Yesterday was a very damp and grey day in London - we went for a walk around Victoria Embankment and the South Bank in a persistent drizzle so I'm looking forward to the southern hemisphere's summer ! Temperatures in Brisbane at the moment are apparently between 22 deg and 26 deg C, according to the BBC. I suspect that this will be my last post for some time - when we leave Thamesport, our next stop is next Tuesday (25th November) in Port Said at the northern end of the Suez Canal (where I may be able to find an internet café) and then from there to Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia, expecting to arrive there on Sunday 7th December. Ital Contessa's schedule may be seen here. While we are at sea, communications (as far as passengers are concerned) will be non-existent - the ship has VHF and satellite communications but they're not available for blogging !
More anon....
Well, comrade. Bon Voyage so. Have a safe trip and I hope they don't work you too hard on board. Scrubbing the decks and stuff can be most tiring.
ReplyDeleteGreat to see you on Saturday Mark. Make sure you get your daily tot of rum. I'll be looking forward to the next instalment of life on the ocean wave.
ReplyDeletein the 21st Century there is nowhere to hide and nowhere to run - I can SEE you!
ReplyDeletegood luck
Helmut
http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/default.aspx?oldmmsi=218073000&zoom=10&olddate=11/19/2008%203:30:14%20AM
Also watching you on http://www.shipais.com/showship.php?mmsi=218073000 Would appear that you are behind schedule already - give the old Bukh a few more revs!
ReplyDeletelast reported position of ITAL CONTESSA
ReplyDeletecall sign DDZF2 on
2008-Nov-20 1200 N 41°18', W 010°06'
which is about 70 miles due W of Porto in Portugal
they made it around the corner
ReplyDeleteroughly 30 miles SSW of Sagres
http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/default.aspx?zoom=10&mmsi=218073000¢erx=-9.264075¢ery=36.54247
they managed to get through the gap without hitting anything! Last reported at 2008-Nov-21 12:44 UTC.
ReplyDeletePosition
N 36.07157˚ / W 4.546103˚
which is 40 Miles E of Punta Europa (Iso 21M Oc.R. 17M)
Speed is 22.3kn
well guess what
ReplyDeletein the med heading east
no seriously
ReplyDeletefirst time we are having an E longitude (just about)
and a funny lat
N 36°36', E 000°24'.
which is a 100+ miles W from Algier
Last reported at 2008-Nov-22 06:00 UTC.
ReplyDeletePosition N 37°06', E 003°06'.
30 miles N of "Ras Matifou" FL(3)23M
near Algier.
The Marinetraffic Website does no longer have Ital Contessa in its range - but you can still track it on www.sailwx.info (Call Sign DDZF2)
ReplyDeletePosition N 37°12', E 005°54'.
(30 miles N of Ras Alia FlR 23M)
Position N 36°42', E 013°00'. (Sunday Morning 0600 UTC)
ReplyDeleteThey have passed through the Strait of Sicily
and are now roughly 120 miles E of Hammamat (Tunisia) and about 40 miles N of Isola Linosa (the northern most Island of the Isole Pelagie).
On 24 Nov midnight they were at
ReplyDeletePosition N 34°54', E 020°24'.
They left Malta to Starboard and are now heading for the gap between Crete and Lybia - not long now to Port Said.
25 Nov Midnight only 150 miles to go to Port Said
ReplyDeletePosition N 32°42', E 028°30'.
Ital Contessa arrived in Port Said at around 1500, and waited at anchor for a pilot. They joined the convoy and entered the canal at about 2100 gliding along at 9 kts to the great Bitter Lake . Another 11 Days to go....
ReplyDeleteItal Contessa passed from the Red Sea into the Golf of Aden some time around midnight and are now at Position N 13°06', E 047°42'.
ReplyDeleteThis is ca 100 miles east of Aden off the coast of Yemen (and Somalia - Pirates, here we come!)
Position N 13°42', E 056°18'at 1200 Zulu time (UTC for the non military persons)
ReplyDeleteapprox. 200km ENE of Suqutra, on the way to the Maldives.
At 0600 Z-time Position N 11°36', E 062°36'.
ReplyDeleteItal Contessa now well out of the area the pirates normally operate in (800+ miles off the coast of Somalia). They are in the "Arabian Basin", going parallel to the "Carlsberg(!) Ridge" 400 miles to starboard. I wonder if it would be worth a dive.....
Sorry if last text you got from me freaked you out but we have had the most YUCKY week worrying about the drama in Bangkok...anti-gov protesters completely blockaded the 2 airports and everything seized totally. Anyway "seems" sort of ok now as PM ousted and protesters happy enough but just don't know if things will flare up again. We have until 13th for airport to become fully functional again as till now we would have had to fly to far north (chiang Mai) which didn't suit at all. So all fingers crossed that your plans too will be totally uneffected. Dying to hear all once you dock in Singers!!!! love RZ
ReplyDeleteN 06°00', E 078°54' at 0600 on 3 Dec
ReplyDelete100 miles W of Galle on Sri Lanka
At 12:00 GMT today heading into the only tropical storm/hurricane in the world at this time - see http://www.sailwx.info/ and use DDZF2 as the vessel identifier!
ReplyDelete