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Ocean Rival Journey Log
Adam Power Diana Power
Fri 17 Mar 2023 05:53
Delayed blog due to rough crossing and busy arrival.
The second half of the canal was uneventful- our pilot arrived on time at 8am and we extracated ourselves from among the submerged piles and the 2 yachts behind us. The Danish crew of 5 guys on a lads trip were waiting out high westerly winds in the med as they were heading on to Crete and would be wind against. With no option to wait at Port Said they decided to stay in the construction site of Ismalia. The Korean couple with baby arrived the day after us heading south. They were very friendly but remarkably ignorant of the canal and Red Sea problems having purchased their yacht in Italy and were taking it back home to Korea. He had no cash thinking his card would work everywhere and very little diesel. We donated our empty cans and the Danes some more but his cash problem was unresolved. There was an atm 10 yards outside the gate and he was not allowed to use it. We worry that the Red Sea and Indian Ocean will be very hard on them.
Our route to Cyprus was just east of north so the westerlies looked manageable. The ship convoy caught us up exiting the canal so we had to thread our way through the offshore oil rigs while keeping out of their way. They turned left as we crossed the lane near the turning point and as they could choose to turn either before or after us we didn't feel too pressured. The wind increased to around 20kn and while the Aries does struggle to hold a course when the wind is dead on the beam we managed to head in the general direction of Cyprus with a couple of reefs and a big lumpy sea but good speed. The motion eventually caught up with my stomach and with my sea legs having been lost in the canal I was sick for most of the next day.
As we approached land in the morning the wind dropped and the engine started to me relief. I then picked up an email from the marina saying papers to be submitted 24 hrs before arrival including a power of attorney! I phoned and told them I was 2 hrs away and had no idea about p of a's but it was no problem. We were escorted in to a large and near empty marina -I am sure they would have welcomed us in if we had no papers at all but could pay the shocking European fees.
The marina opened in 2020 and is still under construction -2 high rise hotels being finished and many of the shops and cafes still not open. It is a monumental investment and the demand is yet to justify the gamble but perhaps the summer will pay off.
It is cold and windy and we are hunkered down below getting the boat as tidy as possible to leave for home. The battery and solar panel issues (among other things) will have to wait for our return later in the summer.