10/09/14 - Suez Canal

Very early this morning we arrived at Port Said and the gathering place for our transit through the Suez Canal.  We weren’t up for that; it was around 1:30 AM!  We heard from some of our new friends that just before we made our entrance there was a little event as a small boat approached us and was run off by a police boat.  There was evidently a lot of shouting.  We also were advised officially that the ship had taken on security for the duration of the cruise.  Someone told us that we took on 12 former British special forces people.  That’s quite reassuring considering the waters we’ll be sailing.

So when we awoke we were in the Canal.  Unlike the Panama Canal this is a sea level one with no locks.  It was built by the French and completed in 1869.  Interestingly, though, the first attempt at a canal in this area was done by Ramses II back approximately 1200 BC.  He attempted to build a canal from the Nile to Lake Timsah, which is part of the present day Suez.  Around 600 BC another Pharaoh began building a canal from Timsah to the Red Sea.  After some 120,000 people died in the process of building it, work was stopped after an oracle said it should be ended.

The canal is 117 miles long and traffic goes in north and southbound convoys.  We were in a convoy with just one other ship, a freighter carrying large private yachts.  The shoreline was not at all what we expected, or I should say, the west bank was not.  The west bank had greenery and towns and cities along most of the way.  The east bank was more what we thought we’d see.  It was barren desert and sand dunes with frequent guard posts.  That side is the Sinai Peninsula.  Around 11:30 AM we arrived in Lake Timsah, one of two places where convoys wait so the traffic bound in the other direction can pass.  The other lake is the Great Bitter Lake further south.

This guard tower reminded me of something from Lawrence of Arabia

A larger outpost.  Notice the gun emplacement in the right-hand corner

This lonely soldier didn't even have a flagpole for his Egyptian flag

On the way to Timsah we passed this community with a mosque(white building far left) and church with a cross on its little steeple right next door

We spent several hours anchored in Timsah just off the large city of Ismailia.  During the course of those hours a parade of ships heading north passed us. There were all kinds of freighters, container ships and tankers.  In the waters around us were lots of little fishing boats which had either sails or oars or both, no motors.  If a boat came too close to us, the police boat would come racing up with lights flashing.  At one point a very crowded tour boat came by with loud Arabic music playing.  We were evidently the entertainment for the afternoon.

Our traveling companion southbound transporting private yachts

Parade of northbound freighters (perhaps 50 passed by)

We were the main attraction for this tour boat

Fishermen casting their nets

Around 4PM we upped anchor and headed south.  As we sailed along we could see massive trucks moving mountains of sand along the Sinai side.  We don’t know what the purpose was but it looked like a big project.  All along our path there were more of the little fishing boats.  As we passed they would throw out their nets.  We figured that our wake must have been stirring up the fish.  As night fell they were still out there and we could hear whistling and some yelling as we sailed by.  It would have been interesting to know what they were saying, but perhaps we’re better off not knowing.  As the moon began to rise over the Sinai it was  blood red and quite spectacular to see.

Sand moving project

Around 8 PM we finished our transit and entered the Red Sea.  We ended our day with a lovely dinner at Restaurant 2, the alternative dining venue.  It has a sort of tasting menu which was splendid.  All in all it was a nice day.  Oh, I forgot to say that we had our second trivia game at noon.  The real matches begin after we finish our visits in Jordan and Egypt.  It’s a good thing since our team actually ended with a negative score!