Hello from Egypt

[Windship60]

Hello everyone,

My husband and I are currently living in Egypt, but are from Canada originally. Two more years and we are living the dream..... my husband will retire and we will live aboard and sail the world.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Windship60

My husband and I are currently living in Egypt,

Welcome

I was stuck with a boat in Pt Said for a few weeks.. LOL
the people were nice.

Whats the cruising potential of Egypt?


Mark

[James S]

Welcome....are you going to start while your still in the area....the med is a pretty good head start!

[Windship60]

Actually our boat is currently in Fort Lauderdale ....

The Red Sea is gorgeous though.... just make sure you go through the Suez Canal and miss the pirates down south in Somalia. The diving is amazing and the people are great... definitely somewhere we want to come back to.

[maxingout]

We loved sailing in the Red Sea, and the best marina in the Red Sea is Abu Tig Marina at al Gouna. $150 per month at an awesome marina and resort facility. It's a great base from which to tour Egypt.

Check out these pictures of Abu Tig!

ABU TIG MARINA* One of your final treats in your voyage up the Red Sea is a stop at Abu Tig Marina

[James S]

Great pics on that link, thanks Dave, thats a nice looking marina with good rates.

[MarkJ]

Hey Dave,

Great photos!

I love the little man made island in the marina.

Mark

[maxingout]

We rarely stayed in Marinas, and so we felt like we were in the lap of luxury at Abu Tig. Our last marina before Egypt was Malaysia.

The great advantage of Abu Tig was that we knew Exit Only would be secure during our eight day tour of Egypt. Security is an issue in some locations in Egypt, and having the boat at Abu Tig made our sojurn in Egypt extremely pleasant. Plus they have some of the best kite surfing in the world at Al Gouna at Mangrovy Beach, a ten minute walk from the marina. For those who want to fly like an eagle, it doesn't get much better than that.

[markje4]

G'day and welcome Windship

Had a glorious 3 weeks after joining yacht in Abu Tig and going through the Suez Canal before heading off into the Med. Many memories including being held by Egyptian navy for 48 hours in Mersa Thelemat and the "joys" of refuelling in Ismallia.

[Windship60]

El Gouna is beautiful.... as is most of the coast along the Red Sea. The military here is taken very seriously, so don't take any photos or you WILL end up losing your camera gear and having a very long chat about why you felt the need to take the photo. So not worth it.

[Ram]

I hear the diving there is Great, im thinking of spending next winter there , I just dropped the marina a note asking how much will it cost?
Sounds like a pain in the ass going thru the cannel with the piloits reading Daves log

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and Welcome aboard!
Its good to have you posting here and am looking forward to hearing your adventures.
Kind regards,
JohnL

[maxingout]

Originally Posted by Ram

I hear the diving there is Great, im thinking of spending next winter there , I just dropped the marina a note asking how much will it cost?
Sounds like a pain in the ass going thru the cannel with the piloits reading Daves log

The Suez Canal transit should be regarded as an adventure that you don't take too seriously. The pilots on your boat really aren't pilots. They are crew members off tugs and other canal employees on an official boondoggle designed to extract a tip from you and keep you from getting run down by a ship. They do know the rules of the road, and they should keep you out of trouble. If you don't give them a tip, there isn't anything they can do, except have a pilot boat hit your fenders with a good thump.

It's mostly theatre and drama on their part, and if you don't take it seriously, they will most likely wratchet down their acting out. They like psychodrama, especially if they think they can get a bigger tip through drama and intimidation.

Most of the people we knew had a pleasant relationship with their pilot, and no matter how much you give them for a tip, they will want more. We expected it and didn't care. All I wanted from them was a safe transit of the canal, and whether they were happy or sad didn't matter to me.