For many round-the-world cruising yachts, this is the first time they have had to do any serious windward sailing and of course most cruising boats are not well set up for hard beating. These are not racing yachts that can sail to 30 degrees apparent wind, most are happy if they can make 50 degrees. With strong head winds yachts have been known to make a starboard tack across the Red Sea and on the return port tack have found themselves back at the anchorage they left that morning. Previous notes from cruisers did not make encouraging reading--short steep seas, morning calms turning into 45-knot headwinds, sandstorms reducing visibility and uncharted reefs.

As things don't change much, we wondered how much fun this passage would be, especially as compounding the problems was the Iraq war which was happening at the time. Some things do change however. One big change made the passage an enjoyable and trouble free trip for us, and that was the availability of daily weather forecasts for specific points up the Red Sea via e-mail from Buoyweather (SEE PREVIOUS REPORT). Providing you are willing to sit in an anchorage and wait for a window to emerge, you can avoid the dreaded headwinds entirely. We either made the passage with southerlies or very light northerlies.

What none of the Red Sea reports prepare you for is the stunningly beautiful Marsa anchorages of Sudan, making waiting for a weather window a delightful pastime. After nine years of cruising, Sudan gets our award for the best all round anchorages. They offer 100 percent shelter from the sea while still having good breeze, and they are breathtakingly lovely. The entrances left us speechless and on one occasion we motored out again just for the joy of making the entry again. The water is crystal clear, the sky a huge cobalt blue envelope and the sunsets and sunrises over the desert are all the entertainment you could want for the day. Flamingoes wade along the shore alongside camels, and the occasional nomad appears over the horizon and seems to take all day to disappear from view again.

The only life we saw ashore for several days were the camels.

Sudan's protected anchorages have entered a new phrase into our cruising, in that it is not a real anchorage anymore if we can see the open sea in any direction. Especially important as we sat out some very strong winds in them, it is not the wind which is uncomfortable, but the sea state.

Scuba diving in Sudan is another treat and a great way to fill time while waiting for weather windows. We dived in the entrance to the marsas and also on the offshore reefs. Shab Rumi is a donut shaped offshore reef with an entrance only just wider than the boat's beam. Jacques Cousteau built his experimental underwater village here and the structures still remain. Inside the domes some air is still trapped. The domes sit on a ledge at 15 metres, perched on the lip of a sheer wall covered in pristine corals.

Wind aside, the Sudanese climate comprised hot dry days and cool nights, a perfect combination. One of the pieces of information provided along with the daily weather reports is relative humidity, and the extremely low figures explained why we were pouring moisturizer on our skin hourly. More significantly the total lack of rain put a strain on the water supplies of yachts without watermakers.

	Theta Volantis has rarely been so securely anchored as we were in Sudan's marsas.

Whereas we enjoyed a problem free passage up the Red Sea, the demands on boat and crew should not be underestimated. Carrying spares is as important as it is for a Pacific crossing, partly because like the Pacific you are in remote areas with no support services but also because unlike the Pacific the route is hard on the boat equipment.

Boats begin this passage having already sailed across the Indian Ocean from Thailand (3,500 nm) with few opportunities to effect repairs at the ports on route. Even well prepared boats suffered various breakdowns, either the usual litany of mechanical and electrical failures or damage to sails and ground tackle (fouling chain or anchor on coral heads is a common problem).

We had to replace a generator starter motor, a macerator pump for our grey tank, and one sail batten, a very light list of failures compared to many yachts. One reason for investing in spares for this trip is that even when you limp into Suez (Egypt) spares are not readily available and having parts shipped in is very expensive. One yacht paid US$150 duty on parts worth US$350. Of course you cannot carry a spare of everything but it is definitely worth giving some real thought to what you will carry for this leg of a circumnavigation.