Captain Scott ~ October 3rd, 2007

October 1st:
While waiting on DHL we bled the hydrolic lines on the autopilot and the unit seemed to work at the dock. To test it outside the marina the Jordian Navy required us to leave our passports and restricted where we could go. The autopilot did not work but this time we got a rudder responce alarm. This allowed us to find the problem and fix it. My dive trip was at a nearby marine park. There was a sunken 300ft freighter on its side. Max depth possible was 100 ft and the upper side was about 40 ft under the surface. The coral reefs here are all young. I have never seen such brillent colored coral and almost all of it alive. Late sunday afternoon we got our packages from DHL. They have been in Jordan for 8 days. Insult to inury--we were charged 300 dollors for handling fees. Pipe Dream covered only 330nm in the first 2 days after leaving Jordan. This was due to running under engine only at low rpm in flat calm. We never saw another ship during the first night in the Gulf of Aqaba but saw plenty the second night in the Red Sea. The mirror like water reflected starlight and we were visited by several pods of dolphins.

We left Aqaba monday morning bound for Massawa in Eritria 1000 miles away. I wanted to touch Saudi Arabia to collect another new country. As we got close in we were stopped by 3 patrol boats. The crew all agreed that if we were thrown out of the place, we must have been there. So I'm counting it #114. Now powering down the Gulf ofAqaba in flat calm. At dawn on the 3rd of Oct we picked up our first breeze and are now running wing and wing toward the Sudan boarder. It’s hard to imagine being more tranquil on a sailboat. We are now south of Miami’s latitude and hope to see the Southern Cross by tomorrow night. NATO warships are conducting exercises in the area. We have yet to see them but have heard an American carrier on the radio. A Yemen volcanic island was shaken by quakes and volcanic eruption on Sunday. Of the 7 soldiers on the island there is only 1 survivor. The Island is in the middle of the Red Sea near Massawas latitude. So we are going there to see for ourselves.

Jeff's Log ~ September 29, 2007

9:25pm

Today, things went pretty well. I got a lot accomplished. The forepeak, which if this was a race boat would be the sail locker, I got repacked with more than used to be in there, and still had a lot more room left than was there previously. Thusly, I moved some things that had been in the lazarrette up to the forepeak and life on board should be a little easier.

After Dave bled the autopilot, we were all feeling pretty secure that it would function correctly. Well, this morning we decided to sea trial and see if in fact it did work. Before we could leave the marina, the Navy had to be notified, and we were given strict guidelines as to where we could and could not go. The pilot still did not function, and because of the symptoms, I decided that a look at various items that are completely hidden should be checked. Lo and behold, the rudder position sensor arm pivot stud had corroded and broken, and the poor autopilot had no idea what the boat was doing. I had more important tasks, and proceeded with repairing a main engine coolant leak, and dumped the pilot off on Dave. He loves that sort of thing anyway. He went to a small repair shop and got a new bolt welded to the old pivot, drilled out the broken piece, and it looks like we’ll have auto pilot for the 900 mile journey to the next port which is Massava in the country of Atria.

If all goes to the current plan, we will be leaving here on Monday, around 10 am. I personally feel like I’m going to leave a little of my family here, because I’ve gotten very close with Alla, Iz, and Ammar. For the short time I have known these gentlemen, I feel that there will be a lifetime bond. I don’t think that any one of us will ever forget the others, and if I am ever within a thousand miles of here, I feel that a visit will become part of my travel plans.

Due to the fact that the next leg of our journey is a fairly long one Ya all won’t be hearing from me for a while. With fair winds, we can easily cover 200 miles a day, but I don’t know about access in that remote part of the world.

I think about everybody and look at pictures regularly. Please remember though, that this still is a job, and I’m not on vacation! I’ll send more first chance I get.

Jeff's Log ~ Friday, September 27, 2007

Today, I had a day off. No boat repairs, scrubbing, or polishing were done today. I got up and had coffee, and then went to the western neighbor’s dive boat, where a fellow by the name of Iz works. He and I have become friends and he invites me for coffee every morning. He is a young lad who is working to put himself through college. During Ramadan, his instructors have rescheduled his normal evening classes to afternoon, and he has not been able to attend because of job. He has been venting his frustration and I have been being a good listener and try to help cheer him up.

The Jordanians that I’ve interacted with have all been very friendly and most have been extremely helpful. The dive boat to the east of us is owned by another nice guy by the name Alla, and his driver is Ammar. Today, Scott and I went out on Alla’s boat with them. They had a small charter group and asked us to come along. It was a very pleasant day with slight overcast and light breeze. We went down the coast about 4 miles and anchored on a mooring buoy attached to the wreck of a freighter lying on her side. It was about 40 ft. to the top of the wreck, and could be clearly seen from the surface.

Scott and I swam the length of the wreck and then went towards shore to snorkel some shallow coral reef. The coral was the prettiest I have ever seen. There was red, yellow, orange, and the most beautiful shade of purple that you can imagine. I was truly impressed, and while it’s not the Great Barrier Reef, it made me feel good that there is still something like this alive within 200ft. of shore.

Tomorrow is back to work. In the course of our stay here in Aqaba, my projects have progressed nicely. The top of the fuel tanks no longer leak, though the starboard tank took several tries before it was finally sealed. Well meaning persons trying to seal it before just kept tightening the screws, causing pretty heavy distortion of a surface that I ended up having to make flat again. The lower running lights now work, and the forepeak sail locker and the aft lazarette have both been emptied, cleaned and allowed to dry out. I now have my own cabin with drawers and a double bunk. Life is good.

Tomorrow, all of the stuff from those compartments must be repacked, because we are going for a short sail tomorrow to prove the autopilot which thanks to Dave has been bled. Our parts shipment has been released from customs, so I’ll take a walk to DHL and see if I can get it tomorrow instead of Sunday.

My friend Alla took me into town yesterday, and I picked up some hose and splices to repair a coolant leak that I found on the main engine. I was floored when The bill for 4mtr hose and two splice connectors was only about $20. I also had lunch at McDonalds, and it compares with USA. The only big difference is instead of apple pie, they have fig pie, which I actually enjoyed more. Also ate at Quizno’s, and they’re a little skimpy with the meat.

Hello to everybody, and Happy birthday Dad on the 21st, in case that e-mail didn’t make it, and I’m really glad they finally let you go home.