In Aden, Yemen!

Position at anchor in the Port of Aden: North 12*47'555 East 044*58'839

We arrived in Aden two days ago safe and sound after a pretty eventful Motor sail from Salalah in Oman. In total we heard five different attempted pirate attacks over the VHF radio and on our last night out we ran into a huge area of fishing nets resulting in a lot of boats getting caught up. It was a big relief to drop anchor in Aden's protected harbour and we've been enjoying the fascinating sights and sounds of this old city since the moment we first stepped foot ashore.

The checking in process was extremely quick and costs nothing for the first seven days which is a big difference from the expense of Oman. We now have to replace all our batteries onboard as we've been struggling with them since Thailand and want to make sure they are good for the long trip up the Red Sea. Luckily we're managing to mix work with being tourists as Aden is such an interesting place and hasn't changed at all in the last eight years.

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News from Pirate Alley!

We have just heard over the radio a pirate attack taking place 60 miles ahead of us along the Yemen Coast!! A small Korean tanker called 'Brocolli 1' (strange name) had a skiff with 10 somali's on board with AK 47's try and board them with a ladder. One of the pirates fell into the water and the skiff moved off to retrieve him loosing the ladder in the process, all the time the crew of the tanker were screaming out for help on the radio to a US coalition war ship which was heading for them under full speed (very scary to hear so close to us). We've been listening as the tanker directed the war ship towards the skiff that was chasing them a mile behind. The last we just heard is that another American war ship also showed up and the original one asked them to stay out of they're line of fire. Obviously we are just hearing what is being said on the radio and not sure what the outcome is yet.

Our Convoy leader has called the War ship and alerted them to the fact that 27 yachts are heading in their direction and need to know the eventual outcome of attack...If the skiff is not apprehended then it could be a threat to us! Hopefully we will hear soon but it seems that the war ships often let the pirates go unless they catch them actually on board the ship. We're all pretty surprised that this is taking place so close to the Yemen coast as we thought it would be much safer over here. We've been advised to keep a good look out and stay in a tight formation so that's exactly what we're doing!

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Underway to Aden, Yemen.

We're currently underway to the town of Aden in Yemen and are sailing with a group of 26 yachts for safety purposes as we are passing through the Gulf of Aden and the high risk pirate area. We have current against us and are motoring along at 4 knots, it's quite an impressive sight to see so many yachts sailing together in a tight group but obviously it has it's disadvantages as well. We're at the front of the group so enjoying some space but with 26 captains all having their own ideas on speeds and distances there's never a dull moment on the radio!

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Salalah Port, Oman.

We arrived yesterday afternoon in the port of Salalah in Southern Oman, It's a pretty small anchorage tucked away in the back of the huge port and with around 30 yachts here it's pretty tight! Most of us have had to put out stern anchors and then take two lines to shore to tie around boulders on the sea wall. We're surrounded by dry dusty mountains and a spectacular cliffed coast which is such a contrast from where we've spent our last year in Asia...welcome to the Middle East!!
Yesterday evening we walked out of the port to the aptly named Oasis Bar where they sell great steaks and pints of beer on tap...in a dry Muslim country that's pretty impressive! Over the next couple of days we plan to hire a car and explore the city of Salalah and the surrounding area, it will be quite interesting to see how much it's changed in the eight years since I was last here. The checking in process is extremely smooth and easy although pretty expensive at $161 US dollars in and out.

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Storm Sailing!

We've had a pretty interesting 48 hours as two nights ago due to a storm that came off Oman we were hit with the 35 knots and 3 meter seas (with many that we're much higher!) that the boats ahead of us were reporting. It was one of the roughest 24 hours we've had as the waves were hitting us from the side and pretty much breaking over the boat...very exciting.

Blue Moon performed fantastically though and we pushed on through without any problems except for a few leaks, us having complete lack of sleep and the odd bruise here and there. Last night the seas dropped enough for us to get some rest and by this morning the worse had passed over and believe it or not it's now flat calm and we're motoring ~ from one extreme to another!

We now have just 58 miles to go to port so should arrive first thing tomorrow morning.

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Rough Conditions!

The weather has done a complete switch and gone from flat glassy calm with us having to motor, to rough and squally conditions in which we're making 6 knots with a tiny amount of sail up and no sign of it letting up any time soon. We've heard boats ahead reporting of constant 35 knot winds and 3 meter seas so it looks like we're in for a wet night! We still have 255 miles to go and should be arriving in a couple of days at this speed, the good news is that the pirates supposedly don't come out in bad weather so one less thing to worry about!

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Motoring along.

We've been lucky enough to have had a great sail so far but this morning the wind has dropped off and we're having to motor along. Luckily the seas are nice and calm so it's very comfortable, with any luck the wind will fill back in tonight but the weather forecast doesn't look to promising. With 489 miles to go we should be arriving in about five days time if we keep this pace. All is well on board and we're enjoying catching up on some reading and are still feasting on the fish we caught two days ago!

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Crossing the Arabian Sea!

We're having a great sail with winds out of the North East at 12-15 knots and we're making about 120 miles a day. The seas have stayed calm so it's been a really comfortable trip so far but we still have around 840 miles to go. It's been calm enough to watch movies on our watches and we've only had to move out of the way of one ship so far...big difference from our last trip!

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Underway again!

We're back at sea and underway to Oman, the weather has been great so far with 10-12 knots of wind out of the north and we're skipping along at 5 knots. With 1100 miles to go we're settling in for at least another ten days underway and keeping our fingers crossed we don't meet any stray pirates along the way!! I won't be posting our position of this trip or the next until we arrive in Yemen as we've been asked not to while being involved with our daily radio net. The organisers are using a code for our positions which they feel may be put at risk if we submit our position to the internet...I guess this means we really are in pirate territory now although we're a little more worried about container ships not running lights at night than the pirates themselves!

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