Red Sea, Suakin, Sudan
Sea Topaz
Duncan Briggs
Sun 22 Mar 2015 14:03
|
19.06.426 N 37. 20.246 E
We made it safely to Suakin, Sudan.
It has not been an enjoyable trip; very stressful at
times sailing in convoy.
Sailing through the straits of Bab el Mandeb was fast
and wild. We had strong winds, but fortunately behind us. We did this stretch
during the night, which was good as the pirates did not normally come out at
night and certainly not in strong winds and high seas. It was not easy to stay
close together though. We ended up having to hand steer through most of the
night as neither the auto helm or the wind vane could cope with it. But we got
through it fine and covered a lot of ground.
The wind pattern then changed and came from the north;
the direction we were going in and it gradually strengthened; which made for
slower progress. We had to press on however to get into Suakin in good day light
so we could see the reefs. But first we had to drop off the weapons on a
platform. This was a ship that had sheltered behind an island. They sent a
zodiac rib to each of our boats to collect the weapons and ammunition. This was
a very smooth operation. That same day we got into Suakin.
So we arrived yesterday. The agent is very efficient;
came to do all the paperwork to each of the boats and took our passports away.
We paid him for fuel, water etc and he took away the laundry and rubbish. We
then got together on Highland Duck for a drink, snacks and talk about the trip.
Then early to bed to catch up on much needed sleep.
Everybody is in good spirit, glad to be
here.
Today the boys left us with all their kit: body armor,
bino's, night viewing devices, etc.
We now have 40 20l bottles of water to put into the
tanks and clean and tidy up the boat. Then pizzas on Equanimity
tonight.
We'll spend a few days here to rest and have a look
around once we have our shore permits. The we'll have to battle against the wind
and waves again to make our way to Egypt.
|
