A mission to Egypt

[firefistirish]

Hello Folks my name is Irish and I'm new here. In fact I'm new to the whole world of sailing and boating.

I come here because I'm a bit lost, and would like to ask for guidance in the matter I'm trying to resolve.

A friend of mine has recently come back to live in London from Egypt. When making the move she couldn't bring her dog Chapo with as he's a Frenchie and he wouldn't have survived the flight. I've thought about driving and going either through Syria or Libya plus many other countries would not be ideal and would total 76 hours of non stop driving. There's also no trains going into Egypt and when I was lost for hope I realised that the majority of the planet we are on is covered in water.

I have no boat and no idea where to start, I'm aware we wouldn't be able to make the journey alone so my question is, where do I find someone that would want to go to Egypt and back with us, costs of course covered.

Where does one start looking for someone with a boat that likes to take trips to the Mediterranean?

And sort of help and or advice on this matter would be grately appreciated.

Thank you all

 

[penfold]

Wouldn't have survived the flight but would survive an ordeal in a car or a month long sea voyage? Put the dog on a plane.

 

[firefistirish]

French bulldogs, along with other shortened head or brachycephalic dog breeds, are banned from airlines as they are likely to have breathing problems in high altitudes so no, I can't just put the dog on the plane otherwise I would. Thank you for replying

 

[penfold]

Every other hollywood type walk on and off planes with handbag dogs; just tell the airline it's an emotional support dog, many airlines allow small pets in the cabin anyway.

 

[firefistirish]

Allow me to be a little more forward and say, that the dog in question is cannot undertake this journey as he is a brachycephalic dog so the high altitude and pressure changes will cause a respiratory issue that WILL more than likely kill him.

This is something I've done a lot of research, which includes speaking to vets to see what my options are.

 

[penfold]

I can use google too and as far as I can see even brachycephalic dogs can travel in the cabin without dying.

If we're going by other means I suggest a cruise to Piraeus, followed by a bus to Patras, a ferry to Italy and then a train for the rest.

 

[firefistirish]

Thank you that's very helpful!

 

[firefistirish]

Apparently there's no direct route from Greece to Egypt unfortunately.

As per the cabin, the reason I'm so adamant about not taking the plane is because Chapo has more breathing problems than a regular Frenchie and a vet ruled him out of flying. I should of mentioned this straight away.

 

[penfold]

There isn't, that's why I'm suggesting that cruise; it starts and ends in Piraeus with one port stop in Alexandria.

 

[firefistirish]

Oh I see thank you!

 

[NewForester]

Hello FirefirstIrish

This is a very commendable mission!

Penfold's is probably the most sensible suggestion.

I am relatively new here too and I am just thinking aloud.

The first question must be how fit is the dog? Would it be able to handle a long trip? There are a lot of steps on boats, a lot of rolling, a lot of slippery surfaces, getting dogs into and out of tenders, could it be trained to poop on a mat outside? I have an old dog and don't take him out for some of those reasons.

I would suggest that if you wanted to "hire" a boat to take you from Egypt to another part of the Med, or all the way back to the UK (by paying for the fuel and food) it may well be do-able but would be pricy and take a fair time to get there and back. If I had a suitable boat and the time, and someone would cover the fuel, I would jump at such a mission.

I would suggest that you would need a semi-displacement boat (like a Flemming) or full displacement boat (like a Nordhavn) and probably at least 50ft long. I am guessing a bit here and it obviously depends on how big the engines are (and I am sure that I will be corrected!) but if you were to work on semi-displacement boat doing 15 knots (nautical miles per hour) and burning 150 litres an hour, and a full displacement yacht doing 8 knots and burning 25 litres an hour you will be able to get some idea on how much the fuel will cost and how many days it will take you. You will probably need at least three crew, and so the mouths to feed and the days will give you an idea of food bills.

You may need to pay something for the crew, but I imagine that there are many people would do it for nothing to get their boating hours up. There are also sites like Crewfinder for crew, but I realize that you need a boat. There is a Trawlerforum as well as this one and you might be able to find someone already in the Med who would be interested.

And of course there is quarantine when you get back to Blighty.

Good luck, and I hope that you manage to bring Chapo back and to re-unite him with his owner.

All the best.

Chris.