Safe at last!

We finally got to a point 100 miles north of Bab al Mandeb after making the passage on March 11 and then anchoring with the Vasco de Gama Rally (9 boats) behind the cape at Ras Terma. We took off Sat AM and made it to another safe but rolly anchorage south of Great Abail Island, with old cinder cone volcanos on it at

13 deg 52.84 min N and 41 deg 59.12 min E.

We plan to stay here 2 days and nights to avoid northern winds and also because I have a flu or some sort of respiratory infection and we both needed a break.

Our friends Eddie and K. P. on the yachts Chulupa and Joceba, came in to this anchorage last night. We parted with them 50 miles before the Red Sea opening, 3 days ago, because they wanted to go thru at night against the full tidal current we decided to transit Bab al Mandeb the next day. We are too old for that kind of rolling around into choppy swell ...but they made it fine and so did we.

We are very thankful to finally relax and only worry about weather and boat systems as usual. Now we will carefully watch the weather avoiding the northerlies until we get near Port Sudan, about half way to Suez. From there it's all northerlies and we just have to choose light blows to motor into. That's called using the "iron sail"!!!

Our 38th wedding anniversary is coming up March 23, and we plan to celebrate it in Egypt with a stainless steel polishing party (we hope we can find people to come).

more later and photos someday...who knows when we will have access to internet.

Lynn and Chuck in CYAN

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