Photo: Rick Gaffney
The crew aboard Nordhavn were relieved to learn in Oman that there were Coalition forces watching the waters that lay ahead through the Middle East.
bor. We dropped our anchor the morning of February 25 and were promptly cleared by immigration, customs and the port police, all of which were kind enough to come out to the boat. The whole process took less than 30 minutes. Nordhavn and about 30 sailboats were corralled into a small section of the inner harbor, each yacht clearing the other by less than a boat length and all swinging together on single bow anchors. It wasn't long before sailors (some of whom we had spoken to on the SSB) tendered by, curious about our voyaging motorboat and to offer helpful information about Salalah. Oman is reported to be one of the richest countries in the Middle East, and the port of Salalah is a small but bustling terminal with room to load and unload up to about 10 large cargo ships. There are modern container cranes along with traditional singlearm cranes for the handling of noncontainerized freight. One seawall is 76 路 CIRCUMNAVIGATOR 2003
reserved for the traditional Dhow-type cargo vessels of wood construction, some carrying chickens and goats. One old woody arrived carrying hundreds of tons of smelt-like fish, all packed into burlap sacks and stinking beyond description. The stevedores unloaded the ship by hand and stacked the foul bags into waiting trucks, overloading them to the very top of their cargo fences. I later learned these fish were used to feed beef and dairy cattle, and that the local beef was tainted with a fishy aftertaste. Thank goodness for our well-stocked deep freeze. We also learned that the favorite restaurant and gathering place for the yachting crowd was an easy walk from the port and that they served good food (imported beef) and good drinks. The restaurant was aptly named The Oasis and buzzed with activity late into each evening. After dinner at the restaurant, Brian and I met some British sailors returning to the navy supply ship Fort
Rosari. That morning the British aircraft carrier Illustrious, a small British frigate, and the Fort Rosari had entered the harbor and moored along a quay near the yacht anchorage. Two other British frigates had moored in another part of the harbor. We talked a bit as we walked and were soon invited aboard the Rosari for a nightcap with the sailors in the crew's lounge. The crew of this British ship were merchant marine and supplied the carrier and frigates with ammunition, fuel and general supplies. We spoke at length with the second officer of the ship and expressed our concerns over security. He could not say where they had been or where they were going-only that they were part of an international coalition for the prevention of terrorism. He assured us, however, that the Arabian Sea, Red Sea and the Mediterranean were safe and we had nothing to worry about. Later, lower ranking crew in that smoke-filled lounge told us the waters were thick with coalition warships-German, French, British, Italian and American. As well, they said, aircraft were in the air 24 hours a day and if we keyed our VHF on 16--called a mayday--there would be aircraft overhead within minutes. We were elated with the news and by morning it had spread throughout the anchorage. All the following day cruisers were inviting the British crew out to their yachts for drinks and snacks. We enjoyed our stay in Salalah, the weather was pleasant and the people were all friendly. The terrain is arid, resembling the coastline along the Sea of Cortez, and I found the cooler, dry air refreshing after weeks in the tropics. The town of Salalah was mostly new with a prosperous look and feel, and we found modern wellstocked markets for re-provisioning. More than once on the way to town, the taxi had to slow to allow free-ranging camels to cross the road. The driver explained that they had little use for camels these days, but treated the animals with reverence for their past contribution to Arab society. All was ready March 2, and we left Salalah for our next stop Djibouti, 730 miles west-southwest. C