Thursday was a real mix of days. Horrendously bumpy for the first part, but then hopes raised higher and higher as the wind dropped back and we started to make real progress. At the end of it, we were motoring along at over 20 knots, and whilst we've made up some lost time, we still have a way to go.
Our arrival in Jeddah is just before nine in the evening local time. The approach itself is spectacular, with an illuminated water fountain jetting a spray of light 200 metres into the night sky. After some initial confusion with the port control, who thought we were a large ship, and couldn't believe we'd made it all the way to the harbour entrance without being spotted, we tie up.
Almost immediately the boat is searched thoroughly from top to bottom by port police. They're looking of course for illegal alcohol, and, er, magazines of a certain dubious nature. They find neither. Hamed, our shipping agent arrives, and immediately we start to feel rather more welcome.
When I mention my desperate need for a cup of proper tea, Hamed makes a call on his mobile phone, and before we know it, cups of steaming hot tea appear. He brings out a typical Saudi mat, removes his sandals to sit down, and invites us to do the same. So we talk about pressing issues of the day. And just as we found in Egypt, the bottom line is that ordinary people want to live ordinary lives, and that nobody wants to shoot at anyone else.
Then, as if by magic, several chicken and chip meals appear. The whole episode by now has taken on a vaguely surreal tone - sitting on a picnic mat on a dockside at midnight, tucking into Jeddah's equivalent of a KFC meal.
Unfortunately, photography in the port area is banned, so words alone will have to paint the picture. Then just after midnight, we're off again, this time with Aden in our sights.
Clive Tully
FACTBOX:
Port Said - Jeddah
Time of leg: 3 days 12 hours 6 minutes
Distance covered: 791.8 nautical miles
Average speed: 9.4 knots
Fuel consumed: 1427.4 litres
Average fuel consumption: 1.8 litres / nautical mile
Next stop: Aden, Yemen
ETA: sometime Saturday
Copyright Clive Tully ©2002
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