19th June 2006 – Port Said to Herzliya, Israel

Posted at 11:44 AM, Tuesday, June 20, 2006

It’s now seven in the evening, and still hot despite the setting sun.  The winds are light from the north-west, hence the motor sailing.  We had good winds when we left, but not now. 

At 2,000 revs with our sails up and drawing, we’re currently making 7 knots.  Having the engine on also allows us also to run the water-maker, which is required.  We were not brave enough to take on water in Egypt, and I suspect the Israeli desalinated / chlorinated stuff we can take on when we arrive at Herzliya will not be much better.  Our tanks were almost dry when we cast off from Port Said at 0900 this morning, but the water-maker unit is  now filling them at its 12 litres per hour rate. 

It was very sad to say farewell this morning to Sylvie and Guy.  They are not coming to Israel, but sailing their owners Hylas 54 Strella Encore directly back to its winter berth in Antalya, Turkey.  The four of us have developed a good   friendship since we first met back in Ayvalik before the rally commenced for us, so a few tears were shed at last nights official party when Sylvie also commented on the value of that friendship in her public farewell speech.

Once Strellas is parked up and sorted, they are catching up with two other French pals who are cruising the same area, and getting a lift back up the Turkish coast to retrieve their car.  They drove out to Turkey and before we all left Ayvalik, took it over on a ferry to park it in Lesbos – right outside the police station.  They are hopeful it is still OK when they get there!  They will then drive home via ferries to the Greece mainland, and onward to France.  With luck – for they want their own ships cat – the little black cute one that gave birth whilst we were all in Ayvalik might still be around and looking for some loving.  If so – it’s likely to be kidnapped and end up travelling with them later this year as they head over the Atlantic on their own boat - to the Caribbean and USA.

We’ll be seeing them again before they leave on that Atlantic trip.  They get married on 22^nd July in their home at Port St Nuit close by M****illes – and we’ve been added to the short guest list.  We’re honoured.

We took on 100 litres of Egyptian fuel yesterday just in case we had to motor the whole way and also as it was cheap at US$0.56 per litre.  Lots of fleet chatter on the radio saying ‘don’t buy it as the quality is poor’, but we siphoned it in from the delivered 22 litre drums via a clear tube, and it looked fine to me.  It seems to be working alright also……..

The fleet departure from Port Said went without hitch.  After clearing out of immigration group by group (lot faster than coming in) the committee vessel Vision called us each by turn and we pulled away from the jetties in the reverse order to that in which we arrived.  This minimises the risk of picking up or fouling someone else’s anchor with your own.

The canal bypass itself again closed to commercial traffic from 1000, so once we all got the nod off we chugged in line astern, all flags flying and hooters blaring, out of the Arsenal Basin and north towards the bypass exit into the Med.  Lots of bystanders on the canal docksides waved us away, and with Port Authority vessels charging around with big farewell signs flapping – it was quite a sight. 

Right outside the bypass we each had to each pick our moment to cross the main Suez Canal channels which were not closed.  These two channels were busy with some big boats, all charging along despite the relatively shallow depth, at great speed.  One came though each 4 / 5 minutes.

Once over the channel safely we hoisted our sails, and for the next few hours lopped along at more than 7 knots with Code 0 and mainsail before a westerly breeze.  Early afternoon this wind eased and went slightly further north, so we dropped below 6 knots of speed.  Down came the big headsail, and on went our engine – and the watermaker.

We need not arrive at Herzliya until 0900 tomorrow morning, as the immigration officials, security and marina staff will not be there before then.  And if they are not there – it seems they won’t let us in! 

But 7 knots is our most economical speed under engine, so we’ll continue this speed overnight, and when we arrive early, anchor off the harbour mouth and provided there is little swell, maybe get a few hours extra kip.

Sues hollering from up top and I suspect it’s ‘dodge the fishing boats time’ – so best I get back up there.  These small Egyptian boats operate a long way from shore and there are so many of them out here who seem drawn by curiosity towards us.  Bit disconcerting when they are trailing nets a hundred yards behind!

We again expect to be intercepted by the Israeli Navy 25 miles off Israel – but that’s more than a few hours away.  Right now, Gaza is off our starboard bow – 55 miles off over the horizon – and we are almost at the extension of the Israeli – Egyptian border below the Gaza strip.  I’d better remember to swop courtesy flags now, before it gets dark!

0315

Sue woke me from my slumbers at 0200.  I’d gone down after dinner at 2100 and was fast asleep when we got our first radio intercept from the Israeli Navy.  Funny, it’s a bit like being stopped by the police.  You know you’ve done nothing wrong, but the attention makes you feel guilty of something.

Sue said the radio had been alive over the past hour with calls to all kinds of vessels moving into Israeli territory.  They only asked us to reconfirm our exact position, the name of vessel, number of crew, ERMY number – and welcomed us to Israel.

As I was now wide awake, Sue took the opportunity to swop positions, and dived below as I took up the early morning watch. 

One hour later, about 26 miles out from Herzliya, I found myself watching one Israel warship beginning to visually check out some of the other rally yachts on the western horizon.  As I;ve said before, we can see their navigation lights – but the vessel itself doesn’t show up on our radar. It did not take long for them to get round to approaching Swagman – sliding off their bow wave only 20 metres off our stern.  I was blinded temporarily as they washed us with a very powerful spotlight.  A few more questions followed from their radio operator, and off they roared to check out others further back.

The wind has now gone completely.  Flat seas with a bit of swell left over from earlier breezes.  The quarter moon came up off our starboard bow at 0300, it was big and red, but has disappeared behind some cloud cover and it’s black as out there. 

We’re moving along in close company with two yachts.  One is the committee boat Vision but can’t identify the other.  We are all making similar speeds and possibly quarter mile apart.  I’m running the engine at 2,200 revs – still doing 7 knots.  Our water tanks are now nearly full and at this pace we’ll definitely arrive at Herzliya before it opens to allow us in.  So anchoring for a couple of hours is on.

1330

Wrong again.  I went down for a kip and Sue took over watch at 0600, and by 0630 the wind had piped in from the East.  Sue got all sails out and trimmed and woke me at 0730 as she approached the marina entry.  A few boats were there already and at anchor – but our luck held and as we got just off the harbour mouth our popped a dinghy with instructions we could go straight in and tie up.

So here I am, typing the last part of this as Sue’s off into town trying to organise a present for our group to give to our group leaders, Jim and Trish on Dragon Song.  They’ve been really helpful.

Sorry no pictures with this one – but hopefully some helpful info for others coming this way and an extended update for our family and pals.