Suez-Canal

In June 1978, Franda II paid US$160 to transit the Suez Canal.This still left the required "Baksheesh" to be paid to the Pilots, even though the Canal authority paid them.

The day we had been eagerly anticipating had finally arrived - the day we would leave Suez and embark on our journey through the Suez Canal. This had been our destination for the past two months, a goal we had set since we left home in June 1976.

The gateway to the Mediterranean and roughly the halfway mark in terms of being opposite NZ on the globe, and two of our five-year circumnavigations complete. It was an exciting time.

Around 13:30 hrs, the three yachts had our pilots delivered by a small motorboat. These Pilots would stay aboard until Ismallia, about halfway through the Canal, where they would be replaced by another three pilots.

Having a pilot on board was a unique situation. Officially, he was in command of the vessel, but the crew of Franda II prevented him from taking any action. We were unwilling to trust anyone else with our boat, home, and belongings; it was most of what we owned.

So he sat and watched. Occasionally, our pilot would offer some little tidbits of information in passable English. He was not offensive but also not terribly friendly. Did he feel demoted being assigned a yacht rather than a cargo ship?

It is a condition that every ship transiting the Canal has a pilot on board, regardless of the size of the vessel. So a 40-foot yacht or a supertanker, they all had a pilot.

Dreamtime led Franda II into the Canal. Under engine power, she was the slowest; we were followed by Kalymnos, the fastest. The "captains" had decided this order so that no yacht could be left behind. The two following yachts could not be outpaced if a pilot urged more speed. And they could/would not pass. We wanted to stay together for safety.

Today's ships had entered the Canal before us, and even though they were limited to 8 knots, they were still faster than our yachts. The speed limit was in place to minimize damage to the canal sides from the vessel's 'bow wave'. The three yachts could not hope to keep up. Their maximum speed was six knots; if there was a headwind, this would decrease even further.

There was a world beyond the Canal banks, but it required climbing the ratlines to see it. Standing on the ratlines, gripping the cross trees, I could see a vast expanse of sand in every direction. From the deck, my view was narrowed to the width of the Canal, a yacht, and the seemingly endless stretch of water ahead, as well as a yacht and the seemingly infinite stretch of water behind.

Pre-2008, it would typically take a ship 12 to 16 hours to transit the Canal. The Canal's 24-hour capacity was about 49 standard ships. Ships travelled in small Convoys, passing in the passing areas or passing others waiting, tied alongside the banks. Today, due to extensions of a side channel and another lane, around 97 ships make the transit daily.

There were only two places for ships to pass, the short Ballah Bypass and the Great Bitter Lake. The Canal, which divides Africa and Asia and joins the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea, was opened in 1869. It is 104NM (193.3km) long and passes through 4 lakes. The first lake was only 15NM (28 km) from Suez. The lakes were fascinating, and the yachts could manoeuvre outside the marked shipping channel (they did not need the depth of water the ships did), cutting corners to save mileage and time.

While cutting corners in one of the lakes, we spied a Sloth hanging from a branch in a tree. Although we watched him through the binoculars until he became too small to see, he only had time to move one arm!

We motored hard all afternoon. Typically, we motored at 5 knots to save fuel, but we were forced to go faster. Our plan worked, as we could only go as fast as Dreamtime in front of us. The bridge had already closed and had to swing open again for us. Our pilot informed us that tomorrow's bridge would not open for us. We would need to be there at the correct time when it was open for ships.

We passed at least 3 large Japanese Dredges working hard to keep this section of the Canal open.

The wind picked up in the late afternoon, making a scorching day even hotter and drier. To the pilot's disgust, the wind blowing on the "nose" slowed us down even more.

The sand was being deposited onto Franda II's deck, picked up by the wind in the desert, to be hosed off at intervals. Franda II had a pump that pulled water from the sea and pumped it out a fitting on the deck. A hose attached allowed the decks to be hosed down with unlimited water. Having the decks wet also helped keep Franda II cool inside.

Because we were in a Muslim country, we females had to be careful what we wore. We did not want to offend locals, nor did we want a "run-in" with the Police. Typically, on Franda II, we could get away with wearing very little, but with a Muslim man on board, we had to remain covered; no bikini for us today. A "T" shirt and shorts were about the appropriate minimum.

In the late evening, the southern travelling ships from Port Said bore down on us. Thankfully, there was room to pass, a length of Franda II between her starboard side and the ship and the same distance off to port to the edge of the Canal. It made me feel very small looking up at the slab sides of the vessel to the bridge towering way above us.

Some of the 20 ships that passed us did so in the dark. The powerful headlight mounted on the bows blinded Franda II's crew, making staying in the middle of our 30m lane more treacherous.

Each time a ship got close, the water deepened from the water the vessel pushed ahead of them. After the bow wave passed, it got a lot shallower. The water had been moved forward. Slowly, it would level out until the next ship. I was interested in watching the different amounts of water each vessel pushed ahead of her.

We finally anchored at a pilot station south of Ismallia at Petit Basin Des Las Amers around 20:00 hrs after logging 22 nautical miles in 6 hours.

The following day before dawn, the little group of 3 yachts with pilots aboard left around 0500 hrs for Ismallia. We arrived around 1100 hrs. Here, our pilots were exchanged for others. Franda II's pilot had been quiet, polite and unobtrusive. He ate what he was given without complaints. Dad offered him an Egyptian pound note and a packet of 30 cigarettes, which we had purchased duty-free in Djibouti, especially for this role. Franda II's Pilot took the cigarettes but not the money, which, surprisingly, went against the stories we had heard.

Franda II's crew had heard a lot of horrible experiences from yachts transiting the Canal. Dreamtime's pilot requested 4pkts of cigarettes and one Egyptian pound, and they gladly paid as the pilot was also well-behaved. On the other hand, Kalymnos had threatened to throw theirs overboard as they said he was ignorant and useless, didn't have many English words, and would not eat any of their food! The luck of the draw? Or how they were treated?

Leaving at 11:15 with new pilots onboard, the yachts pushed their engines hard to pass the bridge before it closed. To the pilots' dismay, once through the bridge, engine revs were backed off a bit. The three engines had been working hard for two days, which they were not used to. The running cost increased at high speeds as more diesel was consumed, and none of the yachts wanted that extra expense.

On our port side was the West and the African continent, which became increasingly green and quite pretty. Now that we were in the Nile Delta, the land was irrigated from the Nile River.

Twenty-seven ships passed, going south; another nine were tied to the canal edge, waiting to continue north. Again, a strong headwind put extra strain on our engines.

Franda II's new pilot didn't find favour with the crew. They found him bossy and full of himself. When he left, he was not offered any cash, just cigarettes. Arriving in Port Said just before dark, a small motor vessel collected the three disgruntled "pilots."

Deck lights for the crew and spotlights to find the jetty were needed for the three yachts to drop their anchors and tie stern-to at the Port Said yacht club. Immigration came and somehow broke Franda II's boarding plank; Forms were dutifully filled in. Customs arrived by vessel, and while the officers were dealing with Dreamtime's crew down below, Dreamtime's torch went missing.

Franda II's crew, as a matter of course, did not trust any official or visitor, regardless of nationality. The crew's eyes were always watching. This may mean a crew member staying on deck attending some "job" while unobtrusively keeping an eye on that person. Or, if they wanted to "search" Franda II, a crew member would lead them through the cabins, and another crew member would follow them. The more eyes, the better! We had heard too many stories about "slippery fingers"!

Our 105NM (194km) Suez Canal transit took just over 30 hrs, with 21 hours of actual travel time. In the Mediterranean at last!