Bisou de partout: Tunisia Part 1

As usual, we left Malfatano, on the south coast of Sardinia, before dawn – we are getting good at waking before the alarm on ‘passage days’. I think it’s something to do with the excitement and anticipation of a new destination. The morning was calm and dark and we raised the anchor and slipped from the bay quietly heading south and out to sea.

The day passed uneventfully with fluctuating wind speeds, but enough to give us an average 7 knots of speed through the water. There was a bit of a swell on our stern which made us surf going down the waves, but not enough to be uncomfortable.

I took the first watch that night, which coincided with the crossing of the freighter ‘traffic lanes’ off the north coast of Tunisia. With both the radar and AIS on as well as the binoculars watching out, we managed to avoid colliding with the many ships passing perpendicular to us in both directions. Then there were the fishing vessels going in no predictable direction (sometimes standing still, sometimes following a shelf on the sea floor, sometimes abruptly turning and appearing to head straight for us!) which were alarming to say the least. Fortunately all were well lit and so at least visible!

Tad took over before we reached Cap Bon (northeast coast of Tunisia) in record time (well, it was sooner than we predicted as we had made such good speed in the crossing), and it was just as well, since there were a large number of fishing vessels, fish farms and nets (unmarked on any of our charts) all along the coast and in our path. They were difficult to see as many were also unlit and had very little in the way of markers to define them – all you could see was a dark outline ahead and try to steer to avoid it!

We enjoyed a beautiful sunrise as we sped down the east coast of Tunisia and managed to get both the main and the genoa up with a good 25 knots blowing from the northwest taking us and Bisou into Port Yasmine at Hammamet. Calling into the marina on the VHF radio, we were invited to moor at the reception quay. A marina attendant (they seem to be called ‘marineros’ regardless of which country you are in!) was waiting to assist us with our lines and within minutes we were moored to the reception quay. I went ashore with the ship’s papers, the passports, etc. to complete formalities.

Although Tad is officially skipper on Bisou (due to his seniority in the skill department), we are both owners which sometimes proves complicated when completing arrival documentation in various places. We knew that Tunisia was going to be challenging but since I speak French and have a knowledge of Arabic as well as the customs in this part of the world, it made sense for me to go ashore to carry out the arrival procedures. First stop was the police - I was pleasantly surprised by how friendly and helpful everyone was. There was a police woman in uniform as well as her ‘boss’ not in uniform; the policewoman and I chatted while the ‘boss’ filled out the paperwork to organize our arrival stamps. It turns out that Tad didn’t need a visa due to his having an American passport, but for some reason Australians DO need a visa; this, however, is available on arrival. It was Saturday afternoon when we arrived and not possible for me to buy my arrival visa stamp but the police stamped me in anyway with the reassurance that I would go to the marina office first thing Monday morning and pay my 30 Tunisian dinars (about 15 euros) for a 7-day visa. When I told the police that I would be staying for another two weeks they advised me to just pay for an additional two visas at the airport on departure. Tad didn’t even get a stamp in his passport.

Then it was on to the customs office. Here I had to complete a form listing all the ‘valuables’ we had on board, including alcohol (they weren’t interested in our 6 bottles of wine or 12 bottles of beer), electronics (GPS, AIS, radios, Iridium phone, etc.), our dinghy and motor and Tad’s “professional” camera collection. We found out later that this is because these items are not available to buy in Tunisia and if they are, they are very expensive. Many foreigners are tempted to sell these items at a premium while they are in Tunisia and buy replacements when they get home! We even had a taxi driver ask us if we had any spare phones, tablets, Ipods or laptops that we wanted to sell him!

From customs my next stop was the marina (luckily all these offices were in the same building very close to the arrival quay); since I did not have my passport in order to complete the contract for the winter (the police were holding it until I purchased my stamp on Monday), I had to hand over the boat papers for assurance until I could give the marina office my passport. We were assigned a berth and back I went to the boat, with the two police officers and the customs official in tow for the “inspection”. They had not seen a Fountaine Pajot Helia before and were quite curious as to the layout of the boat – not in the least interested in what we had on board (thank goodness) and within a short time I was politely informed (in French) that the customs and immigration formalities were now complete and if we would like to offer the police and customs official a small ‘gift’ it would be appreciated but if not that was okay as well. I apologized that we had nothing, not even any Tunisian money to be able to offer and they smiled and went away. I think we got off lightly as we had heard that a number of other yachties had been asked outright for money. I do understand the custom of ‘baksheesh’ and I am not averse to that per se, however, the blatant request of money to me is rude and not necessary. I made sure I remembered the names of the officers who assisted me as well as the marina office official and all the other various people who were kind to us and will bring them small gifts from Australia on our return NOT money!

Back on board Tad was wondering what was going on and I let him know that we were officially in Tunisia! We followed the marinero to our appointed berth and were horrified as we rounded the end of pontoon #40 to see that we were to be wedged in between a rather large motor yacht and another 44’ catamaran! I indicated with my hands to the marinero that we were too wide to fit in that space and he just signaled to Tad to keep going and we would be okay.

With fenders out either side, we slipped into our berth and tied up (Mediterranean-style mooring). Once in, we saw what a good spot it really was – although some distance from the Capitainerie and other yachts, it was secure and protected. When I went back on Monday to finalise our contract and retrieve my passport, I asked the marina office lady if we could stay there (she had indicated we might be moved) and she replied “Inshallah” – this literally translates as “God Willing” and is the traditional reply to just about any enquiry. What it does is to remove responsibility from the person replying, should the requested action not occur!

One of the first people we met was Mick Turner, a British man with whom I had made contact via email. He and his wife sailed into Port Yasmine 7 years earlier and had ended up staying! Mick is a boat handyman and can fix just about anything – his wife, Jo, organises taxis and transfers to the airport, cleans boats and hosts wonderful gatherings for the yachting community in Port Yasmine. We were treated to the first of these events a week after arriving, with Eid al Adha (one of the many Muslim feast days) being celebrated on the following Saturday. Mick and Jo hosted a collection of French, Belgian, British, and Australian yachties at their tiny cottage not far from the marina, for a BBQ. We brought a potato salad and chocolate brownies to help out with the catering, both of which were appreciated. We met and chatted with a variety of people that day which was a great way to get to know some of our yachting neighbours.

As the days went by, we met other yachties in the marina, including another Australian couple, JB and Terri from Perth on their yacht “Xi”. In chatting with them further we found that we were both interested in doing some exploring of

Tunisia during the next week or so and eventually arranged for a driver to take the four of us to Kerouan and El Djem for a day trip.

Kerouan was an important Muslim destination in ancient times, and in fact has a mosque that was the third most important for pilgrims after Mecca and Jerusalem. The Great Mosque was built in the 10^th century and the city was a thriving metropolis - we visited the Great Mosque and then wandered through the medina (old town) observing some wonderful traditional craftspeople at work: weaving, carpet knotting, leather work and much more. We could have spent all day here but we moved on to El Djem where we were amazed by the spectacular coliseum here. This edifice is apparently the third largest coliseum in the world and is amazingly well preserved. Operatic performances are held here during the summer and original seating still used. By the time we arrived in El Djem, it was mid-afternoon so we had a bite to eat at a restaurant facing the coliseum before entering the theatre for a visit. We then visited the museum at El Djem which houses an amazing array of mosaics excavated from a variety of villas that existed in the area during Roman times. Many were very well preserved and some have been carefully restored, but all are beautifully displayed in the museum.

We had a long drive back to the marina and although it had been a long day, with some rather confronting traffic situations, our driver brought us back to our boats safely.