The Chronicle of Peter Zappert’s Round the World Trip
Peter Zappert (Pe B, 1955-62) is sailing round the world and hopes to be in UK next summer and visit the school. Who's Blue lists him as married with one son and three daughters. This is a chronicle of his voyage.
Left Sydney on 1st March on my own and sailed to Coasters Retreat, Pittwater and then the next day to Newcastle where I anchored in the Hunter River.
Tim O'Connell (a friend I met in Port Stephens when I was fixing the boat in Feb) joined me in Newcastle to help me get to Brisbane. We went directly to Southport, staying well out to sea most of the way.
Staying one night in Southport, we then motored up inside the islands to Manly, Brisbane where we went into the East Coast Marina. Tim then went home. Thanks Tim.
I stayed about 3 weeks in Manly with a week in the middle out of the water at the Brisbane Shiplifts in the Brisbane River fixing up the damage done to the sides when I was at the wharf for the farewell party in Botany Bay.
Steve Weld joined me in Brisbane to see if he wanted to come on any later parts of the trip. We sailed for Mackay, stopping at Burnett Heads for one night where we moored just next to Lynne from Harvey Bay who was living on her boat at Burnett Heads.
Steve & I then sailed north stopping for one night at the South Percy Island. A beautiful place. (NB Steve is joining me at Broome to come to the middle East with me).
At Mackay, Steve left and I then sailed to Airlie Beach stopping for one night at Happy Bay, Long Island then staying at the Abel Point Marina.
At Abel Point, Jill joined me and we set off for 4 days sailing around the Whitsundays. Jeremy, Pauline & Philippe had hired a boat from Hamilton Island so we met them in Hamilton Island Marina and spent the next 4 days in convoy with them. Pauline acting as an excellent chief chef making sure we ate well. We wandered around staying at various places. (Nara Inlet, , Turtle Bay, Whitehaven Beach, Chance Bay). The weather was sunny and light winds and it was a very restful time. We went back and anchored in the Bay at Airlie Beach where a backpacker (Matt Evans) Joined us for the trip to Cairns.
Jill, Matt and I then set off for Cairns. The weather had sunny patches but often became overcast with strong winds, behind us so it didn't matter too much, but the next 2 weeks really were just frequent rain squalls and winds up to 40 knots. Being inside the reef the waves were not too bad and it was a following wind. Most of the time we just had the jib up. I even had to reef that once. We went straight to Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island and had a little walk around. Then on to North East Bay, Great Palm Island where we tried to shelter. However, the swell came round the headland and it was just like being out at sea. Matt (hunter-gatherer) caught a good Albacore which fed us for a main meal.
We then planned a serious of day trips to make it easier, but with the strong winds, we either did twice the distance intended and did two days in one or the sea was too rough to go over the shallow bars. We went into Lucinda and stayed in Bluff Creek just at the bottom of Hinchinbrook Island. Raining hard so didn't see much. Then up to Cardwell where we stayed at the Port Hinchinbrook Marina for a couple of days. Cardwell is a small town, I embarrassed myself by asking a policeman where the other part of the town was (I had been told there was another street inland a bit) and he laughed and said that what I could see was all of it.
We then went north stopping at Mourilyan Harbour and then on to Cairns where I moored in the river opposite the Marlin Marina & Cairns Yacht Club. Here Jill & Matt left.
I had a long wait at Cairns as we had arrived earlier than planned and Graham Hooper (& friends) could only join me for the next leg on the 19th May, about 3 weeks later. I picked up my mail from Alan (Jill's son who lives in Cairns) I visited the Cairns Yacht Club a few times, a pleasant place (with character). On one occasion I was just sitting there and struck up a conversation with the person on the next table (who looked a little familiar). He said he was from Albany in WA, and I replied "do you know a Ken King from Albany?" He responded - "I am Ken King" We then both realised we knew each other. I had visited him at his office in Albany a couple of times and also met him at numerous NIBA conferences at Jupiters - Gold Coast.
Cairns has built an open swimming lagoon along the front next to the Beach (mud). In the heat, I would dinghy across and have a cool swim before tea.
The winds and currents were strong in the river and thus finding enough space for anchoring was a problem, however, my anchor held well. The other boats were a problem though. One night I woke to find a monohull nestling alongside, the owner had left too long a chain on it. I looked after it for an hour or so until 4 o'clock in the morning when its owner came back and didn't seem that concerned even though it damaged my boat. Another night I awoke to find a monohull laying across my bows. It was being towed in when trying to find its mooring somewhere near where I was, and had somehow got stuck on the front of me. The boat towing him finally managed to pull it away from me so only the stern was nestling against the from of my boat (about where the anchor comes out). It then got stuck on my anchor chain, so I let the chain out and he got free. I decided to pull up anchor and move somewhere else to get out of the way. I then motored past them to let them know I had moved and they just swore at me (guilty conscience?). When I tried to anchor, I found that my anchor had been squashed in its roller and wouldn't go down. Because I was on my own and it was dark, I decided to go out to sea and sail north to Port Douglas over the rest of the night. When light came I could see what to hit to get the anchor free and went into Port Douglas and anchored right up the river. (Cairns is not my favourite port).
Port Douglas is a lovely place. I had to anchor well upstream as the river is not that wide and for mile or so there are local yachts moored with no room. It took me about 20mins by dinghy to get downstream to the Marina which was 5 mins walk from the town. I saw my first crocodile here and most times up or down could see him. The Port Douglas Yacht Club is small but pleasant. I can recommend the Steak & Kidney Pies. The town is neat and tidy and it is a good place to stop. The Marina was reasonable price and helpful. There was a regular "Crocodile Tour" boat that came past me up stream that always seemed to come past with tourists gawking just as I was under the shower at the back. After the first time they even used ask me over the loud speaker was my hair washed properly today. I spent a couple of days in the Marina and got my anchor roller fixed and an electrician to sort out various issues (water maker, bilge pumps).
I then motored back to Cairns to pick up Graham Hooper, Bill Bailey and Peter Taylor who were helping me from Cairns to Darwin.
Graham, Bill & Peter were in a bit of a hurry and wanted to get to Darwin within 2 weeks if possible, so we didn't stop at many places. We initially went to Cooktown where we arrived in early morning and had a good cooked breakfast and filled the diesel up. Then the day began with a gentle pub crawl up the main strip. The RSL, The Aboriginal Pub (Rick the barman), The Top End Pub (lunch & a few beers), The Aboriginal Pub (Rick the barman), The Tourist Hotel, The RSL and back to the boat. Bill kindly bought 4 "condoms" (Beer Coolers) for the boat.
The next morning we left for Lizard Island, getting there in the early afternoon. We had heard that the local tourist hotel was unfriendly, but were surprised when as we sailed across the bay going to our anchorage, a motor dinghy came zooming to us to say they were burning off on the island and there was too much soot and cinders, we should only anchor here tomorrow. (Did he expect us to sail around in circles all night). We dutifully ignored him and anchored where we had intended. There was a lot of burning off, but the smoke was only light around the boat. We went ashore by dinghy, and before we could get to the shore a motor boat approached us and said that we were not allowed to go to the resort. He did admit there was nothing stopping us going on the beach or any where else. , Once again we ignored the advice and landed outside the resort. Bill and his wife have a travel agency, so stubbornly we went up into the resort and asked about prices etc. They did have a bar way down the beach that was opened about 6 o'clock for the riff raff. Graham & I went for a walk up the promontory near our boat and then went down to the bar to join Bill & Peter. We met Willem & Helga who invited us to se their boat and I gave them a copy of some Navigation CDs they wanted. They were from Germany sailing around the world and Willem had just had a stroke at Lizard Island and seemed OK and was intending to continue sailing back home. Helga seemed in a terrible state about it. They were heading for Gove & Darwin, but I haven't seen them yet.
We left Lizard Island the next morning to head for Gove. We decided not to stop off at Thursday Island. The weather was tremendous, sunny and medium winds from the SE. We caught a large spotted mackerel which fed the 4 of us for 3 meals. Graham did the honours of gutting, beheading, filleting it. Graham's cooking skills came to the fore and it was delicious.
Up the east coast the reef is fairly close in and the main shipping lane takes up almost all the clear area. There were a few commercial ships and a lot of trawlers which we had to avoid at night.
Just before Cape York, we went through the Albany Passage which was the first narrow passage I have been through (except in Whitsundays) and then past the Cape York Lighthouse.
From here we sailed across the top of the Gulf of Carpentaria to Gove. During the day we were approached by a Coast Watch plane which asked us on VHF what we were about. Bill cheekily asked them why couldn't they fly any lower (we had 3 ex fighter pilots on board).
During the night we heard a Coast Watch boat about 12 miles away trying to contact another yacht which wouldn't answer. They didn't worry us and we could not see their lights nor see them on Radar.
At Gove, the crew insisted I moor in the bay just outside the yacht club. We were the closest boat to the club. I reckon the got my 4ft draught boat into 3 1/2ft of water. The club was tremendous. The Commodore (Bill) welcomed us and the next day took us for a little tour and then to his supermarket for food top up. We met Ignacio & Isabella of "Endeavour" from Spain who were the stubborn boat that didn't answer the Coast Watch for a long while. The food at the club was tremendous. We also met John from Seattle who was on his own and also going west.
We stayed 1 day at Gove and then left for Darwin. The first bit needs some tide planning to get through 2 narrow passages at the right tide time (Willoughby Passage and Hole in the Wall) You need to get to Willoughby with the flood and the Hole in the Wall with the ebb. We therefore left at 4 o,clock in the morning to get the tides right. We went through Willoughby Passage easily, having motored to there and then could sail on to the Hole in the Wall (Which previously Bill had gone through at just the wrong time, I am not sure if this makes him an expert or not). We had seen a sail well ahead of us all morning which we assumed was John from Seattle. When we approached the entrance to the Hole in the Wall we saw a boat with no sail off to the right. John then called us up and asked where the entrance was. We just said follow us. We went ahead and after we were through saw that he also came through later. The Hole in the Wall was fabulous, very picturesque & fast flowing, only about 60 metres wide an we were sailing at 4.7knots and with the current our speed over the ground was 8.9 knots.
From there we sailed directly to Darwin, not seeing anything other than a few lights as we rounded the top and smelling the bush fires which seemed strange out to sea.
Overall we averaged 6.5knots for the periods we were at sea from Cairns to Darwin.
At Darwin we arrived just in time in the early evening to get into the Cullen Bay Marina. It has a little lock you go through which protects the Marina against the large tides in Darwin.
Graham left on the Monday, Bill & Peter shouted me a fabulous meal whilst we watched the sun go down over Fannie Bay. Bill & Peter left on the Tuesday and Aaron arrived on the 5th June.
We again met Ignacio & Isabella. We all watched the sun go down over Fannie Bay together with a few beers and Isabella is going to cook us (and teach me how to) Paella tomorrow night. Tomorrow, Ignacio, Aaron & I will buy the ingredients.
A local, Dennis Ford, has a Grainger 37 (he lives in Darwin) and is an expert on the Kimberlies. He is just about to go off on another 5 month trip with his wife into the Kimberlies. He has provided me with a whole lot of info about where to go from here to Broome. It has completely changed the details but undoubtedly will optimise the next leg. The bible here is WA Yachting book similar to "Lucas" for the east coast. Dennis has given me a whole lot of corrections to this and also advice about good places to go.
I originally was scheduled to leave on the 9th June, but it probably will now be 12th June.
This is the story of the Darwin to Broome leg:
Friday 13th June
Aaron and I were the crew for this leg. We left Darwin at 8.00am on Friday 13th June, going out of Cullen Bay Marina via the lock that protects it from the tides. I immediately impressed Aaron by taking a short cut across a sandbank and having to come a way back when I realised my error. The weather was very kind with a 10-15knot South Easterly and no waves so we decided to sail direct to Koolama Bay which was about 220 miles away across the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf, and I consider as the beginning of the Kimberlies. The first day the sea breeze overcame the South Easterly and blew in from the North West which was fine for us as we were going just left of West. That night there was little breeze until a new South Easterly came rushing in.
Sat 14th June
All day and from then until we got to Koolama Bay the wind was 25 to 30knots. We sailed with just the jib and the waves were short and about 3 metres. We got a lot of water in over the Port side as we were going parallel to the waves. A difficult day for Aaron to get used to the boat. There was a full moon and Kooolama Bay has no rocks so when we arrived at midnight we went in and anchored near the mouth of the King George River. It was really pleasant to get out of the strong winds.
Sunday 15th June
We went in the mouth of the river using some coordinates given to us by Dennis Ford in Darwin which took us though a dog leg of a channel through the sand banks that cover the entrance to the King George River. We made slow progress with a 25knot wind directly against us. At this stage I was only using one motor as the controls on the starboard motor were sticking and difficult to use. Once in the river, the influence of the wind decreased and we motored half way up the river to where Dennis had recommended an anchorage. However, after 3 tries I couldn't get the anchor to hold so we decided to go right up the river to where the waterfall is. At the top of the river, there is really only one spot to anchor really comfortably and when we got there we found someone already there. In fact about a 70ft stink boat complete with helicopter. We anchored a little down stream from them and tidied up the boat and ourselves after the trip from Darwin.
Monday 16th June
Anchored at top of King George River. Our neighbour the boat with a helicopter has left and we were on our own. Had a civilised breakfast, Aaron cooked a splendid omelette. We put on the breadmaker (a present from Aaron to the boat) in preparation for lunch. We then went by dinghy to find the way to the top of the cliffs, supposedly marked by cairns. We missed the cairns on the way up, but did find them at the top of the escarpment after a long climb. The cairns were useful to follow to get to the rock pools which were almost dry. Most of the pools were so stagnant that you wouldn't want to drink the water, but one was just clean enough so I had some. No water running at all along the river. Had a rest and then returned down to the boat. Topped up with water and then went exploring down stream where we had seen a good crevice on the way in. On the way saw my first definite sighting of a dugong.
Tuesday 17th June
Up at 6.30 so we could get downstream and over the sand bars at the mouth of the King George River whilst the tide was high. Then a quick sail to Jim's Beach with just the jib again with a good South Easterly behind us but with 3 metre seas.. Arrived early (11.25am at Jim's Beach. Had some problems finding an anchorage that held properly, but eventually settled in OK a little way from the beach. Dinghied in and went for a walk along the beach. Not a memorable beach. Rough sand and nothing special. Fixed the pulley on the dinghy davits that had broken. Pulled the toilet switch apart then found that the switch had been turned off. In putting it together again it broke. For the moment we are just touching the 2 wires to run the toilet pump out. Fixed the Port Motor handle that again had begun to slip. Another early night.
Weds 18th June
Up at 6.30am again as we had to get round Cape Londenderry with a flood tide so the current would be with us. Cape Londenderry is the northernmost part of Australia. Once again made splendid time with just the jib up and a following wind, arriving at Bruce's Bay at 9.50am. We seemed to be doing 9 or 10 knots over the ground all the time, a good example of taking advantage of the tide. Bruces Bay was a splendid bay. We went for a walk and saw very recent crocodile tracks. Some of them were in the wet sand. I picked a lot of pink shells and when back at the boat made a necklace for Nimmity. I am sure she will see them as the height of fashion. I even managed to learn to use the engraver to put her name on them. Lots of fish in the bay, but nothing caught yet.
Thurs 19th June
Once again left early and arrived at Honeymoon Bay at 10.40am. Aaron had noticed a crack in the hull just behind the starboard front beam on the inside. I was fairly sure it wasn't structural, but to be sure I wanted to contact an expert to help. At Honeymoon Bay there is a Caravan Park run by the aborigines. This is the only habitation we expect to see until we get to Broome in the middle of July. About 28km inland there is an aboriginal mission "Kalumburu". Les French the aboriginal Owner/Manager of the Caravan Park charges $50 for a there and back trip to Kalumburu ($ per kilometre). I took some pictures of the crack with the digital camera and loaded them on a floppy. I arranged with Les that we would leave for Kalumburu at 7.30 the next day. At this stage Les was rather standoffish and only marginally friendly. He was obviously first and foremost a businessman trying to make a buck. Fishing trips of half a day were $70, Rock Art Tours $25.
Friday 20th June
Up early and ashore with my PC and floppy with the pictures of the boat. My intention was (when I got to Kalumburu) was to
- - Email to Richard Baxter the pictures of the crack using the community land telephone line connected to my PC
- - Phone Richard Baxter in Brisbane and tell him the email was there and ask him to get Sean Arber to have a look at them and advise me what to do (Sean Arber is a recognised builder/expert of catamarans and is able to be definitive about these sort of things)
- - Get a reply back later in the day from Richard/Sean
As I approached Les's house I was aggressively chased by a black dog until Les's daughter called her off. She was being protective of her newly born pups.
Everybody in the Kimberlies has a 4 wheel drive. Les was no exception, a well kept Toyota Land Cruiser. Les had to take his young granddaughter to primary school each day at Kalumburu and the car was packed with Les, myself, Kimberly (the daughter), Les's wife, Les's daughter (mother of Kimberly), Simba a Chihuahua and one of the other dogs pups. I was in the middle of the back seat cuddling Simba. Over the dirt roads we went at 30-40kph and it took 1/2 to 3/4 hr to get there. I was ushered into the Kalumburuu Mission Community Office by Les. It is worth mentioning here that Les dealt with life as if he owned everything. He politely but firmly ordered everybody around and somehow you just accepted it. When we went across the road to the mission Café to get a cup of tea, Les just told me to carry his lunch which was in a paper bag. I didn't argue, just did it. The same on the way back. When he met tourists wanting to register with the office he would "tell" them to sit down.
About midday Sean phoned back and said the cracks looked like non structural and skin cracks which needed looking at when I get to Broome and perhaps I need to tighten the stay on the front beam going over the seagull striker. I was then ready to return. Les told me that his daughter came out of school at 1.30pm when we would go back to Honeymoon Bay. As I was waiting around, I got talking to a couple of 4 wheel drive tourists (Iver & Chris) and invited them to come aboard that evening for tea. I said I would pick them up from the beach at 5.30pm to 6.00pm. 1.30pm came and Les seemed to suddenly have all these other things to do. Fill up with diesel for the camp, Fill up with petrol for the camp (there was a large trailer at the back of the car), pick up an old refrigerator to take to the camp, do some more shopping, order a few more tourists around, etc etc and eventually we got away about 4.00pm.
Sat 21st June
Fond farewells to Iver & Chris and we left early once again to catch the tide and sailed to a beach near Low Island where the book said there was a DC3 wreck to see. Aaron and I went ashore and started to look for the DC3 in the place shown on the map. After about 2 hours of crisscrossing the bush just behind the beach we gave up. No DC3.
Sun 22nd June
Went to Parry Harbour that had a reputation for Oysters. As soon as we arrived we went about 3/4 quarters of a mile to the recommended island and found the oysters. Unfortunately the tide had just come in a little too much and the big ones were down in the water and because of crocodiles we didn't want to get in the water. The oysters on the top were just little and I wasn't very good at shucking them. We did take the dinghy right up to a crop of them when "Whoosh" we holed the dinghy on an oyster and air started to rush out of the "rubber ducky". We immediately gunned the motor and headed for home trying to get there before the dinghy went flat. We both sat right at the back so that the hole which was in the front didn't fill with water. Then just as we needed speed, the motor stopped, but luckily it only needed a top up with fuel, which was in a spare container.
Mon 23rd June
We sailed on to Krait Bay, where without a dinghy we stayed on board and applied a patch to the dinghy.
Tues 24th June
Sailed onto Prudhoe Island and tried the dinghy which only just worked as the mended side was only just inflated. I couldn't find how to blow it up and keep the air in when I put the cap on the hole. We were late into the island and only had enough time to test the dinghy and walk the beach and look at some funny shaped rocks.
Weds 25th June
Sailed to Wary Bay. On the way I worked out how to use the valve on the blow hole in the dinghy and blew the dinghy up fairly well. Wary Bay was terrific. On the way in Aaron caught a "Giant Trevally" on the lure trailing behind. It was enormous, about 3 feet long, very fat and very heavy, easily the largest fish Aaron has ever caught. It was cut up and put in the freezer. On shore there were caves at the southern end of the beach which had a whole lot of old aboriginal art of various kinds. The people with things like space suits on their head which I understand are some sort of guardian against bad weather. A different style of people in a boat smoking some sort of pipes. Turtles, etc. The surprise was a burial place complete with human skull guarding the entrance and some human bones just behind the head. All seemed completely authentic. We then walked around and up onto some low cliffs.
Thurs 26th June
Sailed to Careening Bay getting there in late afternoon and had to rush ashore to see what we had come for. It was here that Phillip Parker King carved "HMO Mermaid 1820" into a boab tree during his survey of Australia. The Mermaid spent 16 days at Careening Bay whilst repairs were made on the keel, stern post, rudder connections etc. Unfortunately iron nails had been used in her construction. The boab tree was there just up the creek with the inscription. Fantastic.
Fri 27th June
Sailed to St George Basin which is the mouth area of the Prince Regent River. We chose a spot to stay the night so we could get the correct tide to take us up the river the next day. Aaron caught a Cobia from the back of the boat. A cobia is a good fish to eat, it was about 2 ft long. We ate half of it that night. We then went up the side river to see what was around. It was called Lushington Valley. Sounds more like the cleavage of a barmaid rather than a river. When back at the boat we suddenly noticed a crocodile just at the side of Charlie. He wasn't gigantic but was reasonably big, probably about 3 metres. He was evil. When we came to the side of the cockpit he would approach lying about 1 foot away from the sugar scoops at the back of the boat. He hung around for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening.
Sat 28th June
Motored upstream about 20 miles to Purulba Creek. Nothing much there except a good anchorage and no resident crocodile. There were fish jumping at night and as Aaron and I were pulling in the crab pot, a mackerel about 1 foot long jumped right into the cockpit. We already had enough fish to eat so put him back in the water. Seems unreal that good eating fish actually jump into the boat.
Sun 29th June
Motored up to the Kings Cascade with the incoming tide. You can only get there at high tide. At last real waterfalls. Once again fantastic. We didn't land as we had decided to only stay a couple of hours and then go back down the river. There was however a resident crocodile that looked us over. Only about 2 metres this time. You can stay in the pool for low water, but you sit in oozy mud and then wait for the next high tide. We didn't fancy it. There was an American model eaten by a crocodile here in 1987, she was on a rock ledge and as the tide rose she tried to swim to her dinghy and then became headlines. We headed downstream to Camp Creek and anchored in a so called deep hole which left us with about 3 to 4 ft of water at low tide and some rock ledges a few metres away. Aaron's fishing expertise continues to amaze. He brought in on the handline a good Threadfin about 1 1/2 ft long and fat. We had half of it for tea. Scrumptious.
Monday 30th June
Motored from Camp Creek to a Bay in the north of St George Basin which was a good jumping off point for the next day to get through some difficult passages. Nowhere to go ashore, but we saw 2 crocodiles, only one was mildly interested in us. The fish were jumping all round but no luck in catching any. Had a disturbed night as I had to get up many times to check the anchor. I had anchored in about 18ft of water near low tide and had put out a lot of chain/rope to allow for the high tide. With all this chain/rope out there was of course quite a movement of the boat as the tides changed direction and the anchor alarm kept on going off. Also the depth got to 58ft. I think the rise was partly due to 7 or 8 metre tides and also some differing depths as we moved around. Anyway, I let even more chain/rope out to allow for the extra depth. When the high tide had passed and things started to settle down, I went to bed and forgot it all.
Tuesday 1st July
Being the first day of the new financial year, I firstly checked my stocks and shares. This didn't take long and didn't even need a phone call. We motored to get out of the St George Basin. We went via the Munster Waters which leads out via a very narrow passage which we had to negotiate with the flood tide. We left just before high tide and an hour later were at the narrow passage. We recorded a current with us of 6 knots (photo to prove it). At Hanover Bay, I went ashore for a peek whilst Aaron stayed on board and read. Just another pleasant beach, nothing special other than lots of human shoe prints all over the sand. I assume one of the tourist boats had let the passengers stretch their legs here. High tides here again, but this time I anchored in about 29ft of water (at about half tide) with ample swinging room and allowed a lot of chain / rope.
Weds 2nd July - Sailed to Dennis Bay, and for the first time we had to tack up the coast into a gentle 7-10-knot breeze. Aaron caught a shark which changed my plans as I was going to stop and clean the bottom as this was the first time in open water for quite a while. I decided to do that another day. A bigger shark was on the line, but eventually took the lure and sinker and disappeared. Later a fishing line got caught round the rudder, so I had to go into the water anyway to cut it free. After seeing the inquisitive / aggressive crocodiles, sharks seemed not a problem. The anchorage had an exact waypoint marked in the book and for once it all worked perfectly and we anchored in about 25ft with an expectation of the tide falling by about 5 ft and then rising by 25 to 30 ft.
Thurs 3rd July
From Dennis Bay to Sampson Inlet. We started out early motoring as we had to get to a dangerous passage for low tide (Quinlan Channel). I chose not to go the recommended way as at the narrowest point, there is a rock in the channel and I had 3 different places it could be (according to the paper chart, The WA Pilot Guide and a local expert in Darwins position). It was also in "unsurveyed waters". I decided I couldn't work out which was correct, so chose the so called difficult passage via Quinlans Channel. The depths did vary from 60ft down to 19ft, but we are here to tell the tale. Having passed the difficult part, and just about to go from "unsurveyed waters" to only "inadequately surveyed waters" I then came across a Pearl Lease that seemed to stretch right across the channel I needed to go through. I cautiously went down one side of it (marked by special buoys with poles on them) and eventually found there was a way round them.
Fri 4th July
Sailed from Sampson Inlet to Deception Bay. Aaron hoped to see some whales in this bay, but there seemed to be none.
Sat 5th July
Sailed from Deception Bay to Raft Point. Just outside Deception Bay we started to see whales breaching at some long way off. We motored towards them and saws many breaches from a distance. However didn't see one from near to. When we got within about 200metres, the whales just sank away and disappeared. When seen close to they seem very large. Raft Point was a beautiful place and had some good aboriginal art up a path at the base of some cliffs.
Sun 6th July / Mon 7th July
Went to Silver Gull Creek with little wind and had to sail all day and over night. Silver Gull Creek was a delightful narrow sheltered inlet. I went by dinghy right up the creek to see a couple who had apparently set up camp permanently. I climbed the rocks to the house in the middle of nowhere. The couple were away and a caretaker couple were there who obviously were fed up with visitors even though they were polite. They seemed to be writers by the look of the room I saw. I politely left quickly. Back at the boat a single engined sea plane landed just outside the creek and quickly motored past us to go up the creek as obviously welcome visitors. On its way back it started its run up the creek, just got off the ground and then came round the corner of the creek and roared above us and away.
Tues 8th July
A short sail to Conilurus Island. We were popular that day. Coast Watch flew over and called us up to check on us. Also the navy sent a rubber ducky boarding party to us and also checked us out, guns at the ready looking all very serious I went ashore and was for the first time successful getting Oysters. They were the large black lipped oysters. I got about 2 dozen and put them in the fridge for later. We were surprised by a big tinnie that came to see us. It was a pearl farmer who invited us to his boat which was apparently round the corner. We said we would come in the late afternoon. We took the oysters and some beers and got there about 5.00pm. There were 4 of them on this boat which was next to a floating pontoon which acted as a storeship for the operation. They were good hosts. Marty cooked our oysters as "Kilpatrick" as an entree and then served us some fish they had caught.
Weds 9th July
Sailed to Cape Leveque getting in late in the evening. The next morning we went ashore and used their electricity because at that stage our 240volt wasn't working. Pleasant people and neat caravan / camping park.
Thurs 10th July
After a quick look ashore at Cape Leveque, we sailed to Beagle Bay. I went ashore and talked to a family who had a holiday home there. Took their kids for a quick trip in the dinghy.
Fri 11th July
Sailed to Broome all that day, overnight and all the next day.
Sat 12th July
Arrived in Broome in the early evening. We had motored the last 4 hours so that we made sure we got to Broome in time to watch "The Bill" on TV which we hadn't seen for 4 weeks.
Sun 13th to Weds 23rd July
We stayed anchored off Town Beach. With the tides it meant that at low tide there was about 1/4 mile to the beach but at high tide about 1 mile. Aaron flew home. Steve and Christina arrived to go on the next leg. Christina is getting off in the Maldives and Steve is staying until Suez. Helen & Don Dunlop were staying at the Cable Beach Caravan Park with their 4WD and Caravan. A lovely surprise. Had a couple of evenings with them sampling their hospitality. They met a backpacker on the beach and introduced him to us as a possibility of going on the boat. Well - John has now joined us on board and will come all the way to UK. The wind came in very strong from the south and made our anchorage in Broome Harbour very nasty, so we went a bit north to Cable Beach which is the best beach I have seen so far.
Weds 23rd to Fri 25th July
We hired a small 4WD for 2 days to transport our fuel and provisions onto the beach and then transferred them in the dinghy to the boat. The wind has died down by now and we intend to leave on Monday 28th. We just have to phone the Customs people who will come down to the beach. We go ashore to the beach and they will stamp our passports on the bonnet of their car.
This is the story of the Broome to the Cocos Islands
We are now at the Cocos Islands and waiting for a few things to be sent to us (maps, spare props, books etc) and will probably leave in about 2 weeks. After this we will only reach civilisation about mid Nov at Male, Maldives. Our next port of call is the Chagos Archipelago which is uninhabited and then on to the Maldives.
If replying to me it would be appreciated if my original email is not attached as the email facilities in some places are very slow and easily get clogged. Also sometimes my emails will seem to have come from ca124772@a1.com.au. This is really me and the way the system calls me if I log in from an internet café. At the moment I am logging in from my PC and my name should be peter.zappert@a1.com.au . Either name will get to me.
This is how the journey went:
THE PREPARATIONS:
The original schedule said we would leave Broome on Monday 21st July, but we changed this to Monday 28th July as we had so many tasks to finish off including all the shopping. We decided to shop for all the basics for the trip up until the Maldives about 100 days away. We did however only try to shop for the Cocos trip for the perishables such as vegetables.
On Friday 25th we finished the shopping and intended to see the Customs people on the Monday and then go. BUT early Saturday morning I had very bad stomach pains which was obviously kidney stone pain. The pain killers I had didn't really cover the pain. I went ashore in the dinghy and went to Broome Hospital where they gave me some proper pain killers and I stayed there the night. By about 4 o'clock Saturday afternoon the pain had completely gone. It was definitely a stone that I was passing. On Sunday I went back to the boat to wait until I could get some tests done. It wasn't until the next Thursday they could do the tests which showed I was OK, no further stones present and the kidneys working fine.
This meant that we left Broome on Friday morning 1st August.
THE CREW
Steve Weld who had tried me and the boat out by coming with me from Brisbane to Mackay. Steve is staying until Suez possibly Crete. Cristina, a friend of Steve whom he met recently in Timor whilst working. Cristina is a doctor which should be useful. John, a Scottish backpacker whom I met in Broome, introduced to me by Helen and Don who were also in Broome and got talking to him at the beach.
DAY1 Friday 1st August
Phoned the Customs who came to the beach with their 4WD whilst we came ashore in the dinghy. Belinda , the customs officer, stamped our passports on the bonnet of the car and wished us well. (no mention of any departure tax). We left at 9.50am in light winds coming from the south east behind us. During the day we used the jib on its own, then the parachute spinnaker on its own then the asymmetrical spinnaker on its own. Quite a variety for the first day.
DAY2 Sat 2nd Aug
We have travelled 134 miles in the first day. Not bad considering we had light winds most of yesterday. Overnight we sailed with only about 2/3rds of the jib as the winds were mainly 27-30knots. Steve & John have caught their first fish, both Tuna.
DAY3 Sun 3rd Aug
The winds died down overnight and we have only travelled 87 miles for the second day
DAY4 Mon 4th Aug
Light winds all yesterday and overnight, we have only travelled 60 miles. Run out of fresh bread and put the breadmaker on. John has started reading up about the stars and let us into the secrets of star gazing.
DAY5 Tues 5th Aug
Light winds again and from the WSW and W. Madam Wind is very fickle. We are meant to be in the trade winds from the SE, but we have westerlies. Have been heading towards Indonesia to keep sailing with this wind direction on the assumption that the Easterlies will come in later. For the last day (up to 9.45am in the morning) we have travelled only 111 miles through the water and only 95 miles towards Cocos Islands.
DAY6 Weds 6th Aug
For the last day (up to 9.45am) we have sailed only 68nms and are only 40nms closer to Cocos Islands. Winds have been coming from everywhere, W, N, E, S. Currently are light from SE which we hope means we are at long last getting to the normal SE trade winds.
DAY7 Thurs 7th Aug
Sailed 78nms and are closer to Cocos by 79nms. Slow and boring. Mended the parachute spinnaker and the Sail Cover.
DAY8 Fri 8th Aug
Sailed 135nms and are 125nms closer to Cocos. The winds have now settled into a regular SE at 12 - 18knots. Mended the Asymmetrical Spinnaker.
DAY9 Sat 9th Aug
Sailed 125nms and are 125nms closer to Cocos. The trade winds are now well settled in. Sailing with just a jib at 5-6knots. Steve and John caught a big skipjack tuna. The Australian record is only 11.5 kilos and this seemed to be easily equal to that. We are now well stocked with fish.
DAY10 Sun 10th Aug
Are now 125 miles closer to Cocos.
DAY11 Mon 11th Aug
The crew all a little fed up today. The wind has now settled in from the S/SE at 15-20knots. Initially we had the main up with 1 reef and the jib and were doing a regular 9 knots. However the continued strong winds have now made the waves bigger and it was getting uncomfortable so we are under just the jib and doing 6 to 7 knots. Steve & John caught a small (about 2 ft) Mahi Mahi which is rated as 4 star eating. We had it for tea.
DAY12 Tues 12th Aug
Wind variable but at least from S/SE and between 12 and 2 knots. 359 nms to go
DAY13 Weds 13th Aug
Same again, 233 nms to go
DAY14 Thurs 14th Aug
Changed clock to Cocos Island Time (+6½ compared to Sydney of +8). 103 nms to go.
DAY15 Fri 15th Aug
We arrived at Cocos at 6.30am just as the sun rose. We had carefully adjusted our speed overnight so we got there in time for the quarantine & customs people to see us before the weekend. We anchored near the quarantine buoy at Direction Island and I called the quarantine people up. They said they couldn't get out to us until tomorrow morning but that we could go ashore on Direction Island as long as we didn't take any rubbish ashore. Direction Island is uninhabited but seems to be where people go for relaxation.. Lots of fish around. We went ashore for a walk a couple of times.
Sat 16th Aug
The Customs man came to Direction Island (where we are). It turned out that he was a policeman who was customs, immigration and quarantine in his spare time. He was across at Direction Island doing a scuba diving course and in his lunch break we went ashore and he stamped our passports etc.
Sun 17th Aug
Cristina, John and I went to Direction Island just to look around. Nothing was open on a Sunday however we had a good wander around looking at the old colonial "Big House" which was originally for Clunies Ross. We found and picked Guava and Papaya to take home. On the way home we hit some coral with the outboard and the propeller came off and disappeared. Luckily the wind was blowing towards where we had to go, so I rowed the 1 ½ miles back to the boat making sure we didn't get blown right out to sea.
Mon 18th Aug
Peter from the boat next door took me to Home Island (a 30-40min dinghy ride) and I then got the ferry to West Island (30 mins) and the bus to the town (10mins) where I found the Internet Café. It was terribly slow (5-10mins per response). I found an agent for the Propeller. Then using a phone card ordered 3 spare propellers. I also booked a doctors appointment to fix up some more jabs I need. I then spent the rest of the day trying to go through my emails and returned on the 5.00pm ferry and a ride with Peter.
Tues 19th Aug
Peter from the next boat lent me his dinghy and I went to town (via Home Island & Ferry) to see the doctor and to try to complete my emails. Managed to get about half my emails done. When I got home, I used my phone card from the beach at Direction Island to phone people and do my phone banking. It's delightful to be on a deserted island with a public phone at the beach. At Cocos all local calls are free and it is considered as part of WA (08). My $20 phone card seems to give me about 1 ½ hrs of talking to Oz.
Weds 20th Aug
Steve and Cristina have been taken to town by Dianne from a Cat nearby. Cristina is leaving the boat to fly to Christmas Island, Jakarta and then India. She has cut her trip short as she suffered all the way from Broome. Not in the stomach, but in the head, sinus / ear problems. Steve will stay in town until Saturday when there is a ferry direct to Direction Island.
Thur 21st Aug
John and I started cleaning the boat (toilet, bilges, fridge/freezer etc). We were happy to stay on board as the wind was blowing 25-30 knots.
Fri 22nd - Mon 25th Aug
I have found out that at the public phone on the beach which has free local calls, I can connect my PC to the local Internet Provider and do my emails whilst I gaze over the clear blue waters of the lagoon. If I do it out of normal office hours, the response is much much better than the Internet Cafe in town. (still slow though).
This is the Cocos to Djibouti Journal
This is a rather long story, so just skip the boring bits.
If replying to me it would be appreciated if my original email is not attached as the email facilities in some places are very slow and easily get clogged. Also sometimes my emails will seem to have come from ca124772@a1.com.au. This is really me and the way the system calls me if I log in from an internet café. At the moment I am logging in from my PC and my name should be peter.zappert@a1.com.au. Either name will get to me.
Tues 26th Aug - Thur 4th Sep - Still hanging around the Cocos Islands. We lost the propeller from the dinghy (hit a coral bombie) and we have had to wait until some spare propellers are sent from Qld. In the meantime I have been taking it easy as I picked up some laryngitis from the locals. There are now 20 cruising boats here and the weather has been perfect. The boats are from everywhere, France, USA, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Australia, Norway, Denmark, St Kitts & Nevis, New Zealand, Holland. On the 2nd Sep there was a birthday party on the beach. The French organised it and all the boats brought food and we had a party until midnight. We made a stew and there was plenty of all sorts of food (crabs, fish, crayfish salads etc.) The French woman also did a Hawaiian type dance as a party piece. Some of the French woman are from the French colonies and are beautiful dusky maidens. It was the sort of dancing where it seems that the hips and bottom seem to move independently from the rest of the body. A wonderful time was had by all. Most boats seem to be going to Mauritius and then to South Africa. Some are stopping off at Chagos as well. Only a few are going to the Maldives as we are.Met Urano, Elisa and Georgia from Rome. Urano is a pilot with Singapore Airlines flying 747s out of Rome. We met them on the ferry and then later at Direction Island when they visited us on the boat and had some pasta with us. Urano likes taking his holiday to out of the way places He seemed interested in perhaps joining for the Atlantic trip later in the trip. He may be able to come and see us when we get to Cagliari in Sardinia.
Fri 5th Sep - DAY1 - The propellers for the dinghy have not arrived, but we are going anyway as they may be held up for ages. We managed to get one propeller which is working fine. The PO at Cocos will redirect them to the PO at Male, Maldives. We left at 1.15pm in a 15 - 20 knot following wind with just the jib flying. On the way out we caught a barracouta which we chucked back as they are no good for eating. We have been at anchor so long that we all feel a little delicate today. Sat 6th Sep - DAY2 - Overnight the wind has stayed at 20-25 knots and we have been doing 6-7 knots with just the jib. In daylight the wind seems to have died a bit to 15-20 knots. We have done 147 nms the first day. Steve caught a nice Mahi Mahi. Sat 7th Sep - DAY3 - We did 170 nms for the day a good run. Another Mahi Mahi and a Tuna were caught. The Mahi Mahi is delightful eating. So far we have had it fried and also grilled, both very tasty. Today was also a special day as it was my big 60th birthday. I celebrated with some camembert after dinner. Sun 8th to 16th Sept. The wind did get up to 40 knots and the seas to 5 ½ metres, but the boat handled it very well. Top speed as 13.5 knots. A highlight was my Anzac biscuits which were well received. When we were near the Chagos Archipelago, we firstly went past Diego Garcia which is an American base which we are not allowed to go to. Their territorial limit is 3 miles, so we went about 4 miles from them to see if we could get them to react in some way with a plane or ship. No luck, nothing. (we could tune into their discovery channel). We then had about 90 miles to our destination (Egmont Islands) and wanted to get there in the morning so we could see into the water whilst the sun was high in the sky and avoid the coral bombies. To do this we needed to slow down. In fact for about 24 hrs we had no sails up at all and just sailed at 3.5 to 4 knots with just the wind pushing on the back of the cabin. We did practice using the drogue and also heaving to with the sails backed. Both worked well. We arrived at Egmont Islands on 16th Sept. The chart showed rocks and coral everywhere, although our experts book (Cornell) said there was a channel down the lagoon to the anchorage in the south. We plotted a detail route through the dangers and had Steve up front looking out. We eventually got to Ile Sudest, the official anchoring place. We were at a beautiful beach in a lagoon of an Atoll all to ourselves."THE CHAGOS ARCHIPELAGO"
This is difficult to explain effectively, but in a nutshell, they are a collection of shallow patches in the middle of the Indian Ocean which have a few Atolls (collection of islands). They are owned by the UK and are officially called "The British Indian Ocean Territories" (BIOT). In the 1970 s The UK made all the people living there go to Mauritius and then made an arrangement for the US to have the use of the islands for a military base. The UK Navy still officially administers them, but the US have put a big base on Diego Garcia (the largest island). The rest of the islands are uninhabited and about half of them are a national park and cannot be visited. Diego Garcia, itself, cannot be visited at all.
About once every three weeks a British naval vessel visits the outer islands and checks the yachties are behaving and to collect the official charge of US$80 (cash) for three months. (US$140 if paying by Credit Card).
The Archipelago consists of the following atolls:
Egmont Islands (can visit and stay in south part)
The Great Chagos Bank (cannot visit)
Peros Banhos (can visit and stay in south part)
Salomon Islands (can visit and stay in south part)
Blenheim Reef (can visit, but no landing place).
The official rules ban spear fishing, taking of any shell fish, eating "heart of palm", eating any other flora or fauna. In practice most of this goes on in small doses.
At the height of the season there can be up to 40 boats, mostly staying at Salomon Islands and a few at Perhos Banhos.,
We were at the end of the season and we had the Egmont and Peros Banhos Atolls all to ourselves and only three boats at the Salomon Islands when we got there and one when we left.
The British also didn't bother to come and collect their fee, although we saw their boat go past one night.
The original Chagosians live in poverty in Mauritius and have been fighting their cause in a court in London. The latest verdict is that the Chagosians were illegally sent from the Islands but that also the Americans have a right to continue their presence. Thus the parties need to get together and agree a solution (back to square one).
There is local food which can be eaten. Fish are plentiful and can be seen and csaught from the boat at the mooring. Bilimbis are a soft skinned local citrus fruit about the size and colour of a gherkin full of vitamins and a strong citrus taste. An ideal additive to stir fries etc. John made some lovely Bilimbi Marmalade. Heart of palm which is the inside of the palm tree just above the base. Some of it can be eaten on its own or in salads and the more fibrous part is good in cooking. It is however very fatty and hence not good for the Cholesterol. In the sand at bthe edge of the water there are "cockle" type shell fish which can be collected with which we made a delicious Paella. (Celine called them Tec Tec) Apparently you can also eat the coconut crabs, but we didn't try.
Everywhere there are hermit crabs wandering about and at night on the beach you can see the rats scurrying about (out of the way of humans).
"Olive". A family of Gazz, Jill with 2 kids about 5 and 7 years (Finn & Conn) were aboard "Olive". They were seasoned cruisers originally from Dubai. In fact it seemed that Jill had a hairdressing business there which was financing them. Gazz was a laid back sort of bloke (Zimbabwean) who had given up smoking "pot" because it made him cough, but instead put it in cakes and ate it. Very pleasant, but whatever you asked him today, he had a different answer the next day. As we were trying to find out about the Maldives this was rather confusing. Jill (UK) also very pleasant and made up some yummie sushi from fresh tuna. Gazz usually did the evening cooking and made a mean fish stew. We tried to find out what he was putting in it, but we think even he wasn't sure. They had met "Antonios" family, which also had 2 kids, a couple of years before and they were enjoying eating together and catching up.
"PAWPUSS". A new Schionning Catamaran just built in Perth for a Dubai expat Aussie businessman. Clive Foster helped by Richard and Tom. They were helping Clive get the boat back to Dubai (in the Persian Gulf). I got on well with Clive and we could chat about Cats. Richard was apparently an expert on the Maldives but he was also a "pot" smoker and I couldn't really get much useful info from them, other than his recommendation to not worry too much about the regulations. Later on in the Maldives we heard from our agent that the boat got into trouble and were fined for doing something wrong and the agent had to go to court to get their fine reduced. Clive had a part share in a WA vineyard and brought out some nice Margaret River Red for the evening. They went on their way in a couple of days and we went onto their mooring which was much closer to shore (and right near but not on some bombies).
"Sister Alice" Antonio, Celine, Manuel and Robertson (the boys were about 13 years old. Antonio has been sailing his boat for 20 years and it was really in good nick. He and Celine had met at Chagos about 5 years ago (on different boats) and have been together ever since. Antonio has a grown up family and Manuel is his whilst Celine has Robertson. Antonio is originally from Cagliari, and wanted me to phone his mother when I got there, but we had a problem getting her phone number correct. She has married a doctor and is now quite old and doesn't speak English, but Antonio was sure she would appreciate the call. Antonio also smoked "pot", usually in the afternoon and evening. That meant you had to listen to him rather than talk with him after lunch.
Antonio was a very excitable and voluble Italian and a delight to be with. Celine, I think came from somewhere in the Caribbean. The boys were excellent fishermen and were always off catching something. They would bring us fish to eat. Whilst were there Antonio had his 57th birthday and Gazz cooked a special fish curry, I cooked date loaf and some Anzacs and provided a bottle of Port. Antonio brought down to the camp "Russell" for the party. (See next story.) The boys had befriended a small black bird which had fallen out of the nest when young. When we arrived it wasn't flying, but gradually it learnt to fly and would come and visit us on our boat now and then. Antonio tells the tale of one day at sea, a large booby came into his cabin and jumped up onto him onto his bunk. He now realises that it probably had been hand reared as a baby and was just reacting to old habits when he found a boat."Russell" I have said there were 3 boats at Salomon, but really there were 4. We had heard of this Australian who was mending his boat on the beach at the Salomon Islands. This was Russell whom we met at Antonios party and later on went to where his boat was and saw his camp. It is a long story, so get a cup of coffee now.
Originally Russell was in Australia and had a falling out with his wife who had organised a separation and had an order out for him for $200,000 or his boat. Russell didn't have the money and wasn't giving her his boat. Russell himself was a shipwright by trade and had built the boat, a 50ft cold moulded 5 ply wooden sides. Russell took off from Australia without even checking out with Immigration etc. Whilst in East Timor he asked the authorities what would happen when he returned, and they merely said he would be in trouble, so here he was wandering the world without a country to go to. Whilst in Timor, his anchor dragged and he went onto a reef. He successfully got off, but some exterior damage was done. He then went on to sail to the Chagos Archipelago. Just as he got there a few months previously, his boat started to leak. Some "toredo" worms had eaten into the wood where it had been bared when scraping on the reef. In theory, they don't eat through any layers of glue, but in reality they had eaten holes right through the boat and it was sinking. Russell beached the boat at the opposite end of the Atoll (Salomon Islands) from where the yachties are allowed to stay in a position that is usually sheltered for that time of year. The British Navy came and checked him out and asked for their $80 which Russell hadn't got. The yachties all helped by buying from Russell some hammocks and sarongs he had on board which allowed Russell to pay his dues. After a few weeks the British had been chasing up Russell and found there was no progress and Russell as still beached at the wrong end of the Atoll and living on shore (not allowed at all) so they took him back to Diego Garcia and put him in Gaol. Someone must have a kind heart, because the Brits asked Russell what he needed to mend his boat, checked out that this was sensible and then ordered the wood etc from the Maldives and gave it to Russell for free, plus some food and drink. They then checked on Russell every now and then to chase him up to actually do the work. It was in fact very stressful for Russell as the weather changed and blew straight onto the beach where his boat was, bashing it around a lot and causing him a lot of grief. Antonio had befriended him when he arrived and was trying to give him some encouragement to continue and went up to get him and bring him back to where we were for his party. When John and I saw him, we both thought he looked just like Ghandi. Bald head, long beard, bare top, sarong round his nether regions. He also liked his "pot". He was pleasant fellow to talk to and we had a good meal together. However, as the evening wore on, I just casually asked him how his boat was getting on. BANG. He rose to his feet and with wild gestures, whilst dancing about, told me "what do I think, with the waves bashing his boat, the mast about to go etc etc" This went on and on and we all tried to let him quieten down. At one time he held a table knife in one hand and came towards me shouting, only to back away. Eventually he quietened down and Antonio gave him some more "pot" and told him that "Peter was only enquiring and he should behave better". Russells answer was that I was an Australian and would understand. I'm not sure if that was a compliment or not. The next day all as settled down. When we eventually left Salomon, we stayed a night up near his boat and camp at Ile Takamaka. He had one area for washing, one for tools, one for living and sleeping. The Brits had given him some rat traps and Steve gave him a hammock. Russell had told me that when he was in prison on Diego Garcia he had phoned his mum and told her he was in prison. Imagine how worried she must have been. Russell wrote her a letter which I posted when we got to the Maldives. His boat was in fact in a very bad way. Apart from the particular damage he was fixing, it obviously hadn't had any money spent on it for ages. This was a pity since the boat looked a good one basically and the construction also a good one. However, lots of bare wood showing through, galvanised rigging, Large outboard not working as a motor. Antonio was trying to persuade him to go to Asia and do some shipwright work for a year and fix it otherwise if he continued to Africa, he wouldn't get the work and would end up losing the boat.21st Oct to 24th Oct Left the Salomon Islands on 21st and had a quick sail to Gan in Addoo Atoll in the Maldives (only about 300 miles). This is in the southernmost part of the Maldives and is now allowed as a port of entry. The wind and current were favourable and we arrived at Gan on 24th Oct. Steve decided to lave us here and flew on to Male and elsewhere. Thus it was now just John and I.
"The Maldives"
The Maldives is an independent country that relies on fishing and tourism. It is fully Muslim, in a quiet, but definite way. Thus no alcohol. They have however come up with a sort of upside down apartheid system. The traditional island way of life continues, but alongside this, but separate, are high class tourist resorts set up on uninhabited islands primarily for diving holidays. They are allowed to sell alcohol on the premises, but because Muslims are not allowed to serve alcohol to people, Sri Lankans are used for those type of jobs. There is no real mingling of cultures. The tourists see the airport, the resort and perhaps a well controlled visit to a village and perhaps get to walk around Male, the capital.
The locals live on a small incomes. The income from the tourism is used by the Government to supply Infrastructure such as schools , telephones, Internet etc. to all the islands.
As sailors we had permission automatically to cruise the Atolls near Male, but needed a special permit to go to any other atoll. We were not allowed to let any Maldivian on our boat.There was one TV station which was showing very controlled (and boring) programs. Either people walking around Mecca (it was Ramadan), or the President shaking hands, or the President shaking hands, or the President shaking hands.
We happened to arrive just as Ramadan started and left Male just as it ended. This made it very difficult as (apart from no alcohol) no eating, smoking, drinking or fornicating was allowed between dawn and dusk. I wanted (but didn't dare) to ask a local in what order did he partake of the forbidden habits each evening.
I got quite dehydrated as it was very hot and to take a drink we had to surreptitiously nip into a building stairway and take a drink from our water bottle. The locals all seemed to enjoy it as they all got up early and had a big feast type of breakfast about 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning. The cafes and restaurants were all closed during the day and after dark were very full of locals until about 7 o'clock. There were a couple of 3 star type hotels in Male that were allowed to serve a proper meal in their restaurant, but not any drinks etc in the foyer etc. John & I used to go to one of these for lunch (but no grog).
Another habit was that from about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, as the people started to get a little frazzled from the fasting, the men all got on their bicycle or motor scooter and incessantly rode around Male making the roads seem very full.. It apparently is a tradition.
Male Atoll is quite large and Male (the capital and only large town) is a small island in the south of the Atoll.25th Oct to 27th Oct The authorities were very efficient and 4 people (each from a different part of the bureaucracy) came in a boat and gave us our visas and completed the formalities for arriving at The Maldives. We had however just timed our arrival for the start of Ramadan so little was open. We did walk a few miles up the linked islands looking at the houses. John went on an organised scuba dive whist I wandered around and had a few beers inside the "international" hotel. Very interesting, very hot. We met Ninke & Jim on "Walrus" whom we invited to tea. They gave us a lot of info on the Maldives. Lovely couple. We had no US$ nor Maldivian money. The banks couldn't give us any money either (not full electronic links) so we decided to go straight to Male.
28th Oct to 2nd Nov Sailed to Male. (approx 250miles) A very slow trip with the current and wind now against us or non existent. We actually travelled 500 miles to do the 250 to Male. We went across the equator 3 times because after the first time we then drifted back south of it and then had to cross it again. John caught a large mahi mahi. 3rd Nov Arrived Male, Contacted AMSCO the agent who told us to anchor in a lagoon just next to the airport (thus avoiding having to anchor in 150ft in the main bay.) Hussain then came to us on a dhoni (boat/ferry) and took our particulars and went away to sort out the authorities. We were then free to do as we please. 4th Nov to 25th Nov Stayed at Male in the lagoon near the airport at a place called Hulhumale. As explained previously, it was Ramadan which made it very tiring especially as it was very hot. The weather was also rather unsettled and often there was rain. There were 2 hotels which we could go to for food and drink (but not alcohol) during the day. An Indian type hotel with the restaurant "Trends" which had good reasonably priced meals and a good variety of local style food. If in town, John and I usually met at Trends for lunch. The other the "KAM" Hotel had a restaurant that wasn't as good and more expensive but had a redeeming feature that it had a foyer with a TV in it on which we could watch the Rugby World Cup. Thus we watched the quarter finals, the semis and the final there. It was the only place we could find to do that. One of my priorities was to try to buy a new PC. This took a lot of my time and I did get a good 2nd hand PC laptop for less than a Aus$1000. I then managed to put in it the 512MB of memory and 30GB hard disk from my old PC. However it didn't have a CD Burner, thus I ordered one from Malaysia together with an external case for my old hard disk which I now use as a portable hard disk for taking to Internet cafes for data transfer. This took a lot of my time and was only just finished before we left. I also had trouble because my Windows XP said I had reused it too many times and I had to phone Microsoft to sort it out. I eventually did this with great trouble (and expense) using a phone card in a public phone. Calls from The Maldives are very expensive and the phone cards kept running out.25th Nov to 1st Dec Left Male on 25th Nov and stayed that evening at one of the international tourist resorts "Makundoo" which was where Edward and Monique went for their honeymoon last year. We went ashore to see if we could get a beer there, which we could. As I was sitting there, I saw a list of names behind the bar with the name Zappert at the top. I asked what it was for and the barman said it was an honour list with the name at the top denoting which honeymoon couple took the longest time before they appeared at breakfast. (Only joking Edward and Monique). The next night we stopped at another resort "Sonevea" and had about six beers and then drifted back to the boat. On future nights we stopped at Finimagoodhoo, Oliguri, Komandoo and onto Uligamu arriving on 1st Dec.
2nd Dec We had hoped to stay until the 6th Dec but the authorities said our visa had run out and if we wanted to stay we had to go back to Male to extend our visas. This was obviously out of the question. They said (with a nod and a wink) that it was OK for us to stay a day more until the weather was OK. It appears they don't turn boats away for short stays. We walked around, had a traditional Maldivian meal at someone's house that evening and really enjoyed our short stay. I managed to post off the Autopilot tiller arm to Raymarine in the UK which had stopped. Luckily the spare (old) one has been working successfully so far. We also bought some local fruit / vegetables. The Papaya was especially delicious."Trip to Djibouti"
We left Uligamu for Djibouti on 3rd December for our longest leg so far, 1880 nautical miles (3,483 kilometers) with two concerns. We were a little earlier than planned (about a week and a half) and the cyclone season had only just ended for the Arabian Sea. We had hoped to leave a 2 week gap, but were shuffled out of Uligamu earlier than we wanted. The second concern was the pirates in the Gulf of Aden between Yemen and Somalia.
The weather was really kind. Initially just 5 - 10 knot breeze from just behind us (from the North East which strengthened to 15 - 20 knots after a couple of days. Seas only 1 metre rising to 2 metres when the breeze got above 15 knots. Lovely sailing.
In our slightly nervous state we had our first adventure when during the day about 200 miles from The Maldives we came to a fishing boat going the opposite way which seemed to meander across the path we were following as it came to us. When we got closer they started waving at us and indicated they wanted to talk. It was a rather run down boat and looked just like the "people boats" we see in Oz. They seemed to wave water sacks in the air as if to ask for water. I decided to keep going (there were other fishing boats we had just passed so if they were really in trouble there were others around). As we passed I just waved back at them and smiled hoping they remained friendly. As we passed about 100 yards away, they came round to chase / follow us. Luckily we were sailing at about 6 knots and their boat only seemed to limp along at about 5 knots. After about 5 minutes they gave up and changed course away from us.
About 2 minutes later BANG and our boom came detached from the main sheet and the main sail just flapped and we came head up into the wind. The "strange boat" saw we had slowed down and turned towards us again. Luckily the problem was simple. A steel ring connecting the boom to the mainsheet pulleys had fractured (the welding broke). I soon found a replacement shackle and fitted it and we were off again. Not too soon as the strange boat had been closing. However we soon pulled away and they turned away and were never seen again.
That night we had our second adventure. We suddenly came to a halt. In the middle of the Arabian Sea we had got caught on some fishing nets connected to buoys laid in the sea. We were about half a mile from the fishing boat. There were in fact a couple of flashing light buoys he had put down, but only one was really visible and we didn't realize we were so close to the one we saw. At the time we also didn't realize its significance and also couldn't judge how far away it was. The port daggarboard had come up against a rope which hung from buoy to buoy and the actual netting hung below this rope. We quickly got the sails down and the boat was wallowing in a gentle swell caught by the nets. A full moon was up so we could see fairly well and I could see that the back of the boat was free of the rope / netting. I therefore was able to use the motors to try to motor backwards. This didn't free us, but took some of the pressure off the rope we were up against. It seemed we were not able to motor back from the nets. We were caught in some way. I then decided to lift the daggarboard up and try to float the boat across the rope (avoiding the props & rudders) as this was the way the wind and current were pushing us and the netting seemed to be a bit lower in the water. So we pulled up the daggarboard, put up the jib and sailed gently over the nets to freedom. The fishing boat did shine a light to us to check we were all OK, but didn't answer any VHF radio calls. We went on our way relieved and wiser, now knowing we had to stay well clear of all flashing lights.
We had our third adventure a couple of nights later about half way across the Arabian Sea. About 4.30am in the morning we once again came to a sudden stop. We had got caught again in some fishing nets. We were about half a mile from a fishing boat we were passing, but no flashing buoys this time, just a series of buoys hung out across about ¾ s of a mile. It was a bit more difficult this time. We had scored a trifecta. The nets were entangled with the port daggarboard, propeller and rudder. We brought the sails down and once again were bobbing about in a slight swell caught in some nets. As we all know life wasn't meant to be easy. I tried to start the port motor to try to move us back away from the rope, but the motor stalled when I tried to start it. Obviously the netting was caught around it. But also the port motor handle came away in my hand. The motor handles have a habit of this and need a fix every now and again (which takes about a day for the glue to set.) I then used the boathook to push the netting off the props and rudder, but it then became entangled in the netting and I had to abandon the boathook to the sea. I then realized I would have to wait for it to get light, which was soon, before we could do anything else. So we just waited for daybreak to come. As we waited , the fishing boat gradually got closer as it slowly hauled in its nets, working its way in our direction. As it began to get light, John volunteered to go in and see how caught up were the props and rudder. He bravely had a look and could see we were caught, but we decided to wait a bit until it was lighter. By now the fishing boat was right up to us (about a 60 ft wooden fishing vessel). (What a big catch we have today, they must have thought). They couldn't speak English and I certainly couldn't speak their language. We gesticulated at each other and I suggested they take their boat sideways to take the pressure off the rope stuck round the daggarboard (I couldn't get it up, it was stuck). They did this then suddenly a bloke jumped in the water with a knife in his hand and started to come to our boat pulling himself along the netting. It looked like the captain who had been previously organizing things on the boat. A crew member made signs to say to throw him a rope, which we did. He took this and made his way to the back of our boat (all hero like stuff this). He then dived down and cut the netting away from our prop. He then tried to push it down off the rudder, but the pressure of the boat was too great. I then started the starboard motor that was clear of the netting and motored backwards gently whilst the bloke stood on the netting and pushed it off with his feet. Success. I ushered him on board and John got him a drink of water that he requested. John also got a packet of cigarettes as a thank you for him. I raised my hands to the crew of the boat and clapped and they all did likewise in recognition of his good job done. Unfortunately, because of language problems and that the boats were still bobbing about near each other, the bloke had to get back. In doing so I slightly bumped the starboard prow on the side of their boat. Only a surface problem though. We raised sails and went our way, wondering if we had met our first Somalis or who we had met. We now realize we need to keep about 2 miles away from any fishing boat. The big cargo ships that occasionally pass seem to come within half to one mile from us as they veer around us to go on their way.
We need to recognize the difference between these big ships and a fishing vessel and take evasive action to avoid them. With the big ships, it seems better to keep our course and let them steer around us. On the first night we turned 20 degrees to starboard to try to avoid a large ship coming up from behind us. It seemed that we did this just after he had changed course to pass us on our starboard. Because he came within about half a mile away, turned broadside on to us and stopped. After a couple of minutes, it slowly started again and slowly went up the port side of us. No radio signals, but they did keep flashing a light at us. We didn't know what it meant. John did manage to find a page in one of our almanacs which described sound signals of long and short blasts on a horn. One of these which looked similar to what they were flashing at us said :"we are about to pass you on the port side". Thus we now try to keep our course for big ships. John couldn't find in the almanac a signal for "What the **** are you doing?" However we need to keep about 2 miles away from fishing vessels to avoid their nets. We are becoming quite expert in using the Radar and identifying the direction and size of vessels. Hopefully it will come in handy as we go through the pirate infested waters of the Gulf of Aden.
We eventually arrived at Djibouti in the afternoon of 17th Dec, 2 weeks after leaving Uligamu, anchoring overnight before going ashore to log in. Now the PC is working, the camera has decided to play up, so no photos so far of Djibouti. I went ashore to check ourselves in and registered with the Port Control and then got the Immigration to give John and I a visa for 10 days. I also paid our port dues for 10 days assuming we will leave on 26th Dec. This was an adventure in itself. To pay the port dues I needed local currency (Djibouti Francs) and I only had US dollars. A man in the Port Control Office said he would help me get my money changed, so I went with him in a taxi to do this. Because he was in the office I thought he was officially connected in some way, but I was wrong. He was really just a tout trying to be my agent for everything from fuel to women. Any way we drove to the city where he exchanged money from a woman on a street corner, took some money for himself and the taxi driver and gave me some back. At this stage I didn't know the exchange rate and hence didn't know whether I had been taken for a small or large ride. We then went back to the port and initially they wouldn't let us in (there is big anti terrorist security everywhere). After going to another office I got a pass that let me in so we could then pay the port dues. I then went back to the boat, glad to get away from this chap who followed me everywhere.
Whilst at the boat, a rubber ducky came alongside with some "Security Blokes". They introduced themselves as the Djibouti Harbour anti terrorist squad who share duties with the French Navy for this. (we were anchored about 200 metres away from a French warship). They then explained that they wanted to be our agents and to only go into town via them and get all we need via them. With both John and I very suspicious of all people touting for business, it was difficult to know how to handle this, considering he was in uniform and officially protecting us. Anyway, I decided I had better use him, so organized for him to purchase some fanbelts and to get us an engineer that we needed to look at the starboard motor that keeps on revving too high. He reckoned he could get the French Navy to help me for free rather than use the local commercial people, so I followed him ashore just next to the French warship. Here he took me up onto the warship and asked fro some help. After about 10 minutes, 2 officers (you could tell they were dressed in white) came to see what we wanted. After listening to our story they said they couldn't help, so we retreated gracefully. He said he would arrange another mechanic for Saturday. (It was Thursday and Friday is the religious rest day).
As of writing this, (Friday 18th Dec) the issues are not yet resolved. He bought a fanbelt, but of course they are all French sizes not US sizes so it was not the correct size. He is trying again.
Yesterday (Thursday) John and I went back into town (via the wharf where the security chap said we had to go). He wasn't there, but we met the same bloke who had helped (??) me before. We got a taxi and he and his mate jumped in also. In town we walked about and the chap (Omar) followed us everywhere and guided us. We offered to buy him a beer as thank you and he took us to a restaurant. As we were sipping our Heinekin, we realized that we were sitting in a "knocking shop". There wasn't any come on by the ladies, just beer supplied. Having realized where we were, we only had 1 beer and left. After wandering around looking at things we went back to the port (with Omar in tow). This time we got back in with no trouble. As we were getting in our dinghy some other touts took offence at our touts presence and they started to hustle him (handbags at 10 paces stuff). We gave Omar US$10 as we left. The new touts suggested we go ashore via the Club Nautique (which is just near our mooring) rather than via the main port.
All this had happened on our first full day in Djibouti and it was still only about 1 o'clock when we got back to the boat. After a council of war between John and I, had a light lunch (we had got some red French wine in the city).
We then decided to go into town via the Club Nautique (just near us). When we got there, we discovered that the club didn't exist anymore, but that we could leave our boat there while we went into town. However, I realized I had left my passport on the boat so we went back to collect it. We then decided on the way back to just have a look at another area nearby which seemed to have small boats. When we got there, it turned out to be the Port De Peche (Fishing Port). Some obliging young lads helped us ashore and said they would look after our boat. (more touts). He escorted us down the road a small way to get a taxi. He flagged down a (very run down) mini bus and we started to barter on the fare. I had a 1,000 franc note (about $7) which the driver took. He said it would be 1000 francs. I knew it should be about 500 francs so started to disagree and wanted 500. The driver insisted on 700. I then took back my 1,000 francs and said "leave it". Bear in mind that the bus was full and the driver, our helper and the occupants of the bus were all taking part in the discussion !! The driver then said OK, so we jumped in and off we went. When we got there, I then paid the driver who gave me the change, but as part of the change in place of 300 francs he gave me a 10 Bira note (Ethiopian money). I had been wondering in what way he was going to cheat us, and now I knew. I didn't know the worth of the Bira, but was not in a position to argue. Later I found out it has some worth, but haven't managed to change it yet.
I town, we had a fruit juice, a few beers and then headed home. When we arrived at the Port De Peche we were not only met by the two young people who we expected, but also by the "tout" who suggested we meet him at the Club Nautique. Apparently he was at the main port, when he saw us going to the Club Nautique, he went there, to then find we had gone to the Port De Peche and here he was touting for business. Anyway we paid the young people 300 francs each (and they scowled at the small amount) and went back to the boat.
We now realize that these touts are watching our boat all the time to try to catch us as we go ashore. We feel a bit in a prison. We have now decided to only use the "security" chap and if he is not available, we will go back to the boat, thus we can say no to all touts. Unfortunately, they seem to have the taxi drivers under their control.
That is the story so far.
Hi, this is the Djibouti to El Gouna Marina (Egypt) Journal.
18th Dec to 23rd Dec We originally intended to stay in Djibouti for Christmas, but found it so unpleasant that we decided to leave on 23rd Dec. By this time we were locking the boat at night whilst we slept. We put the lock on the cabin door from the outside and then climbed in a window and then closed AND locked the windows before we went to sleep. On the last night I was sleeping in the cabin because I had a cold and wanted to be able to sleep upright. About 3 O'clock I awoke to see man climbing in a window over the galley on John's side of the boat. I was half asleep and thought it was John and called out. I then realised it was an intruder. We had closed but not locked that particular hatch and he had managed to twist the handle from the outside. By this time John was awake and up and shouted at him to get out. The chap was very thin and went out without any trouble. He then strangely put his hand back into the hatch and handed back to John the "gas lighter" he had obviously picked up when he first got in. He was not wet and when he went we could hear nothing as he got off the boat. We didn't get much more sleep that night. In the morning were very glad to leave. Before we left we had to finish some business with the Egyptian Ambassador and had to get our clearance papers from Immigration.
We had wanted to get Egyptian Visas in Djibouti as the books we read said that if you already have one, when you sail up the Egyptian coast before you officially check in, you will be able to avoid trouble with any officials that you meet. We understood it was a few hours to get one. When we got to the Ambassadors residence we were politely ushered into see a consul who was very pleasant but when he heard we wanted to leave Djibouti the next day gave us a lecture that we couldn't expect him to drop everything to do our visas. We politely apologised and he said come back at 2 o'clock that afternoon. (another 1000 Djibouti francs taxi ride). We had heard that a visa was US$20. At 2 o'clock when we returned they told us we had to come back at 9 o'clock that evening. When we did this we did eventually get our visas, but they charged us US$65 (obviously overcharging for night time work). Also we were then asked to go and meet the Ambassador. We were ushered in, offered a toffee to eat and had a little polite chat. The Ambassador was obviously not a career diplomat, and had an assistant to tell him what to do all the time. They seemed to want to pre-prepare the clearing IN paperwork for Egypt. They said they would email us when they and done the paperwork and would send it to Asmara (capital of Eritrea) in about 10 days time. We didn't mind as we wanted to go there anyway. We eventually got back to the boat with our expensive visas.
We gave our security "tout" US$70 before we left and sailed off. We then realised how "oily the water was as we put our very oily dinghy on the back of the boat."
Dec 23rd to Dec 27th - "The Trip to Massawa"
We were looking forward to get into the Red Sea proper and feel a bit safer. As we sailed the few miles from Djibouti to the entry into the Red Sea (Bab El Mandeb) we heard a lot of warships checking by radio on the shipping going past. When I first heard a warship calling I thought they were saying "Collision Warship etc etc" It took me a while to realise they were saying "Coalition Warship". I presume the "American" coalition rather than the UN. There are US, French, Spanish, Italian and German warships involved.
Through the Straits of Bab El Mandeb it is very narrow as there are shipping lanes going each way and only a narrow bit at the edge for boats like us. As we approached the narrow bit (at night) there were about 3 ships going in the opposite direction. We could understand what 2 of them were doing, but the third seemed to be coming straight for us. We altered course and watched on the Radar what he was doing. He seemed to be a large junk and seemed to be going around us keeping 1 mile away. I was very nervous and called up on the radio the "Coalition Warship" about this suspicious boat circling us. Of course I didn't even get a reply. By this time I had put both motors on fast (as well as the sails) and we started to get further away. And then we could go through the straits and into the Red Sea. In retrospect, it was probably just a cautious Junk not sure what we were who was going around us rather than through us.
We eventually arrived at Massawa on the 27th Dec after anchoring for the previous night in a nice sheltered bay (Dilemmi) so that we could arrive at Massawa during the day.
We called up and were told to come alongside the wharf in the official port area. We then went ashore to the Port Control and Port Immigration Office. As seems to be usual for us we had arrived just as everything was closed for the weekend and so could only get a "shore pass" for that day (Saturday) and the following day. This allowed us to walk around the Port Island ). On the Monday we got a full visa.
Massawa What a wonderful place and such a change from Djibouti. Probably most of you will know little about Eritrea, so a little history follows
ERITREA
Eritrea is on the coast of the RED SEA on the left hand side in the bottom half. It has previously been a sort of state of Ethiopia but after a "freedom war" is now an autonomous country (about 5 to 8 years ago). Everybody who goes there, including ourselves, are delighted with the people and the country even though it is officially the second poorest in the world. Following is a historical summary taken from our Red Sea Sailing Guide.
Eritrea is an old land with a new name. In ancient times it was part of the great Kingdom of Aksum, the dominant South Red Sea Power in the 4th century AD. Since then it has been dominated by the Ethioptic peoples of the interior and occupied by the Egyptians, Turks, Italians and the British. When the Italians were defeated in 1941, the British took over until 1952. In that year, without the Eritreans being asked, their country as handed over to Emporer Haile Selassie's Ethiopia, in accordance with a UN resolution. The idea was for a federal state within which Eritrea could be autonomous. It failed. In 1962 the Ethiopians declared a unitary state, the Eritrean parliament voted itself out of existence and Eritrea became merely a province of Ethiopia. Almost immediately the Eritreans Peoples Liberation Front (EPLF) formed. It was the beginnings of nearly 3 decades of war and famine. In 1974 Haile Selassie was deposed and Ethiopia became a radical, leftist country, governed by a military organization, known as Dergue, closely allied to the Soviet Union. In 1989 Col Mengitsu (Ethiopias' Leader) stepped down and peace talks began. The cease fire was temporary and the Eritrean secessionists (EPLF) were joined by a new group of combatants, The Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). By the early 90's it was clear that the central Ethiopian government was losing ground and peace talks were begun in London. Finally in 1993 a UN-supervised referendum led to an independent Eritrea. Since then there have been disputes with Yemen over certain islands and with Djibouti over border details. There were 2 more years of war with Ethiopia which started in 1998 and in 2000 a peace was created with the UN putting in troops as a buffer between Ethiopia and Eritrea. However a continuing issue is the need for Ethiopia to have some access to the Red Sea. (Eritrea is really the coast of Ethiopia). The Eritrean Leader happens to be a friend of the current Ethiopian Leader and has agreed the Ethiopians can use the southern Eritrean port of Assab. However this remains a problem to be permanently resolved.
Our Stay in Massawa
Massawa is in the North and is a natural harbour. We stayed there from 27th Dec 2003 to 10th Jan 2004. A synopsis of what happened / what we saw is
- There are still many bomb damaged buildings, but the streets are all very clean and tidy. (perhaps Egypt should come and have a look)
- In the harbour they have dragged all the sunk boats into one place which was just next to where we anchored
- The harbour has a few large steel Egyptian fishing boats. Apparently they have got the contracts from the Eritreans. They are very run down. In fact one day one of them (unmanned 0 came drifting past us about 10ft away andto further up the creek. Lucky it didn't hit us. It actually went between Geoff's boat and ours
- Geoff is an American on a small monohull who was the only other boat there. (except for a Finnish boat that came in for one day and then left). Geoff was a bit of an ugly American and threw tantrums in public if he felt he was getting a bad deal. Otherwise he was OK and we spent some time together. One evening he took some of his parachute flares ashore with us and had great fun secretly letting them off and then running away so he couldn't be caught. He watched our boat when we went to the capital Asmara.
- Near us were some Somali and Yemeni fishing boats that we didn't really feel comfortable with. However no problems.
- Massawa itself was totally safe day and night. You could walk around the port Island at night down streets with very little lighting and feel OK.. Also you didn't get pestered by touts. There was one young chap trying to sell us something but he didn't persist when we said no. Really rather non African.
- There was a very honest and quiet chap called Mike whom we had read about who helped us. He didn't ask for anything and at the end we only felt it necessary to give him US$15 (not much at all). He did make some money from us by changing money on the black market for us. Apparently if we had gone to the bank they would have given us about 15 Nakfa to the US$ whereas Mike could get us 20 Nakfa and still get a couple of Nakfa profit for himself. This was all done very furtively quite different to Djibouti where women just sat on most street corners changing money.
- One evening we met a Swiss/English couple (Abigail and Jurg, guess who is the Swiss one) who were on a quick break from their jobs in Khartoum (Sudan). They said Khartoum really is the bottom of the earth. Abigail was an anthropologist doing work for a UN Agency and Jurg was the Red Cross Manager there. We took them out for a sail the next day and we all enjoyed it being able to speak English to some one after such a long time in strange countries.
- The connection didn't end there, because Abigail thought her father, who lives in England, would like to sail as he is recently retired. And in the end he joined me in Hania, Crete for the short and eventful trip to lose a mast.
- The beer was locally made and good quality and dirt cheap, about 30 US Cents a bottle. Local tea, black with a lot of sugar in it was 5 cents at a café.
- The people are all very polite and friendly. Not pushy at all. Most of them have not long ago been fighting for their independence. There is still a strong feeling of hope and enthusiasm for the future although they are very poor.
- John and I went to the Capital, Asmara high up inn the mountains,which was a 4 hr bus journey with a meal stop half way. This is the only time when the normal politeness disappeared. When the bus came they all rushed and knocked old women out of the way, but once they had secured a seat it all went back to very polite behaviour. We missed the first bus because we were not ready for the scrum. The second time I joined in the struggle, elbows flying, with gusto and I think the locals were a little surprised. Anyway we got our seats.
- Just before this I had a little fever (the shakes) which were almost over. I was a bit worried it may be Malaria. On the way up, John accepted some of the bus drivers packed lunch. When we got to Asmara, John started to feel very shaky as well, so we found a doctor who tested John for Malaria (all for about $4). He didn't have Malaria, but it could have been Dhengi as they don't bother to test for it because they don't give any medicine for it. The doctor did give John 3 prescriptions which he immediately went to get. Being a true Scotsman and also being normally a little reticent about taking unnecessary medicine, John started to discuss (argue) with the Pharmacist (a matronly rather stout lady) about the need and the price of the prescriptions. (they were in fact extremely cheap) I tried to pretend I wasn't with him, but he eventually agreed to get them all, but by this time had upset the lady a little. He received the Paracetamol for the fever and the Antibiotic as a prevention for Malaria, and then discovered that the third prescription was for an injection. Only then did he see the look of amusement in the Pharmacists eye. She said "Bend Over" and insisted that John had to have the injection in his backside. I thought it was very funny, but John didn't see the joke for a while.
- We actually suspect that John had food poisoning from the drivers food.
- Asmara itself was a real surprise. The main street was tree lined and rather "Chic" with a lot of Cafes which only seemed to sell lovely pastries and coffee. The women all dressed very smartly and held themselves well and all looked gorgeous. Mind you there was nothing else to do and the other food available was not good at all.
- With us both being a bit ill we didn't walk around much, except to go to the markets where most people seemed to be carrying a live chook (or 3)
- On the way back, John did not eat any of the drivers food.
- Back in Massawa, we managed to stock up on some good South African cask wine, just like the good quality Aussie wine
- We left on the 10th Jan for Egypt, feeling much better than when we left Djibouti
I had arranged to meet Nimmity at the El Gouna Marina in early February and I said I would be there on the 9th Feb 2004. We thus had to plan our trip up the Red Sea carefully as it is in total about 1,000 nautical miles. For the bottom bit, up to about Port Sudan, the wind comes from the south, but after that you have about 500 miles against a mainly strong (25knots) northerly wind.
We decided to head for Ras Banas which is a sheltered spot just into Egypt and to avoid Sudan. We had heard that the port authorities are difficult and also there was a civil war on at the time with many being killed. Ras Banas was 780 miles north of Massawa.
In practice we stopped at a couple of isolated places (in Sudan) on the way to Ras Banas without getting officially checked in to Sudan.
MARSA FIJAB, Sudan
By this time we had lost our southerly wind and started to battle against the northerly winds. We had traveled 427 miles to go 300 miles. The first place was Marsa Fijab, Sudan which was a delightfully sheltered anchorage. No Military there at all. In all these Red Sea countries it seems that all the young people have to do military service and they seem to be sent to isolated places on the coast to watch (for what I do not know).
The way in was a little problematical as the special Rd Sea Guide had a way point for the entrance incorrectly marked. In fact the charting of the Red Sea is a problem all round. No reliable charts are available as no country has made decent surveys. It is rumoured that the Russians have some good charts, but they are expensive. The British have some new charts checked by satellite imagery, but they are only at a high level. In practice you have to assume that close to the shore there may be totally uncharted reefs or certainly inaccurately charted reefs. Unfortunately you cannot safely see the reefs as the water is such that you cannot sometimes see them. The wind is usually blowing and making it difficult to see through the water. When in an inlet, you can see well enough to creep in, but not nearly as easily as in the Indian Ocean.
As well as this the Raymarine Electronic Charts and the CMAP software that I had on the PC were seriously out. At anchor in Marsa Fijab, I was shown on the electronic chart as being up a hill, about ½ mile away from where I really was. It seems that no one is interested in this part of the world.
At Marsa Fijab, Sharif, a local nomadic farmer, paddled out to talk to us. We had read about him in the Red Sea Guide, so were not nervous. He brought some eggs for us and we gave him some batteries. Because we had not checked into Sudan and we knew they were a rather military type of country, we were nervous about going ashore. John braved it and went ashore with him and had a ride on his camel. He had goats further inland but lived near the sea. Sharif could speak reasonable English that he had learnt from passing sailors. He came back to our boat and we had a drink with him. Sudan is a Muslim country and alcohol is not really allowed. Sharif told us not to tell his wife. We eventually gave him half a bottle of Eritrean Gin. He said he had a friend in Port Sudan, with whom he liked to go into a closed room and have a drink and get giddy. We felt like making him an honorary Australian. We sated a couple of days and then went north again.
Khor Sinab, Sudan
We next stopped at Khor Sinab which as a good inlet sheltered from all sides. In fact Sudan seems to have decent inlets, whilst Eritrea to the south and Egypt to the north don't have these useful inlets.
We had travelled 244 miles through the water to go 90 miles up the Red Sea. The wind rarely got above 25 knots, but once above 15 knots, it created very short steep waves which meant we had to slow right down to avoid bashing ourselves to death. The current was of course from the north as well.
There was no military at Khor Sinab, although we could see road a bit inland that had the potential to bring trouble. The guide book said you should climb a hill here, so John decided to risk it. I ferried him ashore and he "ran" up this hill, waved to me from the top and "ran" down again. No machine guns nor mines. The landscape was all brown, but much more attractive than Eritrea or Egypt
Whilst here we got approached by fishing men in "tinnie" type boats. We gave them a packet of cigarettes. We left the next day
RAS BANAS, Egypt
We traveled 313 miles over 3 days to go an effective 175 miles to get us to Ras Banas in Egypt. We had visa for Egypt, but you cannot officially enter Egypt until you get a fair way north to an official port. Having got this far we felt we had conquered the most difficult part of the Red Sea. We only had a few relatively short trips from here to get to our destination "El Gouna".
There were a few fishing boats here and the military were ashore. The military didn't seem to have a boat so didn't worry us. The small fishing boats were a bit of a nuisance.
We gave one a tank of water, another some cigarettes and a third wanted spark plugs. I searched around and found 2 spare spark plugs. I gave them one and kept the last one for myself. The fishermen then showed that they needed 2 spark plugs for their motor. I explained (in hand talk) that I needed it. They then tried to insist that I take my spark plug from my outboard and give it to them. I of course refused. They went away grumpily. They just see yachts as easy handout vessels.
We had expected to meet up with Geoff, the American from Massawa, but he wasn't here.
We stayed a couple of days.
RAS TORONBI, Egypt
We travelled 215 over 2 days to go a effective 125 miles to get to Ras Toronbi. We stayed 3 days keeping on the boat. A couple of times some young soldiers who were stationed there came aboard to just have a chat. They weren't interested in anything official, just wanted to talk a bit.
RAS ABU SOMA, Egypt
We traveled 171 miles in 2 days to go an effective 80 miles. This was a lovely place to stay. We were anchored off a Marina in a sheltered bay. The Marina was not finished. They had built the shells of buildings around the Marina, but nothing was finished nor open. Just past the Marina there were 3 international standard hotels with their own beaches and all the trimmings of a luxury hotel. I went ashore a few times and just wandered around. They were full of Germans with their families. Obviously the more moneyed type of German. In fact Egypt has a lot of German tourists. More than once I said I was from "Australia" to an Egyptian and they said, "From Vienna?" They are a little confused I think.
This bay was used as a Sailboard Riding Championship course. With the strong north westerly winds coming off the land all the time, it was ideal for sailboard riding and parachute surfing etc.
We were a little ahead of schedule so spent 5 days here resting, knowing we only had a little way to go.
MAKHEDIQ, Egypt
This was only a few miles north and we did it al on the same day. It was also a good anchorage. Nothing special here. We waited here until the 9th Feb and then set off early for Hurghada to try and get checked in and then into the El Gouna Marina.
HURGHADA, Egypt
We left Makhediq at 6:45 and motored the 15 miles to Hurghada to try and get there early enough so the port authorities could deal with us that day. The method was meant to be that when we got there we called up an agent on the VHF and he would tell us what to do and arrange our clearance papers and we could go on to the El Gouna Marina.
When we got there, we couldn't raise the agent. I later found out that my VHF had decided to not work (a loose wire in the handpiece, still not fixed). We only had one set of motor controls working, so we were a little restricted in what we could do, so I left John steering the boat around, whilst I went ashore in the dinghy to try and find the Agent. We could see the name of the agent on the side of a building, but it was not where the book said it should be.
When I got ashore I met my first bit of Egyptian "Backsheesh". A person helped me get out of the dinghy to go ashore and then held his hand out and asked for money. Luckily I didn't have any so that was easy. Then someone came along who said he was the agent and had seen us circling around the harbour. He said I could come ashore here, but must go ashore at the official Port Area, which was about 30 metres north. He told me to bring "Charlie" alongside. I said I couldn't because of only having one effective motor, so I just paddles the dinghy round to their jetty. When I got there, I asked them wahtb their fees were. They said US$200. I knew there was a special rate for Marina users and told them so. They also knew this. I eventually got it for US$150 which was fair. They then got another fellow (from quarantine) to come with us out to Charlie to look over us and to get a list of equipment from me which I wrote out then and there. They went back to shore and took our passports and told me to motor around for about an hour, whilst they got our passports stamped. They would radio us (I could receive) when all was OK and we could then proceed to El Gouna where they would deliver our passport the next day.
We dutifully sailed around when after about 2 hours there was suddenly a siren and motor boat heading for us. It turned out that Customs decided they wanted to look us over again. Surprisingly no backsheesh expected. A couple of heavies walked over the boat and I had to answer questions and fill out another equipment list.
They then went away and our agent, rather sheepishly said we could continue to the Marina. I think he was a little embarrassed.
At the Marina, we were lucky that it was not full and with only one motor could maneuver so we could moor stern to the quay.
El Gouna was a good Marina, only US$10 per day which I felt was good. It was run by an expatriate Englishman who realized the difficulties non Egyptians have in Egypt. His office was able to arrange anything you wanted, on the assumption that if we tried to do it ourselves we would never get it done. Gas, Water, welding, etc.
We had arrived.
The End
Hi, this is the El Gouna Marina (Egypt) to Hania, Crete to Pilos, Greece, to Athens, Greece Journal
EL GOUNA MARINA, Egypt
John and I had arrived on the 9th Feb as planned. Nimmity had emailed saying she would be there 1 week later. John and I enjoyed the civilization (sort of) that El Gouna provided. We had been away from civilsation since Broom, Australia on 1st August the previous year. Cocos Islands was great, but there was nothing there, The Maldives was also sort of civilized, but sold no grog and it was Ramadan anyway. Djibouti was a mess. Eritrea was pleasant but very basic.
We enjoyed the bars and the food.
The Dinghy Episode
John and I had a good evening at one of the bars in El Gouna and went back to the boat when the bar shut around midnight. John wanted to carry on and suggested to go to the Sheraton which was in the next bay. I don't remember, but they told me I couldn't come. (I wonder why). I heard the story the next day.