If you take the story along the way, Marc is a sailor who has set himself the goal of linking India with his First Class 8. This small yacht designed to race in the bay with a crew around 3 buoys is not really designed for ocean sailing. After his preparations and a first descent of the Mediterranean Sea Marc has joins Greece and Crete .
Spare parts that don't arrive
We left Marc in Crete. He arrived in Chania with a broken autopilot. So he stayed in this port for 15 days hoping for a spare part to be sent. Everything was going well: Raymarine's after-sales service reacted very quickly, working with the dealer in Marseille. Then the parts were sent via UPS to Greece. Unfortunately, a grain of sand got in the way and the package got stuck in Athens... Despite Marc's urgent and insistent requests to UPS, the package was finally sent back to its sender in France. And Marc was left without a pilot.
A fibrous repair adhesive
This is the piece at the end of the jack that holds the lug of the broken pilot's foot. If the jack is made of metal, this part is made of plastic. So Marc took out the resin and fibre and repaired this part as best he could. Not touching the metal part of the jack, he always keeps the possibility to screw a new part... if it arrives.
Very favourable weather
It was therefore with this handcrafted pilot, in whom he has full confidence, that Marc set sail on Friday 11th September 2020. The weather window promises him 15 days of light downwind sailing (15 to 20 knots) and some fine seas. That should allow him to look forward serenely to the 500 miles to be covered to reach Port Said in Egypt, the entrance to the Suez Canal.
The genoa used as a gennaker
Downwind, Marc is using his big genoa. But rather than bridle it with a sheet on the rail, he uses it as a gennaker by adding a sheet that is picked up at the very back on the spinnaker blocks. The clew goes higher and the genoa does not deflate. If necessary, a barber comes to limit the movements a little. All the more so as Marc is fully lowering the mainsail. Once the boom is free, he can even rig a sun canopy, which is very useful at the end of the summer in this eastern part of the Mediterranean.
Thus, the First Class 8 is sailing 100 miles per 24 hours on the log. All this without tiring out her crew, who can let themselves be carried along at this very comfortable pace. With this idyllic weather, this route will be completed in six days and it was on the morning of Thursday 17th September that Marc pointed his bow ahead of Port Said.
Very dense traffic in front of the canal entrance
But before crossing the piers, the last day was a bit of a struggle. Indeed, the commercial traffic concentrated at the entrance to the Suez Canal demanded his full attention. One eye on the AIS, the other on the map, Marc tried to understand which routes the cargo ships were taking, wishing to avoid them as much as possible. So he came very close to the coast, where the probes are less than 15 m, areas that tankers naturally avoid.
After a night in the cape to rest and arrive fresh in the morning, she presented herself, like a super tanker, announcing herself on the VHF at the entrance to the port. A pilot boat immediately came to meet him and guided him to a private "marina". In the shelter, he could rest, enjoy the fresh water shower (" 1st shower and shaving with something other than sea water since July 11th in Les Saintes Maries de la Mer, it feels good! ") Even if he adds: " The mooring of pleasure yachts is not that yet. Between the tide and the waves of tankers and harbour pilots, the hulls of sailing yachts are not sheltered when moored along a concrete quay. For my 1983 Class 8 I have to watch the mooring at all times. But I wouldn't put a nice new unit there!" Even if he adds, "The marina, which is being rebuilt, is 100% open to canal traffic 24 hours a day. But what they are doing in the reconstruction is really nice. I honestly expected worse. The whole marina is being rebuilt, some marble areas are beautiful and there are toilets and showers. It's going to be great once it's finished. And administratively they're on top of it. "
In transit Marc is not allowed to leave the marina. No touristic visit is planned, but an administrative route (agent, police, customs, doctor...) to be in order before going into the canal..
