Port Berenice-Suez

red sea

Both families were relieved to have regained their freedom and passports from their experience in Port Berenice and were anxious to leave port early the following day.

Continuing north, some days, the sailing was slow because there was no wind, and other days were slow as there was too much wind. The wind coming from the direction we needed to go in caused us to tack or zig-zag our way upwind, making us cover more distance. We may travel through the water at 6knots, but we would only close our destination slowly, 13 hours of sailing, only to gain 40 miles closer to Suez. Once, we even sailed 7 miles to windward, then turned around and returned to port for the day as it was very uncomfortable and unnecessary wear and tear on Franda II and her crew. It did not matter as we were not in a hurry.

On average, we would "make good" between 30 and 50 NM a day. It could take 13 hours of motoring to "make good" 40 NM. Some days were long and slow. It seemed to blow up a storm, or there was no wind.

Because it would stay warm at night, the six young ones would often sleep together on Franda II's large foredeck.

Arriving on dusk in El Quseir, the yachts anchored out from the shore. A rowboat arrived alongside, and the guy onboard asked for a crew list, which both yachts happily handed over. The crew lists have the name and passport details of the crew. During the night, the wind freshened, and the sea rolled in. Dreamtime up anchored and moved into the lee of a Greek ship. Franda II followed around 3 am as it had just got too uncomfortable to stay where we were.

Early the following morning, the harbour master, doctor and customs turned up. The harbour master acted as an agent for supplies, as no one was allowed ashore. Dreamtime ordered some diesel at a reasonable price but did not know the exchange rate. They paid US$2.50 for E£1. There was no Internet back then to check with. Both yachts ordered a few fresh vegetables.

We stayed for a few days as the weather was windy and the sea looked uncomfortable. Dreamtime had their vegetables and diesel delivered in drums, and Franda II had a bit of bread, cucumbers and potatoes delivered.

Some young boys swam out to the yachts, and we gave them some old clothes. They returned with shells, a necklace, and key rings the next day. They Called me "Mister Anne", and the oldest boy wanted to marry me. Although they could not speak English very well, they could write it well. That's write, not print. Kathryn and I gave them some English books, as some could read English.

The yachts were covered in sand blown by the wind, and a slight wind shift covered them in phosphate from the wharf area. For nearly 50 years, the "Red Sea Phosphate Company" mined and shipped phosphate from this port. It was an Italian company with a complete urban colony with houses, a church, a school and administration buildings for the Italian workers and their families. It must have recently been nationalised and was now run by the State-owned Nasr Mining Company. Either way, much phosphate was blown around, and the yachts were covered inside and out.

The weather finally settled, and the friends moved on. With no wind, they were forced to motor all day. Just as well, Dreamtime had bought diesel. At the next anchorage, Safaga, Franda II's crew, took half a watermelon over for Dreamtime's crew to enjoy. Although there is a phosphate works here, the wind was kind and kept the dust away from the yachts. The crews took the opportunity to wash decks and rigging with seawater at the early quiet anchorage, eliminating the brown phosphate blown aboard in Le Quseir.

Freya and I swapped yachts for the night and the next day or two. Freya was happy with this arrangement as she got to socialise with my sister and brothers, who were closer to her age, and eat different food.

Dreamtime caught a reasonably sized Tuna out from Umm Agawish Islands, the first in many days. The plan was to make the Juzur Abu Minqar islands, but the day was too short. So, instead, we anchored at Umm Agawish and feasted on fish and chips.

There were two large American "geophysical" ships tied together. One of them had been here for a year exploring for oil. They were blasting to research the reflected seismic waves, and there was a big "boom" every half hour. One of their tenders stopped to chat with Franda II. Mum asked if they could spare any cooking oil and any newspapers. The Huttons were given a gallon container of cooking oil to share with Dreamtime and a few recent newspapers, which were only a few days out-of-date. Here, we were joined by Kalymnos, a yachtie friend from the Seychelles, who had taken a more direct route up the middle of the Red Sea.

The yachts were now about to enter the Gulf of Suez via the straits of Gubal. While anchored at South Qeisum Island, the families could hear and see the ships travelling up the shipping lane. Mike, Stu and Freya explored the reef with Franda's small dinghy, but it was pretty "dead" and not worth a dive. A few Arabs lived in Tents onshore, and one of their dogs barked all night. A fishing boat also joined us in the anchorage for the night.

The straits of Gubal are narrow. The shipping lane between islands narrows to 5NM for ships and down to 13NM between continents. The Strait of Gubal connects the Gulf of Suez and the Red Sea. It is bordered to the west by the Egyptian coast and to the east by the Sinai Peninsula. Because of its different geological origins, the Gulf of Suez is significantly wider but less than 100 m (330 ft) deep. In contrast, the Gulf of Aqaba reaches a maximum depth of 1,850 metres (6,070 ft) in its central area.

The final leg into Ras Shukheir saw Franda II with a gearbox leak, which Dad and my brothers had fixed in no time. Luckily, before, the seas had become sloppy and uncomfortable. There was vast marine traffic, ships, tugs towing barges, and oil rigs. We were right in the shipping lane again and had to closely monitor traffic.

As the yachts closed on the Egyptian coast, we realised the black shore was caused by a layer of oil. We discussed over VHF radio whether from drilling, a spill, or a sunken ship, but we had no information to choose from. The mountains were very rugged and dry-looking. The sand was everywhere, on the ground, in the air and all over the yachts. There was very little vegetation, only small patches of green here and there. The 3 friends anchored out of the prohibited area just north of Ras Shukheir. It was good holding but had minimal shelter in the prevailing northerlies.

While the adults had sundowners onboard Kalymnos, some guys off an Italian Tug (Giuseppe Panfido) motored over to them to chat. Invited for dinner but not wanting to come empty-handed, they returned to their Tug and arrived back at Kalymnos with spaghetti, wine and bread for a joint dinner. The "kids", however, had fish cakes onboard Franda II.

Unfortunately, the wind came up during dinner that evening, and the sea became choppy. Dad notified Franda II via VHF that he'd be rowing back alone. Would we keep an eye on him? So we watched as the game little dinghy struggled and bounced in the chop, making rowing difficult, but finally delivered Dad safe and wet to Franda II. Barbara stayed dry on Dreamtime for the night, which was more easily reached, being anchored downwind of Kalymnos.

The following morning, the wind increased to 40 knots, and the yachts started to roll, so we stayed put. The young ones launched Franda II's big dinghy and with the trusty seagull outboard surfed down the harbour to visit Giuseppe Panfido. The boys had a beer, and the girls had apricot juice, then tea, Dutch cookies (freshly opened), and a dessert, similar to a trifle, a cognac gateau. The rest of the tinned cookies were taken to Franda II, along with a 1 kg tin of Dutch butter for the yachts to share.

The weather continued unwelcoming, so we remained anchored for a few days. It was even too rough to visit our friends in the Tug. Finally, the wind lessened, and we managed another visit to the Tug. As the seagull had given up the ghost, we rowed downwind to visit our friends on Giuseppe Panfido. This time, we were given cooked apples, watermelon and pizza. Thankfully, we were brought back upwind in the Tug's lifeboat, towing our dinghy. Otherwise, it would have taken us all afternoon to get back upwind to the yachts if indeed we made it.

We all spent the next hour swimming. It was much cooler in the water than onboard. Tina and I would let a glass bottle of water sink to the bottom and practice duck diving down the 5m to retrieve it.

A 3am start had been decided on, the yachts were becoming impatient, and Dreamtime was running low on supplies. But that night, the winds increased again, delaying departure.

Again, the young ones rowed to the Tug. The boys asked if the Tug had the equipment to repair a water pump. The answer was "of course", so the boys with an oar each determinedly rowed the dinghy upwind to pick up Franda II's water pump and bring it back to the Tug. We were fed a lunch of Noodles, with a meaty tomato sauce and parmesan cheese with meat sauce, fresh bread rolls, Fanta (bottled in France), Beer(Oranjeboon_Dutch) followed by a tender steak, and an oily piece of lettuce followed up with some watermelon. At the same time, the engineers onboard fixed the water pump. So with full bellies, fixed pump and light winds, we rowed back to our homes. We passed two other tugs who invited us on board, but we were now anxious to leave. A shame they had not asked us earlier.

The yachts left immediately after their crews returned, making 13 NM miles to Ras Gharib. We had planned to keep sailing overnight, but Kalymnos reckoned it'd be a windy night. He was correct, but the anchorage in Ras Gharib was not protected, and it smelled of oil and general filth. We all had an uncomfortable, smelly night.

We had no choice in the morning, so we left the anchorage in the gale-force winds. It was not ideal, but the anchorage was not safe or comfortable. The 35-knot winds had raised more than a chop. Real waves were rolling down the Gulf of Suez.

After clawing our way to windward all morning, Dreamtime's #4 headsail blew out. The clew just came adrift. Their #5 was not large enough to drive them to weather, and the #3 was too big for the headwinds and waves. Dreamtime was in a dilemma; they didn't know the risk of finding a safe, sheltered anchorage on the Israeli (Sinia) side of the straights. They couldn't sail into the wind, so their only choice was to sadly return downwind to Ras Shukhei and give up all the weathering they had made. Kalymnos decided they would continue to Suez, and Franda II said they would return to Ras Shukhei with Dreamtime. While Franda II was still considering the Israeli coast, Dreamtime had to gybe to miss a ship. They didn't have enough speed to tack Dreamtime, even with the engine running, and before the boom swung through midships and out the other side, Freya was concerned for the mainsail. When the sail came to a quick stop, when the sheet took up, the power of the wind just ripped the mainsail all along the 2nd reef points. Now, they really needed to get the sails repaired.

Sadly, both yachts returned to the known safe anchorage of Ras Shukheir. All that hard-won slow mileage north was being lost in a hurry, 2 days sailing lost in a matter of a few fast hours downwind. Dreamtime also had some oily water sloshing around on their "heads" floorboards and a foot of oily water in their bilge. She was also concerned about the added delay. They were getting low on food, fresh water and diesel. Dreamtime was invited to dinner on Franda II. It was a subdued and early evening as everyone was in low spirits.

Dreamtime had permission from Giuseppe Panfido to use their deck to lay out their mainsail. Tina, Kathryn, and I helped Olga pull out the old stitching. Freya had remained on Dreamtime to start the repair on their #3 headsails.

The winds quieted as repairs slowly took place. Dreamstime still fretted about lost time and that the mainsail would take at least 3 days to repair, so Franda II lent them her old mainsail. The mast slides were different but were replaced with spares from Dreamtime. The sail was reefed to a size that would be suitable for the length of their boom and conditions. The wind had dropped, the seas were calm, and both yachts wanted to take advantage of this.

In Dreamtime's dinghy and outboard, Freya, Tina and I went to one of the enormous ocean-going tugs, the "Smit Lloyd 6", to ask if we could have some fresh water. The Tug was filthy, with a layer of oil on her topsides and the smell of oil onboard her decks. Unfortunately, no one was on the watch, so the 3 girls self-consciously made their way to the bridge. They kept calling out "Hello" but didn't receive any reply.

We were sure someone would be on the bridge, but no. The girls were apprehensive. We were uninvited and unannounced onboard and didn't know what reception we would finally get when we met someone. From the bridge, Freya and I took turns calling "hello" down the stairwell while Tina was patting a dog. The girls were too uneasy to explore beyond the bridge. Finally, John, the cook, arrived. Freya explained the situation and asked for some water and the possibility of buying 30 gallons of diesel. A crew member went with Freya in the dinghy to empty the water into Dreamtime and collect diesel drums. While Freya was away, the cook gave Kathryn and me a bowl of Dutch soup. It contained lots of vegetables, sausage, chunks of pork, and beef. It was delicious. We were also allowed to help ourselves to the fruit bowl. The cook was very friendly and explained that they had fresh food flown in every week. He put a bag of goodies together for the two yachts. This included leftovers from lunch, some tinned food, a cabbage, 10-15 tomatoes, onions, spring onions, 20 eggs, flour, a piece of watermelon and about 10 apricots. The girls were very grateful.

Freya returned for more water and diesel, and then, with our fresh food parcels, water and diesel drums full, we girls returned triumphantly to our yachts.

The wind turned SE, and the yachts badly wanted to leave. Although they only had 120NM to reach Suez, it would be a relaxing day's travel at sea. However, with our recent average of 22NM per day, we didn't want to spend another 6 days getting to Suez.

Stuart and Freya took Dreamtime's dinghy and motored down to Guiseppe Panfido to collect the stores Dreamtime had bought. Flour, yeast, cooking oil, tinned fruit, milk and some frozen meat. Franda II was given the role of caretaker for their steak.

The SW wind change had pushed thick black oil back into the bay. Dreamtime's dinghy and painter were covered in it, and it took a good hour to make it clean enough to bring aboard. The painter could not be salvaged and had to be removed and discarded.

The yachts departed around 23:30 with a flat sea and no wind. They motored all night. I was woken at 05:00 hrs to share a watch with Mike. The day brought a light Northerly wind, which intensified as the morning wore on. Then it dropped, then it returned. The wind just played with the yachts, coming and going. The sea was confused but not too uncomfortable. At 14:00 hours, we anchored in Ras Za'farana after 70 NM. We felt good, having just halved the distance remaining to Suez, with only 50NM to go.

The captains decided that if the seas were calm, they would leave at midnight to arrive at Suez early in the morning.

Dreamtime had fresh steak from Franda II's fridge and fresh veggies for dinner, a treat for them. After that, the adults spent time on Franda II, and the young ones hung out on Dreamtime, listening to music and chatting. It was eerily calm at midnight, so the yachts took the opportunity and left under engine power. The dawn saw Franda II ahead, but she slowed down so that Dreamtime caught up by breaky time, just at the entrance to Port Suez.

58 days to cover the 1200NM of the Red Sea, what a "once in a lifetime" experience.