Thursday 20th December 2007

Well, I am now in my winter residence and doing work on the boat. The sun is shining every day but it is a bit chilly. 22 in the day and 15 at night! Well, chilly for me.

Looking forward to Christmas. We go to a German hotel called the Steynbeckeron Christmas eve. They do a incredible buffet and are one of the only hotels to serve turkey with all the trimmings. Not the place to be if you are on a diet. Christmas day will be lunch at a local restaurant in the marina..

There are 7 live aboard yachts here so plenty of good company.

Did some wonderful diving on the coral reefs in Safaga, about 25 k south of here. I missed a dive where the dolphins were particularly friendly and some wonderful pictures taken of them. A moving time when I left to return north to Abu Tig as all the rally boats were here and I was leaving a lot of wonderful people who I had been with now for over 2 months.

No more fish.

Love to see some of you out here. No pirates, no bombs and the Egyptians are really nice.

 

Saturday 18th November 2007

Another month gone and many more miles and experiences.

Port Said is always nice to visit and the fish meals are very good. The Canal was ok but this year we could not go into Ismailia and had to traverse the canal  from Port Said to Port Suez in one go. From Port Suez we sailed for about 8 hours south to a safe bay  called Marsa Thelemet for the night before continuing on to Sheik Riyah, another pleasant bay to stop in. Within 1/2 hour of leaving the first bay I caught a 15kg, 1.5 metre long fish. It took me 1/2 an hour to land as it fought very hard. Normally you are not allowed to land in these bays but as the fish was so large and we could not possibly eat it ourselves we gave it to the soldiers who patrol the beaches and they showed us how to fillet it. We had a large piece for our dinner and they had the rest. This was about lunch time so the soldiers deep fried some of it for lunch. we also got some salad bits from the boats and a great party was had by all. Because of the fish we were allowed to walk around the beach, escorted, which was nice as there were many beautiful shells which would normally have been picked up by other visitors.

       

                       

Now in Aqaba in the Royal Jordan Yacht Club. It is a very splendid marina and club.

I could have had a disaster as leaving the last Egyptian port to come the short distance to Aqaba the Starboard propeller shaft coupling came adrift and the prop shaft and propeller slid port way out of the stern. I could do nothing but go slowly to Aqaba and hope it stayed in. Luckily it did. If this had happened in the rough seas coming through the straights of Tiran which is always windy with rough seas for about 10 hours I hate to think what would have happened. I had work done on the starboard propeller shaft this summer and it seems they forgot to put a split pin in to secure the nut holding the shaft onto the coupling.

Friday 14th October 2007

Sorry not to have kept the news up to date very often but here it is.

 Now I am with the Vasco da Gama Rally on my way to the Red Sea for the winter. There are 22 yachts from all nationalities and I have made some wonderful new friends again.

 We have come from Marmaris along the south Turkish coast to Mersin calling in at some beautiful small harbours along the way and been given a royal welcome by the local people who have been so generous, kind and helpful.

 Now in Larnica, Cyprus again for  7 days and meeting up with friends made here when I was here in April this year. Cyprus is a lovely country and I could well spend a winter here in the future. All very English what with driving on the left as England does.

 My crew I had for the trip  did not turn out so well.  He had a habit of falling into the water and on the 5 days he was with me he fell in every day and twice on one day. He managed to loose three bags of shopping by leaving them outside the supermarket for an hour and bought a stolen motor scooter. Not a good combination when going to some Arabic countries. He left the yacht in Finike.

 I was lucky and found a Dutch man who will come with me to Ismailia on the Suez canal. After that I will see how it goes.

 I was most disappointed it did not work out as I was hoping to go down to Eritrea and Sudan this year but I will not go  without crew. Any offers?

 Next leg is to Port Said where we spend a few days before going through the canal. Myself and a good friends yacht Sybaris will be going up the Gulf of Aqaba to Jordan and spend a few weeks there. I think some other yachts will come with us so should be fun.  

 Unfortunately Egypt is catching up with prices going up for marinas and cruising permits. Still very cheap compared to elsewhere but now a lot more yachts are going it is inevitable. Food is still very cheap.

 All for now.

 

Friday 19th July 2007

Well at last I have got down to writing something.

At present I am just north of Bodrum in a small town called Valikava with my friends Per and Elly on Sybaris.

Since returning to Turkey I have been relaxing in the bays around Orhaniye with other yachts and a friend.

On the way back to Orhaniye I stopped at Gocek to meet a friend who was coming with me to Orhaniye. On the way there the fridge stopped working. I got it filled with gas and it worked but every thing froze up. It turned out he put to much gas in. It took another 3 weeks to get this sorted.  I now know a lot more about fridges.

In between times I have fitted a 12 volt alternator which took a week, and as I had an injector problem in Egypt and the injectors should be serviced every 2500 hours and they had done 5000 hours it seemed a good idea to get them done. A BAD MISTAKE. I try to live by 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' but failed to do so in this instance and have had problems ever since.

Now I have done a long trip and checked fuel consumption it has doubled! However I think I have found the problem thank goodness. An advantage of two engines is I can run on one if need be.

The weather in May and June was unsettled. Cold and rain, not normal for this time of year.

I have been looking at getting a new teak deck for the yacht. The price for a proper teak deck as opposed to the Iroko one fitted when I bought the yacht 12 years ago is still cheaper here in Turkey than I paid in England.

I am planning to return again to Egypt for the winter via Jordon. The initial part down to the Gulf of Suez will be with the Vasco da Gama Rally who I went down with the first year. I had a fight to get on the rally the first year as I was a motor yacht but because of my usefulness rescuing yachts in trouble I have been accepted with open arms this year.

The start will all along the southern coast of Turkey to Mersin where we check out of Turkey and then across to Cyprus and from there to Port Said.

I will meet up with my old German friends soon in Bodrum and cruise with them for a few weeks.

 

Saturday 20th April 2007

Well I have now returned to the Mediterranean and enjoying sunshine and Greek hospitality in the Greek island of Kastellorizon which is just 3 miles off of the Turkish coast.

The trip back from Egypt was with three young American lads who were with me until Cyprus. They had been travelling through Africa and they were tired of travelling and wanted to get home. The trip through the Gulf of Suez, the Canal and across to Cyprus was uneventful although a bit  rough. The yachts I was with wanted to sail so instead of waiting another day for the forecast low winds we  set off early. As it happened it worked out well as there were gales the next day.

The Cyprus visit was primarily to collect a new cooker. The makers, New World, have an agent there so it was shipped there in a container with other goods for him. It fits in well and is safer as it is fitted with flame out protection on all burners. The old cooker was ceremoniously tipped overboard in deep water to start another fish have and reef.

Sybaris, the other yacht I travelled from Egypt with had a Cypriot on board as crew. He became good friends and as it was Easter he invited us up to his mountain house  where the local church and villagers celebrated with a service and then a BBQ feast around the church. A truly wonderful and hospitable time.

         

       Starfish restaurant Hurghada                                          Mermaid roundabout in Hurghada                                        Sybaris on the Suez Canal

The costs in Egypt are very low. We found a very high class fish restaurant where you could get a fish meal with soup and a main course of sea bass, calamari, shrimps, fish cakes, salad, dips etc all  for £3.90 . Although cheap the presentation and quality of cooking is cordon bleu standard

                               

                         Immigration in Ismailia                                                          George & Anna                                                 National dance & costume 

     

                                Georges house                                                    View from Georges house                             Coffee in mountain village of Omodos

Cyprus is nice and very English. They still drive on the left.

                                                                                                             

                                     St  Lazaros church, Larnaca, Cyprus.                                                  Breakfast in Carpet shop in Kekova Roads, Turkey

It is nice to be back in Turkey/Greece. It feels like home.

Monday 29th January 2007

For the past week there has been very little wind so myself and 2 other yachts went out to a nice local bay with a trip to a reef where it is possible to swim with Dolphins. Unfortunately they did not honour us with there presence. I did a BBQ on Lady Coppélia and we had a bonfire on the beach one evening. Wonderful.

The boat next to me in the marina is owned by an Englishman who knows a lot about fishing and was selling off some of his equipment. Whenever we go to sea we trail fishing lines but have very little success. I bought some special lures from him which he fitted to traces for me. He also gave some hints on where and how to fish. The lures have enormous hooks, 25mm across. I thought they would be to large but it seems not.

BINGO. The first time I used the equipment I caught a 2.5 Kg Tuna within 5 minutes. On the way back to the marina I tried again and almost immediately caught a 7 Kg tuna which was the type with sweet white flesh (more like cod) instead of the normal dark flesh. We had a big party on Lady Coppélia with all the other live aboard's here in the marina and there was still fish left over for the next day. It tasted real good. For a starter you cut strips of the raw flesh and 'cook it' with lemon juice, olive oil, soy sauce, garlic and pepper then leave it marinate it for a minimum of 1 hour. It is really something special.

On Sundays we have lunch at on of the local restaurants for £3.50 with 1/2 l beer at 80p.

I am organising a model boat race for 3 weeks time and a quiz night is being organised.

Tuesday 23rd January 2007

I have just purchased a new cooker. The old one has the burners gone and is going rusty and has done good service. My daughter Justine and I looked at the New World cooker that was the equivalent when I was in England and decided it was suitable. The next problem was how to get it. Shipping from England was out of the question because of customs etc. Fortunately there is an agent in Cyprus and I was able to purchase one there. So on the return trip to Turkey for the summer I will call there and collect it.

I am told Cyprus is very nice so I am looking forward to seeing some of it.

Still looking for some brave soul to crew for me from Egypt to Turkey via Cyprus now.

Tuesday 18th January 2007

I have just returned from doing the Egyptian sights of Luxor, Aswan and Abu Simble on a weeks trip. I went in company with a North American couple Jim and Joy from yacht Kelaerin and Elly (Dutch) and Per (Swedish) from yacht Sybaris. Truly international.

We used the local bus from Hurghada to Luxor (4 hours) and train from Luxor to Aswan. At Luxor we stayed in a hotel near the Valley of the Kings and we toured around on hired bicycles. A very good way to see the sights especially as it is not to hilly.

I did the trip to Luxor last year but it was a one day trip. Spending longer at Luxor enabled us to see  Karnack temple light show in the evening. A spectacular show. Also the valley of the queens, more tombs, and another temple. The temples are truly spectacular.

       

          Abu Simbel                                                    Abu Simbel                                           Felucca Crew

     

             Jim & Joy                                                    Karnack Temple                                         Luxor Temple

     

           Tea while waiting for the Bus                                The group                                             ferry driver Tony

     

                      The cyclists                                   Evening on the Felucca                             The Nile at Luxor

Saturday the 2nd December 2007

Well I am now back in Egypt for the winter. We, that is the 4 boats on the Red Sea Rally that Jacques and I had organised, left Finike at 2 o'clock in the morning on the 14th October and arrived in Port Said at 0800 on the 16th October. A very good trip with no bad seas which when you are on your own makes life very easy. After we left Turkey they had some very bad gales and rain while we were basking in the sunshine in a lovely bay in the Gulf of Suez. Ha ha.

It is quite an international rally with one French boat, one Australian boat, one English registered boat with a Dutch lady and Swedish husband and another English boat joining us at Port Said. In port Said we stayed in the yacht club which sounds better than is is but was OK. There was a religious festival and the mosques were all lit up and the populace was all dressed up.

                        

                               Rally members                                                        Port Said Fouad Yacht club under repair                                      

                                          

                           Port Said Fouad Yacht club                                               Port Said Mosque all lit up

We stopped for a day in Ismailia and topped up on supplies, from an excellent supermarket, and diesel at $0.12 per litre. I discovered my bilges full of diesel and found the transfer pipe between the tanks leaking. Repaired this and pumped the diesel back into the tanks. What a smell and mess.

It was a good trip down the Gulf of Suez and I caught a nice 3 kg yellow tailed tuna which had white flesh as against the normal tuna which has a dark flesh. I tasted more like cod and made wonderful eating. It is necessary to have a cruising permit which cannot be got in El Gouna so we did the 120 Nm to Port Ghalib where it is possible to get one. Stopped in a bay, a port called El Quseir and Safaga on the way back to Abu Tig marina with flat calm seas and no wind.

Now in Abu Tig Marina in El Gouna near Hurghada in Egypt. Day time about 26 deg. and night about 17 deg. Water 22 to 24 deg. Had a few days out of the marina in the local bays when it is not to windy.

Of the 5 yachts on the rally three are here in El Gouna, one has gone to Eilat because Abu Tig is full and one has gone on to Thailand. Christmas and the new year is planned to be be out in a bay but if the weather is bad it will be in one of the local restaurants.

Still looking for crew to do the trip back to Turkey in April next year. The trip with good weather would be 5 or 6 days and would go up the Gulf of Suez (160Nm probably an overnight trip so you see all the oil rigs lit up and their flame gas burners, quite a sight), through the Suez Canal (80 Nm and done in two 1 day stages stopping at Ismailia after the first day) and a 320 Nm 2 ½ day trip to Finike in Turkey.

You could fly into Hurghada in Egypt and fly back from Antalya in Turkey.

 The departure date is the first week of April but weather will control it to some extent although it is usually good weather at this time. I had 5 days flat calm last year. There will be at least one other boat with us.

 You know the boat and I have added a lot more things since you last saw her. If anybody else is interest then up to 4 people are no trouble.

Wednesday the 16th August 2006

Sorry not much news but been getting Lady Coppélia ready for going back to the Red Sea for the Winter. The varnish has now gone and the general opinion seem to be that she looks better. What a relief to forget about the varnish.

                                    

Back  in England for a week and staying with Justine. We went to see Tania and my two wonderful grandchildren. My how they are growing up. Lauren is 6 and Cameron is 9.

At last I have got the water maker working properly. The makers, Schenker, kept saying it was the installation causing the problems and was causing the unit to malfunction. Sent the whole unit back to them, this took two trips to Rhodos and then they sent another unit so another trip to Rhodos. Still did not work properly. I adjusted a pressure switch that should not need to be touched and the unit works fine now. All that trouble and cost and all it needed was a small adjustment which took 10 minutes!!! Trying to get the costs back from them now.

Going back to the Red Sea so still looking for visitors short of long term. Let me know. We are going to Sudan and Eritrea so will be well away from any problems.

Saturday the 15th April 2006

Wonderful pictures of Lady Coppélia as she was before and after the mast was taken off about 26 years ago. Kindly supplied by Andrew.

Note the white painted areas that are now varnish. Unfortunately they will return to painted, probably blue, as the sun is very hard on varnish and it is to much to upkeep.

      

 

Saturday the 8th April 2006

Nothing exciting has been happening, just enjoying the warm and sun, doing a few jobs on the yacht, and enjoying the restaurants and company of the other yachts here.

That has now all changed. Paul and Sheryl from yacht Two Step have arrived as crew to get me back through the Suez canal. They are Canadian and I first met them as I was leaving Spain. (see Balearic Islands) They are here essentially to film our, that is the 5 yachts in our group, diving and sailing activities in the Red Sea and Egypt in general. This is for their television series which is broadcast in America, the UK and Europe.  www.distantshores.ca  The series is called DISTANT SHORES.

They arrived on Wednesday evening, spent Thursday getting acclimatised and Friday we went to a lovely reef called Shab El Erg together with 4 other yachts. What an idyllic day we all had. No wind flat calm seas and diving on the coral reef. And then the Dolphins arrived. They stayed for a long time and everyone swam with them. It was amazing how gentle they are. Paul got some wonderful film swimming with them as they love to play.

Today we go to another reef with a wreck and this is what I like to dive on.

Woke up this morning to the most gorgeous sunrise with no wind, calm water and so so peaceful. How lucky I am to be here.

My French friend Jacques on yacht Miss Cat should join us today. He has been all the way down to Massawa in Eritrea, 650 miles south of here and has had a wonderful time. He had an 86 year old man join him in Massawa to crew for him up to Port Ghalib. Age does not seem to be the same her in the warm and sun. He and I are organising a Red Sea Winter Rally for next winter, see www.redseawinterrally.co.uk .This site will be up and running in a few weeks time I hope.

We had the first rain I had seen since April 2005 last week. It rained for all of 40 minutes!

The Vasco de Gama rally yachts have found it very difficult at the bottom of the Red Sea. A second yacht hit the reef and damaged its rudder and then hit another reef and reportedly ended up leaving the yacht there. The other disaster was a yacht that caught fire and they only just escaped with nothing but the cloths they wore. Passports, money etc were all lost. they were lucky that other yachts were nearby to rescue them.

Fuel is only 22 dollar cents (13 pence) a litre.

Saturday the 28th January 2006

Bad news today, one of the yachts on the rally has hit a coral reef and it's keel is now loose and leaking. At present it is being held afloat between two other yachts while they try to make it sea worthy.

I expect to start the return to turkey on the 1st April 2006. there will be at least 4 other yachts returning so it will be nice. The only problem will be finding a weather slot to do the 170 mile trip to Port Suez. unfortunately the prevailing wing is always from the north and usually 20 to 30 knots which makes it very uncomfortable. It is normally related to being in a washing machine with the yacht being tossed about in short unpredictable seas. Very occasionally there are southerlies which we hope for. At best we will look for light northerly winds. there are anchorages at reasonable day length trips so the trip should be OK.

Talking to a large power boat skipper he says he follows in the wake of a freighter where the sea is calm and protected from the wind. You need to do do 13 or 15 knots to do this which is a bit out of my range.

I have now heard that another yacht has hit the coral but not seriously. The Red Sea is not to be taken lightly. At the southern end of the Red sea the prevailing winds are southerly and very strong so yachts have to use their engines and it is tough going.

The Marsa's are inlets into the desert and the entrance is surrounded by coral with only a narrow passage into the inlet. The problem is that they are on the west coast so you have to enter them before 2:00 pm otherwise the sun is shining on the water and you cannot see the coral. Equally you have to leave before the sun is up or after 12:00 as again you cannot see the coral.

Just loaded up with fuel at 12.9 pence per litre. Wonderful.

Thursday the 15th December 2005

Still in Tala Bay marina in Jordan and I have just returned from a 4 day trip to Wadi Rum, the dead sea and Petra. Wadi rum is a spectacular area of desert with the most unusual rock formations I have seen anywhere. The trip involves a jeep ride out into the desert and was the area that Lawrence of Arabia was active. His house can still be seen and the spring where he is supposed to have washed. It is surprising to see water coming out of the hills when it has not rained since January.

The trip to the Dead Sea was done on the Jordan side and was not a success. The Israeli side is said to be better. It did, however,  introduce us to the very unpleasant experience of having flies by the million all around us. Flies are a problem with a few always around which we complain about, but after this experience I will never complain again.

Two days were spent looking around Petra. It remarkable with the stone facades cut out of the solid rock and the 1.5 kilometre walk into the city through a very high and narrow gorge and opening out to the Treasurary. One of the French group I am with has a bad knee so this gave he and I the excuse to go up the 650 steps to some of the areas on a donkey. Something I have always wanted to do. The second day involved more steps and a long trek so we again used donkeys. getting quite good at riding them now. The rock is streaked with the most wonderful colours and this has been made use of where the caves have been cut. The roman Soldiers Tomb has a large cave opposite which was used for the funeral meal and has pillars and notches for statues carved from the rock which is superbly multi coloured.

 

 

Friday the 9th December 2005

Sharm El Sheikh has come and gone and we are now in Jordan. There is not much to say about Sharm El Sheikh except that I have never seem so many dive boats. It is totally dive tourist oriented. The hotels stretch for several kilometres and are all lit up so it looks like a mini Las Vegas.

The trip up from Sharm El Sheikh to Jordan was very rough with the wind dead ahead and blowing at up to 34 knots. One stop on the way at El Kura & Dahab. Again we could stay at anchor but not go ashore.

We have been welcomed to the Tala Bay marina in Jordan. It is a brand new marina and we are the first foreign boats to come here. So new that the water and electric meters are still at zero. It is a village complex with marina. There are three swimming pools, Jacuzzi and sauna all free for us to use. Yesterday was the grand opening of the complex with dignitaries from Aqaba to officiate. The most superb food for lunch and a party on a gullet while it cruised around the bay in the evening. It is from here that we go on a 4 day trip to Petra, Shoubak castle, Karak castle and the Dead Sea.

One gets an impression of these countries mainly from television which is totally different to the impression when you get here. They are welcoming and friendly, except the Egyptian officials, and not the war like image one has. They have an interest in improving their countries and making them attractive to live in.

Aqaba is one of the cleanest cities I have seen and has green parks and trees everywhere. Friendly and non threatening.

 

Next stop Elat in Israel.

Sunday the 27th November 2005

 We have now arrived at the southern end of the Gulf of Suez and anchored in a wonderful coral bay with warm turquoise water and coral reefs which we have been snorkelling on. The weather is cool at nights but about 26 degrees C during the day, just right. So far there has been little wind so it could not be better. There are 12 boats here from Holland, France, Canada and England. The scenery is flat sand covered islands fringed with the darker coral reefs. In the little bays formed by the coral reefs the bottom is sand, which is good to anchor in without damaging the coral.

 There was beach party last night with the Dutch organisers providing nibbles and the drink. Jacques, on Miss Cat, is an enthusiastic organiser and has been going out diving with the people on board his boat. He bought calamari and two big groupers from the local fishermen which he prepared and cooked on the fire. It was superb. There was some singing and three Egyptian fishermen turned up and we got them singing Arabic songs. All very friendly.

 We bought some calamari from the fishermen and they looked so sad with there very big eyes looking at you. I would have left them swimming but I have to admit that they do taste nice grilled and after nearly two weeks without being able to get provisions they are a necessary source of food.

 I caught another 2.5 Kg tuna and a bigger one that took away my fishing tackle. Five nice fish caught to date.

 At night you can see the flares from the oil rigs that are all around. It looks quite eerie. The oil rigs do not mar the scenery so all you have to do is miss them. Crossing the shipping lanes involves playing dodgems with the big freighters and oil tankers. Done properly it is not dangerous but you have to be careful.

 Tomorrow we all go to Sharm el Sheikh for 7 days before heading up the Gulf of Aqaba to Jordan and Elat.

 If you have a detailed map my exact position on the surface of the world is:-

N27° 40.293, E33° 44.297