Today is
Monday, March 28th.
Yesterday, Easter, we were in Petra, Jordan, and I’ll write about our
visit to that remarkable site later on in the week.
Today,
however, we’re back at sea and it is a wonderful day. It’s also the first day, in a very long while,
that I’m actually able to sit out on our balcony. Since we left Honolulu, probably two months
ago, I have been unable to do so because of the humidity. But today is absolutely gorgeous.
As I’m sitting
on our balcony, Egypt is right in front of me.
While I look
at our world map in our room, I’m amazed at how many countries we have sailed
near since we left Mumbai, India. Of
course, we’re all familiar with the “Middle East” but I never thought I’d be
sailing so close to so many of these countries:
Pakistan, Iran, Oman, Yemen, Somalia, Djbouti, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia,
Sudan and Egypt.
Even more
terrific was yesterday when we were docked in Aqaba, Jordan, and just across
from the harbor was Israel, and beyond Israel, we could see Egypt. If we were standing in another section of
Aqaba, we were told we could actually see Saudi Arabia as well.
Our
navigation report this morning states the following:
“After our department
from Aqaba, during the night we will transit through the Strait of Tiran on a
southerly direction. In the morning, we
will alter to a westerly course approaching the Strait of Jubal and the Gulf of
Suez where we will stern on a north-westerly course between the Sinai Peninsula
on our starboard side and the Egyptian coast on our portside, navigating
through the traffic separation scheme, towards the Suez. The northern end of the Red Sea bifurcates
into the Sinai Peninsula, creating the Gulf of Suez in the west and the Gulf of
Aqaba to the east. The length of the
gulf, from its mouth at the Strait of Jubal to its head at the city of Suez, is
195 miles and it varies in width from 12 to 20 miles.”
At some
point tomorrow, we will be sailing through the Suez Canal.
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