Bizerte and Tabarka Tunisia, July 23-26

Bizerte.

Leaving Golfe de Tunis, we sail up and around to Cap Blanc where we stop for the night at a small harbor with the main population being fishing boats (again). It was a good 9 hour sail. The winds were varied most of the day and out of the North-East never giving us a good opportunity to sail with the Spinnaker. Winds of 10-25 kt gusts had us sailing with a furled jib most of the time. We arrived in Bizerte, Tunisia almost at dark(sorry, no pictures due to our quick stop there) and did not plan to do any “looking” around because we had to leave early in the next morning for Tabarka. Fred and Ken went with the customs person that had greeted us to do the normal paperwork, and Molly went off with our ice bag in search of some ice for our “still not working” refrigerator. The fishing buildings were close and so she did not have to go far. We were in a very exposed area just along the beginning edge of the jetty where many, many locals were fishing. Unfortunately, Bizerte harbor was littered and dirty and did not entice us to go out to venture.

Sailing to Tabarka would also be a long day with much the same coastal view. Arrived in Tabarka and found a nice sized harbor complete with naval ships, and a bustling community along the quay. Very little options for docking we pulled along the quay what turned out to be reserved for the coast guard boats. When we first circled into the harbor, a man was waving at us and motioning that we should tie up along side another sailboat.

This was the French sailing boat that we first saw in Sidi Daoud harbor. The owner and his wife were not on the boat and we did not feel comfortable tying up without their being available to assist, but as it turned out it was our only option and soon proved to be a good decision. When the couple returned they were most gracious and helped us with many logistic questions on the area. They had been in Tabarka before and were planning on staying for several days. During our stay the captain lent his hand-cart and water jug to us which we used to fill our water bottles with. The only hose that had good water was at the beginning of the harbor and a bit of a walk so the hand cart came in handy.

Our French Boat neighbors with some of their friends

Molly filling our water bottles

With several days from our last good shower and good night sleep Ken suggested I go look for a hotel for the night. I found a small, clean hotel (Hotel la Plage) for 70 denar that SAID they had internet, but I never got it working, even in the lobby so again, connection with home had to wait. Not having a good access to laundry, we used our bathtubs in the hotel as our laundry and then took our wet clothes back to the boat to hand and dry.

Drying our laundry on/and in the boat (threat of rain)

Vacationing Tunisian family