33:59.2N 35:37.2E

Thursday 10^th June

By 1.00 am we were sailing again in a rising 15 knots of breeze and the direction allowed us to hold our course for Jounieh. We romped along at a steady 5 to 6 knots but gradually the seas were building and the wind began to head us. We had to slow down for a while to allow a big cargo ship to cross our path and although we soon were back up to speed the wind began to drop for a while and once we were down to 3 knots we put the engine back on to help us along. At this point the wind backed to head us completely and just for good measure began to pick up strength again along with the waves. We were soon motor sailing hard into quite a chop and to keep the mail sail from flogging we chose to ‘tack’ our way up wind. Sadly we had a schedule to keep and as we were due in Jounieh by 11.00am we could not really afford to kill the motor and enjoy a good sail as this would make us too late.

In the event we arrived on time and had a good but short sail from the final waypoint down to the marina entrance and after a short wait milling with the various navy patrol boats watching us, we were ushered into the marina to moor up in a large raft again.

Sarah and the others sorted out the ropes and springs etc. whilst I went off to do all the various formalities which are very complicated and involved in this part of the world. However as part of the rally, this is made a good deal easier as by and large, all the officials come down to the marina and set up their stalls and we just have to deliver all the various copies of all our papers and passports etc. to the right people in the right order.

Once all this was done we could relax a bit, but Sarah kept going and cooked some of the tuna and couscous to make a much needed lunch. This was accompanied by the sound of automatic gunfire in the hills behind us which somehow was not unexpected seeing as where we are now!

At 6.30 pm we set off on the coach tour billed as ‘Beirut by night’ and this was a very pleasant trip into the city to view various key points, old and new followed by a couple of hours to allow us to wander through the city centre and do what we want. I am not too sure quite what I expected this city to be like but certainly we were probably all surprised to find such a vibrant, modern and quite westernised environment. Certainly security is a big issue and the streets are thick with heavily armed soldiers and in particular the centre of the city is well protected which is either very reassuring or a little worrying depending on your outlook. In addition to the abundance of military vehicles bristling with soldiers there are also sleek black sporty saloon cars filled with armed troops cruising the streets all the time and as an interesting complication these are the same colour as the taxis! The entrance to the marina is defended by a tank that frequently takes up a new position every few hours but this has more to do with the small naval base and military R & R centre next door. Beirut, has been largely rebuilt and is a tribute to the Lebanese governments determination to make things happen here and there are surprisingly few scars showing from the civil war that tore the city apart back in the 1980’s. However having said all this, the whole place is very relaxed and cosmopolitan and there is an overwhelming sense of affluence everywhere in a very marked contrast to Syria.

The four of us plus Kathy from Twixter selected a restaurant almost at random in one of the streets of bars and cafes and enjoyed a very nice but simple meal which was supplemented by an enormous platter of fruit given for free at the end.

Finally headed home on the coach and feel gratefully into bed, very tired from the long night before.