Baking crisp dark bread every second day, thinking this to be a necessity on a cruising sailing yacht, lived on by genetically unmodified Germans, and testing the easy recipe from of our friends Angelika & Gerd from SY "Ariane II": (i) mix rye flour, hand-warm seawater and instant yeast, dissolved in some of the water, (ii) make into a dough, (iii) leave the dough to rise for one hour, preferably under the bed cover, (iv) bake for about 50 min and (v) turn on the oompah music in order to scare away any hungry pirates.
SY "Kamu II" at anchor, south of the ruins of Old Suakin and east of El Kaff, at 5 m depth, on mud.
Click below for an interactive satellite view of our very protected anchorage: N 19° 06.53' E 037° 20.33'
Logging the sailed distance of about 60 nm between the Sanganeb Reef and Port Suakin in about 36 hours and beating into another strong haboob(Arabic: هَبوب habūb "blasting/drafting") on our approach to Port Suakin.
Clearing into the Sudan for a total of US$ 130.- (US$ 20.- port fees, US$ 10.- customs clearance, US$ 10.- for the sailing permit, 2 x US$ 30.- for the shore passes, US$ 30.- agent fees for agent Mohammed Abu).
Refuelling with 120 litres of diesel fuel (US$ 0.70 per litre) in our own jerry cans and 15 litres of petrol (US$ 1.- per litre), delivered to the dinghy by agent Mohammed Abu.
Laundering: US$ 0.33 per piece through agent Mohammed Abu and his local ladies (rock-washed and dried).
Walking through the streets (which looked like livened-up junkyards) and coral stone ruins of old Suakin (whose erstwhile wealth had come from trading slaves who were transported out of Suakin, and then put on ships which brought them up to the Ottoman empire) and the wooden shacks of new Suakin aka El Kaff.
Visiting Port Sudan by local minibus, checking for emails at a very fast internet café and restocking our supplies in the old souq near the port.
Feasting on excellent grilled fish at the local restaurant “Mistero of the Sea Foods” in Port Suakin (US$ 5.- per portion) and defending our meals on the tables against a clowder of fierce and hungry Sudanese cats.
Matt: Hitting a sandbank at full throttle when leaving Suakin harbour after having exactly (!) followed our own GPS track log and having completely forgotten about the third dimension of sea navigation - the tidal differences.
"Any soldier will tell you that going in and coming out on the same route is asking for trouble."
Climbing up the 258 steep stone steps (plus 10 even steeper wooden rungs of a shaky ladder) to the very top of the old 50-m high, 1906 CE Sanganeb Reef lighthouse aka manara(منارة), marvelling on the great views over the lagoons and chatting with the friendly Sudanese lighthouse keepers who very rarely have any guests.
“The dip of the light meant that the island itself was always left in darkness. A lighthouse is for others; powerless to illuminate the space closest to it.”
Scubadiving (DM Konni) and snorkelling (Matt) at leisure the lagoons in the vicinity of this spectacular reef anchorage, considered one of the best diving sites in the world, and identifying the light characteristics of the lighthouse (Fl.W.5s50m) which is one of a chain of stations established by the British on desert islands of the Red Sea to protect shipping between Europe and the Asian colonies.
Logging the sailed distance of about 110 nm between Khor Shinab and Marsa Fijab in about 36 hours.
Puzzling our way into a very protected anchorage in the last bay of Marsa Fijab where almost upon arriving we were visited by two dehydrated local fishermen who asked for potable water and gave us a few fish from their good catch of the day.
Being hit at night by an intimidating African thunderstorm with giant cloud towers and impressive swathes of lightnings, which lit up the night sky like daylight, but with no rain to wash down the sand from the previous haboobas rain evaporates in the hot, dry air (a phenomenon known as virga).
Matt: ClimbingQuoin Hilland hiking over a thick carpet of shells and fossils into the hinterland of this isolated khor.
Matt: Dismantling and cleaning the blocked carburettor of our 4-hp Mariner outboarder from fine powder sand which had entered it through seemingly airtight plastic covers after a few nasty sand storms.
Experiencing our first, of many others to follow, full-blown haboob(Arabic: هَبوب "strong wind", an intense duststorm) in the Red Sea: 40°C air temperature, 40 knots wind speed, 40 minutes duration, 40 % humidity and 40 m visibility; leaving SY “Kamu II” covered with an all-encompassing thick layer of brown sand - outside and inside.
