Our transit of Pirate Alley was a concern for us and the small 5 boat convoy we gathered together added some protection toward any potential attacks. Now especially, with the increase of hijackings these past 6 months, I look back at our experience, glad to have completed that stretch of unnerving waters in April 08 and realize we were lucky to have had an easy go of it. The weather participated even though the wind was light, our spinnaker kept us up in speed and all of us made it through with no problems. However concerns grew getting closer to that area, especially since a small luxury French cruise liner was hijacked with crew members aboard, only one week before we arrived. We kept contact, via email with other vessels that were ahead of us, which they informed us that war ships were patrolling the area and to hail them incase of an emergency. That eased our worries, a bit.

Sailing well away from Somalia and Pirate Alley with the small convoy, landing in Aden for three days and heading out with our convoy to Bab El Mandeb, the entrance to the Red Sea went smoothly. At this point, the convoy felt it was safe enough for each vessel, to go their speed. We fell behind preferring to use the light wind instead of motor. Late that afternoon, a 35’ fishing vessel made its way towards us, we couldn’t out run it, so we just waited to see what they wanted. The boat was brimming with fisherman dressed in rags, some pointed to their mouths and rubbed their tummies. So we thought this meant food. When we tossed over a few noodle soup packs, they shook their heads no. Then one produced a small pack of pills, so we tossed them some Ibuprofen. With a smiles and thanks, they were off.

That night, a Yemen gun toting Patrol boat, approached us at 3 am, questioned why we were in Yemeni waters. They appeared to be satisfied with the answers of, we just left Aden and we are American. They apologized and asked if we needed any assistance. With those two encounters in an area of uncertainty, our hearts did beat faster when approached by these vessels, but in the end, a cool head prevailed and all was fine.

The light wind carried us to the sleepy port town of Saukin, Sudan. We stopped and met up with a few boats from the convoy and to top up on fresh produce.

At this point of the transit, we were expecting the seasonal North head winds that shoot down the elongated Red Sea, but our luck held out. We sailed and motored roughly 300 miles, stopping once at a reef for a refreshing swim and snorkel. Twenty miles from Ras Banyas, Egypt the head winds increased to about 20-25 knots, coming right down the pipe, from the NNW. After 6 hours of motor sailing, our little, 35’ Dufour sloop, Moorea slowly made its way to the anchorage and we finally dropped the hook and stayed for 6 days along with 7 boats, waiting for the wind to abate.

Noticing the wind dies down after midnight and pipes up again around mid-morning, we decided to make a break for it one night at 3am for Dolphin reef. A few boats had sought refuge behind the reef and said the dolphins come for visits and swimming with them is a blast. We were fortunate enough to find dolphins swimming near our boat as we anchored and donned on our snorkeling gear and swam out to meet the pack of dolphins. Their movements were slight and would glide by, almost ghostly. That evening we decided to move on since the wind dropped off and made our way to Port Ghalib, where we would check into Egypt.

Since the forecast of light winds looked favorable for the next few days, we wanted a fast check in, however the term fast, does not exist in this country. Six hours of waiting at Port Ghalib’s quay and requesting that our check out of the harbor be completed the following day, gave a response of, “I’ll try” from the marina representative. So we med moored in the marina, rinsed off the salt caked boat and relaxed, hoping the paperwork would be completed in order to exit before the dreaded NW wind kicked up. Again, luck was on our side and we made for Port Hurghada the following day.

This port has a new marina off the town with plenty of room and free internet, as well as a great locale to rent a guide and car for a tour to Luxor & the Valley of the Kings, which our friends on Ohana Kai & Luna had decided to do. We however, had to move on after a few days of luxurious marina time, to head for Sharm El Sheikh, in order to meet up with the Captain’s Aunt Jana flying in from San Diego.

Located on the Sinai Peninsula, Sharm El Sheikh boasts luxury resorts and spectacular diving at and around their National Park, Ras Muhammad. This area was developed, when the Israelis had occupied the peninsula, leaving an infrastructure to help create one of Egypt’s fun in the sun destinations. Although many people visit this area, few cruising boats do with the exception of the MedRed Rally, we only saw Mega yachts parked at the Port Control’s quay. Not allowed to anchor in the bays (or dinghy sail in them for that matter), we were required to hire another agent just to check into this port. For some reason, our Egyptian cruising permit did not cover the whole of Egyptian waters. But this stop was well worth the hassle, since one of our favorite inland tours was to St. Catherine’s Monastery, built in the 6^th century, ordered by the Roman Emperor Justin to protect Sinai passes from invasion, which contains the famous burning bush of Moses and sits under the mount where Moses received the 10 commandments.

Finished with the desert, wisely Aunt Jana decided to fly over to Jordan to view the stone cities of Petra, while we rounded the peninsula and into the Gulf of Suez. Bashing into the wind and waves, so we could make our destination of Suez City in 3 days where we would meet up with her again, this was an aggressive time frame considering the conditions we could have faced. Normally we don’t make such extreme goals when cruising from place to place, but she was worth the beating so off we went. Navigating through large working oil rig platforms and dodging the dilapidated and abandoned oil rigs, partially dissembled iron beams sticking out of the water, that barely show their tiny blinking light with just a puny dot on the radar to indicate their position. We motored sailed day and night. The boat managed better then we did, intermittently the Captain or I would be put off and ready to stop for a rest behind a reef, but with each incident of the bashing blues, one would rally the other to keep moving on.

We managed to stop for only four hours as the wind was so incessant, our boat moved under 2 knot on both tacks. When it abated, off we went and after 175 nautical miles we finally reached Suez City. Our agent Madgy at Felix was great at helping us obtain some fuel, reconnected us with Aunt Jana and getting everything in order to transit the canal the next day. However the next day a warship decided to transit the canal, thus forcing us to wait a day since it is policy that small yachts can not transit at the same time.

After a one day delay, we left the next at 5 am for Ismailia. Basically the half way point in the canal where we planned to moor the boat at the marina and tour Cairo for a few days. The transit went fine. There was a favorable current and we had over a 5 knot average. Our pilot was competent and cordial but the demeanor change when presenting his tip or the well known term, “Baksheesh”. Twenty dollars is the acceptable amount, according to our agent, and after counting out the money, our pilot demanded more. His English got bad and he didn’t understand us anymore. He even jumped ship, onto the Pilot boat just before the entrance to Ismailia and another Pilot got on. We made it clear to the second guy that we weren’t happy with his friend and this second pilot guided us in about 2 nautical miles to the marina, than asked for his tip. Having no in difficulty telling him off and sending him on his way, we quickly washed down and secured Moorea, before the car and driver from MISR Travel, arrived to take us to Cairo, about an hours drive.

Cairo is a dingy and congested city full of gems that make it worth visiting. The Nile providing nutrients to the population, the Pyramids and ancient artifacts attracting numerous tourists and the beautiful Coptic Churches and Mosques dotting the city are just a few places that come to mind. We spent 7 days touring the area and enjoying the hotel amenities, like air conditioning. Departing the city exhausted and saying our farewells to Aunt Jana, we returned back to Ismailia to prepare our boat for the final leg of the Suez Canal. We filled up with fuel in Ismailia, in the afternoon, when the guarded marina has a shift change and the friendly guards let you through with jerry cans of cheap diesel. We paid about $1/gallon at the service station and comparing that to the $9/gallon Mediterranean prices, we topped up. Also this small town was full of friendly and helpful people and had a decent grocery store for stocking up on goodies.

The final Suez transit with another Pirate, I mean Pilot aboard to get us through the canal. We dropped him off and headed out to the Mediterranean, hoping for following seas and a quick sail to Marmaris, Turkey. Instead we had head winds and big seas. Oh well, at least our Red Sea passage was a breeze.