ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER

when we could safely cross the lanes to avoid getting run over. The ships pass in convoys in the order that they transited the canal. Often we short-tacked to avoid crossing tightly packed shipping lanes. The wind remained from the north, with only a couple of squalls. We tacked and tacked and tacked, making progress to the port of Suez.

Eventually, an offshore wind allowed us to make good progress outside the shipping lanes. We hugged the east side of the gulf to take advantage of the wind. The anchor was dropped in Suez Bay at 0400 on December 27, 19 days after leaving Djibouti. Very respectable. We went during the best time of the year, during a small weather window.