After saying goodbye to our friends Chris and Heather earlier that morning, we departed the marina in Cagliari, Sardinia at 11:30 a.m. on August 2nd. We had originally planned on spending a few days exploring this town but the marina fees were quite steep -over $200 per night! So rather than ride out a multi day windstorm coming our way, we decided to leave after just one night. Our destination was 20 hours away in Bizerte, Tunisia, and we had a great window to cross and outrun a nasty Mistral wind complete with thunderstorms.
We were kind of coming full circle. Back 6 years ago, we had bought Zoe in Hammamet, Tunisia. Over the past years, we had always taken Zoe to Montenegro or Albania to reset our tax clock as an American flagged boat. Since we had moved from the eastern Mediterranean to the western Mediterranean, those locations were no longer an option (way too far away). Given where we were (Italy), Tunisia was really our only logical option for taking Zoe out of the EU. I can’t say I was super excited about going to Tunisia, only because we are American on an American flagged boat. We had already been warned by an Italian sailor we met in Cagliari that Americans were not liked here…..go figure.
It wasn’t long before the winds had begun to kick up. The nice part was the winds were from a great direction, and we were able to sail. The down side was that it was really gusty and not consistent. We put a reef in our main (to reduce the amount of sail in case of higher winds) ahead of time, so that we were prepared for the winds as they continued to rise. Our reef line system has a lot of friction which requires Dan to be up on the coach roof to work with them, so we didn’t want to wait until things got dicey for him to be out on top of the deck. This turned out to be a smart idea as we did encounter some very gusty conditions, and at times we were hitting boat speeds 0f almost 9 knots (which is fast for Zoe). I took the first shift from sunset into the dark which would also give me the dark shift into sunrise….2 damn night shifts….yuck! Dan’s reasoning (uh huh….I think I’ve been scammed) was because I have a sharper eye for seeing fish traps in the water, and we would be closer to shore at that point. Whatever. As I came on for my first watch, the lightning was already flashing in the distance….great. There was also a tremendous amount of boat traffic between the island of Sardinia and Tunisia. Oh boy, more fun. Luckily, all the boats appeared to be broadcasting on AIS, so I was easily able to monitor where they were in relation to us. All the boats in the middle of the sea turned out to be fishing boats. I was very grateful that they were the large ones that broadcasted their position instead of the unmarked small ones we sometimes come across. We were barely ahead of the incoming wind which allowed us to sail and then motor sail the entire way.
I finished my 6 hour shift, and Dan came up to take his turn. As I went to lay down to get some sleep, the wind decided to get finicky which meant Dan was fussing with the sails a lot causing a great deal of noise. Needless to say, I got very little sleep before my next shift which meant I was getting very grouchy at this point. I was NOT having fun! The fishing boats were now no longer around, and the cargo ships had arrived. Again, they were very visible on our screen but seeing them on the sea was tough since the lights on land, as we approached Tunisia, were now visible. This is one of the reasons I hate sailing in the dark. I feel like I have a hard time seeing things and determining if they are boats or lights on land since the land is black like the sea. I was super grateful as the morning glow began, indicating that the sunrise was not far behind. As we pulled into the bay outside of Bizerte, we were greeted by some dolphins (what a nice welcome)! We rolled into the marina at 7:45 a.m. (over 20 hours after casting lines in Cagliari,Sardinia the day before). The wind had moderated and tie up was easy. We waited for the officials to show up so we could do the check in formalities. We were very nervous about this as well. Others have posted about corruption, need for bribes or “gifts, and confiscation of things when they search your boat. In the meantime, the Mistral had arrived in full force. The wind was howling and thunder booming. We had arrived 1.5 hours before it all began…whew!
The Tunisian border police showed up and escorted us to their office where we began formalities. There was a lot of paperwork to do with them, and then we were processed with a customs officer. They told us to check in with the marina, and then they would come to the boat for a search. All in all, it took about an hour and a half to do the formalities, everyone was super friendly and professional, there was absolutely no corruption or confiscations (other than our drone which they hold until you depart the country, and we already knew that was going to happen). The officials bent over backwards making us feel comfortable and welcome. We were very appreciative. With a huge sigh of relief, we headed below deck for some much needed sleep. The Mistral was now in full force with dark, ominous clouds all around. The marinero was frequently checking everybody’s lines to make sure we were all tied up snug. At one point, he jumped on board so that he and Dan could use the motors to really shank our lines down tight. The surrounding town looks quite tired, poor and dilapidated, but the marina is very nicely done. Everyone here at the marina has been super kind and helpful, making us feel extremely welcome.
The next day, we wandered into the heart of town to get some cash and bottled water. We don’t know if it was because it was Sunday, but we stumbled on this huge street market. There were colorful and fragrant fruit and vegetable stands as far as the eye could see. There were also stands peddling local merchandise. We saw a number of meat markets and walked into one. I was quite shocked when I looked over and saw crate after crate of live chickens….just laying there in a catatonic state. Oh geez, talk about fresh! The words of Dan’s dad came flooding into my mind. “Where do you think your meat comes from?!” Me: “On a styrofoam plate covered in Saran, and I’m keeping it that way!” I might have to become vegetarian….haha. Nah, I love meat too much. We then found the biggest fish market I have ever seen! Everything was so fresh and looked amazing. There was every kind of fish and seafood you could imagine. It was still too windy to grill, we were still tired and a bit overwhelmed, so we decided to come back another time when we are able to grill the fresh fish.
We figured we would look into having some work done on the boat while we were here. Everyone has talked about how affordable it is to get things done in Tunisia, and we had things that we have been wanting to do for years, but it has been too expensive in France and Italy. We had the great fortune of being docked next to a boat that was having some major reconstruction done on her, so Dan called the supervisor over to our boat. We talked to him about redoing our kitchen countertops in Corian and redesigning the layout. This was an adventure in and of itself since he only spoke French and Arabic. We managed to muddle through and by the end of the day, he had already made wood templates of our design! Incredible! It turns out, he is the owner of a company that builds and rebuilds boats. He asked if we would like to come see his shop. I was not super thrilled with the idea. I always feel a little squishy (uneasy) about getting into a car with a stranger in an unfamiliar country and going somewhere unknown. Think about it….we are taught our entire life to not get into cars with strangers…..yet, here I go again! Despite his shop being fairly close, the traffic was horrendous, and you have to cross a big drawbridge. The problem here is that 4-5 lanes of traffic, from every imaginable direction, funnel into one lane to cross the bridge. This chaos happens in both directions! We made it to his shop in a shipyard, and he showed us the boats he was working on, and the molds of some he was building. He showed us a multitude of photos of the many boats he has worked on. He was definitely very proud of his work (and it was in fact, quite impressive). We made a plan with him to drive to the capital city of Tunis the following morning in order to pick our new countertop material. I wasn’t overly thrilled with this plan either. It was an hour and a half drive each way!
Our contractor picked us up the following day and we were on our way. It was a pleasant drive once we got out of the city. The landscape was interesting as it went from lush and green to dry and barren desert. We entered the city of Tunis to the hustle and bustle of a large city. Our first stop was down an alley to a marble shop. We were shown 2 pieces of quartz. Very pretty, but we were confused. We wanted Corian and more of a color choice. We were quickly becoming disappointed. As we handled the piece of quartz, we were very concerned by its thickness and weight. You might wonder why we would be concerned about weight on a counter top. One of our counter tops houses a drop in refrigerator which requires a lid that has to be lifted up. We were also putting a drop in trash bin and sinks with covers over them. All of these “lids” would require regular lifting. Nope, quartz was not going to work for our project. Our contractor was understanding and took us to another place to look at Corian. Not sure why we didn’t go there in the first place. The next place blew our mind. This was a very elegant showroom….uh oh, I’m seeing dollar signs piling up. This place had lots of samples to choose from, and we quickly found what we liked. Soon, the CEO walked in. He spoke great English and proudly showed us the models of their work. He also told us that they were the supplier for some major catamaran companies in France. The stars were aligning (he wasn’t suppose to be in the office that day), his assistant was going to drive down to measure our kitchen despite it being their vacation time, and he was going to put a rush on our fabrication because we had a departure date already set. At this point, we still didn’t know a price. Eeesh. At the end of the day, they sent us the quote. It was 1/3 the price of any other place we had been quoted for a much better design. Woo hoo! We also have a number of other projects underway, and we are super excited. Stay tuned for how everything turns out!
Our next adventure was back to that crazy, huge street market. This time we went with our new Swiss friends on the boat next to us. They had already been several times and knew their way around. Once you understood how it worked, it went quite smooth. We walked away with at least 5kg (10+ pounds) of the freshest vegetables you’ve ever seen for a fraction of the price we are used to back home. We then headed to a stand selling local products. We picked up some harissa paste, some sort of spicy pepper mix, and locally made olive oil. Everyone was very helpful and kind without any kind of pressure to come buy their things. Everything had prices clearly listed and the vendors were all friendly and honest. We then went to the bakery for fresh made baguettes and learned there were two lines – one for government subsidized bread (the long line) and normal. Before heading to the fish market, we stopped at a cafe to experience Arabic coffee. Dan ordered and thought it was the strongest espresso he ever had but still enjoyed it. It was already a hot day so I ordered a cold tea. Unfortunately, I received hot tea (this may have been a blessing in disguise since I have no idea if bottled water was used). It was spiced with some mint leaves (and unfortunately, some sugar) but it was quite delicious. I think I may have to buy some mint leaves now. Our final stop was the huge fish market. There were so many kinds of fish and seafood. At this point, we were low on cash (I told Dan he didn’t bring enough!) so we only bought a kilo of yummy prawns. I really do love them, but I can’t stand having to pull off all their heads. I plan to go back another day for some other goodies from the sea.
At this point, we had spent nearly a week with our new Swiss friends having a great time hanging out and swapping stories. We also met a fun gentleman from the UK and a very nice couple from New Zealand. One of the best parts of sailing is all the interesting people you meet from all over the world! We thought we would be leaving Zoe behind to do some inland tours, but that is not shaping up like we had hoped. The people doing the work on Zoe have been out nearly everyday making sure everything is perfect and that the jobs will be finished on time. So, we will leave you here for now, and be back for an update soon. We are once again watching a weather system come in and will be threading the needle of leaving Tunisia after our work is done. Our challenge is that we have our son and daughter-in-law coming in very soon to Sicily where we will pick them up, and then we need to get to the Amalfi coast of Italy for our nephew’s wedding. We don’t like to sail a schedule, but that seems to be the theme so far this year. Wish us luck!
