March 26, 2007 - Salalah to Aden, Day 2
by George & Merima

Hi Everyone:

After 41 hours of motorsailing in light airs, we finally hooked into some breeze late last night. We are now sailing fast in a northeasterly breeze in the low 20s. Unfortunately this is right along the rhumb line, so we are now gybing across the northern half of the Gulf of Aden, favoring the Yemeni coast with its positive current.

There has been plenty of shipping traffic to keep us on our toes. We almost always have at least one or two large ships in sight. We've also seen a couple of traditional fishing dhows and a couple of small open boats, none of which has diverted course to come say hello (i.e. ask for booze and cigarettes) so far.

The only close encounters we've had have been with a sailfish that surfaced, with its large dorsal fin fully exposed, just a few feet off Moonshadow's port side. We also were entertained for awhile yesterday morning by a large pod (at least 50) of black spinner dolphins. They seem to be more acrobatic than other species, and a couple of babies were doing some high jumps.

Our 24-hour run from yesterday was 205 miles, and we've got just a few more hours before we're out of what is known as "Pirate Alley". We've got plenty of company out here, and with a short steep seaway, it's no place for a small speedboat such as the type pirates might use.

Since we have good breeze and plenty of fuel, we've decided to bypass Aden and head straight through the Gates of Sorrow into the Red Sea, to make our first landfall in Eritrea near the town of Assab. If the breeze holds, we should make it by tomorrow evening for a late happy hour.

Cheers, George and Merima