Sunday 3rd November
The first leg of our canal transit, to “Ismalia”, was a truly unforgettable experience. Our Suez Canal Authority (SCA) pilot came aboard at 1100 and we were soon under way. He was quick to take charge of the VHF mobile and was in constant and noisy communication with his colleagues on other boats while at the same time answering his incessantly sonorous mobile phone and occasionally finding a moment to change our course. All this was accompanied, from time to time, by massive container ships, a thousand feet long, bearing down on us from the South. The canal itself is mostly dead straight and deep enough for small boats to keep to starboard outside the channel markers. Some highlights of the day were the smiling fishermen in small boats risking life and limb (particularly after it got dark), and the entry to Ismalia which has more lights than Harrods store at Christmas. Our pilot was much needed for the approach to Ismalia. He displayed an admirable compassion for the fishermen as we dodged their unlit boats and a useful current knowledge of the buoys, especially as some rather important ones were not at all as shown on our charts! It was with some relief that we tied up at the SCA marina and sat down for a few drinks and a little later a communal meal.
The first leg of our canal transit, to “Ismalia”, was a truly unforgettable experience. Our Suez Canal Authority (SCA) pilot came aboard at 1100 and we were soon under way. He was quick to take charge of the VHF mobile and was in constant and noisy communication with his colleagues on other boats while at the same time answering his incessantly sonorous mobile phone and occasionally finding a moment to change our course. All this was accompanied, from time to time, by massive container ships, a thousand feet long, bearing down on us from the South. The canal itself is mostly dead straight and deep enough for small boats to keep to starboard outside the channel markers. Some highlights of the day were the smiling fishermen in small boats risking life and limb (particularly after it got dark), and the entry to Ismalia which has more lights than Harrods store at Christmas. Our pilot was much needed for the approach to Ismalia. He displayed an admirable compassion for the fishermen as we dodged their unlit boats and a useful current knowledge of the buoys, especially as some rather important ones were not at all as shown on our charts! It was with some relief that we tied up at the SCA marina and sat down for a few drinks and a little later a communal meal.
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