Cruising around Egypt

We did a commercial cruise between Luxor and Aswan four years ago. Wouldn't fancy it in our own boat - virtually nowhere for private craft to moor, very shallow draft with much shoaling and security very much an issue.
 
Well,I live there(for now at least).And ive seen a few boats with European Flags going up or down the Nile.But most are crewed by Egyptian nationals.I think they use the red duster as some sort of tourist magnet.Dont know of anybody that has actually done it.Personally i dont think i would ever take the risk.
 
I think one of the last poeple to do this was the Famous Finish designer Alvar Aalto. He wrote a book about but not sure if it is translated into English. Check out: http://www.alvaraalto.fi/info/press/07eng_studiohajj.htm

Don't underestimate the paperwork and baksheesh required to make such a venture sucsessful. Frankly, I dont think it would be fun. You will be constantly hassled, boarded, crashed into, and that is if you get clearance to go past the Middle section by Minya which is notoriously fundamentalist. Currently it is a tourist no-go area and I would not be surpirsed if you get a few pot shots around there, as the train has been known to get this treatment.

Your best bet will be hire a felucca for a fraction of the cost, bother and risk.
 
That's disappointing. Do you mean violent crime or terrorism? How many tourists suffer? Tourists get hassled, sure, but I'd always thought of Egypt as fairly safe, one of the best in Africa.

I understand the Nile is only navigable inland for about 70 miles, so not in ones own deep-draft yacht then. However, a few years back we commandeered a felucca at Luxor and sailed it a fair distance, camping out. The only trouble we had was from the owner/skipper, who spoke no English but somehow became convinced we liked it so much (we handled it all the way) that we were were going to buy the boat for £500 and take him and it back to England. Much wailing and cursing when we finally departed.

Mind you, 500 quid for a good solid 28' open sailing yacht. Steel clad hardwood. And that was his first offer. People have sailed round the world in worse.
 
Thanks for that, good job it wasn't planned for this years cruise!

Well then I think that answered a few questions for us! Our boat with 2.1m draft and 20m air draft isn't ideal for this kind of jaunt then.

So, what I need is shallow draft, armour plated river gunboat with a reliable and very fast engine, preferably with even more reliable local crew.

So a felucca it is then...................

Cheers all
 
Dont even consider it! If you value life, limb and property.
You are not welcome on THEIR river.
All the Egyptians want from "tourists" is their money, if you wont give it to them in some way, they will take it, one way or another.
Fundamentalists want your life!
 
Foreign Office advice is that Egypt is high threat from terrorism (see also here). On the other hand crime rates with tourists as victims are low, except for sexual offences.

At present the relationship particularly with the British is soured by the Iraq situation. But my personal experience in the past has been different, I thought many of the Egyptians I've met were genuinely helpful. If I'd been there other than as tourist I would not be surprised to find a culture of hospitality. I've certainly been in places where I've felt far less welcome and more threatened.
 
As i said before,I live in Egypt.Maried to a local girl,ive never had any problem but i suspect thats because most of the locals around me know that im not a tourist.In general i find the Egyptians are a friendly people.i feel safer here than i did in Manchester.But i have to admit that around the touristy bits it has been known to get a bit heated.In 10 years of living here i have never heard of anybody getting shot at--anywhere.and yes,there are fudamentalists,just as there are in London or Birmingham.The differance is that here when they catch them they shoot them,An idea i think the UK should adopt.
 
I had a very adventurous friend wanted to do it in the 90s, he persevered with his enquiries, but it was just so problamatic he gave up on the idea, pity though, that it appears to be so difficult. What an adventure! Bill.
 
Having lived for 5 years in Cairo, I would agree that Egyptians are, in general, a friendly, polite, and a very happy people. There is however a small minority of fundamentalists. Remember the massacre at Hatshepsut’s Temple in 97? It has been a bit overshadowed by recent bombs in Sharm. Those 68 people died a horrible death, gun downed and often tortured. This was all kept very quite by the Egyptian government. Such fundamentalists still exists in the country, and areas in the South are becoming more militant. Tourists don’t go there, but I have as part of work and it is disturbing.

Please don’t subscribe to the myth that Egypt is a moderate and Westernised – this is what they want you to believe so you spend your dollars there – Tourism is there number one foreign revenue earner. Most of the population is very poor surviving on just bread, oil, rice and sugar – all imported and government subsidised. The price of food is souring as the government are finding it increasingly expensive to keep the pound pegged to the dollar. All natural resources are under huge pressure – specially Nile water. Dissatisfaction is growing among these people pushing them towards more Islamic parties such as the banned Muslim Brotherhood. Mubarek is on his last legs and when he goes I predict a nasty power struggle. Minorities tend to be large in the country too. For example the Christian minority is 6-7 million people! This is a larger Christian population of the whole of Ireland. All these issued compounded with a huge population explosion that Egypt is currently seeing, makes it a real powder cake country and I would not in the least be surprised we see violent revolution there within the next 5-10 years.
 
Oh Bugger!

Sailing a boat up the Nile was on my list of things to do .... although how far up I hadn't really decided.

Must admit that I have heard so much about corruption/bribery etc and general bureaucratic frustrations that I am going cool on the idea of visiting Egypt at all /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
Irving and Electa Johnson of Yankee fame have written an account "Yankee Sails the Nile" of taking their boat up the Nile - but this was before all the present issues.
 
Just done the Luxor Aswan trip on a tourist boat - no problems and the natives I met were both friendly and pleasant. You get pestered to buy things but less of a problem than in many other places I have been.

Wouldnt particlularly want to take my boat down the Nile, but mostly because there are lots of these tourist boats (more than 300) and no landing places suitable for yachts. There isnt much to see either apart from the temples and for them you really need a guide to tell you what is what.
 
[ QUOTE ]
My daugher sailed up to the Aswan dam from the sea in a Wayfarer dinghy, camping aboard, about 17 years ago. She loved the trip, survived with no significant threats, just the occasional proposal. About 21 at the time . . .

[/ QUOTE ]Impressive! Could she be persuaded to comment on the original question of how far up a yacht with a draft of say, 2m, could go? Presumably she had to portage round some of the barrages?

Did she accept any of the proposals? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Spoke with daughter.

Apparently, the shallowest part was the length nearest the sea, where water was diverted to feed the canal. There they had to carry the wayfarer over some parts, and punted it over others. Also, there were some very low height bridges. She didn't use the canal at all, so doesn't know it's relevance to navigation from the sea.

There were several locks for her to negotiate once they were in the 'navigable' part of the river, but it was noticeable that most vessels using the river were broad of beam and shallow of draft. Her opinion is that 2m would be dodgy . . . a lifting keel no problem if there's a decent canal access which bypasses the shallow bits and low bridges.

Many thanks for reminding her of an adventurous and very interesting trip . . .
 
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