A-freakin-a!

Monastir, Tunisia
June 14, 2014

We made it to Monastir five days ago but have been having too much fun to report it until now.

We left Pantelleria with a forecast to carry us to Monastir on a gentle reach, which did happen and we made the 87 mile crossing in 18 hours.  We saw no fewer than 20 logger head turtles en route, a few dolphins and fishing boats and heard of one refugee boat being rescued off Lampedusa. We only turned on the engine to leave and enter port.  Fantastic!

Entering the port of Monastir at 0630, we pulled up to the wall by the reception office and were greeted by a marinero and some casually dressed fellows who were filling in for the police and customs until the office opened.  The paperwork was completed in about 15 minutes and a I paid a total of 3 dinars (2 TD = 1€) to enter and cruise in Tunisia.  No hassles about booze although they did want to know if we were carrying full bottles of alcohol and any portable electronic devices.  We tied into our assigned berth and went to catch up on some sleep to get over our yacht lag.

Maggie looking marvelous in front of the Ribat, Monastir

Found some yummy snacks

Afterwards, we took a stroll to the nearby town to have a look around and sample some of the local cuisine.  The town has a walled-in market and an open-air market. The former seems to be targeted at tourists and the latter less so.  We ended up having a delicious meal at a restaurant right in the marina which came to a total of 15 euros for the both of us.

The next day we met Sandra and Chris who wintered with us in Sicily.  They invited us to join them on an excursion they were planning to embark on the next day.  We agreed, and I will tell you more about that in the next blog.

So far, we are delighted to be in Tunisia (Africa!) and will plan to be here for the next month or so.

Band playing in the marina

Branko