Aden Harbor
On Thursday, March 3, Cyan entered Aden harbor, Yemen, just before dawn. A rally of boats that had come in just before us and we, three boats with tired and stressed crew, had to anchor in the dark while dodging boats, platforms, and huge moorings. We got to sleep at 6:30 a.m. So here we are right in the middle of the Yemeni revolution, and even hearing gunfire at night, but still we feel safer than on the pirate-infested sea. When we went food shopping yesterday, our taxi driver told us he was part of the protest and carried the flag in some parade. By the way, the supermarket was such a joy—the best since Australia, and better than Singapore because it is so much cheaper. Reminded me of my beloved Kroger! Or Ralph’s in L.A.! They did have incense burning, whole skinned lambs hanging up and five kinds of feta cheese—a little different.
We went to dinner with the crews of Chulupa, Koi, and KP. We all celebrated our safety but mourned the sad loss of Quest and worried about getting news of ING and another vessel that is rumored to have been taken.
About the photos…one shows our route across the Indian Ocean where each diamond is 24 hours. The triangles show the high danger zone rectangle—we went just SW of it. The skull is where Quest was captured and the ‘!’ is where ING was taken—right on our path just a few days later. The photo with the arrowheads shows how we see ships with the AIS on our chart plotter screen; they are in a close convoy, often with a military escort. The wordage photo shows the kind of info we get on the ships—and as we come to the Suez we will be in company with many. The big ships are usually so nice to talk to on the radio.
The other shows Aden harbor. Some fishing vessels look like what I imagined the Apostles fished from 2,000 years ago only without the Yamaha! The hillside buildings look as they did 1,000 years ago and it is all quite interesting. The folks are friendly and welcoming here. Most of the women are completely covered in black with just eyes showing and on the day of worship, Friday, the men were often in complete white garments. The harbor area is very well protected during the unrest. We expect to leave in two days, maybe Tuesday, if the strong winds die down a bit. It’s supposedly blowing 50 knots at the Red Sea entry at Bab-el-Mandeb 90 miles away. We are not ready for this kind of work yet!
Thanks again for the many emails and comments of concern and support—it meant more than you could know. We are so ready for just everyday “plain vanilla” cruising without all the tension. The romance of the Med and even going home again gets closer every day.
from deep in our hearts,
Lynn and Chuck on Cyan
