DAY 103 - SUEZ CANAL - MAY 10, 2010

ALTHOUGH WE WERE NOT AWAKE, WE ARRIVED AT THE SOUTH END OF THE SUEZ CANAL ABOUT 2:00 AM IN THE MORNING. OUR SHIP TRAVELED THROUGH THE CANAL AS A CONVOY. NORTH BOUND TRAFFIC ENTERS EARLY IN THE MORNING FROM THE RED SEA AS DOES THE SOUTH BOUND TRAFFIC FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA. TWO LONG STRETCHES OF THE 100 MILE LONG CANAL HANDLED ONE-WAY TRAFFIC IN THE EARLY HOURS OF THE DAY. THESE TWO NARROW AREAS EMPTY INTO EITHER LONGS STRETCHES CONTAINING MEDIAL STRIP TYPE DIVIDERS TO SEPARATE THE FLOW OF THE SHIPS OR THE LARGER BITTER LAKE AREA. TWENTY-THOUSAND SHIPS PASS THROUGH THE CANAL EACH YEAR.

UNLIKE THE PANAMA CANAL, THE SUEZ CANAL IS NOT A LOCK SYSTEM. ALTHOUGH THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC OCEANS ARE NOT AT THE SAME LEVEL, THE PRIMARY REASON FOR THE LOCK SYSTEM OF THE PANAMA CANAL IS THE MOUNTAIN TERRAIN SEPARATING THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC OCEANS. THE SUEZ IS A 100 MILE CHANNEL THAT CONNECTS THE SEAS OF ASIA AND EUROPE.

THE INFORMATION WE WERE GIVEN WAS TO ENTER THE CANAL AROUND 7:00 A.M. FOR THE TWELVE TO FOURTEEN HOUR JOURNEY TO THE MEDITERRANEAN END WHERE WE WOULD REFUEL BEFORE CONTINUING TO GREECE. APPARENTLY WE BEGAN THE JOURNEY AROUND 5:00 A.M. GEORGIA AND I WERE IN THE BUFFET BEFORE 8:00 AND WE WERE WELL INTO THE CHANNEL. WE WERE THE THRID SHIP IN THE TWELVE SHIP CONVOY. THE WEATHER WAS ALREADY VERY HOT, VERY DRY, SANDY DESERT ON BOTH SIDES AND PESTY FLIES BECAME AN INCREASING ANNOYANCE. THE HAZY SKIES PREVENTED US FROM SEEING NO MORE THAN TWO OF THE SHIPS BEHIND US.

AS WE MOVED INTO BITTER LAKE SIGNS OF ABUNDANT LIFE BECAME EVIDENT. WE PASSED MILITARY INSTALLATIONS, SMALL COMMUNITIES, RESORTS AND FERRYBOAT LANDINGS USED TO MOVE TRAFFIC FROM THE EGYPTIAN MAINLAND TO THE SINAI PENINSULA. ALTHOUGH WE HAD EXPECTED TO DROP ANCHOR IN BIITER LAKE WHILE WAITING FOR THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE CANAL TO CLEAR, WE NEVER EVEN SLOWED DOWN BUT INSTEAD CONTINUED INTO THE PASSAGE IN OUR JOURNEY TO THE MEDITERRANEAN.

ONE OF OUR PASSENGERS MENTIONED THAT THE ONLY BRIDGE CROSSING THE SUEZ, NEAR THE END OF THE CANAL, WAS A GREAT PLACE TO TAKE SOME MARVELOUS PICTURES. MOST OF THE PASSENGERS, HOWEVER, DIDN’T REALIZE WE ENTERED THE CANAL EARLIER THAN EXPECTED. WE WERE UNDER THE BRIDGE SEVERAL HOURS BEFORE EXPECTED AND THE BRIDGE WAS BEHIND US BEFORE WE KNEW IT.

THE HUNDRED MILE TRIP THROUGH THE CANAL WAS TO END WITH A STOP FOR FUEL ON THE MEDITERRANEAN SIDE, HOWEVER THE SEA WAS SO ROUGH THE REFUELING WAS CANCELLED AND WE CONTINUED ON TO OUR ATHENS PORT OF CALL.

ANOTHER THING THAT WAS ROUGH WAS THE PESTY FLIES WHICH SEEMED TO INCREASE IN NUMBER AS WE PROGRESSED THROUGH THE CANAL. GEORGIA AND I ABANDONED THE DECK FIVE PERCH WE USED IN TRAVELING THE CANAL. ALTHOUGH THE DECK FIVE WASN’T CLOSED THE AREAS NEAR THE BUFFET CLOSED UNTIL WE ENTERED THE MEDITERRANEAN. THIS JOURNEY, LIKE ALL THE OTHER ADVENTURES IN THIS TRIP, WILL REMAIN ANOTHER TREASURED MEMORY.