By midnight last night, the wind was back up to 25 30 and we were being brutally bounced around. We had to slow down even more because we were getting beaten up too much at the higher speeds. We were hobby horsing like crazy, with the occasional wave making such a hard smack that you wince and wonder how much more the boat can take.

It seemed to us that since the gulf was small, it couldn’t be much longer before the fetch from the seas died off. We were right, although it took longer for things to calm down than we hoped. By 1000, the velocity of the waves began to ease, and by mid-afternoon it became an overall OK ride. By the time we neared the canal entrance at 1800, it was fairly smooth. We called on the radio and let our agent know we were on our way. A moment later, someone called us and told us they could deliver groceries to the boat for cheap and asked for an order. We asked for some apples, bread, tomatoes, and bananas. We were told the total was USD$100. We said no way. The guy came down to USD$50 and said they could go no lower. We cancelled the order.

The area where the canal began looked identical to the rest of the area we had just transited the last few days. However, the depth drastically dropped from 100 feet to 20 feet, except, of course, in the narrow canal (300 meters wide). We got clearance and went in. A large tanker was coming the other way. We passed it closer than we have ever been to a large freighter. It looked almost like we could reach out and touch it, it was so close.

The narrow portion of the canal is only 4 nautical miles long, and then it widens considerably as we approached the town of Suez. When we got to the wider part, we put out the fenders. Unbeknownst to us, one of the fenders fell off. A pilot boat retrieved the fender and chased us down to give it back, which was really nice. They didn’t even ask for a tip, just sped off after throwing it back to us.

From what we could tell, Suez City looks to be pretty modern and nice, with most of the buildings appearing to be multi-stories ranging between 3 and 15 stories. Here is a shot of Suez City as we were getting close to it.

We pulled up to the only dock at the Suez Yacht Club, where two guys were there to help us tie up. One of them was the agent, Captain Heebe. An older gentleman walked up a few minutes later carrying several grocery bags. We were told that the total was $15, not $50, and Heebe bought them for us as a kind gesture. We were feeling unsure of whether it was a genuine misunderstanding or if it was part of some kind of scam. Heebe also bought Christi flowers.

Eric and Heebe went off to do paperwork, and the guy with the groceries, Sayeed, asked to wash the boat. Christi assumed the guy was another Alofi (scam artist in Tonga), eager to take advantage of new tourists in the area, and was leery of him. She wouldn’t let him wash the boat. He harassed her about it the entire time Eric was gone. When Eric returned, Eric told Sayeed Christi would wash the boat herself.

Then Eric ran off with the agent again, this time in search of an ATM. Sayeed watched Christi intently as she rinsed the boat and wiped down the metal. When she was done with the water, he picked up the hose and started rinsing all the areas that he could reach, even though Christi had just done it.

It turns out Sayeed works for the agent, he isn’t an ordinary local hanging around just to get money from the tourists like Alofi. Fetching groceries and washing boats are services the agent offers. We felt bad for misjudging Sayeed, and attributed his harassment to cultural misunderstandings. It is so hard here in Egypt to pick out the scammers from the good guys. There seem to be many more good guys around than scammers, but it doesn’t take many scammers to ruin it for the good guys.

We knew tomorrow was going to be a long day, so we skipped our customary celebratory meal so we could go to bed at a reasonable hour.