Sea Day Suez Canal Temp 32c
Light Winds Flat sea
During the night we entered the
approach to the Suez Canal and dropped our anchor to await clearance. At 6am we
joined the 2nd convoy northbound. At about 7am we entered the Little
Bitter Lake and then it was on to the Great Bitter Lake. Sometimes it is
necessary for ships to wait in the Bitter Lake for a south bound convoy but we
went straight through which put us ahead of schedule. We were awake early and
so we decided to do our walk before breakfast while it was cool. After
breakfast we headed for the cabin and spent the rest of the morning on our
balcony watching the scenery go by. Betty even went up to the buffet and
brought back to the cabin some lunch. At 2pm we had another game of carpet
bowls to attend and this time we managed to win. At 3pm we passed Pt Said and
entered the Mediterranean. For those of you who don’t know much about the Suez
here is what the Princess Patter said today.
The Suez Canal is an artificial
sea-level Waterway in Egypt connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.
Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction, it allows ships to
travel between Europe and eastern Asia without navigating around Africa. The
northern terminus is Port Said, the southern terminus is Port Tawfig at the
city of Suez. It consists of the northern access channel of 22kms, the canal
itself of 162.25 kms, and the southern access channel of 9kms.17225 vessels
traversed the canal in 2012 and the average cost for a vessel to transit is
about $250,000.00.
I don’t think I have mentioned
it before but we have Bob Simpson and ex Australian Cricket captain on-board. I
have not asked him for his autograph.
Tonight we went to the Princess Theatre
to listen to Paul Hughes and Maddi Cryer doing half a show each. Another good
night.
Scenes along the Suez Canal
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