Greece To Singapore

[thaidog]

By mid October, I am ready to sail a 65 ft ketch from Greece through the Suez to Sr Lanka to Singapore. I would appreciate any help regarding best time to make the trip, weather advice and necessary info to transit the Suez Canal.

[Harbor_Pilot]

Welcome Thaidog,

You may find this book of interest, World Cruising Routes, by Jimmy Cornell.

Jeff

[thaidog]

Originally Posted by Harbor_Pilot

Welcome Thaidog,You may find this book of interest, World Cruising Routes, by Jimmy Cornell.Jeff

Thanks Jeff,I just ordered the book on-line

[Gallivanters]

Get a copy of the Red Sea Cruising Guide.

Take your time and enjoy every leg of the passage.

The Red Sea is 1200 miles from Port Said to the Bab al Mandeb.

The canal is a two day passage and pilots are mandatory. Bakshish is rampant in Egypt and your pilot will want everything that catches his eye. Cartons of cigaretts, sunglasses, ballpoint pens, meals, gifts for his daughter's birthday, taxi fares, cash and more will be expected. They assume that all yachties are rich (and we are by Egyptian standards, I suppose) and they have no shame in asking for the shirt off your back.

Sailing conditions in the Red Sea change frequently. Most people hug the African coast as Saudi Arabia doesn't really welcome yachties.

Marsas frequently dot the coast where you can duck in and anchor when the weather turns bad. These are natural inland lagoons offering seclusion and absolute protection & comfort from the tempests you'll likely encounter. Keep them in mind at all times. If the waether even hints at turning bad - head for the closest marsa.

We really enjoyed the overnight anchorages and port of Missawa, Eritrea.

Once clear of the southern "Gates of Tears" most people plot a course for the port of Salalah, Oman to provision.

There's no avoiding the pirate prone Gulf of Aden. We sailed in convoy in a group of ten vessels making best speed. We had an eye-to-eye encounter with a group of would be could be thuggs in speedboats 35 miles off the coast of Yemen. Nothing bad came from it but I feel sure it would have been different if we were alone. Just stay alert, transit the region as quickly as possible and don't stop for anyone.

We spent a week in Oman and had a ball.

The next popular stop is Ulugam in the northern Maldives (07 deg 04.8 N x 72 deg 55.15 E) where basic provisions are available.

Options abound from there on... India, Sri Lanka, Andaman & Nicobar Islands toward the Malaka Straits.

In closing - be absolutely sure the vessel is up for the trip as you'll find very few places to stop for any serious yacht repairs between Cyprus and Phuket.

To Life!

Kirk

[MMNETSEA]

Thaidog.

Before any further advice - please understand that leaving before the South West Monsoon starts in the North Indian Ocean that fact alone has the greatest impact on determining a passage plan !

Richard

[thaidog]

Thanks Kirk,

I appreciate the advice. What time of year did you make the passage? I am thinking of crossing the Med & Red Sea in Nov-December. Then crossing the Indian ocean in January after the cyclone season.

Thaidog

[MMNETSEA]

Originally Posted by thaidog

Thanks Kirk,

I appreciate the advice. What time of year did you make the passage? I am thinking of crossing the Med & Red Sea in Nov-December. Then crossing the Indian ocean in January after the cyclone season.

Thaidog

Hi,

It will be extremely difficult to make passage West to East from Salala across the Arabian Sea to Uligan in the Maldives (give Sri Lanka a miss) In Uligan you will be able to get fuel (if you need repairs then south of Uligan is Male the capital of the Maldives) From the Maldives you will continue to battle head winds to the northern tip of Sumatra - then when you can make for Langkawi to refuel and stockup. From there you will be able to sail (for the first time) to Singapore.

For general information it is in January, February and March that cruisers leave Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore for the Gulf of Aden - The red sea and the Med, because the wind is with them.

If you need more info to decide on your plan - don't hesitate to come back.

Richard

[Lighthouse]

There is a window to cross the Indian Ocean west to east in Sept/Oct. - cross at 08 degrees North.

[thaidog]

Originally Posted by MMNETSEA

Hi, It will be extremely difficult to make passage West to East from Salala across the Arabian Sea to Uligan in the Maldives (give Sri Lanka a miss) In Uligan you will be able to get fuel (if you need repairs then south of Uligan is Male the capital of the Maldives) From the Maldives you will continue to battle head winds to the northern tip of Sumatra - then when you can make for Langkawi to refuel and stockup. From there you will be able to sail (for the first time) to Singapore. For general information it is in January, February and March that cruisers leave Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore for the Gulf of Aden - The red sea and the Med, because the wind is with them.If you need more info to decide on your plan - don't hesitate to come back.Richard

Richard,I appreciate your help. It sounds like you have had a lot of experience with the trip. I would very much like to get the boat home to Singapore long before next spring. If I could get away by early October, would that make a difference? Unfortunately it would put me in the Bay of Bengal at peak cyclone season.

[Lighthouse]

Originally Posted by Lighthouse

There is a window to cross the Indian Ocean west to east in Sept/Oct. - cross at 08 degrees North.

I need to re-word this:

There is a window to cross the Indian Ocean west to east in approx Sept. Cross (for the first part) at around 08 degrees North and then do some 'southing' down to Galle at the south end of Sri Lanka. Stop over at Galle or continue eastward.

[MMNETSEA]

Originally Posted by thaidog

Richard,I appreciate your help. It sounds like you have had a lot of experience with the trip. I would very much like to get the boat home to Singapore long before next spring. If I could get away by early October, would that make a difference? Unfortunately it would put me in the Bay of Bengal at peak cyclone season.

Hi,

I have been discussing you needs with Lighthouse, The first thing is that Cyclones in the Bay of Bengal stay north of 9 degress latitude. Coming for Salala Oman , you will need a forecast for the Arabian Sea, this depends on what equipment you will have on board. Which leads me to a few questions to enable a tentative passage plan :- What speed over ground does she average on sail ? on Engine ? How much diesel does she carry ? how much water ? How many crew - how experience ? What communications on board ? Pactor / email/ sailmail/ winlink ????

The initial plan ( in Sept/Oct would be to head directly for Male in the Maldives from Salala then >>>>WP 4 degrees 30' N x 85degrees East >>> then head for 6 degrees north towards Great Nicobar >> once past head for Langkawi and cold beer and reprovision etc . then sail to Singapore.

Who chose "thai dog" ?

Richard

[thaidog]

Richard/Lighthouse,

Firstly, I really appreciate your help.

Boat cruises comfortably at 7.5 knots under both sail and power. She carries 400 gallons of fuel and I can double that with aux. tanks. The boat also has a water maker.

Com. equipment is SSB/weather fax and sattlelite phone. I will add anything else you might suggest that will make life easier.

I have a crew of six. Two of us have sailed trans Pacific ( Florida to Thailand and Vancouver to Thailand) The other four are experienced sailors wiith varying experience.

The earliest I could leave Greece would be early October. If you feel it would be a 6000 mile 'iron sal' trip, I might have to consider waiting to spring, but that would be a last resort.

(I've been called 'dog' for a hundred years, when we moved to Thailand two years ago, my friends switched it to 'thaidog'

[Lighthouse]

Originally Posted by thaidog

The earliest I could leave Greece would be early October.

IMHO - too late. The NE monsoon will be too well set and it will be VERY hard sailing with the wind on the nose virtually all the way.

[GoneTroppo]

Hi, I have done this trip, but left from Turkey 8 March. This was leaving it a bit late but travelled for family reasons. Had an easy sail out of the Med and down the Red Sea to Aden. Had a good beat out of the Gulf of Aden past Al Mukalla, 1 April. Then motored or used spinnaker to Salalah. Sailed North East from Salalah, 7 April, then slowly turned East and South towards Male. This was a slow motor sail until close to the Maldives. Went to Male to get new bearings for a water pump. Spent 1 week waiting for parts then headed West, 24 April, with a bit of North to stay in the breeze, heading for Christmas Island. Met a Typhoon/Hurricane in The Bay Bengal, 6 May, arrived Christmas Is 16 May. Sailed West, 20 May, a good beat to Darwin, arrived 4 June. It would have been much easier to go to Langkawi or Penang, but we had to get to OZ ASAP.

Some friends(4 boats, after Vasco Gama Rally) sailed from West coast of India to Langkawi late April 2006, arriving early May. If you are running late I would not recommend leaving Salalah after 1 April, unless you can motor to Sri Lanka at a good speed.

The winds in the Arabian Sea in the NE Monsoon are generally good for sailing January to March weakening to nothing by mid April.

Boats were robbed at night as crew slept in Massawa this year. Otherwise the Red Sea is a good sail, have done it 3 times now.

Hope your trip goes well. By the way, Visual Passage Planner is a great program for obtaining wind and current info.

Regards,

Stephen

[MMNETSEA]

Originally Posted by thaidog

Richard/Lighthouse,

Firstly, I really appreciate your help.

Boat cruises comfortably at 7.5 knots under both sail and power. She carries 400 gallons of fuel and I can double that with aux. tanks. The boat also has a water maker.

Com. equipment is SSB/weather fax and sattlelite phone. I will add anything else you might suggest that will make life easier.

I have a crew of six. Two of us have sailed trans Pacific ( Florida to Thailand and Vancouver to Thailand) The other four are experienced sailors wiith varying experience.

The earliest I could leave Greece would be early October. If you feel it would be a 6000 mile 'iron sal' trip, I might have to consider waiting to spring, but that would be a last resort.

(I've been called 'dog' for a hundred years, when we moved to Thailand two years ago, my friends switched it to 'thaidog'

Hi again ,

I had replied to the above but it appears have disappeared ! I suggest you go for Sailmail which will require a pactor.This utilises your HF radio for emails and Grib files.

Check out this website:- http://www.pca.cc/

Great guy Marc Robinson.

What we have to do is to get you from western end of the Gulf of Aden to either Langkawi or Phuket - leaving Greece by say the 10th of October. This is quite possible (despite what naysayers are postulating)

Why is it Possible ?

1. You have a boat that can average 185 nautical miles per day.

2. You can carry between 400 to 800 gallons of fuel.

3. You have a watermaker

4. You have 6 experienced crew

5. Mid November is the normal start of the transition from S.W. to N.E. Monsoon

6. Transition can continue late into December.

7. During transition there will be periods when sailing winds will enjoyed, and periods of very little wind.

8. The Equatorial Belt (ie 5 degrees either side of the equator) has very little wind throughout the seasons (often none)

9. Fuel can be obtained in the Red Sea, in Oman and in the Maldives.

Therefore, On the assumption that you are going to encounter some head winds north of 5 degrees North - East of the Cape of India. A passage plan would be :-

Once you have left Salala - Oman 17d 04' North x 54d 14' East take a bearing of 122 degrees to Male in the Maldives 4d 16.7' North x 73d 32.5' East ; a great circle distance of 1371 nm = 7.5 days. AND with the bonus of being able to sail for 90% of this leg on a beam reach - on the premise that the N.E. Monsoon is active in the Arabian Sea at the time you leave Oman.

Once you leave Male the best bet is to motor sail along 4degrees 30' North latitude until you reach 93 degrees of longitude East - on this leg and course winds will be very light (all over the place) whereas north of the 5 degree latitude head winds will be a problem (also the shipping lane !) 1165 nm = 7 days. From the above waypoint after going round the top of Sumatra you can decide to head straight for Langkawi or Phuket and onwards to Singapore.

Richard

[thaidog]

Richard,

I greatly appreciate your help and advice. I will plot the trip based on your suggested route. I am heading home to Canada for a couple of weeks of salmon fishing, but I will contact you as the time draws near for any other advice you might have.