Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Into the Gulf of Suez

I'm on the final leg of the trip to Suez - I've entered the Gulf of Suez.
It's a narrow channel (12 miles across in places) with shipping lanes in the centre and oil platforms dotted around the channel. There's definitely a petrochemical smell in the air that for a change isn't wholly coming from Kika's engine box.
Slightly concerningly the pilot guide advises giving the oil platforms a wide berth as some disused installations have hazardous pipes cut off just below the surface, making them impossible to see, deadly if you collide with them. Looks like a busy night ensuring I avoid mooring and navigational buoys, oil platforms, cut-off pipes and don't stray into the shipping lanes.

So far the weather has been more or less as predicted - perhaps a little windier, which has worked in my favour; my repairs to the electronic pilot haven't worked, but with a decent wind I've been able to use the wind-steering.

Distance to Suez: 135 miles
Position @ 21:15 01/04 N27deg 54.9' E33deg 35.4'

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