Passage From Oman to Eritrea
On 26 February 2006 we departed Salalah in Oman and made passage past southern Yemen and into the Red Sea via the Gulf of Aden. Keeping well clear of Somalia to the East, sailing past Djibouti to arrive at Adjuz Island in Eritria on 6th March, after 8 days non-stop sailing. Having anchored at Adjuz Island we checked into Eritrea on the 9th March, at the town of Massawa. From the 12th to 15th March we then took a trip inland to Asmara the capital of Eritrea. We departed our anchorage on 17th March and headed north island-hopping until we arrived, on 26th March at the town of Suakin in Sudan where we again checked in with the authorities. On 28th March we took a day-trip to Port Sudan further north along the coast. We set sail north again on 31st March visiting various islands reefs and Marsas along the Sudan coast arriving on the 11th April at Marsa Halaib in Egypt. On 21st April we officially checked into Egypt at Port Ghalib Marina.
We spent just one week in Oman which gave us our first taste of the Arab world. Our agent Mohammed, with his cheery smile and black skin contrasting with his immaculate long white robes and cap, was very helpful. Through him we hired a car for a couple of days and so were able to go into the town of Salalah (some 14km away) for provisions, and also do a little touring. The latter was rather random as place names were in Arabic, or alternative spellings, to the ones we had on our sketch-map. Even so we enjoyed seeing frankincense trees growing in the barren land, wandering camels, found some springs which Cass and Barney wallowed in, and managed to find Job’s Tomb – a place of veneration for followers of Islam as well as Christianity.
Whilst in Sri Lanka we first met "Nin", skipper Michael (German) and crew Bill (American), came across them again in Uligan (Maldives) and got to know them a little better in Salalah, Oman. So it was that with them and "Vega", skipper Didier (French) and crew Pang (Thai) we formed a convoy of three for safety through "Pirate Alley" in the Gulf of Aden. It was an interesting experience and took some skill to keep together with the differing boat characteristics - Avalon and Nin are well-matched both being heavy steel boats, but Vega is aluminium and a much faster boat so was forced to reduce sail so we could keep together. During the night, passing through the area where most yacht attacks have occured in the past, we ran without lights using radar to keep the right distance and to track other vessels. We had one scare when a vessel showing a single white light coming towards us all on a collision course did not respond to calls on VHF. We changed course to avoid it at the same time as a cargo vessel appeared ahead. In so doing we believe we caused the latter some consternation at our apparent approach, as they slowed down. A day or so later fast speedboats converged on us - were they coming for us? No! They went past, and we later learnt they were probably fishermen tracking schools of fish for the slower moving fishing boats. Our original thought had been to visit Aden, but the wind and timing were good for going through the Bab El Mandeb (Gate of Sorrows) and crossing the major shipping lanes in daylight, so we and Nin carried on past. We parted company with Vega who headed for Djibouti to effect sail repairs. It was a good decision for us as we saw many huge container ships moving at fast speeds but had no trouble avoiding them. With the four of us the watch system had not been onerous, but by 6 March after 8 days sailing we were ready for a good night's sleep at anchor. We made for Adjuz Island where we were welcomed to Eritrea by a pod of short finned pilot whales. We invited Michael and Bill over to celebrate our safe passage for the first of many shared meals with them and we enjoyed a stew with freshly caught mackerel tuna along with a few tots of rum. Our next stop was at Shumma Island where we went on land for the first time in 9 days: we did so carefully as land mines are still reputed to be along this coastline due to past neighbouring land disputes. This was the first of many stops at islands with little vegetation but full of birds, with the only land life being crabs scuttling over fish skeletons and seaweed. Next day we stopped at Madote Island and had a lovely swim in clear water viewing corals and a variety of reef fish, before walking on shore and watching a family of five osprey, and a brackish pool full of strange sea-slugs. We had been lucky with the winds so far, and reached Massawa just as they were starting to pick up from the north, so were glad to be in a safe anchorage. We cleared in at this once busy port, now sadly quiet, the only activity as we arrived at the wharf was a local boat from the Yemen unloading chillies.
Many buildings dated from the time of Italian colonial occupation - originally elegant, now decaying from neglect and badly war-damaged. Supplies were limited, but with the help of a local called Mike, we got diesel and had our laundry done. Cass and Barney obtained water from the local supplier by taxi and ferrying jerry jugs from shore to the anchorage. We travelled, along with Bill, by bus to Asmara, the capital, knowing that Michael was keeping on eye on Avalon as well as Nin. The journey took us through barren desert, past camels and donkeys. At a stop at an intersection of roads we partook of tea and viewed the market scene - colourfully dressed women with produce, children selling peanuts, chickpeas, bundles of sticks (for cleaning teeth), woven baskets and assorted animals wandering or being driven through. Once on the way again the road wound up into the mountains past slopes terraced to prevent erosion, villages with mosques and churches (Coptic Christian) and baboons racing alongside hoping to be fed.
At the shops we stocked up with Italian cheese and whilst Asmara had rather better facilities than Massawa it was a disappointment in some respects. The internet connections were screamingly slow, there were no ATMs to use our bank card (in the end we could only get cash by credit card through a money exchange) and hopes of getting the engine room fan bearing repaired/replaced were dashed. On the other hand the Concord Pension we stayed in was very comfortable (last hot showers for at least a month!) and the early morning coffee and cake/pizza slices samplings in cafes along the main road were a real treat (ice cream parlours later in the day ditto!). A visit to the Medeber Market was an eye-opener with re-cycling taken to a fine art - cans converted into ladles and other tools, metal drums into ovens, other scrap metal into beds etc. and sack loads of chillies being ground into powder.
At the shops we stocked up with Italian cheese and salami, and on the morning of our return to Massawa at the fresh fruit and vegetable markets we loaded up with as much as we could carry - potatoes, yams, grapefruit, carrots, pumpkins, limes, cabbage, lemons, bananas, zuccini. Our return was somewhat delayed by not understanding the system at the bus station, a combination of queueing (marking your place with a stone!) and getting cardboard tokens, but we managed in the end. Once back in Massawa we made ready for passage and after local provisioning of eggs, tomatoes and bread, we checked out of the port. The officials were very friendly and though the paperwork seemed to take a while, the time passed pleasantly as we were given tea and bread whilst waiting. And so onto island-hopping, destination Sudan.
During our passage from Oman we had not been short of food: Barnaby kept himself busy making lures and perfecting his fishing skills. A variety of fish had been landed - mackerel tuna, blackfin barracuda, shark, mahimahi, narrow barred spanish mackerel, dogtooth tuna, bluefin trevally, shark mackerel. Now, at island reefs armed with Michael's speargun he caught starry triggerfish, black spotted sweetlips and vermicular cod. At Difnein Island the snorkelling was lovely with many fish amongst the coral (sharks were also spotted). We were anchored along with Anne and Dave on "Adagio" and Phil and Jill on "Deliverance", waiting for the wind to abate, so Michael suggested a beach BBQ. He caught parrotfish, mahogany snapper and grouper which was cooked on a fire from collected driftwood. Hermit crab races enlivened the evening as well as Phil's spontaneous recitations; Bill was announced winner as the most authentically dressed pirate. A memorable occasion. At the next stop - Khor Nawarat- the shore party found the beach a weird graveyard of huge turtle shells, shark and dugong carcases. We retrieved a shark jaw and dugong tusks for the evergrowing collection of memorabilia.
After a few more stops at Talla Talla Saqir and Green Reef we came into Suakin Harbour, Sudan. The local agent, Mohammed (another one), greeted us and very efficiently relieved us of our dirty laundry and rubbish, as well as a large amount of US$ for various fees and services, returning soon after with jerry jugs of diesel and some local money. With the business of the day over, where better to sit and sip the anise and sambuca from Eritrea whilst gazing over a timeless vista - the ruins of the old port close by with camels roaming about, and the sun setting over the distant dust-hazed mountains. A sortie into the local town proved interesting but quite short. We wanted to visit an internet caf� (there was none), the language barrier was apparent, and the local produce was good but quite limited. The next day we decided to go into Port Sudan by bus and spent a frustrating hour in an internet caf� before discovering that the facility at the Palace Hotel was far superior. There were more shops but altogether the town just seemed a larger version of Suakin, except with more dust and people. We were objects of interest and more than one person was focused on Cass – one man on the bus would have liked her for his 3rd wife! Our main purchases consisted of a lump of brown gooey stuff taken from a huge mound (this proved to be locally made peanut butter) and engine battery water which we hope was distilled – we paid enough for it to be anyway.
With the wind from the north abating, we loaded up with water, fresh fruit, vegetables and pitta bread and set off to anchor in the first of many marsas (a sheltered mainland inlet entered through a reef), where we saw our first Red Sea flamingoes. Next day, April 1 the joke was on us – we ‘kissed’ the reef on the way out, and not long after the engine stopped due to the propeller being fouled by a huge woven plastic sack, similar to the one we snagged in the Bay of Bengal. This time Barney had to go in to cut it off, and we kept a close watch for sharks whilst he retrieved it. We spent a couple of days at the next stop, Marsa Fijab. The first day Shariff came out in a leaking dugout canoe to greet us with a gift of eggs, and was delighted to have the plastic sacking (we decided from what we had seen of local dwellings that it would probably be used to enhance his ‘house’). He owned a herd of camels and the next day we saw them taking a stroll right across the reef to a small islet.. a strange sight as they appeared to be walking on water.
Our second beach BBQ was at the Taila Islands – a string of low islets, just sand and scrub, but full of bird life. We had to retreat from one sandy spit when the parent terns dive bombed and screamed at us for getting too close to their fluffy young. Here we saw a couple of the pretty blue-spotted ribbontail rays in the reef shallows. We gathered driftwood, and baked potatoes in the embers of the fire whilst grilling the bluefin trevally Barney had caught on the approach to the islands. We celebrated reaching the half-way point up the Red Sea with a few carefully hoarded beers along with the fish and potatoes – delicious!
The cruising life is full of contrasts: during the afternoon of the next day, the wind suddenly started to pick up – the weather window was closing earlier than expected. We had a bumpy night and hove to until we had enough light to go into Khor Shinab, a marsa extending several miles inland. There we found 5 boats already anchored, sheltering from the winds which were to gust up to 40 knots over the next couple of days. When the wind dropped enough to get the dinghy in the water we went to land to climb up Quoin Hill, from where we could see for miles over the barren land, and marvelled at the multicoloured soils – red, brown, green, yellow. Sunday April 9 dawned calm and most boats were on their way by 6.30. We made a more leisurely departure as it was Cass’s 27th Birthday: she breakfasted on cake from Nin, then pancakes, and quiche for lunch. By late afternoon we had anchored in Marsa Ribdah, in spite of the boat full of Sudanese military (not in uniform) who wanted us to carry on to Egypt! Michael and Bill joined us for the Birthday Party feast of sushi, pizza and chocolate dolphin-shaped cake, helped down by rum punches, then whisky. There was a suggestion that a dugong had been spotted – but then it might have been wishful thinking! And so to Elba Reef, only a quick stop with another weather-window closure threatening, but worth it for the 40 or so welcoming dolphins who came up to greet Avalon. A cautionary note was struck by the sight of a large cargo vessel high and dry on the reef. And so another bouncy night as the wind came up and we made our way slowly towards Marsa Halaib, again waiting for enough light to make a safe entry through the reef. This time we were greeted on the VHF radio by the Coastguard “Welcome in Egypt” and accompanied to the anchorage by 2 grey dolphins. We were very glad to get into shelter and spent the next few windy days catching up with some boat maintenance and cooking for the passage ahead. We were not able to go ashore here: on the map the land would appear to be part of Sudan but the Egyptian army are in control the moment. After another 5-day stop because of adverse winds at Sharm Luli we were on our way again, hoping to stay for snorkelling at Samadai Reef. However, we were turned away by rangers as this is now National Park and a special permit is required which we did not know about. We were not entirely sorry as 8 dive boats were already there - oh dear, back to tourist-land. We anchored elsewhere for the night and next day arrived at Port Ghalib where we officially checked into Egypt. Here there is "The Coral Beach Diving Hotel: a millenium hotel and resort" (and nothing else!). We are currently docked right in front of the hotel and are able to enjoy its facilities - swimming pools, hot showers, restaurants and a few shops - waiting for the next weather-window to move north. So far in this part of world we have been delighted to find all the local people friendly and helpful, little sign of Islamic antagonism to westerners though Bill (American) has been challenged a number of times to defend President Bush, US foreign policy in general and US support for Israel in particular. Most people seem more puzzled than angry. We are looking forward to spending some time in Egypt but have some fears that we will have more hassles such as overcharging, demands for bribes/baksheesh and so on because Egypt is a tourist destination and many people make a living by preying on foreigners. So far, fingers crossed, we have found the Egyptian men very courteous and friendly, but after 12 days in the country we have yet to see an Egyptian woman!
We have enjoyed our hopping up the Red Sea, which has made us slower than a lot of other cruisers, but then they have missed some of the best bits. The two beach BBQs we had were great fun. Snorkelling has been good too. We got caught out a couple of times with bad weather coming early i.e. northerly winds coming up strong and making headway very slow and bumpy, so we hove to on each occasion and went into shelter as soon as possible the next morning i.e. as soon as you could see the reefs well enough to get through them. Other then that, I thought I might have had an appendicitis and went on a starvation diet for FOUR DAYS then gave in to antibiotcs. When we got here they had taken effect and I was much better but a visit to the hotel's doctor suggested that it had been amoebic dysentery. So you are much safer at home. Others all fine. For those interested this is the link to Port Ghalib Marina
