Bound for wintering/diving/filming in the Red Sea we needed to spend a week with service,repairs and preparation.

Our Swedish insurance company (as many others) do not insure Red Sea waters but through the FB Red Sea group we were recommended Assurances Maritime de Lassée in La Rochelle. They gave us a quote of 5.000Eu/year.

We also contracted an agent for the Suez canalpassage and we got in touch with Rhodes Workshop for help with some woodwork.

After a week of work we had managed to replace a burned wipermotor,replace the steps (who had rot wood inside it´s shell of glassfibre),replace fanbelts for new on J.D and get the oildipstick to the gearbox dry with a new o-ring.

Meanwhile the war between Israel/Hamas broke out and our Suez agent informed us that diving from foreignflagged yachts is forbidden in the Egyptian part of the Red Sea. Moreover we were informed that prices have skyrocketed in Hurghada as well as Port Ghalib for yachts and that bureaucracy in both these important ports have gone mad (you have to apply for permission from the coastguard everytime you leave port which sometimes can take two weeks !!).

Alltogether it became very obvious that going to the Red Sea for diving was NOT an option anymore.( More about that later )

Our time in New Rhodes Marina was over and we topped up 1.200ltrs of diesel (1,8Eu/ltr) and headed for Plymmitri on the south part of Rhodes to dive the Giannoula wreck (to get some comfort after failing the Red Sea)