Herzliya
Arwenofbosham
Rob and Jacky Black
Wed 30 Jun 2010 18:26
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32 09.7 N 34 47.7E
Herzliya Marina Israel 26th - 30th
June
We had a great sail from Port Said (as predicted)
with speeds of 7+ knots at times and a beam reach most of the way. The wind
died
later on the passage but we still made the 140
miles in 24 hours with little diesel used!
This marina reminds us of Gun Wharf Quay in
Portsmouth as there is a very plush air conditioned mall right next to the
pontoons!
Rather more up market than Portsmouth - this
resort is where the wealthy Israeli's have weekend homes and there are some
beautiful villas
set in lush gardens where the rich from Tel Aviv
live. Set around the front of the mall are various cafes and restaurants all
with wide screen TVs
showing the World Cup matches. Though of course we
have rather lost interest now (say no more!).
Unfortunately Jacky has had a recurrence of her
upset tummy with a vengeance so she went off to see a Doctor to try and get to
the root cause.
She had to return on Wednesday to get the results
of some lab tests. In the mean time a very bland diet of boiled pasta potatoes
or rice with cooked vegetables
no fat or dairy food and no tea, coffee or alcohol
was prescribed plus some different tablets to be taken 6 times a day. Not much
fun with the final party marking the end of
the Rally taking place on the Monday night. We both
did some serious catching up on sleep and not a lot else for the next couple of
days. The end of Rally party was a real
disappointment - held in the boat yard with a huge
BBQ and plastic tables and chairs dotted around, a bar, a large dance floor
complete with disco and flashing lights and about 200
extra people over and above the 160 rally
participants. There was little chance to chat and say goodbye to our rally
friends and the food was mediocre to say the least! The champagne
at the start was welcome and the band that played
for a hour were very good but too loud! (Are we getting grumpy or
what?)
Various boats left during Tuesday and Wednesday we
said our farewells to Marlene and Hugo on Yoko and Wendy and Bryan from Future
Options - we hope to catch up with both
later in the year in the Greek Islands. Rosemary
and Bob from Halcyon Days also left today and again we hope to see them again
soon.
The lab results proved to be negative for all the
things tested so Jacky was given a diagnosis of acute viral gastroenteritis! The
systems had eased with the tablets prescribed so the Doctor
recommended to keep to a plain diet for a week or
so. Such a shame as there were loads of good eateries here to try! The trip to
Petra was abandoned as neither of us fancied anymore sight
seeing coach journeys in the present heat and with
upset tummies it's no fun! We were able to get the boat cleaned, flags washed
and some laundry done while staying here and Jacky even managed a swim
in the sea from the sandy beach to the north of the
marina.
The weather forecast shows fair winds for heading
back to Cyprus so we are setting off tomorrow all being well.
This evening we had Chris and Steve from Scott Free
and Rob and Sarah from Serafina over for a farewell drink (both couples are
friends from the Rally Portugal in 2008); its sounds crazy but we have
hardly had a chance to see much of either couple as
we were all in different sections of the rally so often moored apart and made to
sit at different tables when there were formal dinners!! (One of the
things
we objected to in this rally!) It was lovely to
catch up and hear their plans - both boats are heading off across the Atlantic
later in the year so we shan't be seeing them for a while. Both Sarah and Chris
are
suffering from the dreaded tummy bug too at the
moment but they have decided to risk the trip to Petra and
Jerusalem.
Overall we have enjoyed the rally but found the
deadlines for getting into ports and the large number of boats all a bit much
for us. We are looking forward to getting back into real cruising mode, with
loads
of anchoring, swimming off the boat and chilling
out! We have met some lovely folk and do hope we will be able to keep in touch
with them in the future.
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