Aden, Yemen

Anchored at the Port of Aden
Aden
Yemen
12'47.4N/44'58.7E

We arrived at the entrance buoy to Port of Aden at 1400h and contacted Aden Port Control requesting permission to enter the harbor and proceed to anchorage. After answering their questions by a very happy port official, we were welcomed to Aden and told to proceed.

Aden is a large shipping port and the yacht anchorage where Sandpiper is currently anchored is opposite the cargo shipping terminals alongside town where customs and immigration has their offices. It is a bit surreal being here as we are anchored just across for where the USS Cole was bombed. I have vivid memories of seeing the Cole after the bombing on CNN. I remember that all the pictures and video were shot from the same point right where we are anchored. In every shot there was a picture of a Canadian sailboat. I kept asking myself "Who in their right mind would sail to Yemen?" Well, here we are....

If you get the chance, read the book "Voyage of Northern Magic". It was written by a Canadian family that arrived in Aden shortly after the bombing and it is the boat that was in all the pictures and videos. It is a really well written book that is quite funny in parts.

S/V Shiraz arrived one hour behind us and is now anchored right off our bow. Our plans are to stay aboard tonight and in the morning check in with customs and immigration. We plan to be here until around Tuesday before we make our next jump northwest to where we will be officially entering the Red Sea.

If you check out our position on the Google Earth program on this site you should be able to get a good picture of right were we are anchored.

More before we go,
Tom and Amy