September 5th, 2007 ~ Captain Scott

Port Suez is at the southern end of the canal and we arrived at sunset.There was no practical way to go ashore and so we spent the night on amooring buoy adjacent to an Arab disco. The music was all Arab done in awestern style and beat. Men danced in groups and it was loud. We sailed 3days down the Gulf of Suez stopping each night.

The Sinai on our left was visible as we sailed close to the coast on the right to stay out of the freighter traffic lanes.It was windy but it was an easy lazy sail under mainonly and auto pilot. We sailed through oil fields in poor viability. Boatssailing north would have had a miserable beat. By the afternoons the heatwas oppressive and our ACs saw a lot of use.

The most memorable event was when we were engulfed in a crane migration. Each bird was 3 feet long, black and white, long legs necks and beaks. They flew low over the water coming from the Sinai going westward. The flock was many miles long and divided around us passing very close. Millions of birds as far as the eye could see. Our last night out was in the lee of an island. We had planned to explore ashore. But 30 kt winds, hot desert winds, kept us aboard. On the 4th we arrived at Abu Tig a luxuryresort. Its quite upscale. About half the guests are Arab. Seeing a man driving a small rental powerboat with a woman in a berka was a sight. On the 7th we travel inland to Luxor.

Jeff's Log ~ September 4, 2007 ~ Egypt

We arrived in Abu Tig, Egypt which is where I'll be staying for a couple of weeks. Weather has been really good for sailing, with the wind and waves behind us all the way. We stayed at a couple of places along the Suez Canal. The first was Port Said. That is right at the north end. When we went to go across the canal we got stopped by the cops on the way out of the marina. It seems like he was just doing his job, but Dave got really mad about it. He got over it real soon, and we went across on one of those ferry boats that you hear about, kind of made me feel like I was in a movie.

The town of Port Said [cy-eed] was hustle bustle and packed with people. None of the drivers have their lights on at night, and I think that their horn and brake pedal must be tied together. I've never seen or heard anything like it. The streets are very narrow, and most are one-way. Surprisingly, we did not see any wrecks. The four of us all stayed together and we had our dinner at a falafel stand that looked like it was a restaurant at one point of its life. We were sampling all of the different stuff that they had and ended up eating in their basement with charming, 1950's era oilcloth table cloths and even older tables and chairs. The cooks just kept bringing down bowls full of all of the items sampled that we really liked. One of them had to literally run down the street a block to get us a couple rounds of cokes. We finished what turned out to be a feast for four, and our total check came to 20 Egyptian pounds, which is around $4.00us. We were all stuffed, so we walked around and found a really nice grocery store and stocked up on provisions for the rest of our trip down the Suez.
Kendra and Ken both love to cook so the food has been really good. Lots of wine too! I'm trying to be good, so I only have a glass or two with dinner. It's really hard to stay hydrated properly because of the heat and wind while sailing. I'm still not getting full nights of sleep because of all of the changing of conditions, sounds and motion. I have been getting nice naps in while not on watch though, so it all works out.

The last two nights, we anchored in the Gulf of Suez because of low visibility and unlit oil rigs. Night before last, anchorage was somewhat unprotected and we did a lot of rocking. Last night, we were in a real pretty, sheltered cove, but the wind came up to thirty-five knots, so I awoke several times to make sure we didn't drag anchor. The Suez Canal is a ditch through a desert, so the trip through was relatively uneventful. Saw lots of military, two bridges, and a revolving train bridge. Still, it is really cool to be here, doing what I’m doing. SteveI'm about two thirds done with "two years before the mast" and enjoying it.

HI to everybody from me!!!! :)