Red Sea - day 6 to Suakin
St Barbara's Web Diary
Peter & Sue Goldsmith
Tue 25 Mar 2008 09:11
17:35N 39:06E
12.00 25th March
Yesterday should have been day 5 report so today is day 6. We have been
politely reminded by our Admiral that we have not updated distances, so here
we go. As of noon today we have covered 4210 nautical miles since leaving
Thailand, 525 nm from Aden and 130 nm from Massawa, Eritrea. We have 146 nm
to go to Suakin where we check in to the Sudan. We anticipate being there
early tomorrow afternoon.
Peter2
Peter was too hasty handing control of the blog to me. All that tech-spec
stuff just passes me by, now we're back to being a double act I hope we'll
satisfy all of our readers.
After leaving Massawa we motor sailed for most of the morning but the wind
picked up into a steady easterly breeze and we turned off the engine and
auto-pilot and Sam, very patiently instructed on the helm. A really good,
frustratingly difficult - easy once you get it - few hours and we arrived
safely at a very low lying island where we hoped to anchor. Although the
chart and Red Sea Pilot book were accurate it wasn't a very secure anchorage
and there were lots of coral and reef with very little depth. We stayed for
a few hours and had our first swim in the Red Sea, which for those of you in
the UK who are enjoying cold and snow at the moment, was blissfully warm. We
continued on our passage north, with winds varying from nil to 15-17 knots
and have made unexpectantly good progress.
Today, is being spent catching up on sleep following the night watches and
staying out of the sun. Its a hard life! First thing this morning we had a
bite on the fishing line but it was probably something we didn't want to
come face to face with and within a few seconds it broke the line. Have now
set up a makeshift replacement but fresh fish for dinner seems less likely
until we get to port. Looks like those biscuits may be coming out after all.
Peter2