EMYR 2011–Port said to Hezliya, Israel

It was supposed to be an orderly departure from the Arsenal Basin in Port Said, so that we could be escorted in single file out of the Suez Canal, but by the time 45 boats had upped anchor, sorted out the various crossed anchor chains, and tried to assemble in some sort of order, patience was starting to wear a little thin, and we just made a run for it. Dodging the ships and ferries was fun, but poor Brian and Carol from Endeavour broke down and ended up raising the sail and tacking out of the Suez Canal – not quite what the pilot had in mind, but we all survived.

This was to be the longest passage of the rally so far, and we had no set arrival time in Herzliya. Some boats decided to go for it and motor sailed all night, but we decided to preserve the precious cheap diesel we had bought in Egypt and sailed as much as we could. This meant that we were right at the back of the fleet arriving in Herzliya at about 4.30pm the next day, but this was fine as it was cooler out at sea. Herzliya marina had good berths for all of us, and is in a great location with a beach on one side and a modern shopping mall on the other. Next day we went to the mall (all the usual high street stores, but a bit pricey) and had lunch in one of the many cafes. In the evening was the final rally dinner preceded by group meetings and presentation of our rally plaques. Green group had had a whip round to by a gift for Renata and Werner from Tara Devi, who were our group leaders, and they seemed pleased with the compass and clock that we had bought them. The final dinner followed, which turned out to be canapés and a kebab, but we enjoyed ourselves and it was a good end to a great experience. We eventually got to bed very late after a very enjoyable post dinner party aboard Taralee.

Officially, the rally was over, and we were free to make our own decisions about when to leave. A few boats decided to take a tour into Jordan to see Petra and Wadi Rum, but we felt absolutely shattered and simply wanted to chill out for a few days before heading back towards Turkey. Next day we spent on the beach, and the following day we cleaned the boat and stocked up on some provisions. Justin managed to get a lift from one of the local yachties to the gas shop where he swapped a couple of very tatty Turkish gas cylinders for some spanking new Israeli ones! We left early in the morning, as soon as we were able to check out, and headed off the 210 miles to Northern Cyprus, arriving in Monastery Bay, the closest landfall by about 4.00pm the following day. We dropped the anchor and both dived in to the crystal clear waters for a welcome and refreshing swim – heavenly after 2 days and a night at sea!