2002 Greece May to November

This is to keep my friends and family posted on my whereabouts and whatdoings. The summer, May to November of 2002 was spent in the Greek Islands. This is how I saw it.

Greece brings back memories of school lessons, the Odyssey and the Iliad, Athens and Sparta, the travels of the gods and man gods of old. Modern civilization was to have begun here. The remains of ancient ruined homes, cities, temples, statues and castles are everywhere. Many are merely an old pile of rock, many of the rocks have manmade chips in them, that would have a meaning if I could read them. Many are still partly standing and others have been reconstructed. Being an active geologic area, earthquakes do their best to knock down anything man has built. Between times of lying out in the pasture, drinking Ouzo, naming the constellations, the old guys spent a lot of time piling up rocks. Land separation walls, jetties and piers, homes, temples and castles are all built of rock. If rock is ever to be a commodity, Greece will again be prosperous. The land is nothing more than a large, very dry, rock field. There is so much to see in so short a time. Many of the names of places are brought out of the memory banks as I read the cruising guide, Lonely Planet and study the charts.

The timing of travel by sailboat, in Greece, is weather driven. As I had planned to be in the Greek Islands for six months I felt I could see much of what the islands had to offer. The reputation of the Mediterranean Sea is that you will have no wind or too much wind. I found this to be true. The decision to move in high wind conditions or motor in none is sometimes difficult. If you have the time to wait for a favorable wind direction the passages can be done easily, regardless of wind strength, if not...? During the summer months of June to October a wind called Meltimi, summer wind, at its strongest in July and August, will blow from the N NNW at 30 - 45 knots. For days at a time this wind will keep you in harbor or cause you to venture out into rough conditions. As the Aegean Sea is small, for a sea, and broken by many different islands, I did not find the sea state to get very large, rather I found short, choppy seas, but not large. During the times of strong southerly wind the dust from the North African desert will settle on everything. RPhurst has been covered with this fine, brown dust several times since entering the Red Sea and with the lack of rain she is dirty. I was not rained on from January, south of Sri Lanka, until August, near Athens.

Over the summer I enjoyed eleven guests, sailing club members, friends, crew and women, the longest six weeks. The offer to provide sailing opportunities is still open. I really do enjoy having company on the boat. They bring news from home, mail, parts, the latest cold or flue bugs, conversation and I still hope to find a partner for the rest of this adventure, I know she is out there, I just need to find and interest her.

I arrived in Greece, at the island of Rhodos from Egypt, on 7 May 2002 where I was met by Lorrie, who stayed for more than a month. The sensible plan was to head north through the Dodecanese group until the Meltimi started blowing, about July. As it turned out it started in mid June. Then head west to the Cyclades using the north wind for sailing. Then during the strongest north wind move south. Ending on Crete, the most southerly island as the temperature begins to cool with the onset of fall. This plan worked well with few exceptions. When the Meltimi is not blowing the wind can be from any direction, is usually light, but not always.

Anchoring in the Greek islands depends around which island and group you are sailing. The charter boats tend to always go into a marina, the private boats tend to spend more time at anchor. A Greek marina is defined as a concrete wall, to which you Med moor, to the inside or outside as room and wind dictate. Med mooring means that you drop an anchor a sufficient distance from the wall, back into an open area or between boats closely tied, hoping that someone will offer to come over and catch your stern lines and put them onto a cleat, bollard, post, ring or to whatever there is to attach. Often I would need to have the anchor set, back into the wall, adjust the anchor chain to allow me to get off the boat using the gangplank with a stern line in hand and the engine still in reverse, attach the line and jump back onto the boat to take the engine out of gear. The anchorages in the Dodecanese group are hard to find. Most places where water that is shallow enough to anchor can be found a town has been built. The rest are steep to and difficult without running a line to shore, and tie to a rock, something I did several times. The bottom consists of large stones to small rocks, or mud heavily covered with weed, very difficult to set an anchor. I had two situations where I found the boat to be not where I left it. One morning I awaked to find we had crossed the bay during the night and the anchor had caught in the rocks on the bottom, a hundred thirty feet down, on the other side. Another, while ashore having dinner the boat began to drift off. Both times the anchor had been well set, but with shifting winds around the hills, turning the boat and pulling the anchor from different directions dislodged it. In the Cyclades the conditions were far better, with many lovely, remote and sheltered bays, with empty sand beaches and a good holding bottom.

The people are friendly, especially the retail relationships, the ones that want to sell you something. As tourism is the number one industry in Greece, the locals are very accustomed to people from other lands; most speak at least some English, German, French, Italian, Spanish. I find the linguistic skill of people in other parts of the world to be incredible. I stand in awe of the hustlers making their pitch to one tourist in one language and turning to the next potential customer and speaking in a different tongue. We Americans are really spoiled, thinking everyone speaks English. The tourists are mainly from Europe so, you hear many different languages spoken and the beach viewing is great. Europeans have a much different outlook from Americans on beach attire, topless is common, totally nude is not unusual. Can you imagine laying on Daytona Beach wearing nothing but a smile? You would find yourself in jail. Too bad really, we dirty old men enjoy the sights.

From ancient time being a water born economy each town or village has a water front. Most are done up very nicely. Wide walkways, although normally flagstone or brick, very rough for walking, and most are used for additional seating by the restaurants and cafes, trees have been planted, seats placed for stopping and tourist trinket kiosks. Each evening the locals do what is called the Volta, walk around or evening stroll. Hundreds of very old to very young, singles, couples, babies in strollers, lovers arm in arm all walk the Promenade or Esplanade, stopping to talk of the day, hustle the members of the opposite sex, gossip, politic or whatever people anywhere discuss.

All being built between the deep blue sea and the foothills, the streets in all villages, towns and Choras are narrow, staired, steep, cobbled with flagstone, painted white between each stone, crooked, winding, backtracking and confusing. Nothing is straight or flat. The Greeks must have very good legs after a lifetime of walking in these conditions. This is by design, it was also confusing for the pirates that frequented the areas. Those same paths are now race courses for the kamikaze motorbike riders, who claim all rights of way. I found it strange that when they were going but two hundred yards, they needed to do so at full speed. Most towns have rental donkeys for getting around, hauling construction material, delivering luggage to your room, getting up the hill or just have your picture taken sitting on an ass.

Navigation in the islands is easy. As most of the adjacent islands are less than 10 miles apart the next island is almost always in sight when you leave. Of course, you can skip islands and have longer distances if you like. With the short distances and few, if any, offshore hazards I found I became very complacent about navigation. The only thing close to a navigational problem is the current. Given that the Mediterranean is an enclosed sea, it is strange to have currents, but it does. Close to islands it can be a knot and it’s effect is seen on the points and peninsulas and seen in your speed and course over ground. One difficulty is that the names of islands and towns are not the same on the charts, in the cruising guide and the Lonely Planet causing some problems getting information.

The major sights were the castles on Rhodos, the monastery at Patmos, Delos, the Acropolis in Athens, and Santorini. The other point of interests is the color scheme, white buildings with blue trim, used in all of the towns, villages and Chora, high town. The story is that during the occupation by the Italians, perhaps around 1912, the Greeks painted everything white with blue trim, the colors of their flag, to remind the Italians that this was still Greece. The idea caught on and any pictures and postcards of Greece you see will feature the white buildings with blue trim. They are quite charming. The Chora was a matter of safety. In years gone past pirates terrorized the coastlines. Every year about harvest time they would arrive to collect their tribute. So, the Greeks began building the main town on a hill or high point. In this way they could at least see the thieves coming and hide their women, wine, money and treasures. Many of the local wines are very good.

The castle on Rhodos, reputed to have been built by the knights of St John, is claimed to be the largest, permanently inhabited castle in Europe. I read this to say it is not the largest, but very impressive. During the summer you will see up to seven cruise ships docked, discharging thousands of sightseers that are swallowed up by the immensity of the castle, known as old town. Everything any self respecting tourist could want is for sale within these walls, Tee shirts, jewelry, furs, trinkets, jewelry to satisfy any taste and Rolex dealers, who in their right mind would buy a Rolex, while on vacation in a strange land, from a guy standing on the street corner wearing several of them on his arm, under his long sleeves, new stuff made to look like old stuff and food, ah the food. Well, to settle an ongoing argument. Everyone has heard of or seen the food Gyros, how is it pronounced, as geeros, as yeeros, guyros, the Greeks say all of them, I could not get the official pronunciation, it depended on the town, restaurant or server, so the debate rages on.

Most all of the monasteries in Greece are placed on the highest hill, the most inaccessible and difficult places, like hanging on the side of a cliff, at Amorgos. I am told this was to provide the necessary solitude and remove from temptation the young girls that would have a young man for her own. The monastery and surrounding caves on Patmos are reputed to be where St John did his writing, or at least dictating to scribes, as he was nearly blind at the time. Much of the monastery is closed to the public, yet the main chapel, treasury and center courts are open and very interesting. Delos was my favorite, I returned there four times, with different crew. Each time I saw something different. It is the ruin of a civilization dating to 3,000 BC. Much of it has been excavated and is in pretty good shape. This was claimed to be the center of the modern world, at that time, and is said to be the birth place of democracy. With traders, merchants and clergy from all over the known world, living, selling, worshiping and working in the same place brought acceptance of other cultures. Parts of many of the homes and temples are in original condition, as to floors, complete with mosaics, walls with murals and decorative painting, pillars, columns and walkways. And an amazing water catchment system for the collection of rain, when it infrequently happened. How did one hundred thousand people live on a small, not more than a mile wide and three miles long, dry island?????? Most of the roofs are gone or partially reconstructed. Temples to gods such as Isis, Apollo, Hera, Neptune, and Hermes, along with houses of Cleopatra, Dionysus, Dolphins and many others are reminders of the beliefs of the ancients. For those on boats, you can anchor in a very nice bay on Rinia, just across the channel from Delos.

The Acropolis, in Athens, is quite a sight. Built and rebuilt, many times, on the same high, overlooking location, by several different religious groups for many different gods. The manpower to move that much rock is overwhelming. The modern day Athenians are rebuilding again, this time with cranes and metal scaffolding, to correct the destructive effects of time, earthquakes, pollution and a poor use of cheap reinforcing rods used the last time, to insure the ruins remain for years to come. The Caryatides, one of the buildings, has female statues supporting the roof on their heads. All of the originals have been moved indoors to preserve them and have been replaced by concrete replicas. The Greeks are not shy about stating that one of the early British Ambassadors stole one of the originals, along with part of the fascia from one of the story carvings, and it is now on display in London. The Greeks want it back. So many of the early archeologists were nothing but grave robbers and thieves taking anything and everything of value back to their homeland. This is no different. The rest of Athens is just another large, dirty city, fully under construction for the Olympics.

Santorini is known for its geologic beauty, it the most photogenic place in Greece and post cards can be found everywhere. In years past, donkeys carried everything up the nine hundred steps from the quay to Thera, the largest town. Now a ski lift style cable car is used. This did not put the donkeys out of work altogether, there is still the freight and the tourist, who pay three dollars for a ride up the stairway. I did walk down, but would not even dream of walking up, yet the donkey herders, is that what they are called, walk their animals. Santorini is an old volcano that last blew its top in 1400 BC. Sending twenty cubic miles of debris into the air, can you imagine that volume, it is more than many of the islands. The devastation from which buried Crete, 60 miles away, that which was not buried was washed away by huge tidal waves. Santorini with near vertical, multi colored walls rising 1,000 feet, out of the sea, and towns perched on the edge, seemingly waiting to fall into the next inferno, is quite spectacular. With nearly vertical walls, several hundred feet, below the surface anchoring is difficult. Today the remains of the caldera, the sunken dome over the emptied crater, has left the walls showing the stratification of many eruptions, many different colors and textures are evidence of it’s volatile past. While anchored at Santorini, I witnessed something I had never seen. A floating raft, I can think of no other term, of floating gravel, two hundred yards across and several inches thick engulfed RPhurst, for three days. It appeared I was anchored in the middle of a very large patch of freshly poured cement. When I picked up some of the stones, it looked and felt like small rock, when I hit one with a hammer it smashed like a small rock, yet they were so light they floated. It had to have been some sort of volcanic ash or pumas, dislodged by an unfelt tremor and floating freely within the enclosed crater.

The island of Hydra is interesting from the standpoint that it does not allow motor vehicle traffic, except the occasional motorbike, the delivery and garbage trucks. At the quay are many donkeys, just standing there, hanging out, waiting for something to do. They haul the freight, luggage and people. Hydra was also the most crowded marina I found. As normal I anchor off and go in during late morning of the next day, after the charter boats have left. Being the first one at the wall, when the charterers came in that afternoon and evening, they were tied four deep in front of us. We were the sidewalk extension for the party goers until 0500. During the day when I asked them to remove their shoes while crossing my boat, most were very embarrassed by needing to be asked and complied at once, until one woman insisted that hers were not a problem. When I pointed out to her captain that I was allowing them to cross as a courtesy and would not allow anyone to cross my boat if they did not remove their shoes, he informed her that she also would remover hers. Pam, one of my crew at the time, and I spent four hours using rubbing compound taking the shoe prints off the deck.

As we were backing into the wall, a very narrow spot, with Pam and Serena fending off at the stern, the boat was not responding to steering using the engines, we did bump one of the other boats, no damage. After we were safely tied up, I began trying to figure out why. We have broken a shift cable, this meant I had one engine in permanent reverse, and using the other between forward and reverse, very difficult to steer this way. Pam and I spent several hours fitting the spare, she was good crew.

Since the fall of the ancient powers of Athens, Sparta and Crete the unfortunate Greeks have been invaded by every foreign power within a thousand miles, and lost to each of them. From Alexander the Great, the Romans, the Turks, several times, the Egyptians, to the Italians and Germans. The Greeks have been occupied by all of them. In days of old when an island failed to provide support in a conflict the victor would come in, loot, rape, destroy, kill every man and boy, taking the women for other uses and wipe out an island. During the German occupation five million Greeks starved to death, because the Germans took all of the food for the war effort. The Greeks have really had a tough time of it and have not yet recovered. It is very poor. Fishermen and fishing villages are everywhere, however, there are no fish. While watching the fishermen come in with their catch it is apparent, from the size of the mesh in their nets, mostly finger size, they are fishing for bait, which is then sold at the fish market for food. Most of the fresh seafood sold by the restaurants is imported, frozen. Nearly all of the Greek sponges, sold at every tourist shop, come from Italy, north Africa or the Caribbean. Thousands of years of over fishing have taken their toll. I have not caught a fish in the Med, have seen very few while snorkeling and see few being brought in as the catch of the day. The one exception to this is octopus, you see them hanging from the rafters in most restaurants. The locals fish for them off the quay and when one is caught, they find a rock, sidewalk or quay wall to repeatedly slap the poor creature against the concrete; the sound can be heard for many minutes. No this is not to kill, but to tenderize, they are very tough. The way most people fish for them is to tie a chicken leg to a piece of monofilament. Then throw it into the water and slowly drag it back. When an octopus grabs the chicken leg, it will not let go, allowing itself to be dragged right out of the water.

The water maker became a problem this year. The pressure vessel started leaking at one of the end fittings. It still worked, however, I needed to keep a bucket under it whenever I was making water. So, order a new pressure vessel and have it brought with the next guest. That part is easy. After I installed it the product water tasted salty. I discovered that when the vessel failed it damaged the membrane. I replaced it three years ago and they should last longer than that. So, order a new membrane. After installation everything is working just fine, thank you. The near total lack of rain was a factor in needing the water maker. Many of the islands get their annual rainfall, just a few inches, in January. No wonder they have trouble raising a garden. Water is hauled by ship from the high islands that have it to all of the others. Water conservation is required.

A major problem while cruising the Greek Islands are the charter boats. The charter companies do not seem to have very high standards for the qualifications of their charterers. In all parts of the world one of the cheap entertainments, of cruising, is to watch the charter boats try to anchor, or here Med moor. Med mooring is when you drop an anchor, or occasionally pick up a mooring, then back into a wall, trying not to hit it, many do, usually concrete or stone, then attach stern lines to rings, staples, cleats or bollards on shore. This works pretty well, except when they do not lay enough rode, do not set their anchor causing them to drag with the first strong wind, cross another rode with theirs, a very common occurrence, or have a strong side wind while backing in. A few will let out their anchor nearly to the bottom and motor across the rodes of other boats picking up chains and rope as they go. I call it anchor fishing and they do have a good catch. With all of this going on every day, leaving the boat is disconcerting. Another all too frequent problem are the late arrivals. If there is not enough room on the wall to back in, they simply put the pointy end between two other boats and apply enough motor to force their way in. This is very hard on all of the boats, the sound of crunching fiberglass is not pleasant. I often heard the comment, what the hell, it’s a charter. I always tried to help others get tied up, I was seldom helped. Coming into some of those places alone was interesting. Normally I tried to anchor out the day before, then late morning to mid afternoon, when all of the party goers left, I would go in. The Germans were the worst. Once I came into a marina where several boats were already tied, with several feet between them, but not enough for me, all carried the German flag, when another German flag boat came in they quickly moved two of the boats to make room, I anchored in the harbor, to several derogatory comments. With eight feet of water in the harbor, they had a hundred fifty feet of chain out, none with anchors set, and at 0530 one wanted to leave, I was in the way.

You may think that solid waste management is a problem for a country that is solid rock. Not so, just take it out and dump it at sea. Leaving Aegina I found one of their dump sites, motoring along with no wind, again, I was inside checking the charts, when I heard a change in the engine speed. Upon looking around the boat it was clear what had happened, we were surrounded by trash and plastic bags as far as you could see, we had picked up a plastic bag on the propeller. I started the other engine to keep up boat speed and tried forward and reverse several times to dislodge the bag but nothing helped. So, shut down that engine and use the other, cats are great, two of everything. As we were anchoring for the night, reversing to set the anchor the bag came off, at least it saved me a swim.

Greece is made up of a mainland and 2,000 islands, 170 of which are inhabited. This causes a problem in transportation of people and supplies. The solution is to have a well run, economical, wide spread ferry system. There are at least four major ferry companies and the sale of ferry tickets must be very lucrative, every water front, every town is lined with ticket sellers. The ferries vary from small hydrofoils carrying forty people to large ships, the size of cruise ships carrying several hundred people, cars, trucks and supplies. Many islands have more than ten ferries per day. In mid June, with crew coming in from Norway, while I was cruising the Dodecanese group an unexpected wrinkle came up. This was the start of the tourist season. What better time for the ferry company employees to call a strike. Thousands of people were stranded on all of the islands, missing their rooms or return flights. So, with crew in Athens that could not get to the boat, the boat went to them. Crossing from Patmos, east to Paros, west in 42 knots of wind, from the north, I hoped to get to where we could connect. After a fast passage, I stopped at Mykonos, checked email to make arrangements for a place to meet on the mainland. When I arrived at Paros the strike ended and they were able to get to me.

With Greece joining the EU, the money is now the Euro. In years past Greece was known to be a reasonable place to retire, travel and vacation. With the Euro this has changed, many prices escalated when the money changed. It is still reasonable, by US or European standards, however, not the way it was. Insurance on your boat is MANDATORY, you will not be issued a Transit Log or port clearance to move, even to another island without it. I inquired whether I could assume all local boats were also insured and of course told, no. When you are on a boat, no visa is required. The Transit Log, cruising permit, will cost US$45., a tax, based on the value of the boat, for RPhurst US$70., Plus a few other expenses brings the total to enter the country to US$170. Non EU flag vessels are allowed to stay in Greece for six months or pay duty. The per night fees for docking a foreign flag vessel depend on the town and your flag. The range was US$3.5 to US$8.5 per night, discounts are offered for longer term. Locals and EU flag vessels pay 1/3 less, charter boats pay 2/3 less. Neither very often pay. I paid every time, filling my transit log and needing additional pages, which created quite a stir, they had never seen that before. Fuel has been between sixty five and eighty five cents per liter. Meat was reasonable, four to eight Euro per kilo, fruit and veggies were available at every port, the variety was sometimes and quality usually limited, late summer peaches are wonderful. While most do, some of the islands do not have email, it is pretty expensive, from four to ten Euro per hour. Cigs are half of US price, booze depends on the country of origin. Again, with the EU, products must move across borders without tax or restrictions, so products from other EU countries are reasonable, imported are not.

With so many antiquities still on the bottom of the sea, Greece severely restricts diving or spear fishing with bottles. You can snorkel all you want, just don’t use scuba gear. You can get two years of free room and board if caught. In years past, boats would spend the entire summer diving, collecting treasures to take home, permanently lost to the Greeks. There are limited dive schools that are permitted to take you diving, at one point I inquired into the cost, US$45. for a one tank dive, US$70. for a two tank dives. The water temperature will keep all but the most hardy of souls out of the water or require a wet suit. It is warm enough for a short swim or snorkel, however, long periods in the water, like cleaning the waterline need to be done in sections.

One real irritation I experienced is that on two separate occasions I have taken in film to be developed. In a shop where they may get ten to twenty rolls of film per day how can they loose one. But they did, twice!!! I now have very few pictures of the time I spent in Greece, many impossible to replace because they were of guests that may or may not return. I have been told by other cruisers that this is not rare. One film developer guy wanted to beat me up because we arrogant Americans think we know so much. So while in Greece, take your film in when they say they will develop it, and wait for the pictures, the sign touting thirty minute prints, means overnight. Don’t let the roll out of your sight, if they disagree, take it elsewhere.

After checking out of Greece on 7 November, 2002, and paying my final bill and getting a receipt issued in the amount of $0.88, I have moved to Turkey where I intend to spend the winter on the south coast. Next May I will again head west, then north into the Adriatic Sea for next summer. If you enjoy receiving these updates, let me know, if you do not wish to receive them let me know, you do not receive it and want to, let me know, yes you could get it from someone else... if you would like to join me for any part of the next year, let me know. Please let me know before you send pictures, always in compressed JPEG, my email inbox is limited and it is often overwhelmed.

Email to worldccruiser1997@yahoo.com. With the failure of my computer I have lost many old files. If you have my older letters, from 1998 on, across the South Pacific to New Zealand, New Zealand to Australia, please let me know, I will have someone send them to me.

Thanks for your time, Bruce Parnham, S/V RPhurst

2002 Thailand to Greece

Thailand to Greece, January 2002 to May 2002.

This is to inform and entertain my friends and family. 23 January to 7 May, 2002, Three months, two weeks, 5,440 miles, Thailand to Greece, as I saw it.

Early in the year of 2001, I had made plans to depart Thailand 1 January 2002 to go west across the north Indian Ocean, then north through the Red Sea and into the Med.. RPhurst had been hauled, repairs done, anti fouling applied, new spinnaker made, sails re-stitched, some improvements done and general upgrades. This was also the time for a new survey which is an inspection by a professional to determine the condition of the boat for insurance purposes. He could find nothing wrong.

With the events of 11 September I was advised by my insurance broker that coverage for the Red Sea will not be offered. So, at this time I began looking for alternatives for cruising. One possibility was to go around Singapore and into the Gulf of Thailand. Other cruisers have told me the cruising is good and the diving excellent. It was not until mid December when the broker advised coverage was again available. So, quickly make plans to head west, find crew, provision the boat and get ready to be underway.

While checking internet sites for crew I noticed an item on the bulletin board at the yacht club restaurant for a couple looking to crew, Alain and Maud. I contacted them and we talked. They were French but spoke pretty good English. He had done quite a bit of sailing, so his experience was good, she had done some, one Atlantic crossing, so she knew some of what was needed. She also cooked, which is good. They agreed to join me for the passage to Greece. I had previously agreed to take a woman, found on an internet crewing site. Jenny was a Brit, had spent time on cruising boats, knew how to cook and was pretty attractive. So, with a crew of four we set out on another great adventure. With this mix we now needed to fly the United Nations flag.

As this was a time of passage, no guests were invited. I could not predict with any certainty where I would be or when I would get there. Consequently no friends or women arrived, I did have some hope for Jenny, which will be explained later. Having four on board relieved the watch schedule to the point of being easy. Alain and I did a four hour, Maud and Jenny did three. Is that being a chauvinist or a gentleman, you decide. Alain overlapped the women by an hour each. So really they did two hours alone each and I four, each twelve hours.

I had visited with other cruisers and found a SSB, long range radio, sked, time and frequency. Where boats report in with their position and weather conditions. These are invaluable for passages. Knowing the weather ahead and behind you will give you some idea of what to expect as forecasts in the area are non existent. As it was the winds were light for the whole passage.

After only 290 miles we stopped, but did not go ashore, at the Nicobar Islands, going ashore is not allowed, they are part of India and unless you first go to India, about 400 miles each way, to check in you are not allowed to stop. We wanted some time to review the short passage, rest up for a couple of days and get into the water. The water clarity is excellent. Then on to the Maldives, 1,220 miles.

Shortly after leaving Thailand I noticed we were using more electrical power than we should, also noticed that things coming out of the deep freeze were not as hard frozen as they should be. While in the Maldives I checked the Freon level in the compressor, it was fine, I then changed the thermostat setting to higher and lower temperatures to verify the operation of the compressor. It was then I discovered the compressor would not always start right away. And after it started it would turn off, then on, then off, then on, not running for a long period of time. I could not determine if the compressor or the control had a problem. Being early into a four month passage we were heavily loaded with meats, from Thailand, I did not want this to happen now. Remember Mr. Murphy, expect the unexpected, at the most inopportune time. As the freezer in the refrigerator has excess cooling capacity, I began cycling meats out of the deep freezer, into the freezer of the fridge for 12 hours to re-freeze and then back into the deep freeze. In this way everything remained frozen or close to it and this went on for some time.

In the Maldives yachts are able to check in at only two islands. Once checked in your cruising is very limited. To avoid this problem we entered the central group just north of Male, a check in point and the Capital of the central island group. Then proceeded north to arrive at Ihavandiffulu Island, which is the capital of the north island group. In his way we were able to see more of the islands. When we were approached by their coast guard and told to go directly to Ihavandiffulu to check in, we did. Once checked in there we could no longer cruise.

The Maldives have been a world renowned dive destination for many years. Foreign operators lease an island, build a resort and take guests diving. They are very jealous and protective of the water around their island. The reality of diving there is that the coral is all DEAD. Bleached, colorless rocks with little algae and no coral polyps growing. The fish life is still pretty good, but not the reef. On our arrival at the first atoll we were followed into the entrance by three large black tip sharks, I think they hoped we would go swimming, which I did later.

After leaving Thailand 23 January and the Maldives 22 February, we arrived at Salalah, Oman, 3 March, safely. The passages from Thailand to the Maldives, 1,550 miles, and Maldives to Oman, 1,250 miles, were uneventful. The lack of wind has been more problematic than too much wind. The passages have been slow because of this and we carry and use a lot of extra fuel on account of expecting the light wind. The crew are working out well, we are safe and well fed. I appreciate the many messages of concern I picked up when I could have internet access in Salalah, but we are being careful.

The area between Oman and the south end of the Red Sea, south of Yemen and north of Samalia is a known area for piracy. I know people who went through there the previous year, were boarded and everything, food, clothing, tools and parts were taken. No one was harmed, at the time, yet Chrissie had a nervous breakdown before they completed the Red Sea. A real shame, they are wonderful people. The thieves were trying to take the engine out of the boat when they discovered they could not lift it. While in the Maldives I met up with some other boats, going the same way, and with the danger area ahead decided to join up with them for that portion as it makes sense to travel in convoy, stay at least 50 miles offshore, do not use VHF radio, do not use navigation lights at night and stay in sight of each other for safety. We stayed in contact by SSB radio. It has 10,000 frequencies and is more difficult to locate. The plan had been to stop at Aden, Yemen, however, the political situation there had deteriorated and we will give it a miss. Our next stop will be Djibouti, Africa, 720 miles, then on into the Red Sea planning to arrive the Suez Canal the end of April.

The lap top broke down again in the Maldives and I hoped to get it repaired in Oman, maybe? good luck.!!!!!! Along with the freezer and one engine heat exchanger. Many ports are nothing but a blur of repair shops and trying to find someone qualified. Time just slips by. I was able to
find an electrical technician to check the freezer compressor control box. After a few hours and replacing some components he declared it was working and ready to reinstall, at which time he gave me a bill for US$100. An amount I thought was quite reasonable. When I reinstalled it to the compressor, of course, it did not work. My first introduction to Arab honesty. It was here I found another cruiser with a working freezer in which some space was available, so we filled his, gave away what would not fit between the two of ours and we solved the problem, for now. Many boats do not have freezers and rely on canned meats and fish while on passage, so they did enjoy having some steaks, chops and roasts.


And speaking of fish. We were able to pick up the occasional Spanish Mackeral, very good, which we ate and a sailfish of about 5 feet in length. Without a freezer and it being far too large to eat at once, I returned it to the sea.

Oman is my first introduction to Arab Muslims. The traditional dress for both sexes is eye opening. Or should I say the dress for women is eye opening. All that is exposed are their eyes through a small slit in their all black outer wear. Most of the men wear some variation of a full length cloth. Some as simple as a sheet with a hole for the head, draped over the body, some intricate with folds and layers of different color, right up to the turban. All of the people are very friendly and have no problem with my being from America. Some well intended jokes about bin Laden, but no problems. These people are just trying to live their lives also. It is extreeeeemily dry here with camels and goats wandering around seemingly wild. They are on the road like deer at home. Little outside of the city is paved and the dust is everywhere.

The Navies of the world know this to be a problem area, so there are regular coast patrols by France, Germany, England and America, watching for piracy. We met some of the British fleet, a mini carrier group, in Oman. We told them our plans and they told us they were also going this general direction, being military they could not say where they were going but indicated that we may see them along the way. For the entire 720 mile passage to Djibouti they were never out of sight, we enjoyed flyovers by helicopters, some doing aerobatic maneuvers, observation aircraft and visits from a Frigate, sometimes splitting our little fleet down the middle. We discussed that if this display did not discourage nocturnal visitations, nothing would. We felt very safe. They stayed within a few miles of us the whole way with a promise to launch support with any distress call from us.

Again, the lack of wind was far more of a problem than too much: The highest was 22 knots, the lowest 0 for 3 days straight. We used a third of our fuel in the first 3 days, of an 8 day passage, then sailed the rest of the way. Being in convoy we all needed to match our speed with the slowest boat. So, we had a very slow passage.

We arrived safely at Djibouti, Africa,12 March. The danger area is now behind us. We will start into the Red Sea in the next few days. Djibouti is a French naval base and little more than a sea port. It is very French and therefore very expensive, very African which means dirty, dusty and littered. To do again I would not go 350 miles out of my way to see it. Aden, Yemen is a much better choice, for reprovisioning, if the world situation will allow it. Clearly, no one here would be able to do anything with the freezer.

With great planning, good luck and a little help from the British Navy we had nothing more serious than fishermen wanting water, cigs, food or to sell a fish. No problem. I always gave them water. We didn’t need fish anyway after the 4 foot dorado we caught, in my opinion the best eating fish in the sea. By now we did have some room in the fridge freezer. Some of the other boats did purchase fish from them, a good deal and something fresh to eat. I have been very fortunate with fishing all along this trip; usually have more than we can eat in the freezer, of course now I have no freezer.

I am told email access may be very limited in the lower Red Sea. Many of the Arab countries do not want their people to access the world, they are very poor and could not support an internet café. Sending email from Djibouti there was a real treat. Often when I sent to multiple addresses, some would receive all of it, some receive some of it and others none.

I could tell Jenny was not happy on passage. The second day out of Thailand she began pacing and that continued until our arrival. She also became very irritable, argumentative and insulting. While at Djibouti, she surprised me by announcing, in her own words, I will no longer stand a watch, will not cook a meal but I expected to be fed, will not do any of the clean up or any of the other work needed to be done AND I am going to make your life so miserable you will put me off the boat. Then I expect you to buy my ticket home. Well this is not part of the deal. When you come on as crew, you get a cheap ride; however, transportation is your own. It was a very tense few days, the end result is I put her off of the boat and I did not buy her ticket. We continued with three. I suggested a watch of Alain 4, Maud 3 and I 5 hours, with no overlap, Maud would have nothing to do with it. She insisted on 4 each, to which I agreed. She was good crew.

Eritrea, Africa, 420 miles from Djibouti, requires very little time. It is very poor, very smelly, very dirty and undeveloped. It is a reprovisioning stop only, which is very difficult when most of the food belongs in the dumpster, not on the table. I was told, Asmara, a town up in the mountains, from Massawa, is worth a visit. I did not go there. Ask for Mike on the pier, or he will find you, he is honest and helpful. Money exchange at the banks was 12 to one US$. On the street 18 to one. People were very friendly and some, but few, spoke English. One very large woman at the market spoke English very well and I was able to talk to her, get a sense of the area and people, she wanted to go with us.

The border between Sudan and Egypt is under constant dispute. We sought shelter in a large, well protected bay called a marsa, along the coast of Sudan. The Egyptian Navy has a small ship anchored in the bay and they claim jurisdiction, even though this is Sudan. They have moved all of the people out of the village who now are refugees. The Naval crew were very friendly. It was a good thing, as we were required to tie along side the ship with 2 other sailboats, we were not allowed to leave the boat, go ashore or even swim. We did have a good time. Almost like being in a marina. Just walk across the ship and onto another sailboat. And they sold us some fuel which we desperately needed.

The diving around the offshore islands and reefs of Sudan is as good as I have seen anywhere in the world. And little wonder the coral is in such great shape, there are no divers touching everything in sight. The fish population was better than most dive sites, anywhere. Finding a fish to spear was a matter of choosing which one. Anchoring is another issue. With very small islands, fringed by reef, often with less than 10 feet of water over the reef, outside of which is a wall falling 200 feet to the sea floor, finding a place to put the hook is difficult. One time, in very settled weather, we put the bow of RPhurst over the reef, put down the anchor, backed away and let down a second anchor, after which I swam in to find a hole for the anchor on the reef, doing as little damage as I could.. Any change in wind direction and this could have been a disaster. I do not recommend it.

It was in this area we discovered we were getting farther north. With the strong North wind blowing down from the mountains in lower Europe the temperatures have dropped. The stronger the wind the colder it becomes. I had always understood that the desert will be very hot during the day, it is, and cool at night, but this is ridiculous. I have not had a blanket on the bed for years, I now have two.

Shab Rumi, the circular reef where Jack Coustou had his underwater habitats built so he could live underwater for weeks at a time, provided shelter for 6 days waiting out a big blow. This was a good place to sit as the diving was great. The reefs have provided many of our meals from the end of my spear. We have also caught some fish while sailing. The food problem is the fresh stuff we like, veggies and fruit. Towns are very primitive and poor, with small open markets selling produce that is ready for the dumpster, not the table. Still we are getting by and look forward to getting into the northern end of the Red Sea where cities are located and supermarkets are not just a garage with a few canned goods.

We arrived Safaga, Egypt, 9 April, 790 miles from Eritrea. This is most of the way up the Red Sea. We still have the Gulf of Suez and then the canal. The Red Sea has lived up to its reputation. 85 percent wind from the Northwest, very strong and lasting for up to a week. This means that when the wind is calm for a few hours, usually at night, it counts toward the 15 percent. Look at a map, the Red Sea lays southeast to northwest. The wind is always on the nose. The wind strength has certainly provided us with some sailing. It also has caused us to seek and stay in shelter for days at a time. Sailing into 30 to 45 knot wind is no fun. Especially when it comes as wind over current, as happens for 12 hours at a time. The sea really does get steep. We had opportunities of a day to several days of acceptable to good weather for making distance.

We took advantage of one light wind situation to move a couple hundred miles up the coast, only to be caught out in the open at 0045 by a cold front, The wind went from SW 15 knots to NW 25 knots in 25 minutes, then increasing to 45 knots and a building sea. Of course, the wind direction was from exactly where we were trying to go. It took us 13 hours to cover 27 miles to Safaga and shelter. It was a rough ride going to weather, with RPhurst falling ten feet or more off steep waves and crashing down into the trough. As we are usually faster we called other boats behind us to advise the weather and many of them were able to get to shelter before the wind hit them.

We have found the people very friendly. For all of you worried about an American traveling through this area, don't. People, when told I am American, are very receptive, offering a hand shake, smile and the thought America is good. Our land travel has been limited as we choose to spend our time moving when the weather is good. That means don't go too far from the boat when the wind could change. This arid Arab area is just like we see in the movies. Rugged mountains that have not had enough moisture to erode them, however, the wind blows all of the time. Why doesn't that knock them down? Blowing sand is always all over the boat, which means constant cleaning. The towns and villages are all cement, block, brick or coral covered with stucco then painted. Many of the buildings appear to have been built years ago or are still in the process and most need a coat of paint. Seeing brick put up without level lines and rough mortar tells me to not buy anything here. Just cover it over with stucco and wait for the paint. Most of the work is done by hand, or donkey.

The diving along the coast of the Red Sea is living up to its reputation. The south end is murky water and little coral. The mid area the water turned quickly to clear and the fish and coral have been great. On one dive the fish were more plentiful than I have seen anywhere previously. I was impressed.

Officialdom in Arab land is as difficult as anywhere I have been. Many places require you to use an agent, even to buy fuel, who charge huge fees, up to US$ 200. for their service. You must check into and out of each port or town. Another reason to not go into any more towns than is necessary to provision or land travel.

Most of the people appear to be very well fed. Seeing the women in their traditional black from head to foot is something to see. There is nothing to see. Even down to black gloves, socks and shoes. The only human part that shows are the eyes, through a slit in the cloth. Hawkers are very aggressive, you hear 'come sit my friend I want to talk', it is only a come on to sell you something you do not want. I guess they need to make a living. I have discovered you must take every word with a grain of salt. Ask directions and you end up in their cousins store waiting for the hospitality cup of tea while they show you their wares. There are no set prices on anything. Something offered for 200 Egyptian pound can be bought for 5 or 10.

The crew went to Luxor from Safaga for 3 days. When they returned I was to do the same trip. Luxor is only a 4 hour bus ride from Safaga, using the local bus. The tourist buses go all at one time, 0530 departure having police vehicles in front of and behind the convoy. It really seems this is to provide reassurance for the tourists as nothing has happened for some years now. The other option is to take the local bus. No guards, just get on and go.

As it turned out I did not get to go from here. The day before the crew were to return I received an update to the weather, which claimed wind going to the east then south. We had a choice, go now to Port Suez from where I could still do the trip to Luxor, or stay here for the days I would be gone, risking the possibility of the same strong north westerlies after the delay. When they returned I began the process of checking out of Safaga to Suez. You must clear into and out of each Egyptian Port. We could still stay in Safaga if the wind did not clock to an advantageous angle. The night I checked out the wind died, this will generally indicate a change in direction. And change it did, yes to the east although very light. We departed at 1300 hoping the change would continue to the south. Even if it didn't an easterly wind in the Red Sea gives us a pretty good angle. The next day the wind freshened and we could put up the spinnaker. The first time in the Red Sea. By late evening the wind had gone to the south and strengthened to 20 knots and by midnight to 30, good thing we took down the spinnaker before dark. These are very good conditions for us. The problem now was we would reach Suez before daybreak. This caused us to do some gybes under shortened headsail only to slow us down. We were approaching the outer canal markers at daybreak. We either needed to get to the yacht club, the only allowed place for us to be, before the northbound ships began at 0615 or wait until they were all through about 1100, yes, we arrived in time, with a ship right behind us.

I did my land tour to Cairo and Luxor from Port Suez. My bus ride through the desert provided a view of a desolate, barren, dry, dusty and hostile environment. I do not know how people have lived here for thousands of years. Obviously they have figured it out, they are here. Close to the Nile it is different, green, lush, stuff growing everywhere. Farmers are allowed to own 10 acres of land and most of the work of planting and harvesting is done by hand. You still see a team of oxen pulling a wooden plow handled by a man, just as it was done hundreds of years ago. Sugar cane is the largest crop with wheat a close second. The sugar cane may not be planted withing 300 yards of any roadway, no, not to avoid collecting snow, it provides cover for the terrorists who attack tourist buses and cars.

Of course, in this arid land water is essential for the growing of crops. In centuries past the Nile would overflow its banks, inundating the low lying land with a fertile layer of mud and moisture, from which most things will grow something like the Red and Mississippi back when. After the construction of the Aswan dam, which provides electrical power for all of Egypt, the annual flood has been controlled causing the need for irrigation and fertilizer to be added. Canals have been dug, large ones leading from the Nile using large pumps, medium ones branching off these using medium pumps and lastly small ones from which the farmer pumps or hand lifts the water into the fields. Seeing men working on a cantilevered pole drawing water up in a bucket to water his 10 acre garden makes you wonder if we have a better idea than Ma did in the first place, O'well, progress. Another problem brought on by the canals. With the standing water becoming stagnant parasitic worms have emerged. When people enter the water, the worm enters the people by burrowing through the skin on the feet, working its way to your liver, where in 4 years it will kill you, therefore, warnings are put out not to swim in the canals. Can you imagine telling children to stay out of the water, when the temperature is 130 degrees in August!!!!!!!

The reason so many of the homes and buildings are not finished is because the government assesses a 40 percent tax once the building is finished. So leave off the roof, don't finish the walls and certainly forget the landscaping. They do not need a roof because it never, really never rains. I was told that last January a few drops did fall, no reason to put on a roof.

The mating rituals are far different from home. Here, only the male does the pursuing and an out of wedlock pregnancy is legitimate cause for killing the suitor. Men appear to need to purchase his wife from her family, The price is based on the cost of a camel. A good young camel will cost about 4000 pound, a wife the cost of 4-5 camels. I know a few guys that would have thought this cheap after their divorce. By the way there are 4.6 pound to the dollar. So, fagism seems to be pretty well accepted. Men that can not afford a wife get by another way. One young man told me sex with men is for fun, sex with women is for children. I do not agree, but I do not live here. When you see many men sitting around coffee shops and cafes they are not escaping the family, just can not afford one. You see many May September couples, obviously the more mature man has more money, success and is better able to care for a wife or wives, yes, they can have as many wives as they can afford. The only rule is they must be treated equally.

Begging or backsheesh in Egypt, demanding something as a gift from you is pretty wide open. Young men and girls think nothing of asking for money, failing that, how about your watch, some cigarettes, your hat, etc. Many will not take no for an answer and will follow you for a block reducing their demands. Anything will do, just so they get something.

10 years ago Egypt had its trouble with terrorism. Muslim fundamentalists felt tourists were bringing in unwanted influence from the outside world and tried to discourage tourism by fire bombing buses, shooting at tourist cars and buses and in 1997 killing 58 tourist at the Temple of Hatshepsut. Consequently tourism has fallen from the number 2 income source to number 5. The Canal is number 1, has been since it was built. Many of the people who make their living from tourism can not understand why the tourist does not come like they did years ago. I have tried to explain to some of them that tourists do not like being shot at and will not go where this is a possibility. Now you find heavily armed guards at every location where tourists go, where money is handled such as banks and jewelry stores, restaurants, hotels, government installations, schools, maybe we should try this one, and on the street. The only place you never see a guard is by a Mosque, makes you wonder, doesn't it.

The best part of traveling around has been taking in the hysterical sites. While the pyramids are impressive, somehow I imagined them to be larger. Don't get me wrong they are huge and an engineering marvel, just smaller than I perceived them to be. The pyramids are nothing more than a very large headstone, containing one burial chamber. The beauty of the era was preserved in the tombs of the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens on the west side of the river at Luxor. The tomb of Nefrititi is the best. At a whopping 100 pounds entry many people do not see it, it is worth every cent of this US$ 20. The Temples of Luxor and Karnak are equally impressive and should be on your list. I also took in the Egyptian Museum while in Cairo, just a lot of old rocks with manmade chips out of them called hieroglyphics. The place is large and certainly worth the trouble.

Many of you are familiar with the young King Tutamenkamen, King Tut. His is the only grave that had not been robbed, before it was found in1922. Of course, it has been robbed now. All of its treasures are in the Cairo Museum. If these treasures are any indication of what the early archeologists, a term used for old time grave robbers, found, no wonder they tried to uncover all the tombs they could.

Mini bus taxis cost from 50 piastas to 1 pound, about a quarter, the bus from Safaga to Luxor was 13 pound, the bus from Suez to Luxor was 35 pound, the train from Luxor to Cairo was 62 pound, the bus from Cairo to Suez was 7 pound. Remember, 4.6 pound to the dollar.

Hurrah, we made it through the Red Sea and have arrived at Port Suez, 230 miles from Safaga, on 27 April, after 5 weeks and 1,500 miles in the Red Sea. The only thing left now is the Suez Canal, which is just two, one day motor trips.

In dealing with an agent in Port Suez, for transit of the canal the exchange went like this, from me to him. When will the measurer come to measure the boat, he did it yesterday, so tomorrow we will have a pilot and go, yes, next morning no pilot, call the agent, where is my pilot, can’t have pilot until the boat is measured, you told me they measured the day before yesterday, someone else’s boat, when will he measure my boat, today, he came boat measured, call the agent, when will be have a pilot and go, tomorrow morning, next morning no pilot, call the agent, where is my pilot, no pilots available today, when will I have one, tomorrow. I asked other agents and pilots if this was true and was told the pilots are sitting outside of the pilot office like crows on a wire, just hoping to get a job. Next morning, pilot, and made the first half of the transit.

With a stop in Ismailia, from where the crew did their Cairo trip. I searched for and found an old guy that does compressor repair. I looked over his shop, he had many compressors, in various stages of assembly, in boxes, cans, piled upon each other. Perhaps he could repair my wayward compressor. I brought it to his shop on a Saturday, he assured me it would be working by Tuesday. On Tuesday he told me he had sent it to Cairo. By Thursday he had it back, in a pile of parts. More Arab honesty at work.

I had a pretty bad experience in Port Suez. All of the boats awaiting transit are tied, bow and stern, to moorings. One morning during strong wind, about 25-30 knots an 80 foot, stinkpot, power yacht, with an Egyptian delivery captain on board, came into the mooring field, from the windward end, to attempt securing to a mooring. As we were the boat most to windward in a line, they came around us first. Of course, they lost control of the boat as they rounded the wind and tried to go downwind between rows of moored sailboats. We were the first one they hit. A 40 ton cruiser coming down sideways into my eggshell does not please me. We were slightly holed, well above the waterline and the sound of crushing fiberglass is not pleasant and tells me there will be more damage found later. After they were secured, no not in the moorings, they had no business being in there, the captain came to my boat to see the damage. While he was very pleasant and admitted what he had done when I asked for money to repair the damage he merely told me he had no money. He was willing to have a local come out and repair the damage. Can you see the repair that would be done by a local in high wind with water constantly splashing up onto the damaged area. He would smear some bondo on the damage and paint with a spray can, NO thank you. When I threatened to contact the police I was told the boat was owned by a high ranking general in the Egyptian Army and if I reported it the process would take several days and I would need to watch my boat, for other boats would run into me. The final resolution was he did pay, however, a much smaller amount than the cost of repair. The agents, mine included were brought into the process as we as boaters can do nothing without the agent. They advised take whatever you can get, because the stinkpot was going to leave soon and would never be heard from again. This is not America.

At times the Red Sea lived up to its reputation, rough, but by being patient and waiting out the strong NW winds we were able to get through without getting too badly beaten up. In some ways I regret the speed with which we made it through the area. I would have liked to do much more diving, however, when the wind is right we must go. The alternative is to face the beating into strong wind and large sea state. Some of the best diving here is in the northern part and I have done none of it. The dives I did in the middle part were great, the ones in the southern part disappointing.

I am still amazed that people can live here. This is the edge of the Great Sahara Desert and is very inhospitable, with blowing sand and dust obscuring the sun. The Nile valley is the garden.

For the cruisers among you coming behind me. Stay in touch with the boats ahead of you. The weather definitely moves down the Red Sea and advanced warning is very helpful to find shelter. As the weather patterns in the Red Sea are consistently strong, 20-30 up to 45 knots, NW wind you will need to make a choice. Either beat to weather, usually with steep seas caused by the wind over current, for most of the Red Sea or take shelter for the periods of high winds, usually up to 6 days, then sail, motor sail or motor when you get 2-3 days of lower NW or better yet southerly quadrant wind, usually light, but sometimes up to 30 knots. Fuel will be an issue for the passage, with over 1,000 miles, from Aden or Djibouti to Safaga Egypt, the first chance to clear into the country. Fuel can be found in Massawa, Eritrea and many marsas, particularly Alam, Luli, Haabib, Quessier along the coast of Sudan and Egypt without clearing into the country. Don't forget the dive boats and local fishermen who will take your cans to shore and bring them back full. They appear honest and usually return to the same reef day after day. Fuel cost has varied greatly, from US$.12 to .50 per liter. Massawa is a great stop, go to Asmara. Port Sudan is very expensive to enter, US$ 130. On arrival to Suez, use the agent Felix, prices between agents seem to be fixed, so they offer better service. Do not believe anything an Arab tells you, get it in writing. Spend as little time as possible in Port Suez, insist your agent give international clearance for your boat from the country, NOT your passports, you can clear them at Ismailia, otherwise you can not go ashore at Ismailia and it is worth a stop of several days, a real treat compared to Port Suez or Port Said, including your land trip to Cairo. Abu Teg, the new marina at Hurgada is well worth the stay. I did not go there as I stopped at Safaga, where you can clear in yourself, about 2 hours, 4 hours to clear out. Hurgada is very expensive, US$ 130. to clear into. Even if you cleared into the country at Safaga, you must again clear into Hurgada, using an agent.

Yes, I have made the Greek Islands. It has been a long way from Thailand. Over 5,440 miles, the way the crow flies, in 4 months. The transit of the Suez Canal was no problem. Working with the Egyptian agents was. If you are ever in Egypt just remember one thing. Do not believe anything, anything an Arab tells you. To do over again we would have stayed at Port Suez only to arrange transit, the halfway stopping point in the canal, Ismailia, is much nicer, less money, a better town and travel can be arranged to anywhere.

For those following, watch your navigation in the reef strewn Red Sea. I have heard of 5 boats having been lost to the reefs this passage year. I would not want to hear of any of you having done so. Along with engine failures, fuel shortages and torn sails the carnage takes its toll.

The crossing from Egypt to Greece was without difficulty. Other than the last 4 miles, the highest wind we had was 18 knots, which is nothing for RPhurst and a seasoned crew. The last 4 miles we were faced with 25 knots on the nose. Seems Ma did not want us to get here at all. The wind direction, W and a contrary current, up to a knot were the greatest challenges. The 372 mile, as the crow flies, crossing took 3 ½ days, about 12 hours longer than I had thought which required an after dark arrival. Arriving into an unknown port after dark is something I seldom do. The exception to this is when it is a well lit commercial harbor, as this is. We had no problem entering, finding a place to tie up was. We ended up tying between a large ferry and a pier. I knew we would need to move to the marina in the morning so didn't see this as a problem. .

I found a refrigeration repair place, had the guy check out my control box for the freezer, he stated it is working fine, so it must be the compressor. We ordered a compressor, installed and nothing, it didn’t work, OH, must be the control box, we ordered a control box and everything is working fine. US$600. later. Nice to be in civilization where enough money will fix almost anything. He felt so guilty he reassembled my old compressor, now I have a spare.

The next leg is to the Greek Islands where I will spend the summer months, then moving on to the south coast of Turkey for the winter, or Cyprus if it gets too cold. The following year I will head west then north into the Adriatic Sea or possibly through the Med, down to the Canaries and cross the Atlantic to the Caribbean, planning to take in Carnival at Trinidad.

If you enjoy these and wish to continue to receive them, let me know, if you do not want to receive them any longer, let me know, if you want to join me at any time in the next year, let me know.
Your friend,
Bruce Parnham S/V RPhurst

2000 Australia to Thailand

I wish to take this opportunity to wish all of you a wonderful 2000 holiday season and hope for the best in 2001. Well here comes another installment of the rambling travels of your friends on RPhurst. This years cruising covered about 4,200 miles, with a second crossing of the equator and passing the halfway point in my circumnavigation.

Australia From a sailing perspective my time in Australia was 6 months of sitting in a marina while time was spent on land touring and boat projects. With no major repairs to be done many of the projects consisted of dress up and maintenance work. A new hard top bimini was made and installed, engines serviced, soft awnings repaired and modified to match the new hard top. This has been a worthwhile addition as the old soft top was deteriorating and beginning to leak, believe me it is cold and no fun sitting under an awning designed to keep you dry only to find so many leaks it is difficult to find a dry spot. I also incorporated a rain water catchment system into the new top. I can now catch more water than I need, this reduces reliance on the water maker, when it rains. Sailing timing in Australia is critical. The cyclone season, December through April in the north, does not allow departure from our southerly safe harbor before April. You also must be clear of the cyclone area before the season starts again in late November. The distances to travel are immense, Brisbane to Cape York 1173 miles, Cape York to Darwin 734 miles for a total of 1907 miles between April and August. Besides there is the Great Barrier Reef to consider with great expectation of excellent diving. Most of the cities up the coast were visited by car when we were land cruising. No longer having a car did limit our movement while visiting these towns and cities.

The other cruising difficulty is caused by much of the Barrier Reef is not sufficiently charted. The dive operators and fishing boats know their way around. The dive boats will not assist you in finding their dive sites, so I talked with many of the local fishing boats for their favorite anchorages out on the reef. This information was invaluable as they know where to hole up in what weather, how to get into the snug holes in the reef. Much of the water around the reef is deep, 100 feet, with the reef often raising above water at low tide. Many of the reefs can be seen with good light, so if we were to move only between 1000 and 1400, on clear days, we would be safe, however, with the distances to travel and wanting some time to stop on the reef we needed to use more hours than this would allow. The other alternative would be to stay within the recognized shipping channels, which are very well charted. However, this would not allow seeing the sights along the way and isn’t that the reason for doing the trip.

The most incredible sight on the reef was a place called Line Reef, well named for its effect on the tide flow. At high tide it is merely a shallow reef. At low tide the water is contained by its several mile length. With few holes through which the water may flow it creates water falls and flowing rivers, miles out at sea you notice a white water river as swift as most rafting rivers. We anchored close enough for a clear view of it. This is the area where we found the clearest water, however very cold air temps for diving, wetsuit temps. As this is early spring we found the air, high 60s, and water temps, low 70s, along the reef to be very cold along this coast. The outside of the reef benefits from a warm current from the north which promotes coral growth, however, that is not an area for short hopping up the coast. Some of the cruisers stayed to the outside of the reef making good time but few stops. They reported warm air and water temps.

The Whitsunday Islands are one of the most popular cruising areas along this coast. With several islands within easy day sails, many hotels, some world class, boat charters, and tourist services it attracts sailors, backpackers and tourists from all over Australia and to a lesser extent other parts of the world. Most of the cruisers traveling along the coast plan to spend some time in the Whitsunday group.

This section of coast is not very friendly to a boat with an animal. Many of the towns have a marina with a break wall but no anchorage. With the beast we are not permitted to tie up to a dock so this presents a problem. We found some rivers or bays in which we could anchor using the dingy to get back and forth. Macay, a Port of Entry, has no facility for anchoring so after much discussion with quarantine we tied up to a work barge anchored in the harbor, paying the same price as we would have tied to the dock. Our time at Townsville was spent anchored within the protection of the break wall. The government built, but privately managed marina has security guards that watch over the dinghies coming to shore from the pond. The guards are instructed to assure none of these cheapskates tie up to the dock, deposit their trash into bins or use any of the marina facilities. When we explained to them it is their government that does not allow us into the marina, it falls on unsympathetic ears. So we have to beach the dingy, in an area that regulation excludes the use of power boats and is affected by large tidal ranges and swell, very difficulty.
Townsville provided my first opportunity to tour a US war ship. Two cruisers were in the harbor with one offering public tours. The incongruity of traveling half way around the world to be allowed access to one of our ships on which I have purchased at least one bolt was not lost on any of us. The tour was interesting and the sailors were amazed and amused that we had traveled from the US by sailboat. While we have often encountered US Navy presence this was the first time a tour was offered.
Sailing north along the Queensland coast is quite enjoyable. With periods of wind changing in patterns from a few days of none to a few days of mild to a few days of boisterous. I was reminded of sailing at home. It seemed the only time the wind would remain in the 25 to 30 knot range was when we were to spend time at the reef anchorages. These winds make great sailing, but can make for an uncomfortable anchorage when in an area that precludes any after dark movement. The need to find sheltered anchorages was even more important. We always did and never dragged or needed to move, thank goodness. The radio weather forecasts were for different regions of the coast line and were pretty accurate. Once I discovered the areas for reporting I only needed to listen for the report for my area. The weather faxes for the coast were next to worthless as they included an area of several hundred thousand square miles and lack sufficient detail except to anticipate major changes.

On a very sad note. On our June arrival at Townsville Jean informed me she was returning home to a more normal life. She had become less happy with our lifestyle and missed her friends, relatives and job. We remain friends and in contact. I will and do miss her. I have accepted and support her decision, I hope you will also. This required me to begin picking up crew along the way as it is unsafe to make passages alone. The need for rest does not allow an adequate watch to be kept. With friends from MN joining me in Townsville and leaving from Cairns I began my search for crew in Cairns. This has been a new experience, some good some not so good. There are many flakes out there that would not make good crew. I have been very fortunate in finding individuals who made good crew.
At Cairns I found 3, Erin an Israeli, Kim a Dutch and Rob a Brit all wishing to learn to sail. With a need to make many day sails, inside the reef, they had an opportunity to learn in short lessons. Erin was a great student and wanted to stay all the way to Thailand. That was a plus as he would then have some experience prior to departing Darwin forthe open sea. However, politics entered and he discovered Indonesia does not allow Israelis into the country. Kim was one of the few natural helms I have met, she demonstrated her ability from the first time at the wheel. RPhurst is not an easy boat to hand steer, she oversteers easily. All participated in sailtrim, cooking, steering and learning about cruising. It was a good experience for me to again teach raw beginners the operation of a boat. They all left the boat at Darwin after three weeks.

At Darwin I found 2, Teal an Aussie and Phil a Brit, both wishing to make the whole trip to Thailand. Teal’s uncle sails a catamaran around Darwin. He learned quickly, was conscientious, a pleasure to be around and stayed with me to Thailand. His knowledge should have eased the learning curve somewhat, as we will leave Darwin, mid August, directlyinto the open sea, allowing no time to learn. However, as with many local cruisers, they motor to an anchorage, fishing spot or party beach, party then motor home again. Many do not even know about the big white things that are used only for shade. Both of the Brits I have taken on board, while being pleasant enough, seem to lack the desire to learn. During my travels I have made friends with many excellent British sailors, so this is not a national trait. Picking up crew will now be another responsibility before each new segment of my travels, repair the boat, get provisions, find crew, plan the passage and on and on. Such is the relaxed cruising lifestyle.
Fishing along the Queensland coast was disappointing. I expected we would fill the freezer with fish to be used while on the ocean crossing segments, as it turned out we always had fish in the freezer, but in smaller quantities than expected. Spanish Mackeral in the 10 to 30 pound range gave us some excitement and a good food source. We had severalsightings of pods of dolphins, many swimming with us to the delight of the new crew, and breaching Humpback whales are a tremendous sight of which I never tire.

Indonesia
The passage from Australia to Indonesia was a non event, 462 miles should take about 4 to 5 days. We motored for 6 days straight, interrupted by short periods of sailing, put up the sails, no not enough wind from the right direction, take them down and motor some more. We not only had light wind from the wrong direction, on the nose, we also had an adverse current of up to 1.5 knots. This affected our speed over ground and distance made good considerably, for every mile motored we only made .75 mile to our destination, very slow. While I knew we would be faced with light wind and much motoring as we moved closer to the equator I did not expect it to begin so soon. Fuel would become a critical issue during most of our passages from now on. 
Our 22 August arrival at the island of Roti, Indonesia was marked by a last 4 hour burst of speed, both motors running with the spinnaker up in light air. If we could cover enough miles we could arrive at the island before dark. If not we would need to lay off until daybreak. We did make the anchorage in daylight, but not as far into the bay as we would like, you see we ran out of fuel after crossing the reef. We again put up sails and moved as close as we could then had to drop anchor where we were. A good thing fuel was available there. All of our friends were also short of fuel on arrival. Roti was only interesting as a first landfall. We did do a bus trip to the largest town on the island, barely larger than a village, for provisions and banking. The roads were a real eye opener. 2.5 hours to travel 30 miles dodging around potholes, washouts and construction zones. This was also our introduction to the filth and liter of third world countries, welcome to Indonesia. One of the worst things provided by the civilized world to these people is plastic in the form of bags, bottles, containers and wrapping as all are discarded in vast quantities. It never goes away. The redeeming quality of the area is the people. They, who by our standards, have so little are outgoing, shy, friendly and curious, with no agenda other than to meet you or practice their English or get by with a little sign language and much laughter. They really are a pleasure to meet.
From Roti we moved to the Island of Flores. Here we found larger towns with more facilities, banking, restaurants, Moslem Mosque and land touring. This is the home of Kerimotu, three volcanic crater lakes, side by side by side, well up a mountain, but with much different composition. The water in each is a different color. The Black and Green one are deep and cold. The Turquoise is deep and steaming hot. They reportedly have changed their colors over the years. We had a very enjoyable bus trip to see them, leaving at 2:30 am, to arrive at sunrise. This was our first experience with terraced rice paddies, land reclaimed from the hill sides by digging out the side of the hill and leveling out a space, then digging out the next level. This evidences the lack of usable land for the farmers in Indonesia which can not feed itself. Indonesia is the fourth most populace country in the world, spread over 13,000 islands, and boasts 270 million inhabitants.

It was en route, at 1455 on 13 September 2000, I passed a major milepost, at position S 08 50.5 and E 119 00 the halfway point in my circumnavigation was passed, while I couldn’t pass the exact point in Latitude, it is 300 miles south of here, as I crossed 119 degrees East this represented the opposite Longitude from my starting point. We began this trip from Florida, however, we then traveled east to Grenada. The most eastern point of that portion was St Lucia, position 14 04 N and 61 00, that now represents the point I must cross to complete the circumnavigation of the Earth. I am now heading home.

Next we traveled to visit the islands of Rinka and Komoto, the home of the dragon like lizards growing to over 10 feet long. Supposedly these dragons are found nowhere else in the world outside of zoos. We had the opportunity to see them in the wild, up close and very personal, not fed by park rangers or cared for in any way. They are cute, ugly, lazy, slow, fast and very poisonous. One bite and its prey dies a slow death from infection. The dragon then follows its prey, for days, to feed on what does not have enough strength to escape. We were able to feed them fish and get them to chase a stick worked in the grass to simulate a small animal digging. With patience you could get them within three feet, stopping only when they could smell you with their tongue, standing to determine the danger. They have no natural predators and must not taste very good either or the locals would have eaten them long ago. The burrows they dig to escape nighttime loss of heat create piles of sand large enough to easily conceal a man. Surrounded by the bones of previous prey their locations are obvious. ´ We next moved on to the island paradise of Bali, arriving 15 September. After several weeks of no wind we elected to make our passage to Bali by the southern route hoping to find some wind to sail. It was a good decision as we were able to make a slow two day downwind spinnaker run while most that had taken the northern passage motored the whole way.The problem with this plan is when you enter the Lombac Strait, with a southerly setting current of up to 8 knots requires precise navigation for the arrival at Bali. The other problem with this strait is a swell coming from the southern ocean meeting the south setting current creating steep waves and overfalls. As we entered the strait we had 10 knots of wind and 45 knots of sea state. This is the second time in four years RPhurst has taken a wave into the cockpit, again with the cockpit hatches open to the aft cabins. At sunrise, in 3 meter breaking waves, we needed to get the spinnaker down, hoist the main and work our way into the lee of an island in the middle of the strait. Our plan had been to use this island to block the current, allowing us to cross the area of current without being swept south. This worked and when we departed the protection of this island we could make the entrance to Bali International Marina by using a heading 80 degrees north of our track.

This may be confusing to some, what we were doing was to aim the boat north, using the current to carry us west as we moved south in the current, we could see our destination by looking off the port side of the boat. We arrived ahead of other boats, that had entered the strait hours ahead of us, that had tried to cross directly and were swept south with the current, then they needed to motor into a reduced current along the shoreline. One boat had only held position for 4 hours waiting for the change of tide, which does not reverse the flow, only reduce it slightly. Our small motors do not allow us to even attempt to motor into such conditions.

Many people believe that Bali is a country, in reality it is part of Indonesia. With a mainly Hindu population this island is the only stable area within Indonesia, for that reason it is a tourist Mecca. It’s economy is based heavily on tourism, and successful they are. Any whim, desire, article to wear, meal, activity or souvenir is possible in Bali, at prices which are hard to believe. Bali also offers a grim reminder to all travelers to be very cautious of what and where you eat. With several cruisers suffering from Bali Belly, some for weeks after, at least one contracted typhoid. In all undeveloped countries be careful of what you eat and drink. Bali is one of few places where the surf breaks over sand, as opposed to coral or rock, this brings surfers from everywhere to enjoy the waves. Some of the nightclubs are open until sunrise with constant music and the flow of refreshments is strong and cheap. The street hawkers, selling everything from carvings to tee shirts, transport, tours, braid your hair, tattoos, drugs and anything else can be overwhelming at times and you soon become callused to them. Time will tell how this bastion of commerce will be able to withstand the pressures of the Moslem majority of the surrounding islands. As it is it must be seen to be believed.

There are no anchorages on the southern end of the island so our time was spent in a marina, the only one. It is expensive and dirty with poor service, dirty fuel and undrinkable water. We then moved to Lavina Beach on the north side of Bali. A very different world, almost. With a much slower pace we still enjoyed great meals, ignored the hawkers while relaxing in a wonderful anchorage. We also encountered young Muslims that stated Bali bars are for Balenez.
Our next stop was 382 miles to the northwest. Kalimantan, the Indonesian side of Borneo, is home to some of the last of the wild Orangutans. The temperature, for our 13 October arrival was 43 degrees Celsius, about 109, with equal humidity, on the river. In the jungle, out of any cooling breeze it was indeed stifling. We could only find enough energy to drop the anchor, sit down, put up the awnings, sit down, get a drink, sit down, with sweat running in streams down your body while just sitting still. The Orangutans, estimated to be only 5,000 left in the wild, were a must see on the trip. And what a trip it was. This must be nearly the highlight of my entire trip. Many of the cruisers have taken a three day trip up the river on a slow boat. These are long narrow boats with small engines moving at 5 knots. For a fee of about US $25. You are guided, fed and watched over. Sleeping facilities are open tops, with a roof and mosquito nets. From the boat you are taken into the jungle to sanctuaries where captured Orangutans are reintroduced into the wild in 3 stages which are miles apart. Here they are fed, watched over and encouraged to mix with the wild Orangutans. The 1st stage is where the infants are brought, hand raised until they are able to move onto stage 2, where adolescents and mothers with babies are kept. Then they are moved to stage 3 where the adults are cared for. This process takes years. Cared for is possibly not the correct term. The animals are not caged or housed, food is provided, however they are not compelled or expected to return daily. Over time many simply disappear into the jungle, joining wild animals that become much the same family. When the daily food is brought, the guides and Park Rangers call to the animals. Sometimes within minutes and sometimes for an hour you watch the canopy for the animals to come through the treetops, swinging, climbing or just watching us. While they have not been trained to perform, many individuals have self taught to entertain, tease and mingle with the tourists. Under the close eye of the Rangers, who discourage contact, it is a wonder who is watching whom. We were all entertained. It was here we met Michael, an adult Gibbon, who has adopted the sanctuary as his home. As we walked down the path into the camp he ran up from behind me, grabbed my hand and walked as child holding on as we went. He then tired of walking and with one fluid motion was up on my shoulder for a ride. We later saw him in the jungle and as Teal broke off a piece of his sandwich for him, Michael, faster than the blink of an eye had the large section leaving Teal with the small torn off piece for his lunch.
During one of our walks in the jungle our guide turned to us, seeming very excited, he insisted we must turn around and quickly move back on the trail. He saw, before we did, a troop of adult animals coming from the opposite direction. The troop was lead by juvenile females, followed by adult females, followed by the King. He is recognized as the Alfabreeding male of the troop. While every effort should be made to stay out of his way we did lag back to get some pictures. It was at this time he decided one of the females was in her time and with great strength she was drawn to him to do his duty, which lasted for an incredible length of time. After the act, while in a sitting position he reached up to pull down leaves, to eat, from a branch at least 8 feet from the ground. I did not realize they grew to this great size and was duly impressed with his size, his leathery facial mask was as large as my chest. None of the pictures taken from this distance and under the reduced light under the canopy turned out well, however, we did see him again at the feeding area, and those pictures are great.
Food storage is always a problem for the rangers. If the King decides he should be fed he will merely break down the very solid wood plank door to the pantry. We were also told that on one occasion food was missing, over time, from the pantry, with no apparent break„in. The rangers set up a watch to witness the thief. One of the Orangutans had watched the rangers unlock the door, putting the key away after use. The Orangutan would, when no one was around, get the key, open the door, eat, lock the door and return the key to cover his crime.
We could clearly see we were in a third world country. With a ban on logging, in the Orangutan sanctuary forest, daily rafts of freshly felled trees were hauled up the river to a saw mill. Much of the local economy is based on this logging and the locals are not willing to diminish their livelihood, for the sake of a few animals, by stopping. The local police, stationed along the river, merely wave as the log rafts go by. The story is told of a time when the Park Rangers, who were fed up with the illegal practice, cut apart one of the rafts, letting the logs float free. Three days later one of their camps was burned to the ground and has not been rebuilt, now the Rangers also wave to the loggers as they go by.

The fishing in all of Indonesia was excellent. The catch was not. Within 10 minutes of putting out a line you would have a plastic bag. Sandwich bags to grocery bags to garbage bags to sheets of plastic. We soon had our limit of bags and gave up fishing. With plenty of fish remaining in the freezer we did not need the hassle of clearing our hooks every few minutes. The devastation by the fishermen is significant. Floating dead dolphins, live turtles caught in nets, some of which were saved by cruisers were evidence of the need for education, or at least caring by the fishermen. The groupings of boats night fishing for squid looked like a city from a distance.
South China Sea

The South China Sea is reputed to be frequented by pirates. This reputation caused us to travel in convoy with other boats. Arrangements were made with friends to stay near and in radio contact, seldom giving our positions on the air. All of our preparation was for naught as not one boat had any difficulty other that the curious fishermen coming tooclose for a look. Fishing boats were everywhere. Some dragging nets, some setting long lines, some setting drift nets, some anchored on their favorite fishing spot. Navigation was difficult because of their numbers. Our 621 mile passage through the South China Sea brought the conditions expected when nearing the equator. 16 hours of motoring interrupted by four hours of, many very intense, squalls followed by 3 hours of moderate sailing then back to the motor. Again our passage was affected by light wind and adverse current. With the wind light from the northwest, yes the direction we wanted to travel, and a strong current, up to two knots against us, we made some 60 mile days, very slow indeed. The clouds would build during the heat of the day and dissipate their energy as squalls during the night. With impressive lightning shows we could see them moving across the sky. The Singapore area is supposedly second only to Florida for the most lightning strikes. Every morning at 0430 we would be hit with gale to storm force winds lasting about an hour. The most mild of these gave us only 38 knots of wind, the most severe 54 knots. This one did some damage. In anticipation of these and because we were motoring into very light headwind we would double reef the mainsail and leave the headsail furled to the third reef before I would go off watch. The wind arrived so suddenly before I could get the third reef in the main we tore a seam between the second and third reef. Now we would need to make the rest of the trip to Singapore under triple reefed main. It didn’t matter that much as the wind was either light or gale strength so sail trim was correct anyway. This high wind also caused the wind generator to fail, again. The light wind and head on current again raised the fuel issue.
When very near the equator I calculated our fuel and we did not have enough to make our destination, about 100 miles. Based on this I studied the charts to find a town or village, we could make, to get fuel. Having found one I advised our convoy friends of our decision to change course. One of them was only 8 miles ahead of us, he had already crossed the equator, he then offered to return to pass us the one can of fuel he could spare. We calculated our positions and determined we would meet at Latitude 00 00.0 and 105 30.7 E at 1700 for the transfer. As this is my second crossing of the equator, on this trip, I will now be in the northern hemisphere for the remainder and represents the second milestone in my trip. As it turned out this was enough fuel to make the distance to our destination, although another friend passed us another can the next day.

With our arrival at the island of Batam, Indonesia on 25 October, brought the first of many excellent marinas. At Batam, for US $5 daily, much less for monthly, the facilities include swimming pool, tennis court, restaurant, bar, game room, email and laundry. However, no sailmaker, mechanic, electrician or any other services. This is only across the Singapore Strait from anything you could need. The marina is used by the Singaporean boaters wishing to escape the hustle of the big city, so they motor across one of the busiest waterways in the world to, then tie up in a full service marina. They are true cruisers each.
Our passage of the Singapore Strait was nerve racking at best. With a traffic separation scheme designed to reduce the chance of collision between ships we must cross many lanes of vessels traveling in opposite directions, with ship spacing of only about 6 to 8 minutes. Timing is critical and many times we found ourselves closer to ships than I would like to be. I always claim that when I can count the rivets on the side of a ship it is too close, here we could read the brand of rivet. We would parallel one lane waiting for an opportunity to change direction, crossing that lane then parallel again waiting to cross the next lane. Few cruising boats are fortunate enough to cross several lanes at a time. After having safely crossed we began working our way towards the marina, still needing to contend with the crew shuttles, tour boats, ferries, tugs and many other types of vessels not allowed into the traffic separation scheme. As we neared the way point for the marina it became evident something had changed. Our 1999 cruising guide and our 1998 chart agreed as to the location of the marina entrance, however, as we approached the way point all we could see was a container ship unloading and storage facility. In the last two years the industrious Singaporeans had filled in a large area of ocean and built the facility that now blocked our way into our safe haven. It didn’t take long to figure out that if we followed the manmade shoreline we would soon reach the marina on the other side. More evidence that the most up to date charts available should be carried.

Malacca Strait
After a week in an over priced, US $27. per night, Singaporean marina on 9 November we began to move north into the Malacca Strait, another suspected haven for pirates. We again arranged with friends to stay close and never wished to be the only boat in an anchorage. We monitored daily reports from Malaysian coast radio of reports of marauding boatloads of armed pirates, giving the sectors in which to be most aware. Again, not one boat reported any problem and we patted ourselves on the back for a plan well executed. Many of these so called pirates do indeed exist, however, preying mostly on ships carrying cash payroll for their crew, many of which can exceed US $1,000,000. These amounts are very tempting for these crooks, reportedly crossing the straits from Indonesia where they are unofficially sanctioned. It is a difficult situation to control as by the time a report of piracy is reported by a ship and a response has begun the thieves are once again safely in Indonesian water with new riches. As an aside, merchant marine ships are not allowed by law to carry any firearms, something about neutrality during war time.

With the choice of only sailing during the day, islands within distances easily made by the slowest boat become more important. Again with light head wind and an adverse current of up to 2 knots we often find, while motoring, we are the slowest boat, under sail we hold our own, so we often made shorter moves than we would have liked. One morning the wind freshened from the right direction, as I was raising and trimming the sails one of our friends called on the radio to say goodbye and will see you at the anchorage, we were there some time before anyone else arrived, it is nice to sail once in awhile.

It was at an island anchorage in the Water Islands south of Penang that I was awakened by a clunk on the hull of the boat. Was it realization of my worst fear of pirates, or worse yet had we dragged anchor and were now hard aground on the rocks? I rushed to see what was happening. There was a large dark hull alongside and as my eyes adjusted I could see no people or movement. As I became able to see more clearly I again heard the clunk, I then realized a 30 foot by 50 foot steel barge had drifted into us. I immediately positioned myself where I could push against the barge, without getting my feet between it and us, to gain some distance. Teal was right behind me so I had him start the starboard engine to help gain distance. As we separated from the barge it again was taken by the current away from us. I then became aware that it was heading directly toward one of our friends. It had collided with us on a glancing course but would hit our friend directly on the bow, likely dislodging and fouling the anchor. I jumped into the dinghy, sped over to him, pounded on his hull and when he appeared I pointed and told him to start his engine. I then took my dingy to push, as best I could, against the beomoth out of a direct collision course with him. Between his ability to maneuver and what little I could change its course it missed entirely. Only then did he confide that when he heard me on his hull he also had instantly thought of pirates.

When I returned to RPhurst I looked over the area of collision to find minimal damage of some small scratches. I then attempted to contact Malaysian coast radio to advise them of our position and problem. The barge was being swept into the shipping lane close to our island anchorage. Several attempts over an hour produced no response. A cruise ship was passing on the horizon so I called them with an immediate response. I explained the situation and their radio operator agreed to try the authorities, who answered on the first try from the cruise ship. Do not fool yourself into thinking that anyone is going to answer your radio call. The authorities then called me, advised sight of it on radar and would warn any shipping of its presence. The next morning we could still see it, apparently having been swept away with the tide and then pushed back by the reversing tide. Malaysian radio called to thank us for the assistance. Sometimes you just can’t get a good night of sleep!
All along the Malaysian coast the water clarity was so bad it precluded any swimming. Now that we were getting farther north the water was beginning to clear enough to at least clean props, water line and think about snorkeling. The coast is fed its dirt by many rivers dumping mud and sediment, along with whatever else can be carried by the river flow, building huge mud banks that are constantly shifting. We would take anchorage in a small bay along the coast only to be met by local fishermen telling us we would need to move as they intended to fish that area this night. We, of course, moved not wanting to offend them in their fishing area.
As we are still early in the season the northeast monsoon has not filled in, so moving slowly does not bother any of us. The northeast monsoon is the equal of the trade winds in most of the northern hemisphere. Most of us think monsoon means rain but in reality it means consistent wind, often bringing rain during the transitional periods. By the time we reached the north end of the Malacca Strait some of the other boats began to breakaway having commitments to arriving family and friends. We could now make town to town in day hops so we chose to remain in many of the towns longer than our friends could afford. Some of the best and most reasonably priced marinas I have seen are along the Malaysian coast, with full facilities we paid as little as US $ 5. Being the cheapskate that I am we often looked for anchorages where the fees are free.

One of the worst marinas was our longest stay, November 18 to 27, was at Port Klang, the Royal Selangor Yacht Club having limited dock space provide moorings and a free ferry service to shore. Offering full services and a beautiful building the onshore facility is very nice. It is in the delta region of the Klang river, which flows from several hundred miles inland and through several towns and cities, including Kuala Lumpur. As with most third world countries waste management means only to get the stuff to the sea in the easiest manner. This means the river. During slack tide a cat could very easily have moved from shore to shore without getting his feet wet. Furniture, plastic, trees, shrubs, dead animals and anything else that would float came down the river at us daily. Imagine that which did not float. It was from here that we traveled by an efficient train system inland to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. From a distance this appears as modern a city as will be found in any country. Skyscrapers of glass and steel mingle with the hawker stalls selling local food items to the locals and tourists. KL, as it is called, boasts its title as the Singapore where you will not be fined for chewing gum. Truly, anything you could find in Singapore is available here. Even more, pirated software, CDs, movies and anything else that can be copied is sold here for amazingly low prices. The Malaysians claim there is nothing they can’t copy. From Dior and Armani designer clothes to famous artist paintings to antique artwork all is available.

After stops at a few other towns along the way we found ourselves at Langkawi, Malaysia on 7 December. Langkawi is a wonderful cruising area, claiming 135 islands with sheltered sailing and many protected anchorages with much improvedwater clarity. I now begin to see dive operators claiming quality dive sites. I will return here for a time in April or May as I can only leave RPhurst in Thailand for 6 months without paying a 310 percent duty. I do not understand the logic of politicians to apply such a huge tariff, which causes many of the boats to leave the country and take their money with them, many not to return. Langkawi is a duty free port attracting tourists from all over SE Asia for the bargains. Tourists flock here in large planes and with little else to do, stay at a hotel, shop, lay on the beach, shop and go home with less money but many bags of treasures. It is a great place for cruisers to replenish their liquor cabinets. Need a camera, radio, CD player or any other consumer goods, this is the place to find it at a good price.
Rok Nok is the first island of Thailand. We arrived on 12 December staying only one day. The significance of this island was the clarity of the water. Anchored in 30 feet of water we could easily see the rocks on the bottom. The Thai park service comes around once and a while to hassle the cruisers with demands for anchoring fees. As none of us havecleared into the country yet, more because there are no Ports of Entry except on the mainland, no one wants to have difficulty with officialdom. Thailand has another strange regulation. You must clear out of the country at the same Port of Entry at which you arrived. As most of us chose to spend most of our time around Phuket, we would then need to sail 150 miles to weather to clear out. So we clear in at Phuket.

We then moved on to PhiPhiDon Island, pronounced PeePeeDon. This is the first of the Thai tourist destinations. A small island on which are hotels, bars, restaurants and all the tee shirt shops and dive centers to supply the large number of European tourists that flock here every winter. For the tourist wishing to escape the cold of home this is a good choice. We then moved on to arrive Phuket, pronounced Puket, on 15 December, the main tourist destination on the west coast of Thailand. This is unlike I have seen in all of my travels. The reasons for Thailand being a tourist destination are the low prices, hotels and restaurants to accommodate the hoard of guests, clear water, seemingly no restrictions on the sex industry including the Thai Lady Boys and great weather during the northern hemisphere winter. I will spend one year in Thailand, which ends the planned portion for this season. I will spend some time cruising the coast and land touring SE Asia, have the boat hauled to dry the hull, return to the States then return for boat projects and begin the next leg, which will be to the Red and Mediterranean Seas.

Again wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year. Keep those messages with news from home coming to email worldcruiser1997@yahoo.com.

Love and Kisses, Bruce Parnham, Yacht RPhurst