As we left Maldives we soon got some wind we could finally use. Although direction was wrong we just had to in order to save fuel, so we headed on a SW'ly course and during following days sometimes with engines on, or engines off, depending how hard it blew. At best we did 8kts on average on a stretch of 6hrs.
Sunrise
Sunset
But we kept going more South and I grew worried about getting up North, on the 9th and 10th we started coming across local thunder squalls that gave us problems, at first we could just sail around these small systems but they kept getting larger, one time our 2nd reef rope was cut by a strong gust. On the morning 10th I battled with getting the rope through the mast boom and eventually managed to fix it with a guide line after the also the 1st reef was severed. Later in the afternoon we passed close to a huge thunderstorm where lightning went off continuously, eventually we were swallowed inside the cloud and lightning struck very close to the boat as I could feel hairs on my arms getting electrified, wind came up to 30kts and above & kept veering to directions related to the depression centre. After a loud bang our electronics started warbling and we switched them off.
Sunset
Then I continued steering by hand until we were out of the cloud and switched on the instruments and they luckily came on, unfortunately the autopilot did not work as well as the AIS appeared fried. Then after a few minutes of tinkering we discovered that the autopilot in the saloon was working but the plug upstairs (where you could move the autopilot to) was not. Luckily for us there was not a soul or any land close by so we ran no risk in colliding with anyone. Suddenly around midnight the better autopilot on the fly bridge decided to start working and the saloon one stopped. I suspect that perhaps some capacitor had gotten overcharged with the lightning we experienced in the afternoon and it had discharged by midnight so much that the autopilot started working again.
We had for 24h a stowaway that was not very discreet about it, sat on this spot for a day, shat and left. Note the horizon which is showing our rolling and pitching we experienced at the time.
Sunset
After getting to almost the same latitude as Male' I tacked and turned towards North and we sailed as much upwind as I could. I also tried one time for doing a westerly tack and then northerly, the effective speed came out to about 2kts so I scrapped that idea and continued NNE towards the Arabian peninsula. As we got closer the winds came up to 30-35kts, we reefed down to 3 and the going got pretty rough but we still maintained a pretty good average. Then on 17th May late in evening we hit the Omani coast at Bandar Qinqari, a bit E of Al Salalah, we turned the course along the coast but had to motor once again as the wind direction was not conducive to sailing.
Yemeni fishermen
The next day we encountered Yemeni fishermen, true to their nature they made signs that they're thisty but I had nothing to give to them. They circled us for awhile and one guy shouted "American?", I replied "No!". They sped off and I suppose with the language barrier it prevented any further exchanges so they went fishing. The next day they were back or it was another lot of fishermen but they fared none the better in communication. On we went and passed Al Mukalla and Aden without further ado or any company except the ever present dolphins. On 20th May we filled all spare fuel cans into the fuel tank, the gauges settled on roughly 3/4 again. As the day went on we came across a huge whale breaching, the tail lazily flapping and the huge carcass more or less submerged. On the 23rd we were clear of Yemen and crossed the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb where we encountered few large cargo ships.
Yemeni fishermen
Yemeni fishermen
Wooden freighter, in ballast
Whale breaching
We had dead calm weather all day with old swell rolling easily South. Then at sunset the wind came up from calm to 35kts in the space of one hour and the waves built up to 3m monstrosities that rolled onto us from the side. Fanny kept upright and rode all the waves with aplomb but many the crest banged in between the hulls so everything shook. We didn't have to endure this for many hours as we made 5kts on engines and in the wee hours we got clear of the strait and into the Gulf of Tadjoura and the seas came down once again.
One of the behemoths of the seas in Strait of Bab el Mandeb
Anchored off Djibouti
Then early morning of 24th May we anchored off the main port of Djibouti as per instructions of the Agent, the port control would not reply us on VHF. As we started to relax and prepare for going ashore and doing paperwork and then Djibouti coast guard came by and spoke to us in French, the only thing I could understand that "this is not an anchorage, follow us". So we did. We heaved up anchor and puttered more into the bay towards the "Djibouti yacht club" as it was marked on the maps. We anchored in maybe 5m depth almost in the middle of the commercial port basin and yacht club. We had clocked this time 2262' in 402.2 hours giving us an average of 5.6kts. Since Phuket we had sailed 4238'.
Japanese warship alongside
Wooden freighters at anchor
As we waited for more things to happen the Agent Hassan appeared on a rented boat and brought some beers and snacks as a welcome. I dealt with the port papers with him and he said we would not be able to go ashore before tomorrow as they took PCR swabs and the result would only then be apparent. True to African nature, TIA, later in the afternoon we took our dinghy ashore in the marina and went to he local mall where we gorged us out on take away Lebanese cuisine and ice cream. It was very quiet as the Gov't was till enforcing Covid rules.
More wooden freighters
The port did seem pretty busy, especially with wooden freighters doing local trade I assume. Some years before I had seen same kind of ships loading cargo in Dubai creek for Iran. They're still built in Gujarat, India. Cargo is all hand stowed, televisions, washing machines etc. It gave an old world feeling from the sail ship era when the Captain decided on the cargo and made the deals.
Djibouti marina
The next day we all had cleared the Covid test and had to appear in person for the immigration. The big boss in charge beckoned us into his inner sanctum where he sat behind a big table piled high with papers. Eventually we took a group photo with him and then we got big stamps and a visa glued into our passports.
At Immigration with the Police chief
Djibouti motorbike bling
The Djibouti marina looked more like a fishing port than a marina. Very few leisure boats were about and I'm not sure how safe it would be with going stern-to in the jumble of boats there. Every evening and morning there was a hustle of them going in and out for fishing and tourist tours. The first time we took our dinghy ashore I was approached by a lady dressed in Indian fashion asking me if we're ok. I said yes we are and she left. Later on it appeared she was some kind of "marina manager", funny she could not introduce herself then. Few days later she appeared on a boat after dark and demanded hundreds of dollars for using their jetty as landing area. I told her to get stuffed as I still did not know who she was. The marina did not have much going for them, there was one cafe' where the patrons looked to be out on khat, picking and chewing leaves from a plate having a few branches of the bush on it. Our agent was also better in mornings as in the evening beer and khat entered the equation.
Djiboutians
Around the marina there were a few husks of ships/ boats still floating around or steady aground. One sailing boat with sails picked off by birds and the lazybag charred by the relentless sun into tatters. An old Greek or Cypriotic oil or water barge aground. Another old fishing boat with a heavy list added to the misery. There was also a very fast looking trimaran that according to our Agent had been approached by Yemeni (pirates?) and had been shot at just a month ago near the Hanish Islands. They had managed to return to Djibouti and Owners appears to have flown back instead.
Khat vendors
Khat vendors
Djibouti marina
Old grounded water tanker
Old grounded water tanker
Old grounded water tanker "Prometheus NP3205", I am assuming last flag was Greek, the N "P" on the stern denotes "Pireaus". Originally she was built in 1942 at Pusnes Mek. Verksted, Arendal, Norway (Hull No. 58)
Old listing Japanese (?) fishing vessel
Wooden freighters
Wooden freighters
Wooden freighters
Wooden freighters
On our 2nd evening the Agent invited us for dinner to a local restaurant and we had some Ethiopian beer to start and then a communal dish with Ethiopian sourmilk breads or something like that. Very good taste though. Next morning I was own with gastroenteritis and totally out either on the bed or on the toilet. The agent had arranged for fuelling as requested and luckily Enok was not affected so she managed the bunkering like a pro. We did not go ashore after that for meals, only for provisions. Few days later it was Enok's turn to be sick as he Asian guts succumbed to the African bacteria, a week later the Owner was the same. It was some stomach bug...
Wooden freighters
Wooden freighters
Coast guard
Ethiopian dinner
Coptic church
Downtown Djibouti
Going downtown Djibouti it didn't seem like they got much going on for them as the streets looked more like in the movie "Black hawk down". The mall next to the marina was much more high end than the actual downtown. The commercial port is not much better, caked in centuries of coal dust and whatnot it was impossible to walk there without getting dirty. Our dinghy had turned black in these days from peoples flip flops and the environment.
Downtown Djibouti
Cargoship alongside
Wooden freighters
Then suddenly we realised we had spent 5 days in Djibouti and so we decided to continue. I arranged port clearance with Agent but as it was weekend there was only one Immigration Officer on duty so I was told better to return early in the morning when he would be back. I was outside the door around 6'ish and the door was locked but luckily to me some office ladies disembarked from a bus and knocked on the door and it turned out the officer was fast asleep inside. He awoke and saw me, beckoned me inside, stamped our passports and so we were free to go with a port clearance.
Wooden freighter
We set off to what was possibly the riskiest leg of our journey considering the unrest in Yemen and the incident with the trimaran. I decided to hug the Eritrean coast to get shelter from their Islands and the Yemeni (pirates?) so we would not end up in tears. Soon we passed the "Moucha Islands" off Djibouti and we headed for Bab-el-Mandeb (translated it means: "The gate of tears") in a good stern wind for a change.
Djibouti N coast, Ras Bir lighthouse
But first things first, after having cleared the Moucha islands I set to brushing off the dinghy and with a little dishwashing liquid and plenty of saltwater the original colour came out and it looked as good as new.
Djibouti N coast
The next part of the journey: Djibouti to Sawakin
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