2007 - 4 : Sailing from Egypt to Turkey

4th leg of the trip: Egypt to Turkey.

We left Port Ghalib, Egypt on May 8 after filling up with diesel and water. The Red Sea has a bad reputation for unexpected storms with high waves, so Max wanted to take advantage of any nice weather to get going. The weather was gorgeous, light winds and calm seas, so we had to motor. The Egyptian coast is full of coral reefs that are great for snorkeling and diving and we were planning to stop at some of these sites and check out the underwater world. The area we had selected was designated an underwater park and anchoring is strictly forbidden in order to avoid damage to the coral. But there were supposed to be moorings that we could tie up to. We reached the areas and we searched and searched for the moorings, but if they were there, they were well hidden from us. We never found a single one, so we could not stop and therefore the glories of the underwater world were denied to us. The weather stayed good and we continued into the northern part of the Red Sea, where it splits into 2 sections. The left one is where we had to go and it is quite narrow: it is called the Strait of Gubal. The guidebook told us, that the wind blows hard here most of the time, accompanied by large waves. It advised, that “if the weather is good, go for it.” The weather was good and we went for it. We had selected 2 places where we were going to spend the night for the 3 day trip. The weather stayed great all day and by evening we reached the first overnight spot. The GPS told us that there was a marina and anchoring was strictly prohibited due to oil pipe lines lying on the sea bottom. We tried to contact the marina by radio and we were told that there was no marina and we should anchor. Because the weather was good, we decided that instead of stopping we would just continue and boat through the night. A good thought at the time, but only one hour later the wind picked up and it reached a strength of 25 knots at times with about 1 meter (3 ft) waves. The Strait is only about 6 miles wide and 150 miles long. It ends at the start of the Suez Canal, therefore it is full of large freighters coming and going and again there is a traffic separation scheme. Small boats are advised not to run between the freighters. But running close to shore is not an option as well as it is full with obstacles, oil drills, oil drilling platforms, channel markers, etc. etc.

And they are not necessarily lit up at night. So we decided to boat right next to the left traffic channel, where the freighters were heading south (with other words; towards us).
With the darkness (no moon) wild weather, freighters and obstacles on our route, needless to say that we both were up all night, keeping a very close look-out. Again the night vision goggles did wonders; at least we could see the freighters coming from about 10 miles away. Long before our radar picked up on them. By morning we reached our 2nd overnight spot. The weather had become nice again and even though we were both very tired, we decided to continue. At 1600 hrs (4:00 pm) we reached the town of Suez, which marks the beginning of the Suez Canal, where we finally could enjoy a well-deserved rest.

The next day our boat was measured and all sorts of fees had to be paid in order to be able to go through the Suez Canal. A cute Egyptian man would come frequently along side the boat to sell us food items.

Max had become sick and he spent the whole day in bed. I played nurse for a while and gave him some medicine that after a while made him feel a bit better again. On May 13 Max felt well enough to continue and the pilot, who was going to guide us through the Suez Canal, arrived.

At 1100 hours (11 am) we entered the Suez Canal. The canal is not wide enough for 2 way freighter traffic, so there are set times for them to move north and other times to move south.

They stayed in so-called waiting areas until it was time to go.

Little boats (like us) can go at in between times and we are mostly kept separated from the big freighters, but nevertheless, there were still some that we passed awfully close. It was almost a case of “reach out and touch someone”.

The shores were quite barren, although frequently we saw big containers.

Also security in Egypt was very tight, and in many places there were military units with big machine guns on the shores.

Midway there were some large lakes that the route goes through. We still had to keep a very close look-out, because even in the lakes were all kinds of obstacles to avoid.

But again the weather was nice and we reached the midway town of Ismailiya just before dark.

It was a pleasant, good size city of 1,5 million people with a nice marine. Local people were fishing

and digging for clams right in the area.

We ended up staying there for 5 days. As usual boat work had to be done, but we also took a day off and we rode the local bus to crowded and smoggy Cairo (pop. 20 million).

Near Cairo are 9 of the Giza pyramids and a huge sphinx.

When you’re in Egypt, you of course have to visit these places. The pyramids were a little distance from each other, separated by sandy desert roads and we hired a horse and carriage to take us around.

We rode through the little town of Giza,

where the locals were simply going about their business.

The pyramids were of course very impressive

And Max even attempted to climb a little way up.

While the locals were smarter and took their siesta in the shade.

One of the locals talked me into getting onto a camel.

And graciously offered to shoot some great pictures.

After which he then demanded an outrageous amount of money. The fact that police on camel back was nearby probably prevented him from keeping our cameras for ransom.

We paid him what we felt was fair and we continued on.

Next we went on to the sphinx. It is huge and beautiful;

you could get close, but not right next to it.

Later in the afternoon we returned to Cairo, where we had another view of the Nile River.

Here we spent several hours in the Egyptian museum where the treasures from the pyramids and tombs are on display. It was truly amazing!

On May 18 another Suez Canal pilot woke us up at 0600 hr (6 am) and soon we were going down the 2nd section of the Canal.

The day started out with a heavy fog, the pilot had us boat on the left side of the canal, close to shore. It was tricky, because just to our right the big freighters passed on our bow, and on our left were canal markers and fishing boats. We could not see any of them until they were very close.

By 10:00 hrs (10 am) it was clear again and we continued without any problems. At 1500 hrs (3 pm) we reached the end of the Suez Canal at Port Said, where we dropped the pilot off.

Port Said looked from the canal like a big, busy and fairly nice city,

with ferries crossing from one side to the other.

We had been told that in Port Said it could be quite costly to go ashore, as all kinds of people want some “baksheesh” (tips, bribes, a way of life in Egypt), before you can get your exit visa and legally leave the place. We decided to ignore it all and to just keep going straight ahead into the Mediterranean Sea.

So we did not get an exit stamp on our Egypt visa, which may cause problems if we return, which is unlikely anytime soon. We went east along the coast, direction Israel and we arrived in the Israeli town of Ashkelon the next day at 1330 hrs (1:30 pm). Apparently there has been fighting in the Gaza desert among the Palestinians, which is only 20 km (15 miles) to the south of this town. By radio we were directed to go a bit past Ashkelon before we could go in. A high speed Israeli naval boat, fully armed, circled our boat, before turning away and telling us: “Welcome to Israel”.

Ashkelon was a very western, modern and new town. It had good roads and if it was not for the Hebrew signs, you’d figure that you were in “anyplace U.S.A.”.

It is apparently also a favorite beach town for the Israeli people.

Lots of construction was going on.

We were told that fighting had been going on between 2 Palistinian factions in the Gaza: the Hamas and El Fatah. Even though it was an internal war, just for sport they were also throwing rockets into Israel, some of which landed less than 10 km away from us. So we could frequently hear rocket explosions, but that was all we noticed about the problems.

Being in Israel, you HAVE to visit Jerusalem, the center for 3 of the world religions. New Jerusalem is modern.


but old Jerusalem placed us back into medieval times. It was surrounded by a city wall,

on which we walked for half-way around the city.

The buildings were ancient, but it did not seem that anyone lacked having their satellite tv’s.

Being on top of the wall gave us good view of an area that was being excavated.

And a large graveyard just outside the city walls.

Old Jerusalem was accessed through several large city gates.

And of course the city was full of historical and biblical sites.

For the Christians the Via Dolorosa was an important route as it marked the 14 Stations of the Cross, the route that Jesus was forced to follow while carrying the cross.

Prayer sessions were conducted along this route.

We visited his tomb in the middle of a large temple, which was built 300 years after his death.

And of course we had to visit the famous Wailing Wall, which has separate sections for men

and women to pray at.

As everywhere else in Israel, security was high.

And we found that America still has friends in the world

All kinds of different religious groups were roaming around and having their prayers in various places.

The city was full of ancient houses, narrow arched streets and it was quite a pleasure to walk around in.

Of course like any other tourist place, holy or not, it was also full of little tourist shops, with lots of cutesy or religious items, made in China. It also had great spice shops, where I could not resist buying some.
Even though I am not religious, I found Jerusalem to be a fascinating ancient old city
E We stayed a few more days in Ashkelon, to do some boat work and we had some time to relax and to visit with other yachties.
On May 24 we headed west again. The exit procedure with immigration did not give any problems, but the female officer stayed with us until the boat was pushed off from the dock. The navy boat circled us again on the way out, but we did not get a greeting this time.
It took us 1,5 day of motor/sailing right into 15 – 20 knot winds and 1 meter (3 ft. seas) before we reached Cyprus. As we got to the east side of the island, the winds died and the waves became flat. The island is divided into a Turkish northern section and a Greek southern section. The Greeks have never forgiven the Turkish for invading what they considered their island. Any boat visiting northern Cyprus, better not go near southern Cyprus after that. The sailors get arrested and thrown into jail. Northern Cyprus was cheap to visit, but southern Cyprus was expensive. We had contemplated visiting Cyprus, but with all the hassles and expenses we decided to forego it. Especially since the weather had turned so favorable. During the night we boated on the east side of Cyprus and in the morning of May 26 we took a northern heading towards Turkey. The weather gods must have agreed because the wind died completely and the seas were perfectly flat. We had to motor, but it was a real pleasure to be on the water. Most of the trip the weather had been quite warm, since about midway in the Red Sea temperatures had been steadily dropping. There we had to start using sweaters and blankets at night, now we even had to wear a sweater during the day. But after all the heat in the Indian Ocean it was quite welcoming.
The next afternoon we reached the Turkey coast. I had boated around here in 2001 and it was still as gorgeous as then. The wind picked up a bit, so we could set out some sail as we headed west. For the first time on our whole trip did we see lots of other pleasure and charter boats around, especially the traditional Turkish gulets.

By 2000 hours (8 pm) that night we reached the town of Fetiye,

where we decided to tie up for the night.

In the morning we boated 8 hours more to the town of Marmaris, where we arrived on May 28. Max is considering leaving his boat here when he goes home, so he wanted to evaluate the possibilities. It is a gorgeous area, and a pretty, though very touristy town.

The waterfront right by the marina is stock full of restaurants, which are a bit empty this early in the season. Food from most of the northern European countries is available; I have seen tons of Dutch restaurants, although so far I have limited myself to Turkish fare.

There are 3 marinas right around this area, so Max should have no difficulty leaving his boat.

We stayed here for a few days and then we headed for the Greek islands. We reached the first island today on June 1.

All is still well and I am looking forward to visiting many of the Greek islands.