hate gulfs :(  29 degrees 56.8N, 32 degrees 34.3 E”.  Whats interesting to note is before that line, the previous log entry was more than 24 hours earlier.  

The passage was too rough to make log entries and the many obstacles along the shores kept us busy at the helm.  Gulf waters behave in a unique way, different from oceans or the waters of the Red Sea.  The current of the Gulf of Suez was opposing the north winds, so the chop was much steeper than expected.  Also, the chop is close together, given that the waterway is so narrow.  Most of the gulf passages that we experienced on Sea Child were quite noteworthy, with the exception being the Gulf of Aden.  On our GOA passage, we were with the winds and the currents, bringing different challenges but a more smoother ride than the Gulf of Suez. We had sailed 1,653 NM up the Red Sea from Bab-el-Mandeb, and a total of 5,035 NM from Langkawi, Malaysia. Once in Suez, we would begin to plan our final stop of this leg in Marmaris, Turkey.

Planning for the canal transit

Port Suez Yacht Club and side trip to Cairo

Approaching Port Tewfik and Suez City

Mosque at Suez

Once we arrived at Suez Yacht Club, we hired an agent to assist with our Suez Canal passage, Captain Heebee.  He was a kind, portly man who coordinated the measurement for our transit (which ended up costing us $320 USD) and he also arranged for the two of us to visit Cairo, as well as Giza and the Great Pyramids.  This was truly a fantastic experience.  We went to Cairo on a holiday of sorts (25 April), where Egypt celebrates the day that Israel left the Sinai Peninsula.  The streets in Cairo were empty, and as we parked at the Cairo Museum, we noticed the large Egyptian Army with tanks and soldiers with rifles standing guard just off the entrance to the Museum.  We were told that a possible demonstration would happen after the announcement in Egypt that the Tirin Islands of Egypt in the Red Sea had just been handed over to Saudi Arabia. Given that tourism was also down, the Cairo Museum and the great pyramids of Giza were mostly empty.   The drive to Cairo from Suez City was long, the desert heat almost unbearable.  

King Tut treasure at Cairo Museum

Giza side trip

While we were in Cairo, our friends on Taimada and Laragh had arrived at the Suez Yacht Club. The three of us had not been together since back in Uligan, Maldives!  Our friends on Cool Running II also arrived and we all waited for our turn to transit the canal.  We were all cleared out of Egypt as our transit of the Suez Canal was to take place on the 28th of April.  This date was cancelled and according to Captain Heebee, a USA warship was coming through the canal which always stops small vessels from transiting at the same time.  The very next day, 29th April, a large super freighter "MSC FABIOLA" ran aground inside the canal, shutting down the whole canal for two days.  Our AIS looked like a green zipper, as all the large vessels behind the FABIOLA had to tie up in the canal itself, waiting for the FABIOLA to be moved.  

The line of AIS ships stuck in the Suez Canal due to the MSC FABIOLA grounding

And to make the wait more unbearable, we were following the weather north of Port Said, Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.  We were all eager to get ahead of some severe weather that was forecast to hit this sailing area within a few days time.  Yet we were trapped in Suez, without the ability to leave the marina for any reason since we were cleared out of Egypt.  We eventually had Mr. Karkar, a kind marina worker at Suez Yacht Club, order us pizza delivery so we could have a little gathering of friends aboard Sea Child just prior to our final departure. Our friend, Sandra on Cool Running II,  brought her delicious vegan cake to share as well. 

Eastern Mediterranean Weather Outlook,  1 May 2016

Reunion of friends, from left:  Dave & Katrina from Laragh, Eric, Hans & Ute from Taimada, Sandra and  Georg from CoolRunning II

Mr. Said at Suez Yacht Club

Suez Canal Transit

Laragh and CoolRunning II at Suez Canal

Early the next morning and without warning, Captain Heebee and four Suez Canal pilots came knocking on our hulls. The sun had not yet risen, and we were told that if we hurried, we could transit the Suez Canal all the way through to Port Said (120 NM north of Suez Yacht Club). We would have to change pilots at Ismailia, on the shores of Lake Al-Timsah (Bitter Lakes) in northeast Egypt.  (It's interesting to note that back in the times the pharaohs, Lake Al-Timsah actually connected to the Gulf of Suez long before the construction of the Suez Canal.)  We were thrilled to hear this, because this way we would be ahead of the bad weather that was coming into the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.  It was time to bid a very fond farewell to the Red Sea, to Egypt, to the land of pharaohs and pyramids and antiquities.  

MSC FABIOLA damage in the Suez Canal

Mosque in Suez Canal

Transiting the Suez Canal was amazing, wait and all.  The canal itself was opened back in 1869, and expanded in 2015.  With the expansion, 97 vessels can transit the canal in one day with ships sailing in both directions.   The "New Suez Canal" as it was called after the expansion, was built to allow vessels to sail between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea without going around the tip of South Africa (the Suez Canal cut approximately 3,700 NM off the journey).  The canal was closed for 8 years during the turbulent Middle East conflict between Egypt and Israel, 1967-1975.

Our early pre-dawn departure was calm and flat.  The four vessels (Sea Child, Laragh, Taimada and CoolRunning II) were in a line, taking pictures of each other as the sun rose over the Sinai Peninsula to our starboard.  The scenery around us was stunning in the early morning light. The sands on either side of the canal were neatly groomed with several mosques, spaced a few kilometers apart, were visible along the entire passage.  At the spot of the large container grounding, large mounds of sand gave evidence to the weight of the vessel and the speed with which it hit the embankment.  We had a favorable current running with us, and at times, Sea Child was moving along the canal at 11 knots!

We arrived in Lake Al-Timsah in about five hours where we dropped off our first pilot along with his required bag of goodies or “baksheesh”.  Even with our "gift" to our first pilot, he asked if we had any boat parts or fishing gear or clothes.  We were not properly prepared for this, expecting that our "gift" was acceptable.  We learned that the pilots wanted more, and by saying no, we may have set ourselves up for future problems.  We were told by Captain Heebee that we would be picking up our second pilot at the Ismailia Yacht Club, and since we arrived around noon, we thought we had plenty of time to change pilots and continue up the Suez Canal.

Suez Canal Pilot

We waited and waited for the second pilot, and finally, after a couple of hours, we called Captain Heebee and found out that the commodore of the Ismailia Yacht Club, who had connections with the canal authorities, had called off the pilots until the next day.  According to our agent, the commodore did not want to see four boats go by without collecting as much money as possible.  He demanded we tie up at the sea wall of the yacht club (for a fee, of course) and spend the night. There was only one restaurant that we were allowed to order from, again at Ismailia Yacht Club, because we had already cleared out of country.  We had no other options: It is forbidden to anchor in Lake Al-Timsah and the pilots could only meet us at the Ismailia Yacht Club.  The good news is we all got together again for takeout one more night on Sea Child.

Lake Al-Timsah,  Suez Canal

Mubarak Peace Bridge, Suez Canal

The next morning, after we all paid up, sure enough four new pilots came down to the boats. This time, we were prepared for the “baksheesh” by packing a gift bag for the pilot in advance.  We gave him an old t-shirt, some grain bars, a pack of cigarettes, and a white envelope with cash ($20USD) neatly packaged in a proper gift bag.  The second half of the Suez Canal Transit was equally impressive, with several large super freighters and tankers passing by our starboard as they headed south into the Red Sea.  We even saw one of the largest superyachts we had ever seen pass us by, noting their hailing port as Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.  We passed under the impressive Mubarak Peace Bridge, a 2.4 mile long and 210 feet high bridge that was built in cooperation with Japan and opened in 2001.  And the tiny waves off our bow gave us notice of several more freighters and tankers that were entering the canal hundreds of yards away.  We were both in awe of such an incredible waterway ~ the Suez Canal ~ and were thankful to have had the opportunity to transit our second great canal of the world. (The first was the Panama Canal in 2009).

Ships entering Suez Canal from Eastern Mediterranean Sea

Trouble at Port Said

Yet trouble was still ahead of us, for at 1030 in Port Said, the pilot boat that came along side Sea Child also demanded “baksheesh”.  We told the pilot boat that we already gave a gift to the pilot, but they were not going away unless we gave something to them as well.  They even threatened to ram Sea Child with their pilot boat if we did not pay up!  We ran to grab some cigarette packs and threw them at the pilot boat who turned away without harming Sea Child.  We did not hear if the other boats were also harassed by their pilot boat drivers.  While the canal transit itself was an amazing experience, the pilot boat “baksheesh” and the Ismail Yacht Club hold-up  somewhat tarnished what could have been an amazing experience.  Had we been better prepared for the “baksheesh” of Egypt, we would have enjoyed the experience more (see notes, below).  However, we were finally able to set sail for Marmaris, Turkey, 462 NM North.

Remember that weather we were trying to avoid?  Luck would not be on our side and we all got smacked hard by the strong westerly gale on our sail north.

To be continued in our next entry, “The Eastern Mediterranean Sea, Turkey and the Attempted Coup”

My recommendations if you plan to visit Egypt:

1). Bring small white envelopes with you along with several ($100 or more) $1 bill (USD).  Place bills in envelopes and hand out as “gifts” for people who deserve it.  Do not open your wallet in public, do not use an ATM around your guide/agent, use caution when handling your cash.

2).  Make “gifts” ahead of your Suez Canal transit for the pilots.  You will have two pilots on board, one from Suez Yacht Club to Ismailia Yacht Club and one from the Ismailia to Port Said.  Each pilot will ask for a gift.  We put t-shirts or food items and cigarettes in each “gift”, along with a white envelope of cash.

3). Plan to possibly be harassed by the pilot boat drivers in Port Said, who pick up your last pilot.  We were asked for a “gift” or “baksheesh” by the pilot boat drivers.  I was not prepared for this as we had already given our “gift” to the pilot.  They became hostile to me and threatened to ram Sea Child if they did not get their “baksheesh”.  I ran downstairs and grabbed some extra packs of cigarettes to throw at them.  

Owning Our Story

Eric and I before the ARC2018 start
Las Palmas, Gran Canary, Spain

Thank you for visiting our blog and the story of our circumnavigation!

As of this date, 5 January 2019, we have successfully sailed 45,000 NM on our circumnavigation.  We have visited 49 countries, and many of them are featured here in previous entries.  Is is our goal to continue to share these stories and inspire many of you to pursue your own dreams, for dreams do come true!  Our dream to circumnavigate the world began a long time ago, with a yacht race from Long Beach, California to La Paz, Mexico in 1979.  We plan to share this story and many others with you over the next several posts!

Prepping the country flags after the ARC2018 finish, St. Lucia
photo courtesy of Hugo De Pavant

It's not impossible to dream.  It's not impossible to fulfill a difficult task that is limited by pain or discomfort.  On Sea Child, Eric and I have suffered hardships and challenges in the most remote places on the planet.  We've met fantastic people in all parts of the world, with different cultures and religions and political points of view.  We will share more of these meetings and stories with you as well.

Arriving into the Yemen Port at Socotra
photo courtesy of Denis Romanov, Socotra.info

In our past posts, we only touched on some of the highlights of our destinations.  For example, on our Gulf of Aden Crossing (see story by clicking link on right under 2016),  I experienced a high level of anxiety after coming up on watch and finding that Eric had jibed Sea Child on a course of 270, taking us closer to the IRTC lanes but at the same time closer to the coast of Somalia.  This high anxiety caused a certain level of pain due to my 17 year battle with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).  There are many other details about our world journey that you may find inspiring in overcoming personal challenges while achieving life goals.

Sea Child at Graciosa, Canary Islands, Spain

It is our hope that we can help you achieve your goals through the inspiring tales that we will keep sharing.  We will also get into more of our  own personal hardships, while at sea or on land.  We will share how I overcame a high fever for several days in Kos, Greece.  We will also share how Eric saved our torn spinnaker and how it fell back on the deck rather than into the water while sailing at 11 knots.  And we will open our picture book to give you a glimpse at our views along the way.  So stay tuned and be sure to add your name to our followers list by clicking the "follow" button on the right.

Sea Child at Tavolara, Sardinia
Summer 2018

Again, thank you for your time and interest in our Sea Child: Big Cat Sailing Around the World.  Please come back often and bookmark this page.  The story continues and we will share the challenges we have overcome along the miles at sea.  It's not the easiest thing to do, to sail the world either with a group or double handed.  But it has been worth it every nautical mile we've traveled.

Happy 2019 from Eric and I on Sea Child!

Celebrating our circumnavigation at the ARC2018  finish, St. Lucia
8 December 2018

Smooth Sailing,
Tamara Barto

Please come back for our next story: 
Eastern Mediterranean Crossing: From Port Said to Turunc, Turkey including the Suez Canal transit