Day 16, 17, 18 and 19
The Passenger
We left Ayos Nikolaos just after midnight to take advantage of favourable winds. After rounding Akra Sidheros I set a course of 140° and watched the GPS count down the remaining 300+ NM to Alexandria.
It couldn’t have been simpler. For the first 24 hours we ran with the wind. The next 24 were spent motoring in a calm sea and the last 24 were only slightly marred by a F3 headwind.
I had hooked up my shortwave receiver on day 3 of the passage to confirm the weather forecast (Area B) and have included my data gathering below for posterity:
Meteorological Forecast NE01 [Tu 10:10]
1010 UTC. 18 N*V.
ALEXRADIO F/C MED. SEA
AREAS : A,B,C AND D
VALID : 1300 UTC 18 NOV.
TILL : 0100 UTC 19 NOV.
T T T : NO GALE
G./INFERENCE : TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE AT A,B
RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE AT C,D
SURFACE WIND : VRB TO SE AT A. SE/NE AT B.
E/NE AT C. ALL 3 – 4 BEAUFORT
SE/NE AT D. 3 – 4 BEAUFORT MAY REACH 5 B.
STATE OF SEA : SLIGHT TO MODERATE
H./OF WAVES : 01 – 1.75 MTRS. AT A,B,C
01 – 02 MTRS. AT D
VISIBILITY : 06 – 10 KMTRS. AT A
08 – 10 KMTRS. AT B,C,D
WEATHER : TEMPO RAIN AT A.
FAIR AT B,C,D
CLOUD* : 3 – 5/* LOW + MEDIUM AT A.
* – 4/8 LOW + MEDIUM AT B,C,D
OUTLOOK : NO CHANGE
We took 4-hour shifts during the passage arriving in Alexandria by nightfall on the 19th of November.
The city lights were resplendent and as I motored into the eastern harbor.
While winding my way past the myriad of anchored vessels a military official in a small motor boat pulled up alongside and made it known (in Arabic) that he required our passports.
Alexandria Egypt
Taking them in hand he indicated I should follow as he led us through a maze of fishing boats to a small jetty where members of the Egyptian Yacht Club assisted with mooring. After a surprisingly sincere welcome, and explanations that passports would be returned in the morning after completing the necessary paperwork, I spent my first night in this truly exotic port.