Before we left Port Ghalib Paul had the pleasure of a trip up the mast to replace a screw in top section of the headsail furling foil, which was causing the jib to come out of its track. The weather forecast was favourable on Thursday so we sailed to Suez.We were due to meet friends in Cyprus so we had to leave Thetis behind as they had not yet resolved their transmission problem. About 40 miles from Suez our gear box broke. There was no wind so we motored the...

Luxor and the Valley of the Kings William and I went to Luxor by car with Friedemann and Peter. We made an early start leaving the marina at 5.30 a.m. Our driver and guide didn't hang around and it still took 4.5 hours but we did stop for an Egyptian breakfast of beans, chips, feta type cheese and bread on route at a roadside café. Right here comes the history lesson so you can skip it if you want and just look at the pictures. Luxor is what was known in a...

We left Suakin with Thetis on Thursday 3rd of March. The wind was about 15 knots from the north, so we motor sailed 38 miles to an anchorage just north of Port Sudan, called the wreck of the Umbria where we spent the night. The shelter provided by a reef though not very good, was adequate in the relatively calm conditions we experienced. The Umbria was an Italian freighter scuttled at the beginning of the Second World War to prevent her and her cargo of arms fall...

We left Aden on Monday 21st and sailed straight to Suakin in Sudan. There were no incidents and we didn't see anything suspicious. Passed through Bab El Mandeb at night in a strong wind and rough sea which are not the sort of conditions the pirates like.Arrived in Suakin port on Friday afternoon and went to the anchorage. It is a very narrow channel between the island on which lie the ruins of old Suakin. Old Suakin is now deserted, it was made of coral and has c...