To the Suez Canal
After 36 hours plugging into headwinds avoiding shipping on the edge of the shipping lane and keeping clear of oil platforms we arrive at the top of the Gulf of Suez at midnight to join the queue of other 'ships' communicating by radio with Suez Port Control and get directed to moor at the Suez Yacht Club.
Picked up mooring in the dark at 3.00 am and collapsed into the bunk only to be woken with a rap on the hull at 8.00am by the port agents to set in motion our canal transit documentation and measuring appointment for later that day.
Picked up mooring in the dark at 3.00 am and collapsed into the bunk only to be woken with a rap on the hull at 8.00am by the port agents to set in motion our canal transit documentation and measuring appointment for later that day.
Canal Measuring Games
The morning proceeded to heat like an oven in contrast to the previous few days.A nice young chap came to the boat at 10am to commence the measuring game which results in calculations that estimate the cargo carrying capacity of the vessel as the means by which the canal authority charges for a transit.
The fact that as a pleasure vessel we don't carry freight is immaterial, this is the way it is, so play the game. Amongst cruisers there is widespread concern at the resulting overcharging because they measure from the bottom of the keel and not the bottom of the hull. The closer we got to Suez cruisers have been comparing anticipated rates that will be charged and we were expecting about USD$350 ++ based on our deep 2.70m keel draught. P decides this official obfuscation is not on and lets said measurer know there is a 'present' for him pending, and whacko he conveniently uses the hull draught figure not the keel and we get charged just USD$138. We finally beat Egypt by playing the time honoured B&C game too!!
The fact that as a pleasure vessel we don't carry freight is immaterial, this is the way it is, so play the game. Amongst cruisers there is widespread concern at the resulting overcharging because they measure from the bottom of the keel and not the bottom of the hull. The closer we got to Suez cruisers have been comparing anticipated rates that will be charged and we were expecting about USD$350 ++ based on our deep 2.70m keel draught. P decides this official obfuscation is not on and lets said measurer know there is a 'present' for him pending, and whacko he conveniently uses the hull draught figure not the keel and we get charged just USD$138. We finally beat Egypt by playing the time honoured B&C game too!!
Pilot Games
5.00am next morning our official pilot by the name of Atea comes aboard and we are immediately off in the dawn light on the 40 mile hop up the canal to the halfway point at Ismailia where we intend stopping and going off to visit Cairo, the Pyramids and lower Egypt.
We have a quiet and uneventful motor with Atea who is very courteous having extracted his first 'gift' a packet of cigarettes (especially purchased as we don't smoke) within 5 minutes of departure as he had conveniently left his at home. Early in the piece he asked the non commital B if he would get a nice gift but did not raise the subject again until 15 minutes out of Ismailia when he asked P if there is a 'gift for pilot' in a way that suggests the pilot is a third person, presumably so it doesn't come across as a direct demand. We tell him we will give it to him in an envelope when he steps off.
Arrival Games
The arrival at Ismailia Yacht Club is still a few minutes off and what was about to unfold ended like we might have been seeking medical assistance to get him off..... Apart from one other yacht with no one on board the marina is cruiser free. As we arrive we commence reversing in to tie up Med-Style to the dock with P on the
helm and B on bow attaching the bow line to the outer bouy, with Atea twiddling his fingers and itching for the gift and to get off. Next minute all hell lets loose with three guys on a nearby wharf yelling at us in Egyptian and Atea initially ignoring them but eventually responding as voices started to rise.
They gesticulate we must anchor off but we say no as we want the security of being alongside when we are away in Cairo. Next the three guys are jumping into an official looking motor boat and commence motoring over to have this now yelling match face to face with our man Atea who is now really starting to earn his pilot fee. The boat approaches our bow at speed and is about to crunch us when B now gets into the act with fender in hand giving her best assertive plain English interpretation of 'move away and understand we are going to tie up to the dock'.
helm and B on bow attaching the bow line to the outer bouy, with Atea twiddling his fingers and itching for the gift and to get off. Next minute all hell lets loose with three guys on a nearby wharf yelling at us in Egyptian and Atea initially ignoring them but eventually responding as voices started to rise.
They gesticulate we must anchor off but we say no as we want the security of being alongside when we are away in Cairo. Next the three guys are jumping into an official looking motor boat and commence motoring over to have this now yelling match face to face with our man Atea who is now really starting to earn his pilot fee. The boat approaches our bow at speed and is about to crunch us when B now gets into the act with fender in hand giving her best assertive plain English interpretation of 'move away and understand we are going to tie up to the dock'.
Muslim men cannot handle a woman like this in full flight so they reconcentrate their efforts on Atea who by now is jumping up and down on the foredeck with the look of a major coronary explosion on his face, screaming at these guys and at the same time talking to the harbourmaster on his cellphone. Motor boat duly
backs off, the screaming subsides and we stay put. Throughout P has remained at the helm controlling Muskie as the stern lines were still not fast. The security guard on the dock had been refusing to let us tie up and then when we do comes over and asks for a present of a pack of cigarettes. We establish the ground rules - "no". The whole exrcise had been real theatre that only Egypt can deliver. On-lookers sort of ignored it as if its an everyday occurrence.
backs off, the screaming subsides and we stay put. Throughout P has remained at the helm controlling Muskie as the stern lines were still not fast. The security guard on the dock had been refusing to let us tie up and then when we do comes over and asks for a present of a pack of cigarettes. We establish the ground rules - "no". The whole exrcise had been real theatre that only Egypt can deliver. On-lookers sort of ignored it as if its an everyday occurrence.
No sooner are we tied up the mercury hits 40c and then at dusk a sand storm blows through at gale force dropping the temperature but is thankfully all over after 30 minutes. B is not at all happy with the goings on and thinks we should hi-tail it to Port Said and out of Egypt but P says lets sleep on it and not feel pressured. We do and next morning we establish the furore was all about 'Swine Flu'. Without establishing where we had come from or how long we had been in Egypt these misinformed, self-appointed gatekeepers assumed, being foreigners, we had arrived directly from overseas and may be a risk. This is a country that in a panic response has apparently slaughtered all it pigs in the last three weeks upsetting the non-Muslim pig eating and keeping minority.
Fuel Games
We spend the next day topping up the fuel tanks by ferrying diesel in 20 litre jerry cans at 100 litres a time from a nearby petrol station because there is no fueling service at this yacht club. The incentive is that we need fuel plus it costs only USD19 cents a litre compared to 10 times that in Turkey. The disincentive, apart from physically having to lug it about 250 metres from the taxi to the boat, is the B&C shenanigans at the security gate.
As the Ismailia Yacht Club is inside the canal zone it is in international waters so you have to carry your passport and clear in and out with Immigration. We had heard from previous cruisers that the Immigration security guards on the gate would not let fuel bearing cruisers in or out without baksheesh being paid, and with fuel movements by cruisers obviously being their major source of illicit income the amount of baksheesh being demanded would increase with each load. And we are not talking small baksheesh...try 4 to 5 times the value of the fuel !!
Well, forewarned is forearmed, Musketelles skipper simply stood his ground and uttered that universally understood word - "no". Admittedly he had to utter this several times including when summoned by the Head of Security and told it would be a good idea to pay a gift to the "good men on the gate". Which signalled he was also head of the scam. But P showed strong presence of mind and stuck with "no" even though the Head was holding our passports and looking like he did not intend giving them back. However he had no answer when P simply held out his hand and said "passports please".
Cairo, Pyramids and Bazaar
Egypt is not on everyone's must visit travel radar. We included ourselves in this category but we are really pleased we have made the effort on this voyage.
We have achieved what we planned and quite some as we have been captivated by the ancient history. Our latest 2 day land tour to Cairo has been a nice conclusion to our month in Egypt. Lets tell you about it....
We went in company with Californians, Marvin and Ruth from 'Toucan Tango' and travelled the 120km from Ismailia to Cairo by train at 6:45 am. The train was filthy inside and out (and we were in the most expensive seats - all of Egyptian 13 pounds about USD$2.30). P had to take his shoe off to kill a cockroach that was
striding menacingly towards B along the carriage wall.
We have achieved what we planned and quite some as we have been captivated by the ancient history. Our latest 2 day land tour to Cairo has been a nice conclusion to our month in Egypt. Lets tell you about it....
We went in company with Californians, Marvin and Ruth from 'Toucan Tango' and travelled the 120km from Ismailia to Cairo by train at 6:45 am. The train was filthy inside and out (and we were in the most expensive seats - all of Egyptian 13 pounds about USD$2.30). P had to take his shoe off to kill a cockroach that was
striding menacingly towards B along the carriage wall.
On arrival in Cairo we caught the metro (underground) direct to a recommended hotel, the Hotel House Ismailia - cheap, nondescript, clean, perfect for a night or two and located right over the metro in the center of the city overlooking the Nile and within walking distance of the museum.
By midday we were on the outskirts of Cairo at Giza oggling at the Pyramids and other attractions after declining a hard sell for a camel, horse or carriage tour. One of the highlights at Giza was a huge 60 metre long boat, 4500 years old !!. The mummified Pharaohs were conveyed by barques rowed by 20 men down the Nile to Giza to their final resting place within the pyramid. The barque that carried them on this last journey was then dismantled and buried in a deep pit beside the pyramid to provide transport for the pharaoh to the next world. The one we viewed was that of the Pharaoh Cheops. Made of the finest Lebanese Cedar
timber, it was only discovered in 1954 and carefully and painstakingly reassembled over the next 20 years.
timber, it was only discovered in 1954 and carefully and painstakingly reassembled over the next 20 years.
Back in Cairo (after one small bus, one ordinary bus and one metro) we rested then headed for the Ramses Hilton with the intention of watching the sunset from the 'Windows on the World' lounge on the 36th floor, reputedly one of the must do's in this city. Also since reading '1421 The Year China Discovered the World' P was wanting to view from the Hilton the still faintly identifiable path of the first canal (100ft wide x 40ft deep) linking the Red Sea and the Nile dating from 600BC!!! 2700 years before the current canal.
We only have one night in Cairo and as luck would have it the lounge was closed for a private function. Tough. However we treated ourselves to a very good meal in the cafe in the Hilton - nicest lamb chops we have had for ages. We walked back to the hotel through the Cairo traffic, taking our lives in our hands at each intersection. Pedestrian crossings have no meaning in Cairo nor is a speed limit apparent. As Ruth said, it was like the Running of the Bulls!
We only have one night in Cairo and as luck would have it the lounge was closed for a private function. Tough. However we treated ourselves to a very good meal in the cafe in the Hilton - nicest lamb chops we have had for ages. We walked back to the hotel through the Cairo traffic, taking our lives in our hands at each intersection. Pedestrian crossings have no meaning in Cairo nor is a speed limit apparent. As Ruth said, it was like the Running of the Bulls!
Next morning we visited the highly respected Cairo Museum, opened in 1854 and housing the most enormous array of Egyptian antiquity including Tutankhamon's stunningly beautiful and intricate treasure trove. The Tut excavations uncovered literally thousands of pieces of his personal accoutrements including his clothing and footwear, bed and furniture, artwork and pottery, throne and crown, chariot and fighting bows, models of his homes and boats, jars containing his organs, even remains of his stillborn children etc etc, all left stacked around his mummy, for use in the afterlife. The actual mummified body was enclosed in the smallest inner solid gold sacophagus (case) that had his mummified body lying on its back with arms crossed on chest and finally the famous gold face mask was then placed over the head. The top lid of this first asacophagus was then wired closed and another 3 wooden gold plated sacophagus each slightly larger were fitted clam like to leave a larger than life godlike image the young King represented. The complete sacophagus was then placed in a series of 4 elaborately decorated and gold leaf sheathed shrines (very similar to a common shipping container) that fit into each other with 1cm to spare. Each was built in kitset form and carried down into the underground tomb and reassembled around the sacophagus. The outer shrine is literally the size of a 20ft shipping container and has similar end opening doors. These 4 huge shrines are all on display in the Cairo Museum. Having visited Tuts tomb in Luxor, we were able to put it all in context.
In the afternoon we visited Al-Ghoury the home of Khan el Khalili the famous bazaar flanked by 25 mosques and a massive Islamic University before returning by bus to Ismailia by dusk and the comfort of Musketelle, sort of Egypted out.
Out of Egypt
Spent the next day provisioning for our passage north up the remaining 40 miles of the canal to Port Said and out of Egypt. At 5am the next morning we were off with pilot Mohammed. He requested and got his first Pepsi at 6am and must have thought he was onto a winner because next minute....could he have a cap, my sunglasses etc etc. He was not impressed when were non-responsive to his calls for this that and the other
so to pass the time we settled down with a geography lesson and played him some Maori music to remove the image he had that we were Dutch from Zealand.
As luck would have it he got a bigger than normal 'present' getting all our residual Egyptian cash. On arrival at Port Said it was a beaming Mohammed that alighted onto the canal pilot boat that collected him direct from Musketelle and without stopping we too were also very happy as we popped out into the Med and the next phase of our meanders.
so to pass the time we settled down with a geography lesson and played him some Maori music to remove the image he had that we were Dutch from Zealand.
As luck would have it he got a bigger than normal 'present' getting all our residual Egyptian cash. On arrival at Port Said it was a beaming Mohammed that alighted onto the canal pilot boat that collected him direct from Musketelle and without stopping we too were also very happy as we popped out into the Med and the next phase of our meanders.
B&P@SEA
