Med Red Rally
Spring 2006
In May of 2006 Dakare participated in the Red-Med Rally - traveling from Turkey to Israel, Egypt and back again. The rally consisted of over a 100 boats. Some boats. like Dakare and 11 others, started off from Turkey and met the rest of the fleet in Tel Aviv / Herzliya, Israel. For the first time in a long time we had a guest on board, Peter Page, an Aussie we met at Netsel Marina, Marmaris, Turkey who had just purchased and was living aboard his Gullet. We teased Peter that he was a swab and that if he did well, in fine standing with the movie Capt'n Ron, that at the end of the trip we would promote him to mate. Peter was good natured and took it all in stride. We asked if he had ever seen the movie Capt'n Ron and he said no. So one night we planned a movie night. After seeing and enjoying the comedy, a spoof on sailboat ownership, Peter fell right into the role of swab and even would introduce himself as such. It all made for good fun and a lot of laughs.
Dakare (Center) Sailing as part of the Finale of the Med Red Rally
in the Israeli Independence Day Celebrations off of Tel Aviv
A special thanks to Mandy and Gingi on My Mermaid who were forever helping us, to Meir and Billy Givon for their hospitality and their friendship and Easy and Anton - the Rally organizers, for all their efforts, no matter how frustrating, and to all of the other Israelis who made our stay the wonderful experience it was! Also, a special thanks to Rick on Odelia for doing such a wonderful job of heading up our group, to Cloverleaf and Gingi for taking care of Karen when she hurt her foot and for being the source of so much helpful information and to the Mikes on WindSea for helping with tuning our rig. Lastly, we want to say thanks to the man we affectionately called our swab, Peter Page on Rainbow Star, who accompanied us on the Red Med Rally. For all of his help we say thanks and it is with pride we promote him to mate.
Places We Visited During the Rally:
(Med Red Rally Including Egypt & Israel)
Pesach with the Givon Family
There was a big party for the Med Red Rally participants at the Tel Aviv marina. Dan was asked to give an impromptu speech. It went well. Dan focused on 2 things that were very nice additions to the rally. The first, was that all foreign yachts to the rally were invited to an Israeli home to celebrate Pesach. The Second was the beautifully done Rally Logbook that was given to participants. Both foretold of a strong desire on the part of the rally organizers and the Jewish sailing community to make this rally the best ever for all participants.
Peter, Dan and Karen enjoying the Seder
From Herzliya
From Herzliya we left en-masse on an overnighter to Port Said. Sailing during the day was mild and we used the engine most of the time but early in dark of morning the wind picked up as we were approaching Port Said. It made for a nasty chop and a not so pleasant approach. We found some shelter in the lee of the harbor breakwater while we waited for the pilot boat to come out and escort us in. I am convinced that this was totally unnecessary but it represents a form of income and baksheesh for the Egyptians.
Herzliya Marina, Israel
Actual Screen Capture of Dakare's Position in Herzliya, Israel Just Prior to Departure
Notice the Shipping Traffic Making Their Way to the Suez Canal
The furthest we have seen commercial traffic using AIS has been 310 nautical miles (NM)
(As Typified By The Vessel Labeled A24) - given that AIS is VHF radio-based with an accepted straight line working distance of approximately 25 NM, picking up a vessel 310 NM off is quite a feat.
Rally Prep
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Josh wondering where his supply of kitty treats are
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Karen taking her last flute lesson the day before departure
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Peter Page our Aussie "Swab" al la Capt'n Ron
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Peter's First Assignment...
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Our Red-Med Rally Banner
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The Fleet in Tel Aviv
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Egyptian, Israeli and Turkish Flags Flying Side-By-Side
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Mandy (My Mermaid) Our Godsend!
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The Fleet Lit Up At Night
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Dan, Eza ( ), & Mandy (My Mermaid)
Phil (Denize) and Peter (Dakare) in Background
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Dan at the Tel Aviv Party
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Dan's Impromptu Speech at Mandy's Request
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Peter coveting the Israeli Navy's bumper
Rally Flash Pics
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WindSea - First In Class & Overall Winners of the Rally Race
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The "All Women" race entry and 2nd Place Finishers
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Light Airs
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Race Start
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Enjoying the Mild Weather
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Totem Plus looking Smart in Light Airs
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Dan Hard at it - Not Competing with the Racers
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Peter Enjoying the Sail
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Rally boat under asymmetric
Egypt
On the Suez Canal
Traffic on the Suez Canal
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Dakare's AIS (Automated Information System) View of Traffic on the Canal
Note the List of Commercial Traffic in the Left Column
Each Yellow Mark Shown In the Suez Canal is a Commercial Vessel Over 65 Feet in Length
Some of These Vessels are Super Tankers Measuring over 1,000 Feet in Length - Too Big for the Panama Canal
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Port Said
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Our First Glimpse of Egyptian Commerce
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Med Red Rally Cake at Port Said Reception
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Festive Carriage in Port Said
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Flash Pictures on Suez Canal Transit
More Scenes From The Suez Canal
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Rowing To Work
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Putting Out The Fishing Lines
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Ferry Going Across the Canal to The Sinai
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Our Fleet All Lined Up
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Some People Just Can't Stand A Queue --->
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I'm Late, I'm Late, I'm Very, Very Late!
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Sinai War Memorial
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A Close Pass
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Tawila Anchorage Near Abu Tig
Our Anchorage for Our 2 Day at Tawila Island Just East of Abu Tig (El Gouna)
See Course Line Center of Chart
Abu Tig
The Riviera Of The Red Sea
(Pics courtesy of Abu Tig Marina)
From Abu Tig Marina in El-Gouna (Hurghada) to the Suez Canal...
Historical Sites
Karnak and Luxor can be seen on the Right side of the Nile River
While the Valley of the Kings can be seen in the Upper Left Hand Portion of the Map
Pyramids Near Cairo
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Satellite view of the Central Pyramid, Giza
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The 3 Pyramids at Giza
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(Courtesy of Google Earth)
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Giza Pyramid
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Dan Standing on Pyramid
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Pharaoh's Boat
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Camel for Rent at the Pyramids
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Pyramid of Cheops
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Sphinx Guarding the Pyramid
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Close and Personal With the Sphinx
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The Immensity of it All
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Small Sphinx Outside of Cairo Archaeological Museum
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Peter (Rainbow Star) Posing Inside the Sphinx Monument
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Luxor
Luxor has often been called the worlds greatest open air museum. Formerly known as Thebes, Luxor was the capital of the New Kingdom and a focal point of the ancient world. The Temples on the East bank of the Nile River, where the sun rises, were built for the living and the tombs on the West bank, where the sun sets, were built for the dead.
Construction of the temple at Luxor was begun by Amenhotep III in the 14th Century BC and finished 100 years later by Ramesses II . The sight was further developed by later Pharaohs of the Nubian and Ethiopian Dynasties.
In the evening, we attended the Light and Sound Show at Luxor. It was stirring to hear the narrative about the origins and life at Luxor with music and multicolored lights highlighting specific locations being discussed. What we liked most is that the Sound and Light Show reinforced and further elucidated many of the things that we learned from our tour guide during the day, making an even stronger imprint on us.
Karnak
Karnak with the huge and beautifully inscribed columns, amongst them stands the giant statue of Egypt’s famous pharaoh – Ramesses II. At Karnak, we attended the nighttime light show. It was beautifully done and helped us put together a better understanding of the history of Karnak.
Karnak is a vast open-air museum and the largest ancient religious site in the world, and is probably the second most visited ancient site in Egypt, second only to the Giza Pyramids near Cairo. The key difference between Karnak and most of the other temples and sites in Egypt is the length of time over which it was developed and used. Construction work began in the 16th century BC. Approximately 30 pharaohs contributed to the buildings, enabling it to reach a size, complexity and diversity not seen elsewhere. Few of the individual features of Karnak are unique, but the size and number of features is overwhelming. (Wikipedia)
Valley of the Kings
We visited the West Bank of the Valley of the Kings with it’s glorious painted tombs. In the Valley of the Kings we saw the twin collosi of Mamon and the mortuary of Queen Hatsheput. Although there was insufficient time to visit the famous tomb of Tut Anch Amon, we at least got to see his tomb entrance in the context of the rest of the area. We also got to see the dig for the new tombs located in the Valley of the Kings. Our tour guide indicated that the find to date has been somewhat disappointing, but it is still hoped that with further excavation, exciting new finds may be made.
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Karen with Alabaster Vase
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Felucca Trip
End of Rally Festivities in Herzliya
Israeli Independence Day was a few days after our arrival at Herzliya. The organizers of the rally had planned with the Israeli Navy and other city officials of both Tel Aviv and Herzliya to have a boat parade. This had never been done before and over 200 boats participated. Dakare had the Givon family (11 People) and 3 other Israeli on board for the parade. We sailed North of Herzliya and then South to Tel Aviv and back again on a beautiful sunny day with 10-15 knots of wind on our beam both ways. It made for great and easy sailing. At least half of our guests steered the boat. It was great fun for them but both Dan and Karen were a bit apprehensive about all the other traffic out there. We all came back without incident despite the double gybe in front of out boat by a Russian boat that had obviously been celebrating too hard with too much vodka. Afterwards, Dakare hosted a small lunch for the Givon's to say thanks for their earlier hospitality.
Numerous post rally parties were held. We went to more than a number of them. Notably, we enjoyed our outings with Cloverleaf, Odelia, My Mermaid and WindSea.
Since it looked like we would spend a few more days in Herzliya taking care of projects (See Below), Peter took the opportunity to catch a ride with another boat heading back to Marmaris. Peter had a potential buyer for his gullet and was anxious to go back to see what had become of the interest.
Boat & Personal Repairs, Improvements and Maintenance
When we got to Herzliya, we had a few minor and not so minor problems to fix. Some of the problems are directly related to work done in Marmaris, others were just a result of age. But first and foremost, the most important thing we did was to wash off all the Red Sea dust, dirt and grime. ...And was there a lot of it. Our sails were absolutely coated with dirt. Our mast, dodger, bimini and decks were just coated. It was nice to see our decks clean again.
Warranty problems:
Turning Block pulled out of mast at base of mast. This had been re-engineered by Demir and obviously needs to be re-reengineered! We will take care of this when we get back to Marmaris
Broken Hatch which resulted when an improperly installed Tri-lens by Demir came loose from its spreader mount and fell onto our hatch, breaking the hatch and cracking the Tri-lens housing. The hatch had to be repaired in Herzliya before heading offshore. The Tri-lens will be repaired by Demir in Marmaris.
Non-warranty items:
We blew out the clew on our Stays'l. This was readily repaired by Easy Sails in Herzliya. They made it better than new.
The floating mounting bracket for the house alternator broke at the weld point. That had to be fixed. In order to repair it, the engine had to be lifted off of its engine mounts (The frame floated on the engine mounts so the alternator vibrated synchronously with the engine.) The frame was reengineered and made stronger than the original. We had received an email from Ray Strong on Fotissimo(Hylas 54) indicating that he had had the same problem. His boat was an earlier hull number than ours. We also received an email from Jerry Kirschner on L'ame Libre (Hylas 54 later hull number) indicating that his floating plate had was different than hours and this deficiency had obviously been addressed in subsequent models of the Hylas 54.
General Maintenance:
While waiting for the above tasks to be completed, we decided to put some new coats of varnish on our toe rails. We had taken the wood down to bare in Marmaris but only had time before the departure of the rally to get 4 coats onto the rail. We added another 4 and now the toe rail looks like a mirror. Karen is really proud of her varnishing job (as is Dan) but interestingly enough, despite the numerous accolades Karen has received for her varnishing work, nobody has come by to say to Dan "Nice sanding job." Go figure!
We also had the Mikes (Lover Mike and Savage Mike) from WindSea returned our rig. As indicated earlier on this webpage, WindSea was the overall winner in the rally race. Lover Mike is considered to be one of the top 50 racers in the world. So it was our pleasure to have him and Savage Mike tune our rig. ...And what a great job they did. For the first time in years, I feel that our mast is properly tuned and now we don't have to use our hydraulic backstay adjusters to compensate for a poorly tuned rig. Now we can use them for the purpose we had them put on the boat - Genoa luff control.
We also upgraded our external disk drives to include a new half a terabyte hard disk drive (500 Gigabytes.) We also brought in the HP 1315 All-In-One printer we had purchased in Herzliya last year that never worked for warranty replacement. This was our 3rd replacement. Guess what. It didn't work either! So I brought that one back and HP has sent us a 4th replacement. I wanted a full refund but HP would not hear of it. They insisted on yet another replacement. On top of the hardware problems we had with the previous 3 machines, the software on that printer was also problematic for our Dell and so after considerable thought about how much grief we have gone through with the 1315 printer, we decided to get a new printer - different model and different manufacturer. Unfortunately, the only manufacturer we could find that didn't have a top loading paper tray was HP. So we went ahead and got a new HP 5943 DeskJet. What a difference. So far we have had trouble free use of the new printer. What a pleasure after all the suffering we went through with the HP1315.
New Items:
We got the WorldSpace digital receiver, given to us by Ron and Becky on Maudi, working. It was real easy to get going. We used it while sanding and varnishing.
We bought a new fairlead eye to be deck mounted for the port stays'l sheet lead. Now it should not abrade against the port hand rail.
Personal Maintenance:
Dan had cracked a molar during the rally and had to have that fixed. A crown was required.
While at the dentist, the wind picked up at the marina. We had slacked the dock lines to varnish the toe rails. Karen was trying to move a fender to protect the boat when her foot slipped. She got it caught between the dock and a fender. We were concerned that she had broken or fractured a bone in her foot. It looked terrible! So off to the hospital we went to have her foot x-rayed. The doctor declared her to be fine except for some soft tissue damage. Karen has spent the past few days hobbling about.
Dan also had a small mark removed from his ear. He went to see Doctor Ron Aria, a plastic Surgeon in Tel Aviv. Doc Ron removed the growth and was kind enough not to charge Dan for the procedure. Thanks to Esa for the recommendation.
Pesach - Holiday of the Passover
Pesach with the Givon Family
Traffic on the Suez Canal
Pyramids Near Cairo
Luxor