Ahoy Mates,After departing Athens-Piraeus Thursday evening Oct. 16, we have visited Greek Islands Mykonos and Rhodes, and yesterday we were in Alexandria, Egypt.
Today, Tuesday Oct. 21, we sailed to Port Said, Egypt, and are docked, waiting to join a convoy of ships early tomorrow morning for transit through the Suez Canal, a 100-mile trip south to Port Suez, Egypt. We have to join a convoy of some 30 other ships--they take only two convoys per day through the canal heading south. From Port Suez, we enter the Red Sea and continue south to Safaga, Egypt; and then to Sharm El Sheik on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula.
We had a special event in Rhodes to celebrate my (Bill's) birthday Saturday--as we departed dock about 6:00PM, we ran Star Clipper aground in Rhodes Harbor! Quite an accomplishment, considering the fact that this ship and crew have visited Rhodes dozens of times, there were two larger cruise ships docked nearby, we had a harbor pilot on board advising Captain Jurgen, and had two Egyptian harbor tugs alongside to assist if needed. Seems that the harbor has silted in a bit, and is shallow for Star Clipper's 19-feet water draft. After a half-hour of churning water by the two tugs, with one broken tow line, we were refloated and redocked; and two divers were sent down to inspect the bottom, the propeller, and the prop shaft for damage. Two hours after our initial undocking, we were given the all-clear, except for six hours of paperwork and bureaucracy getting clearance to leave the harbor. Finally Star Clipper departed about 2:00AM for Alexandria, with Betty and Bill fast asleep. We were at sea all day Sunday.
We are posting three photos, showing Star Clipper anchored in Mykonos harbor; Betty’s artistic shot of traditional Greek fishing boats and the town at Mykonos; and Betty’s rope-furling training on Star Clipper by Tomas, the handsome young Swedish officer.
We hope all's well with you.
Love,
Betty and Bill
Betty and Bill
