Israel!

Too much to say! This past week has felt like a month! We look back one week from when we left Turkey and it feels like a long, long time ago!


The week started with us leaving Turkey on a two day trip to Cyprus. Then we scooted around to the bottom of the island for a couple of days, and then jumped off again to Israel. 


Our second crossing! and in the same week! I guess after the first one went so smoothly, we figured....why not? Actually, the plan was to get to Israel and explore and get back up to Greece before the summer heat kicks in full swing, and to beat the summer winds called the 'meltami' They are annual winds that blow strongest from mid June through late August from the north/north-west and would make going north difficult.


We had heard from people who have visited Israel, that they are extremely security conscious, with all the tensions going on here, its no surprise. We were also told to expect contact from them as you approach land. We didn't know exactly what that meant, so the unknown was a little unnerving. We passed several more oil tankers, even larger and closer this time. One even contacted us on the VHF radio to let us know he saw us and calculated and adjusted his his route to come across our bow and we would continue our course behind him. Boats under sail have right-of-way and apparently, size does not matter! We must have looked like a rubber duckie next to them!


We had a little surprise right at dusk when Levi spotted a school of dolphins right in front of our boat as we sailed! There was, we guessed, 30 of them jumping right in front us, and poor Maggie was trying her best to catch a picture. As soon as she moved to try and catch one, another one jumped on the opposite side. Frustrating! They were close enough for us to hear them 'squeak' to each other (or us?) and gasp for breath through their air-holes. Pretty amazing! Here's the best shot we came up with:

As the night went on, we could hear the Haifa port calling other vessels that were either passing through, or approaching Haifa. Our turn came at about 1:00 am and we had to answer a lot of questions over the VHF. Crew number, names, nationalities, passport numbers, etc. Then, as we got closer, a navy ship came up and circled us, no navigation lights except spotlights on our boat, and the captain on the VHF asking us all the same questions. We thought they were going to board the boat, but they just looked us over really closely and turned and zoomed away. 


Then.....as we finally entered the actual port, around 6:00 this morning, another police boat came out and ended up escorting us all the way to our slip in the marina where there was another group of police and customs people to check our papers and stamp the passports. Talk about security! I've never felt so safe in my life. No one is getting here with out a thorough check!   


As it turns out, today, April 20th is Independence Day for Israel and the marina we're at, although it's outside town for shopping, etc. it is now surrounded by hundred of Israelis having picnics and playing in the parks. Happy Birthday Israel!! 62 Years!


Later....


Hems