Category Archives: Cruising Guide

Information for other cruising boats. Our experiences finding places to anchor, dealing with officials, provisions, etc.

Transiting the Suez Canal

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This morning we were up early to get ready to go. Here is sunrise over Suez.

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Normally, small yachts transit half the canal one day, spend the night in a town called Ismalia, then transit the second half of the canal the next day. We had committed to being in Greece in 4 days, and the only way to make it on time was to do a one day transit. For it to happen, several pieces needed to come together. First off, we needed to leave by 0700, because if we didn’t make it to Ismalia by 1300 (1:00 pm), they would make us stay in Ismalia for the night.

We paced around nervously waiting for the pilot. Meanwhile, Heebe finally told us what our transit fees were. The trawler that we had mentioned seeing in Port Ghalib had been charged USD$485, and we expected our fee to be the same. Ours was USD$540. Heebe never showed us any government paperwork to verify the fees, so we suspect he upped the fee and kept the difference. He also charged us an extra fee of $70 for the quick transit and we are not sure if it goes to him or is a government fee, but we suspect it goes to him. Unfortunately, we were not in a position to argue with him over the fees, both because we were out of time and because we were afraid if we made him mad that he might sabotage our effort for the one day transit and charge more.

Heebe took care of our exit stamps on our passport before we left and promised that our boat clearance would be waiting for us in Ismalia. We were irritated that he hadn’t taken care of the boat clearance yesterday.

The pilot arrived at 0815 and Continue reading →

More Time in Suez and Egypt Thoughts

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Yesterday we were going to go to Cairo and do more sightseeing, but when it came time to actually get out of bed, we opted for a day at home, instead. Christi spent the day cooking up all the produce, doubting it would last through this next passage. Eric changed the fuel transfer filter and the forward and aft fuel filters on the main engine. He also drained the sump on the fuel supply tank and didn’t find any water. Yay! The fuel we got in Ghalib was good.

We did go into town for dinner, determined to find this fabulous restaurant we had been told about (and still can’t remember the name of). We lucked out and found a local that works with the yacht club who was on his way home, and he agreed to drop us off there. Good thing, because when all is said and done, we would have never, ever found it. Here is a picture of the exterior. What is funny is that the grill they cook on is literally across the street, and they run the grilled food inside as it is ready. Hopefully, one of our readers speaks Arabic and can tell us the name of the restaurant.

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We walked in. Most of the tables were occupied. Everyone in the entire restaurant stared at us for a long time after we sat down. We ordered a couple shish kabob plates. When the food came, we were surprised by Continue reading →

Making Friends in Suez City

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We were up early and all ready to go when we found out that we weren’t allowed to leave today, after all. An American military ship was transiting the canal today, and anytime there is a military ship going through, small boats are prohibited from entering. The big boys can still go through, but not the little guys. We begged the agent, explaining that it should be OK for an American boat to pass an American military vessel, but it isn’t his decision. The worst news was that a British military vessel was transiting tomorrow, so we couldn’t go tomorrow, either.

Since we weren’t leaving ASAP, the yacht club asked us to move the boat from the dock to a near by mooring so other boats could access the hose. We were delighted to do this, because it would make it a little harder for Sayeed to harass us. BTW, he had been harassing us non-stop since very early in the morning.

Once situated, we decided to head into town to look around and have lunch. From what we saw last night, we thought Continue reading →

Trip to Cairo to See the Pyramids – Part I

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The day started when the fuel arrived at 0630. Fuel is 70 cents a liter here, so we decided to top off. Unfortunately, we never asked about the pumping system. It turned out to be jerry cans, and Sayeed had to suck diesel into his mouth to get a siphon going from the cans to our tank. Yuck. It made a big mess, and diesel is not easy to get off the fiberglass. Later we found out that diesel is only 50 cents a liter, and Heebe keeps the difference. No wonder he was happy to pay for our groceries. By their standards, they made a lot of money off our fuel purchase.

At 1000, someone came by to measure our boat. The fees for crossing the canal are based on a complicated formula involving size. Measuring took only a few minutes, and no one would tell us what the final fee would be.

In between, Sayeed was at our boat every 5 minutes, bringing forms to be filled out, then simultaneously offering to do this or that for us. If he offered a service we refused, he would get very forceful and insistent that we did need this particular service, badgering us until we backed down, or sometimes doing it in spite of being told no. After each and every thing he wanted a tip, and it was never enough money. For example, he asked if we needed Continue reading →

Welcome to Suez City, Egypt

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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 Continue reading →