Last Minute Preparations
We can hardly believe that the time to leave has finally arrived! After loads of farewell parties, we will finally leave on Friday morning, bound for Port Said and the Suez canal. There we expect to wait at least a day or two before getting all the paperwork done.
The last few weeks have been hectic; we had the mast down for inspection and to change some of the rigging, the autopilot went on the blink again and I fixed it (again), we tried the spinnaker for the first time and for an extra bit of spice, the shaft broke! Yes, broke in two as we were maneuvering inside the marina! That had to be the best bit of luck there is, because if it had waited just a bit longer, we would have been in the Suez Canal, far from any workshop and at the mercy of the Suez canal tugboats, the only ones allowed to tow yachts in the canal. Now it is fixed, and as I write this the engine ( good engine, nice engine, there there) is running for the third hour at 2500 rpm, and seems (tfoo tfoo, knock on wood, hamsa hamsa) to be ok.
We have been in touch with Felix, the agent for the canal- fees have gone up as a result of the canal authority changing to Euros, unfortunately, but he will be waiting for us. We have clearance from the police to leave, and the marina fees are paid. That just leaves the actual stamp, which we will get at 7 in the morning on Friday. We also have all our visas, all the injections and lots of antibiotics and Immodium ( thank you Mum and Dad for the reminder!) We even found time to get the dog clipped, and she looks really great! AND I have photocopied our passports,visas,credit cards and driving licenses,and written on the photocopy the phone number in case of theft or loss of credit cards! Amazing, for me!
Oren holding the mast up!!!
Last farewells
And beautiful Sheva!
One Response to “Last Minute Preparations”
 Comment by Melissa August 8th, 2008 at 6:01 am |
Thank you for some of the tips on what not to forget to do. My family and I are trying to plan for our sailing adventure for next year. We have been religiously reading Chasing Sunsets, by Lawrence Pane. It is an amazing story of how their family sailed a six-and-a-half year, 56 country, 40,000 mile circumnavigation. Their experiences might be something you would want to read up on while you are on the water. |
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