15th February 2009
We went early to the customs and immigration this morning at 07:00. They had to complete one small form for each of the three yachts and then stamp our passports. It only took them three hours and they seemed to enjoy the fact that they could keep us waiting. Eventually, we returned to the boats, got our hooks up and requested permission to leave the port. When Zappler V requested permission, the Port Authorities told him to come ashore and see Port Finances. After a lot of confusion, it transpired that, since they had needed to go alongside to re-fuel, the port wanted them to pay for mooring for the 8 hours it took them to deliver the fuel. We dropped the hook again and waited another hour for payment to be made. What a bunch of neolithic monkeys.
We set off in a sand storm with zero visibility & no wind, it's going to be a long trip!
16th February 2009
Things are tricky in this convoy since the boats are all completely mismatched. We have "Zappler V", a 60 foot catamaran who carries 3500 litres of diesel on board and continually runs his engines to keep a boat speed of 7 knots, "Aldora" a super-fast 45 foot catamaran who will only motor begrudgingly at 5 knots and then takes off at the first puff of wind and moans about us laggers. Lastly, there is "Nadezhda" who is a traditional monohull that rarely gets above 7.5 knots and is a sluggish starter. Things are made worse by the 1.5 knot current against us and little breeze which has everyone a bit edgy. Oh Well, we will split up once through Pirate Alley and will be able to run at our own pace again.
So, this morning, we poled out the headsail and tried to sail but didn't manage the 5 knots minimum boatspeed, then the wind came round and we used all three sails under motor, then we got the cruising chute out and have been monitoring it all day whilst motor sailing. Aldora decided that 5 knots minimum boatspeed means 5 knots over ground, I pointed out that I took notes during our convoy meeting and they clearly state that Aldora stipulated 5 knots through the water - nice to be able to refer to the "minutes". Anyway, we are all plugging hard today to go as fast as reasonably possible since 2 knots motoring against 2 knots of current wastes fuel.
However, it's to have company. We use Ch17 which means we do not forget to turn to Low Power setting and we also use the hand held VHFs so the range cannot be more than a couple of miles. We have just done a book delivery to Zappler V, he motored up behind us and I bound them and threw them frizbee style onto his front net. You've got to do something to break up the day!
Zappler V - Bookswap
I have the responsibility of position reporting and itinerary updates to UKMTO at noon GMT each day, they pass the details onto the " relevant battlestaffs" but I have no clue what is done with them. At least they know whereabouts we are, the vessel details and the names and the nationalities of those on board.
So, not the best passage and we are all praying for 15-20 knots wind to get us all going.
17th February 2009
Still motoring!
18th February 2009
Last night, we turned into the separation zone between the West and Eastbound shipping lanes. There was not a lot of traffic about as we crossed the start of the Westbound lane so life was quite easy there. Since then, we have seen plenty of ships going in both directions but they all comply with the rules and none have encroached on our sacred ground except those wishing to cross the lanes.
About 04:00 yesterday morning, three ships came down the Westbound lane together. The last one was going twice as fast as the two in front (probably 30-35 knots) and came within half a mile of us before swerving North. That was the first warship we had seen. Today, another warship came barrelling towards us at a similar speed to pass a mile and a half in front of us and, as it did, it received a helicopter on deck. We have also seen spotter planes and heard them calling ships on the VHF so we feel well watched.
We are still motoring with very little wind. What breeze there is tends to be right behind us and so the apparent wind is next to zero. However, we managed to get the cruising chute to fly early in the afternoon until it collapsed on us an hour later and later on we set it out on a pole and flew it spinnaker-style for about an hour and a half and turned the engine off at the same time. It was absolute bliss having some peace and quiet for a while. Eventually, the others had then pulled too far ahead and it was soon to be dark so we packed it away and resumed our puttering along.
Motoring at our agreed 5 knots is a pain in the bum, our engine has developed a resonance between 1300 and 1600 revs that causes vibration in the boat. Since I don't like anything feeling a little unhappy, we have decided not to run the engine in that range until I have the chance to investigate. In these conditions, 1600 revs gives us about 5.8 knots and 1300 gives us 4.2 knots so we have to drive forwards for a period to catch up and then fall back again as we toggle between the two rev settings. Life is so much easier when not having to play by these speed rules. However, sailing to an orchestrated speed would/will be much more difficult and I don't think is fully appreciated by the others.
The current levelled out today and, for once, was not against us. However, it has come back again at an adverse half-knot. I am hoping that tomorrow will bring change in our favour. All these poor sailing conditions have caused me to have to revise our itinerary with UKMTO twice and we are now over a day behind our original passage estimate - an estimate based on 5.8 knots over ground (usually quite achievable and especially so with supposed fast boats with us). Oh well, at least life is calm and gentle here which is quite nice.
19th February 2009
We have entered the high risk area an were greeted by two warships who were milling around at super-high speeds with their respective helicopters overflying. One of the helicopters called up and suggested that we turn up the speed a bit "Make best possible Haste" but Aldora cannot run their engine any faster so we are still chugging along relatively slowly. I have eaten my words about 5 knots! It is ok if you are sailing but, since we have to have the motor on to keep over 5 knots, then we might as well use it to good effect rather than simply running at idling speed.
Last night and the previous one, we saw frigates roaming around with high intensity searchlights scanning the horisons. On Fliss' watch, they picked us up and focussed in on Zappler V for a while before moving on. Communication from the forces is minimal and the only time we have been called up is when we were asked to step on the gas. This morning, we were suddenly surrounded by an escorted Westbound convoy of about 10 ships that split to go around us - it's all go here.
Fliss....
The Gulf of Aden is without a doubt a war zone. Yesterday we were buzzed by a helicopter, the type you see in Vietnam movies with the guy sitting in the door with a machine gun. I waved & the guy waved back at me, anyway they called us up and said "Sailing vessels be aware that you are in a high risk zone of piracy make the best speed you can, if you are approached call Coalition Warships on channel 16 and we will get to you as soon as possible, best of luck & safe passage".
Sheldon on Zappler 5 who is part of our convoy is a virtual third member on board Naz. I feel much happier knowing he's out there keeping an close eye on all the large ships. He's got AIS on board which tells you what the big ships name is, course & close they are going to pass you. As one gets within 12 miles he calls me up on the VHF to let me know. It really has been great & taken a lot of pressure off. One night when he was off watch he called me and said “Fliss, don't panic but you have a 586 foot tanker travelling at 22 knots which is going to miss you by just under half a mile”. I could pick it up on the radar but he was unlit so I couldn't see him. When he did finally pass us the sky went completely black and just under half mile seemed very close, too close for my liking!
20th February 2009
Today was much quieter and we are still motoring with about 6- 8 knots of breeze behind us which means that we sit in the cockpit breathing in the exhaust fumes all day. There is no forecast of any reasonable wind in theforeseeable future so we will continue to motor.
We have had dolphins with us for the last couple of days. They have been very playful with great jumping displays. At night, we can see their jet trails of phosphorescence coming towards us from a long way off and then can watch their zig-zag path through the water. This evening, we also saw an ominous large pool of phosphorescence that glided about back and forth at a leisurely pace, sometimes under the boat and sometimes moving away 1-200 metres before coming back again. We hav no idea what it was since it never seemed to break the surface and create phosphorescent waves.
We have decided to make a stop in Aden to look at our engine problem. Yesterday, I had to switch fuel tanks and this meant that I had to shut off the engine and remove all the engine covers to get at the fuel taps. We usually put the gearbox in reverse when the engine is off but forgot on this occasion and so the shaft was turning when I performed the switch-over. As it did, I could see the engine nodding back and forth and therefore assume that the problem we are experiencing is due to the shaft and is probably only a matter of engine re-alignment. Anyway, I have decided that it is not wise to enter the Red Sea with engine issues since there is no support there whatsoever. We have therefore decided to run to Aden where I will have a go at fixing the problem and, if I fail, then I believe there is a Volvo Penta agent in Djibouti.
Aldora are also going into Aden for more fuel (although Zappler V have offered them as much as they could want) so the convoy disintegrates shortly - probably a relief to Zappler V who has been silently gagging to go faster. On my last Noon (GMT) report to UKMTO, I asked where the best place would be to exit the corridor if bound for Aden. They obviously read the e-mails since they replied that we should go to the very end. This does not make sense since, if we turn up towards Aden at 46 degrees East, if will half the time at sea than if we turn up at 45 degeres East. So, we will make our own passage plan based on advice to make best possible haste and reduce time spent in a risk area.
No other yachts seen to-date, most yachts have a passage plan to run one mile North of the Westbound lane so we would not see them from here. I think that the advice from UKMTO to run down the separation zone is much better since ships tend not to wander into it and it puts us smack-bang in the middle of the patrolled area.
Gulf Convoy on Radar
We had about 0.2 knot current in our favour for about 8 hours today but is has come back against us at almost half a knot again. We compare our log readings and they all concur so it is not just us who over-reads!
We turned for Aden just before 46 degrees East and had 60 miles to run. The wind picked up and we got every scrap of sail out to keep up with Aldora So, we got full main out, put up the cruising chute and, since the wind was a bit far behind to run it effectively, we poled out the headsail adjacent to it to funnel the wind into the luff. We were happy that there were not going to be any sudden gusts and we cruised at over 6 knots that way.
Full Sail
As the wind picked up, we put away the chute and turned the engine back on just to keep up with Aldora - we decided not to set the slowest pace. The wind picked up even more and we were doing a good 7 knots so we turned off the engine and still kept up with the 'fast' cat. Naz shows her colours once again - she's a wonderful girl.
Aden harbour at night is very confusing so we followed Aldora in. Unfortunately, they did not have a working stern light so we couldn't see them.
Adious Zappler 5 and Bon Voyage.
22st February 2009
This morning, we had to up the anchor because we were told that we were sitting over High Tension power cables. As we pulled the hook, we pulled a plastic sheathed cable up on the anchor and had to motor forward, hoist the anchor a bit more and free ourselves. No electric shocks thank goodness.
"Aldora" in Aden
The wind blew hard all day today, over 20 knots in the anchorage. Why couldn't it do that whilst we were at sea????? We are now anchored close to other boats and the harbour wall so I decided that I would do an engine service instead of looking at our problem since I did not want to be without a shaft just in case we dragged or needed to move. I found that we had been leaking oil from a loose filter and that we were just below min level......lucky we had not continued!!!
A number of yachties around here are well versed with engine alignment and I have had the offer of two torque wrenches and also offers of help. Nigel Calders book has three pages describing the technique of engine alignment plus diagrams and they are very understandable so I should have no problems sorting it out (if that is the problem). The chapter ends saying that it is a long, tedious and frustrating task so I am sure that the air will be blue by the time I have finished. The problem may have been caused by the loose bolt on the mount or may have been caused by settling of the rubber bearers themselves.
Fuel must be jerried from the fuel dock since you would not want to take the boat alongside. People who have done the run so far have come back with filthy dinghies, filthy jerry cans and dirty feet complaining about the requests for baksheesh.
However Aden looks quite interesting and we need to get out and have a look. However, today has gone, tomorrow is shaft alignment, the next day is fuel running and we only have three days here before we have to pay $65 each for a visa. Fliss might go out alone or with other yachties here and I will keep plugging away.
Aden Port
22nd February 2009
Happy Birthday Pete .............
I eventually got around to parting the shaft today and could see immediately that the alignment was wrong as a gap opened up at the top of the flanges. I could not quite poke my finger in and measured it at 33 thou instead of the max 4 thou. I unbolted all the mounting top-bolts and checked to see if that caused any of the botom ones to become loose - all ok there. Then I raised the front of the engine 16 flats of the nuts (although I raised the Starboard side more than the port side since it was the one that had been loose and seemed to have less resistance to turning. This brought the flanges into alignment but we had a misalignment side-to side. I went to the bolts that hold the mounts onto the bearers and found that the rearmost bolts had stripped the threads in the bearers and the sideways adjusting mount bolt was loose. I re-aligned side to side and took the stripped bolts out for treatment. The core of the bearers is foam and the bolts are threaded into 1cm of GRP only so I punched the foam away with screwdrivers and a pencil, filled with Expoy mixed with filler and screwed the bolts back in (without the washers) after I had treated them with special 'no stick' provided by Toboggan. I will extract the bolts later, put the washers back on and tighten them up.
The flanges of the gearbox and shaft are not the same diameter so it is difficult to do an actual engine position test but the shaft needed a bit of urging upwards to get the machined step to locate so I also dropped the engine 6 flats on each nut and that seemed to do the trick. I would much rather have the means to test this properly but there are other anomalies that prevent it. The shaft flange is either not circular or is not centred on the shaft properly,I believe that it is not circular (it is an unmachined casting) because the machined step seems ok. Also, there is about 2-3 thou runout on the flange face which is not truly perpendicular to the shaft but I have so far managed to get the whole flange within 4 thou which is tolerable.
In the meantime, John from Aldora delivered a bunch of jerry jugs full of diesel so I have been spilling that all over the deck and getting some in the tanks as well. Tomorrow, I have to continue the filling operation and then return his jerries full.
It's all go! Lucky fliss is away with people from two other boats doing the tourist thing so she is happy and I will be happy if she returns with some more ATF oil.
Fliss....
Poor old Pete really didn't have a nice birthday. This morning at 8am Keith from Kirsteen Jayne came over and said “Get your glad rags on your coming out with us for the day, we have no idea where we're going but we're going out” bless them I think they were rescuing me from sitting around the boat all day.
We went to a old fort that sits really high up with great views over Aden. The place itself is very barren with tall peaky mountains, the locals reckon next month the rains come so the 1500 year old water tanks (big holes in the ground) filter the water into the city. The markets are great, loads of stalls selling fab fruit & veg we went to the Grass market. The men chew lumps of this grass which looks like privet hedge leaves and get stoned. You see them sleeping it off on the pavements. At the Military Museum the Army Guard was stoned out of his face holding a AK47 machine gun, mad eh!
Grass Seller
Local Monument
Aden from the Fort
The Brits were here around 1940 and you can see it in the official buildings, apparently when they chucked us out the Russians walked straight in and invaded them. They said it was a much nicer place when the brits were here and the things worked.
We were taken to a Mosque and inside was a row of wooden tombs draped in satin. I asked guide who was in them and he said a prophet and his family dating back hundreds of years, he promptly called the caretaker over who opened the tomb up. The guide put his hand inside and scooped up some of the ashes, Pete from Purr and I cracked up laughing wondering whether or not it was an arm or a leg, bizarre.
Local Tombs
23rd February 2009
We prepared Naz for the journey into the dreaded Red Sea.
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