Tunisia Oct 2012

Tuesday 3 October 2012

Our departure from Porto Corallo, Sardenia is delayed a day as we turn back in the face of fierce head winds and building sea state and spend another night in the marina.  Very early on Tuesday 2 October we get away and encounter a fresh breeze aft of the beam once clear of Sardenia.  

Capn Buck is not happy about turning around but the rain and wind follow us back in.

At 1530H Pippy is astonished as a whale pops up beside the boat, but by the time Richard has turned around to spot it, it is several hundred metres behind us.  Our boat speed at the time is around 9.5 knots.    Before daylight fades we cross the Traffic Separation Zone between Tunisia and Italy and do not encounter a lot of shipping, slipping through it easily and crossing to the southern side.   We are then able to make incremental course changes so that our heading backs around from too far south, to just the right lay as the westerly wind chases us into the Sicilian Channel.   On the 1100H to 1400H watch, Pippy looks out at a string of lights back on our port side, nose to tail ships, Piccadilly Circus in the middle of nowhere.  Its good that we are not trying to cross it here.

We are exhilarated, the boat is going so well and the sound of the water rushing past our clean, clean hull is a gentle mesmerizing swish. 

Our entry to Tunisia is uneventful after a truly cracking sail, effortlessly clocking speeds of 9 – 10.5 knots, we lose the wind and have to turn on the motor.  Dawn breaks as we round Cape Bon, and change course towards Hammamet.

The humidity starts to close in with the loss of the wind and we find ourselves motoring in flat calm conditions down the coast of Tunisia for 70 NM until we arrive in Port Yasmine, Hammamet. 

Kim and Duncan do a good job of organising our entry formalities

We have been well and truly schooled by other cruisers on what happens during this process and come bearing gifts of cigarettes and whisky, none of which turn out to be particularly interesting to the officials who process us.  It is important that we have our log book stamped so that SY Matelot is officially out of the EU, and we pay E10 for the pleasure.  Officials come on board which is a bit disconcerting, but we answer their questions and have our valuables well hidden.  We have been told horror stories about theft of wallets and flares happening during this process, but do not experience any of this.

Soon we are tucked up in a berth close in to the heart of the marina and life in Hammamet for us begins.  We do not realise it but we will be in residence for almost 3 weeks.  Our visas are issued for TND10 per week and renewed weekly.  We are made to feel very welcome in Tunisia despite having heard in advance that New Zealand citizens are not welcome there.  The marina is very well laid out and quite sophisticated, in total contrast to the town once we leave the gates behind us.    Internet is a bit difficult and intermittent but we manage to get on line a few times by using the wifi in a café nearby without making too much of a nuisance of ourselves. 

It is very warm so we get Matelot set up with sun covers
and side curtains over oursparkling dark blue topsides. 

Unfortunately after all the bending of doing this job Richard is again suffering debilitating back pain so Pippy takes a few excursions alone on the bus to the markets...

Yes I can see the head from the beast for the day  hanging outside with the dried chillies...

...and we set up medical and dental appointments to have ourselves checked out by the excellent doctors and dentist here. A week or so later we are all done but Richard’s X-ray comes back with a diagnosis of arthritis and he goes on to some pain meds which seem to help.  No long term solutions though.  -We can buy whatever medications we need over the counter here, so stock up the boat with antibiotics and anti-inflammatories.

Saturday 13 October

We are determined to do some sight-seeing while here and opt for a rental car at TND60 per day (NZD60).  We are given a map by Duncan and strictly instructed to stick to the tourist routes.  If we stray too close to the Algerian border the GPS is set to disable the engine in which case we are to call Duncan from our mobile phone and he will organise to get us going again.  The car duly arrives with enough fuel to get to the nearest petrol station, and once fuelled up, we are off, travelling south along very good roads, arriving in the town of El Jem around lunch time. 

The Archaeological site and mosaic museum are stunning.  The amphitheatre built in the early 3^rd century boasts a chequered history both as a games stadium and a fortress known as El Kahina’s Castle after the Berber heroine and princess who sustained a siege there and built a secret underground passage to the sea to acquire provisions. 






We are not able to gain access to the many underground passages but wander around the huge ramparts (known as cavea) then move on the stunning Mosaic Museum to view an exceptional display of intricate 3^rd century mosaics. 

Time is short and we must get to our hotel at Matmata before dark or we may not find it!  On we go, passing through Sfax on the coast, Gabes, then to our hotel in Matmata - 500 kms in total for our first day.  

We discover fairly quickly that we have to slow down for the speed bumps which come without warning signs in the small towns we pass through.  They are obviously put in place by the locals as they are all different in construction and size and very risky to go over at speed. 

We stop to buy fruit

  

We are 130 kms from the Libyan border and drive past hundreds of roadside stalls selling black market petrol in dodgy looking cans with a hose coming out the bottom. 

Place names begin to resemble language of the Star Wars movie, filmed in these parts, Medenine, Tataouine  and Chenini.  Tomorrow we will visit Luke Skywalker’s house.   Our hotel at Matmata is very comfortable, but appears to be almost empty of guests.  The tourist season is over for the year.  

The next morning we decline the guide and find our own way easily by accident, to the film set for Luke Skywalker’s house which is now a hotel.  It is fun to visit but we are glad we are not staying there thanks. 

Richard feels right at home in Luke Skywalker's living room.

The film set is now a working hotel

Our other special treat for this day is to visit some of the ancient grain stores called Ksars which resemble fantasy buildings from a child’s fairy story.  They are fascinating to visit and are randomly distributed around the countryside.

We stop to explore at Ksar Ouled Soltane and Ksar Ezzalraji, before driving on towards our planned destination for the night, an oasis on the edge of the Sahara, called Ksar Ghilane, now realising that it is a long way (back past our hotel from last night in a huge loop) ....and we are not going to make it before dark. 

But wait a moment… there is another road which cuts across the deserted scrubby land and will get us there faster.  

Spectacular landscape close to northern Sahara

The map says it is tar sealed all the way and we bowl along feeling very positive now.  Suddenly around a corner the road stops and stretching in front of us is a dirt track. 

It is now getting dark and we have no option but to turn around. Obviously we are not going to make it to our planned hotel and we search along the way for somewhere to stop for the night.  

The dusty little villages do not inspire us to stop and enquire and the one hotel we find is shuttered and closed. 

Fortunately we have our GPS and are able to head in our chosen direction despite not having detailed maps loaded, because by now we are sure we are lost.  

Pippy’s bright idea to take a short cut has landed us in a sticky situation.  It takes what seems like hours winding our way in the darkness, but we spot the main road and lights of a town and arrive back at Matmata for a second night, just in time for dinner.  Phew!

Dust and rain at the same time!

Cafe L'erg has seen better days!

The next day we drive 70km south down the ‘pipeline road’ towards Ksar Ghilane, arriving around 11am to be met by Bashir on a quad bike who guides us into the Oasis, which is rather necessary as visibility is very poor.  We are in the middle of a sandstorm.  Now Pippy would be quite happy to wear a Birka.  It would keep out the sand, heat and flies very nicely thank you.  

Bashir shows us the way in....

We are invited to swim in the Oasis (no thanks)


...  invited to (TND/NZD80) sleep in a Berber tent (eeeewwww!   Looks like the scorpions will be able to crawl up the walls and into bed with us)

and enjoy a rather nice lunch which is also rather expensive,, and accept the offer of quad bike ride in the sand dunes which is great fun despite the howling wind. 

The accommodation is not quite to our taste so we gently extract ourselves, drive back up the pipeline road then turn westwards to a very interesting small town called Douz, finding a room at Hotel 20 March for 20TND including breakfast.  

We are quite close to the main square of the town and walk out to find a place to eat.  There are men everywhere, but no women or children, no spontaneity or laughter.  They sit outside cafes drinking tea and stare at us as we walk by.  The atmosphere is friendly, but the energy is heavy.  On the way we stop to chat to shopkeepers offering tourist goods who astonish us with their multilingual skills and obvious intelligence and education.  They are lovely to talk to and they direct us to a café where we are able to order a delicious meal for a very reasonable price.  The next morning we return to the square and purchase a few small items before moving on.

Tuesday 16 October.

Amazing colour and texture...

Our journey today takes us 94km across the fascinating salt pans of Chott El Jerid and Chott El Fejej.  We come within 120 km of the Algerian border before turning north then past many date plantations

These large bunches of dates are 1Euro a kilo...This tiny gracious lady helps Pippy to choose.

... through Metlaoui and Gafsa towards Kairouan the city of Mosques where we plan to stop and explore.   Cap’n Buck puts his foot down but it is 450 km just to Kairouan and by the time we arrive, we are both hungry and exhausted with still another 100 km to drive.  The city is clamouring, busy and dusty and we have no idea where the centre of town is, so we just follow the sign posts north.  We are satiated and want to go home to SY Matelot.  This amazing city will have to be a project we do another time hopefully.  There is so much more to see in Tunisia, but we have done well for now and have had a very good experience of this country and its people.

It will be Sunday 21 October before a suitable weather window for our passage back to Marina di Ragusa presents itself.   

Pippy has a lovely time until departure, stocking up on sesame sweets, canned tuna, pickled lemons, massive turkey breast for TND3 which we have on board stuffed with dates, and a Tunisian lamb meal.  We take 3 hourly watches and our 31 hour passage seems to fly by unfortunately motoring for 17 hours. 

This little passenger joins us along the way...

We arrive to a lovely welcoming party at 1700H on Monday 22 Oct and feel we have definitely arrived home for the winter.

Splash! Arbatax

We are now back in the water (splashed yesterday Friday 28 September 1000H) and provisioned almost ready to depart Arbatax for our final cruise south and East taking in Tunisia and Malta on the way back to Marina di Ragusa.  The weather window does not look great today so we will probably put off our departure and spend the day on last minute jobs before we depart.  There are a couple of meals to make up and we have to do our passage plan etc etc.  Also, we are feeling a bit like having a relaxing day today.

Our launch on Friday morning went very well.  We both agree this was our best launch experience ever....

We hear the crane fire up at 10 am sharp and see the great blue monster coming our way.  

The straps Matelot is to hang in are wrapped carefully in plastic and masking tape (that's a first!) by Francesco then carefully manouvered into place. 

Matelot is gently lifted off her supports.  Willing hands from Francesco, Nando and Luciano with Klaus standing by just in case, rush around assisting in the clean up of the bare patches under the supports and underneath the keel.  The roller, dripping with antifoul paint is taken from Pippy's hands (no Senora!) and expertly all of the bare patches are soon painted over.  

Matelot drying off in the slings

Before we know it SY Matelot is on her way across the short strip of land and being manouvered into place above the water.  But wait!  The crane driver climbs down and tells us we have 'mezzo ore' (half an hour) for the paint to dry a little in the sun.  

So off we go for a coffee at the cafe just close by where we can sit and keep an eye out for the crane driver to return. 

Just by chance, a Guardia Costiera guy walks into the cafe. Pippy recognises the insignia on his shirt and initiates a conversation.  "We have heard that we can check out of Italy here ... is it true?"  Yes he tells us, but the office is closing at 1200 sharp, so you have to come now.  It is already after 1100H and we are being told to go back to the boat now - she is being launched.  We are back on board and the noise of the crane blocks out everything... down we go and suddenly we are floating again and the Guardia Costiera is still calling out to Richard from the land... hurry up he says!!   We glide smoothly out of the dock and its a frantic rush to get fenders over the side ready to reverse into our marina slot. 

Within minutes we are in, tied up and engine still running, Richard grabs all our ships papers, passports etc and heads off leaving Pippy to sort the boat and follow on.  Its a short walk across the railway lines to the GC Office where we proceed to work through all the official requirements. We get the impression they have not checked out a small private boat like ours here before, but they are charming and patient with us. More than an hour later, everyone well ready to stop for lunch, we are stamped and officially leaving Italy on Sunday.  We have paid E31 to the post office across the Piazza and brought the receipt back to the Guardia Costiera.  Done and dusted.

After this marathon session we must go back to say thanks to the guys in the boat yard. They are awesome.  Suddenly we are invited to lunch with them.  We join them in their container shed lunch room for pasta and a huge pot full of pasta sauce made with massive cray fish floating in it whole!!  It is delicious washed down with locally made (by Luciano) red wine and lots of toasts and laughter!   Then just to finish off we snack on a selection of prawn, baby octopus and small fish.  

Finally, when we think we are walking back to our boat by now abandoned on the marina pontoon, we find ourselves being driven off to the local cafe in their cars for a coffee, gelato and grappa.  

WHEW!!  What hospitality and what fun!  The busy day ends with the sun going down and the same bunch of guys on our boat having...yes you guessed it, more grappa!!

Considering most of them do not speak much English and we only have a small amount of Italian, we have managed to communicate very well.  

Matelot bobs gently on her mooring lines.  She is covered in dust on top, but the waterline is 'sharp man!'

Hauled out in Arbatax

Matelot in the middle taken from the Marina Restaurant

Friday 6 September 2012

The level of vibration from the rudder noticeable when sitting in various parts of the boat, is very obvious once we leave Bonifaco and although we are enjoying a relaxed and lovely sail, it is sufficient for Richard to make the decision to haul out at the first reasonable opportunity and have the bearings checked.  We do not believe it would be wise to continue with our planned passage to Tunisia at this stage.  

Richard cooling off - rocky coast Sardinia

The cruisers network is put to work and phone calls are made by our friend Jayne in Gaeta.  She has tracked down a yard in Arbatax who have a good reputation and will let us work on our own boat.  (Very rare in Italy) 

The figs taste sooo good!

The pilot book has lots of info on Arbatax as well and it looks good so we head south in a relaxed manner with stopovers at Cala de Volpe on the Costa Smeralda (far nicer than Porto Cervo), then Brindinghi south of Olbia and Santa Maria Navaresse - Baunei for the weekend, just across the bay from Arbatax where we head for on Monday morning. 

Guiseppe, Richard and Pippy in Navaresse

Our interlude at Santa Maria Navaresse is a pleasant one where we take a Sunday walk along the rugged cliffs, climb down and swim in the rock pools, steal figs over a fence, and spend a very pleasant evening with Guiseppe from Cagliari when he invites us on board to share a pasta meal with himself and son and nephew.

A well earned rest and swim in between work

Our haulout of scheduled for Tuesday 8 September.  Bring it on.  It will cost us Euro 850 plus additional expenses for cradle and staying on the land, but we realise that it is inevitable.  

The yard is close to the marina and great bathroom facilities and this is important when you are filthy from head to toe.  

The shops are a short walk across the railway lines near by and provisions are excellent.  

There is a lovely beach not far from here where we enjoy a cooling afternoon swim on a hot Sunday.

The rudder is dropped out on the day we haul out and it is immediately evident that the bottom bearing has broken away from its bonding.  The top bearing is fine.  It will be a matter of cleaning up the shaft and rebonding the bottom bearing back in place.   The rudder is carted away to the well appointed workshop and disappears for the next few days.  In the meantime, we are very sure that the damage is a result of the propeller hitting the rudder when it came off.

We set about cleaning off the old antifoul and preparing ourselves for some hard yakka.  Richard goes at it a little too hard on day one and puts his back out.  He is in agony.  Pippy administers anti-inflammatories and insists on total rest.  By the next day he can get up and walk so we jump a bus to the Tourist Medicine Clinic around 4 km away in the nearby town of Tortoli.  Richard is so lucky he is able to see a Orthopaedic Specialist who ups the dose of the anti-inflammatory and prescribes total rest for one week.  

/Guess who?

Pippy and Francesco

Life on board continues and Pippy chips away under the boat while Richard deals with the total frustration of not being able to do anything for a few days. Francesco provides jokes and support.

We are using plastic plates and knives and forks so we can keep the washing up to a minimum on board until one day Richard enjoys his dinner a little too much only to find half a  prong from the plastic fork missing... woops it must have gone down the hatch too!!  That's the end of that idea but we keep the plastic plates and its great to throw them away after a meal.

Francesco re-installs the rudder

Richard is feeling better and fellow cruiser Klaus prescribes some sensible exercises which he does regularly... most of the time.  He is back on the job and we both end each day weary but with a little more done.


Soon the rudder is returned to us all repaired and goes in like a dream.  We have been very lucky with the standard of work here. 



Monday 24 September

We will have been here two weeks tomorrow and today started like a normal day.  We are both working hard on the finishing touches to the topsides gel coat as Matelot gets her once a year thorough going over. The antifoul is all complete.  

Richard is on starboard polishing the blue, Pippy working on the white stripe port side.  Its like pushing a log uphill now as we are both so tired and just want to get the boat back in the water. 

Now - did I miss anything?

Our man Francesco

Francesco is known for his skill with gelcoat and fibreglass repairs and maintenance.  

He is the master and just at the right moment when we don't think we will ever get it done, lends a hand with the topsides polishing.  Francesco you are awesome.... 

The huge fishing boat which was right behind us has been put back in the water today and another one ten times as dirty has been put in its place.  The noise of the travel lift as it moves the boats around is deafening and impossible to talk over the top of.  We shout and make sign language to each other.

Storm brewing

Its now 1550H and the wind is howling - a gale from the south and west - it keeps on swinging around, but that puts us in the firing line for all the spray and we can hear the water blaster at work as Pippy writes.  Richard gets some help and we have some additonal supports put under the boat as we are wobbling around a bit up here.

Dust storm over Arbatax Marina

Suddenly the air is hot and thick with swirling red dust. Everyone runs for cover.   We hear later that this wind is called the Libeccio (le bitch!).  We cannot go outside without getting covered in it.  We have all the hatches firmly closed but its still pretty gritty inside.  The cockpit is a jumble of items which have been hurled by the wind from the gunnels and rails to the floor of the cockpit, where they lie in piles of dust.   That is those things which have not disappeared over the side.  Later on Richard has to retrieve Pippy's shoes from half way along the yard.

The view from our cockpit

The sea state in the harbour is almost untenable.  There have been two yachts running for cover into here in the past hour.  One of them ended up tangled in the front of two moored boats quite a distance from where he was planning to go.  The other one abandoned going stern-to and went in fast - bows first, well heeled over by the wind.

What happened to our tranquil happy boat yard where we were pottering away on SY Matelot and getting her ready for another year?  Hopefully all will return to normal tomorrow, but for today, we think we will retire and forget the outside work.

Cinque Terre

Friday 17 August


Departing the Arno River at 1130H we cannot believe our luck after motoring for a while to find we are having yet another gorgeous sail for part of the 32 NM to Le Grazie anchorage near to La Spezia.  

The boat is so well balanced that for one hour and twenty minutes we sail on the wind in very flat calm seas and light breezes 15-18 knots with no hands on the wheel.  Yes SY Matelot sails herself in these conditions and by 1800 we are dropping the anchor in the muddy bottom of Le Grazie anchorage.  

Our investigations ashore soon reveal that all the boat trips are quite expensive but we can catch the train to the Cinque Terre from La Spezia and there is a bus from nearby which will take us there.

Porto Venere over the hill from here is a cute little touristy town which we enjoy visiting.  Its hot and sticky though - very very hot.

Its a relief after a while to jump on the bus and ride back to the boat for a refreshing swim.

The next morning we are out of bed at 6 am, lunches made and ashore waiting for the bus shortly after 7am.  It does not come for quite a while so obviously the timetable does not apply.  but we eventually find ourselves on the 0830 train from La Spezia which travels mostly under tunnels through the hills to the coast where we get a glimpse of each of the five villages and the rugged coastline as we pass through them before diving back underground again and on to the next one.   

Finally we alight at Monterosso al Mare.  We plan to walk the 3km to Vernazza, the longest distance between the villages so after a quick explore of this little village, off we go.

It is the longest climb uphill past the beach umbrellas and the sensible people already cooling off in the crystal clear waters.  

We feel fit and ready for anything, but we have to push hard to make the running up and over the vertical cliff faces and yet further upwards past vineyards planted on the mountain side. 

The views are spectacular as around each corner and over each rise a new vista unfolds for us.  Looking back at Monterosso we can see how far we have climbed already and we have only just started.



 We arrive gasping into Vernazza and throw ourselves off the pier along with hundreds of others, then douse ourselves with a hose of fresh water afterwards.

A sweet fresh peach goes down a treat

Damage from the flooding of last winter is very evident in places.


The track to the next village of Corniglia is closed due to flooding and this is all the excuse we need to catch the train.  We are tired and now it is really hot.  

Swimmers fall into the sea to cool off

Earlier we were walking in the shade but now the sun is beating down on the walking tracks and we elect to go by train now, throwing ourselves into the sea at every opportunity.

 A fresh water hose is the most popular item at this swimming point.

That's Richard just climbing out of the sea at the end of the jetty.

Disaster strikes when Richard realises that he has been pick pocketed on the train and our telephone is stolen.  Fortunately they do not get his wallet - or Pippy's.  

This takes the shine off the day a little though and combined with heat exhaustion, we drift through the lovely village of Manarola, missing Riomaggiore altogether because the train stops in the tunnel and we do not realise we should get off.



Its been a fabulous day and we arrive back on the boat absolutely satisfied that we have been to the Cinque Terre.  What great memories we will have of this day.

Monday 20 August

We make a hasty exit from Le Grazia because Pippy takes the stolen sim card details to the Tabbachi ashore and attempts to cancel it, but the shop keeper misunderstands what she wants, grabs the card from her and promptly rings up more credit on the phone then demands she pay 10 Euro.  She says 'no I did not ask you to do that', horrified that yesterday's robber now has an additional bonus on the phone.

He blocks her exit from the store and says 'pay up'.  He pushes Pippy around, she pushes back and says 'get out of my way...please' then walks away down the street with him yelling obscenities at her and everyone staring.  

She calmly walks back to the dinghy (heart pounding), jumps in and guns it (backwards at first by mistake!), then in the right direction back to the boat.  

Following on from which we have an impromptu but wonderful afternoon and overnight passage to Elba where we are currently anchored...whew.  The cruising life is not dull!