Cairo, Egypt

Med Moored (bow in) at Ismalia Yacht Club
Suez Canal
Egypt
30'35.1N/32'16'3E

Our trip to Cairo began with a pick up at the yacht club at 7am. Our driver Mohammad drove us all weekend and did a great job getting us in and out of all the downtown traffic with only one payoff to the police while we were working on our passports. While in Cairo we needed to make a quick pop-in stop to the US Embassy to have pages added to our passport. While the van was waiting in a non-designated area Mohammad received a ticket that we quickly took care of with baksheesh (bribe)with the police officer.

We then, along with our guide Gabble, were dropped off at the famous Egyptian Museum. We got a quick history lesson on the past kings and queens, learned how to read a cartouche, saw several mummy burial sarcophagi (coffins), and the grand-daddy of them all, King Tutankhamen elaborate burial room treasures.

King Tut's tomb was discovered in the Valley of the Kings in 1922 by English archaeologist Howard Carter. With over 1700 items found in the tomb, they gave a great insight into the pharaoh's short life. The big attraction is his death mask, made of solid gold. The mask is an ideal portrait of the pharaoh and an awe inspiring sight.

Next stop... the markets, where we haggled over a few small souvenirs. We checked into our hotel, Hotel Longchamps on Zamalek Island, where we instantly cranked up the air conditioning and hid from the heat for a few hours before exploring the neighborhood.

The next morning was spent at the Great Pyramids of Giza, and the Sphinx. I knew little of the history of the pyramids before going. But now I feel confident I could answer any Trivial Pursuit question thrown my way. It is quite a magical place and there is more being discovered on a daily basis.

That evening we took in the sound and light show at the pyramids. This was my favorite part of the trip. A bit cheesy, but worth it. The Grateful Dead played here many years ago, so we were hoping to hear a Dead tune mixed into the show. But that didn't happen.

Seeing the sliver of the moon hang over these magical wonders and to just sit and take it all in was epic. A trip of a lifetime!

One Love,
Amy

Lake Timsah, Egypt

Med Moored (bow in) at the Ismalia Yacht Club
Lake Timsah
Suez Canal
Egypt
Africa
30'35.1N/32'16'3E

We are now dead center in the middle of the Suez Canal, Med moored, with the Sandpiper's bow tied off to a concrete patio area of the Ismalia Yacht Club. We plan to be here for a few days while we travel inland to Cairo to see the Pyramids.

The Suez Canal is a series of canals connected by large lakes. Construction of the canal started in 1859 and was completed 10 years later. The canal is some 90 miles long. Some of the canal areas are quite narrow and only has enough room for shipping traffic to pass in one direction at a time. So canal transit times are staggered for the ships so that they pass each other in the lakes.

We received our pilot at 10am the morning of our transit after paying our canal transit fee, a total of $271 U.S. dollars. We were very happy with this amount because we had been expecting a much higher fee as we had read about other boats transits in the past. But they had all been larger than the 'Piper.

We also paid our bill for the 268 liters of diesel that we squeezed into everything that would hold fuel since this will be the last chance for cheap fuel for a long time. We paid 70 cents a liter, and we hear that prices in Europe are $2.80 a liter and rising. In Egypt, fuel is subsidized by the government and the locals pay only 18 cents a liter at the pump. That's something like 75 cents a gallon!

The reason we could not leave Port Suez earlier then 10am is because we had to wait until all the northbound shipping had passed so we would not be blocking their passage. After we received out pilot, Sandpiper was off heading northbound at a fast clip in a following current. Our pilot hand steered for most the passage when passing other boats and shipping. But when all was clear, he sat up on the bow to relax, letting us steer by auto pilot. Our pilot was very friendly, but spoke limited English, so there was not a whole lot of in-depth conversations between us.

Our passage to Ismalia was 38 miles, and the initial excitement of being in the canal wears off quickly as it is just a long ditch in the sand. All along the way we were passed by shipping, tug boats, and fishing boats. Also. all along the way are Egyptian army troops manning solitary gun posts. They seemed quite bored and were just happy that we waved to them. By the time we made it half way we were starting to get passed by shipping heading southbound, quite close at times.

We made it to the town of Ismalia by 6pm, which is on Lake Timsah, and moored bow to at the Ismalia Yacht Club, then said goodbye to our pilot. The yacht club is not really a yacht club much like the one in Port Suez, but more of a canal authority facility where yachts stop during canal transits. There is no bar. But there is a small kitchen where one can order a pizza and have a coke.

One cool thing about mooring here is that Sandpiper is hooked up to power and we can use all the fresh water we want. We hosed down the 'Piper and considering the bashing we took coming up here that had the bow submerged for most the time there was still dust all over the boat from our last 2 months in the Red Sea. The higher we scrubbed, the dirtier she was.

The Yacht Club is closed off to the public with military guards at the entrance that only allow members in to use the facilities. The only other boat to transit the canal with us was S/V Shiraz who had caught up with us. S/V My Chance had hoped to transit with us, but could not get measured in time.

Just our luck... once Sandpiper was secured, we discovered that there was a wedding reception setting up, complete with a DJ, right were we were moored. Around 10pm things were getting into full swing with the bride and groom up on a platform while the DJ played music. Luckily, Sandpiper was a little farther away from the party and the speakers than S/V Shiraz who was about 10 feet away. We decided that since it was so loud, and there was no way we were going to be able to sleep though the noise, that we would all gather on S/V Shiraz for drinks and watch the fun.

Being a Muslim wedding most the women wore head coverings. And the ones that didn't, wore black coverings where only their eyes showed. Also, being a Muslim wedding, there was no alcohol being served. So once the reception was over everyone left at once. Quite strange watching someone's wedding reception just feet away from them.

S/V My Chance has caught up with us this afternoon and current plans are to leave early am tomorrow morning in a van for a few days to see the pyramids in Cairo.

More Later,
Tom and Amy

Note From Ron: Lake Timsah is believed to be where the Jewish exodus from Egypt crossed the Red Sea, and where Moses parted the sea. The exact crossing spot is debatable since there are a series of lakes and marshes in the area that could fit the descriptions in the ancient legends.

Port of Suez

On Mooring Ball at Suez Yacht Club
Port of Suez
Suez Canal
Egypt
29'56.8N/32'34.36E

0 Miles to the Suez Canal!!!
(Check out where we are on Google Earth)

WE MADE IT !!! After a 36 hour bash through 20-30 knot winds and waves breaking over Sandpiper's bow, we've made it to the Suez Canal where Sandpiper is now peacefully secured.

We had a false start the day before leaving el-Tur. We had planned on leaving early in the morning at 5am. But the winds were blowing over 20 knots in the direction that we needed to go. Before pulling up the anchor, we waited to watch one of the other boats in the anchorage leave ahead of us. As soon as they got out of the harbor, waves were smashing into them, slowing them down to less then 2 knots. They made a quick u-turn back into the anchorage and said that they were going back to bed. So we gave up and went back to bed as well, with our new plan of leaving at midnight when the winds were lighter.

There were 7 other boats anchored at el-Tur waiting for the winds to break. They must have heard of our plan because when we got up at midnight, 3 other boats were heading out as well. I have to say it is a very hard decision to leave when you know that the winds will go up to 30 knots and that you will have to power through them to keep your speed up. Not fun. Normally if the winds were predicted to be up to 30 knots, and we were sailing downwind, then we would be reluctant to leave the harbor. But to leave a harbor planning on motoring INTO 30 knots of wind and waves is a hard call to make.

We finally quit hoping for the wind to drop because every time we had a weather prediction, it was always wrong. We just decided that we would put ourselves 'out there' and bash through this stuff all the way to the Suez.

After we left the anchorage at midnight and got offshore the winds and seas started picking up, blowing over 25 knots. Soon we had waves coming over the bow slowing, us down to 1-2 knots for lengths of time. We kept at it and never stopped. All the other boats that left the same day we did only made it up the coast 30 miles before pulling into the next anchorage to wait yet again for a wind drop. Not Team Sandpiper! We were the only boat to go on overnight, and by morning the winds had dropped considerably giving us speeds up to 4 knots at times. Then before we knew it at sunrise we were only 20 miles from the Suez Canal and making 5 knots.

Also, at sunrise, we listened to the boats that had stopped to anchor overnight and heard them all complaining about how bad it was where they were anchored and that they already had winds over 25 knots. So the best that they could do is 10 miles north to the next anchorage.

What does this all mean? Well, we are the only boat moored here in front of the Suez Yacht Club, and all the other boats behind us are still stuck at anchor until who knows when. Our 36 hour bash paid off huge, and we are extremely pleased to be here. Sandpiper performed like a champ!! We had to keep the engine running at much higher RPM then normal. But she never gave in, even when the large waves tried to stop her.

We found leaks below we never knew about from all the water coming over the bow. But it is so hot here in Egypt that as soon as we opened up all the portholes after arriving, the boat dried out in minutes.

Also, on this last passage, we had to maneuver just outside the shipping lanes where many ships were transiting to and from the Suez Cancel, and through all kinds of oil rigs and their support vessels. I am rambling a bit about this passage, but this last 36 hours has been the hardest passage since leaving the States. We have never had to motor into winds/seas as intense as this last stretch of the Red Sea. When we got closer to the Suez Canal the amount of shipping traffic increased. There are many ships at anchor and others arriving from the south, and maneuvering around.

When we got outside the Suez Canal entrance, we called our agent Felix who is going to process us thru the canal. He told us to come on in and tie up in front of the Suez Yacht Club. We then proceeded right into the southern end of the Suez Canal where the Yacht Club is located and secured Sandpiper's bow and stern to mooring buoys. Felex was there in a dingy to help us when we arrived. He has taken our paperwork in to get us ready for our transit through the Suez Canal, possibly the day after tomorrow. He is also our contact for any fuel, beer, and other necessities before we move on.

As I type away we are awaiting the Canal's measuring man who is coming over to check out Sandpipers curves. Then he will work out some kind of crazy Egyptian formula (our guide book says it's from 1866) that will compute how much this will all cost us.

Once again, we are hugely excited to be here and our transit up the Red Sea is compete.

"If you ain't first, you're last"
- Ricky Bobby

Tom and Amy

Notes From Ron: Here is a link to the catamaran "Exit Only" blog where they describe their Suez Canal transit, with their humorous interpretation of the fee formula, and their experience with their assigned pilot who demanded a little extra "gift" on top of his fees.