Port-Said

With only a few American Dollars left in Doug's bottom drawer, Doug and Barbara became more anxious as the days passed. The trip through the Suez Canal had thankfully been uneventful, but now Franda II sat in the Port Fouad marina, desperately waiting for a wire transfer to arrive from New Zealand.

It was with heavy hearts that we learnt that Grandma had passed away over a month earlier. A letter from Barbara's sister, Margery, explained the funeral and celebration of Mona's life. Understandably Barbara was distraught. She had partly expected her mother's passing but did not get to say her final goodbye's.

Amongst the shopping and everyday chores, the girls managed to get through quite a bit of their schooling. Some days they would spend many hours in the main saloon working on their books. They were both behind and were working hard to catch up.

While waiting for the money to arrive from NZ, Kathryn and Anne frequented the local markets to buy food. Enjoying this activity, but cautious. After experiencing several countries on the African continent, Kenya, Djibouti, Eritrea and Sudan, the girls knew that the price they paid was more than the local's price. So devising a little game, the sisters paid local prices. In Port Said, it was made easier by the stallholders advertising the cost of their goods. The price was written in Arabic, on pieces of a torn-up cardboard carton and displayed with the fruit or Veg.

Picking up the item, one girl would innocently ask in English and sign language what the price was. The stallholder would hold up the appropriate number of fingers, or the stallholders would show the correct notes. This price would invariably be at least twice the price written in Arabic on the sign.

While acting out the skit, many of the nearby stallholders watched tentatively. They were possibly wondering what price they could charge for their goods. The young foreigners would shake their heads, smile sweetly, point at the sign, and make as if to move off. There would be a period of silence, then raucous laughter. The outwitted stallholder would then point at the price sign and nod his head. From then on, the girls had new "friends" If not completely honest, they held some respect for the foreigners and kept their "rip off" at an acceptable level.

The sisters visited the market each day, buying just what was needed. Cash was very short, so the girls purchased the bare minimum. Nobody knew when the dollars would arrive from New Zealand.

The girls sussed out the stalls with the best fruit and the most "honest" stallholder. It was not so crucial for the day to day produce but would be necessary with the need to buy bulk. The girls always asked if there was fresher produce available. After days of this routine, Kathryn and Anne were soon only offered the best produce.

Each egg was held up to a lamp by the seller before being purchased. Ensuring there was no growing embryo inside. If there was, it joined the pile of unsalable eggs. In this way, most of the eggs purchased were edible but still needed checking at home before using. It had become a habit on Franda II not to trust that eggs were good. So the cook would break the eggs into a separate bowl before adding to other ingredients or simply cracking and smelling before adding it. The problem with this last method is if the egg is "off", it will sometimes be under pressure dripping rotten egg into your other ingredients.....

Anne preferred to make a small crack in the eggshell with the back of a knife; if it did not appear dark or stink straight away, she then lifted the egg to her nose for a cautious sniff. If only egg smell, she would empty the shell into a small bowl. If it still looked OK, she'd add it to the other ingredients. And repeat. An egg can smell OK but contain a half-grown embryo. Not something you want in a cake or omelette! If it instantly stank when cracked, the cook would place the egg in a bowl, carry it topside, and deposit it over the leeward side. Rotten egg is not a good smell at sea; it has the same effect as diesel and rotten potatoes, quickly making you feel very seasick.

The fresh bread shop produced terrific smells. The girls regularly purchased the bread from here, generally as little oval buns or, on occasion, a loaf. Often dark brown, small lumps in the bread had Barbara say "probably mice poo" with her sense of humour. One day while slicing the loaf, Doug cut into a well-cooked mouse. Doug chucked that loaf over the side, but the family enjoyed the buns. Maybe Anne's mother had been correct about the mouse poo?

It was a very anxious ten days for Doug and Barbara, waiting for the money to arrive. An expensive telex to the bank in New Zealand requested New Zealand trace the money from their end. Dads drawer was all but empty when the New Zealand bank helped trace the money. It had arrived over two weeks prior, but the Egyptian bank would not admit it or hand it over. Maybe the local bank was earning some interest with it. There was much relief on Franda II.

Franda II's crew befriended two American chaps, both called Henry, so Anne called them Henry1 and Henry2. These two lads visited regularly and would often be on board at mealtime. In addition, the Henry's would often accompany the two sisters uptown as chaperones.

Finally, all of the girl's research could be put to good use to stock Franda II with food. With some negotiation, hand waving and help from other locals, the girls ordered three trays (90 eggs) less than 24 hours old. More hand waving and support, and they knew it'd take a few days to organise and would cost a little more. The girls happily paid the slight price increase.

The eggs duly turned up, but who knows how old they were? The girls waited and watched patiently while the lady held every egg up to the light to check it. If both girls lost concentration, work would stop until the girls were ready to monitor the tedious progress as slowly egg after egg was held and turned in front of the fluorescent light. The stallholder made sure the girls were happy with each and every egg. She did not want any complaints. Back on board, the crew set to sealing the eggs with Vaseline.

Kap and Anne negotiated strongly with their newfound friends in the markets, ensuring them the girls would be buying a lot of fresh veggies. Firstly they bought a few buckets full of very ripe tomatoes, some onion and apples. This was all lugged home in backpacks and buckets. The girls and Barbara spent the next few days boiling and bottling tomato sauce and cooking tomatoes to bottle in sterilised jars. Then, on Doug's insistence, a 5kg sack of baby onions were bought, along with a few litres of vinegar. The girls encouraged Doug to help peel the onions as he would be eating the most.

Doug enjoyed a rum and coke in the evening. Some evenings he would scoop a handful of peanuts out of an old milk powder tin. A plastic lid sealed the container and kept the peanuts fresh; reuse was pervasive aboard Franda II. Doug would happily munch his way through the handful of nuts while sipping his rum. If his favourite peanuts were unavailable, pickled onions with some good cheddar cheese were a good substitute.

Then back to the markets for Fresh produce potatoes, onions, cabbage, green, orange and ripe tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, beans, whatever looked fresh and would keep. The crew needed tomatoes in their different stages of ripeness—some for today, some for later. It is pretty remarkable that every country's vegetables are the same and taste the same. Yes, some area's have their specific fruit and vegetables, but all still have the basic fruit and Veg.

Anne met a young Egyptian girl who frequented the marina with her father and spoke English well. The father invited Anne to play tennis at the local tennis court. Although Anne enjoyed hitting the ball with her friend, neither played very well. It is not a good game on a yacht. The Egyptian girl's father wanted Anne to take his daughter sailing, so he hired a small sailing dinghy for a few hours.

Anne was quite terrified at this responsibility. She was confident in her ability, but the other girl had not been in a dinghy before. The Egyptian girl could not swim, so both girls wore life jackets. It was terrifying for Anne; never before had she sailed in a small dinghy close to huge ships, tugs and ferries running to and fro. Diesel or oil covered the water, and Anne certainly didn't want to go swimming in it. Nevertheless, it was a successful sail. The girl and her father were pleased with the day.

Finally, Franda II was ready to leave Egypt and head for Israel