Sidi Daoud and Kelibia

Since leaving Sidi Bou Said we have found ourselves staying in fishing harbours which have many advantages. Not only are they significantly cheaper than the marina, but the welcome we receive is so friendly. The pungent surroundings are much more interesting, with the neighbours as interested in us as we are in them.

Maggie's day bed


Our first stop was Sidi Daoud, about 30Nm from Sidi Bou Said. This harbour provided us with some welcome shelter from an uncomfortable sea - one particularly big wave came over the side soaking everyone in the cockpit (fortunately for me I was inside) resulting in much screaming from the girls who had been sleeeping on cushions on the floor. Safely tied up alongside we invested some dinar in the local fisherman's catch, only to realise once the girls were in bed that we didn't have the energy to invest in the gutting and preparation of the little fish. Hotdogs for dinner once again.





Our planned departure the following day was unsuccessful when, just outside the harbour entrance, the fanbelt broke on one of the engines, the second time in only a few engine hours. We were motoring into wind and sea and as one engine was not enough to make headway and clear the shallow channel out came the fenders again and back in we went. A moment of stress came when it looked like the engine wouldn't restart for manoevering in the harbour (the boat is very hard to steer at slow speeds with one engine), but phew it came through for us and we were back alongside where we'd left off. Colin quickly changed the belt and one of the fishing boat mechanics offered to look at the alignment of the pullies which looked OK but could have been causing the breaks. After some contemplation by all, it was decided that the problem this time was hopefully a dodgy fanbelt rather than the engine, fingers crossed, we'll have to wait and see if it happens again to know for sure. However, the messing around meant we missed our (already late) window for departure so we decided to spend another night enjoying our fragrant surroundings. We took a trip into the nearby town of El Haouaria where there were Roman caves to see. Colin could barely contain his excitement at the thought of still more ruins, but these sounded a bit unusual being the quarries where stone was excavated to build the Colosseum in Rome with 1km of underground tunnels leading through the cliffs. Unfortunately they seemed to have been permanently closed to tourists for some time (much to the surprise of our 'local' taxi driver), so that left us with a stroll through the town's streets. Clearly they don't see many tourists here - that much was apparent from the excited screech of 'touristes' by a schoolgirl to her friends inside a shop and the girls once again received many 'bizous' (kisses or strokes on the cheek). Our second attempt at the local fish (a small tuna this time we think) worked out with Colin doing a workmanlike gutting and preparation under instructions read out by Louise. The fish was delicious though and left us with full stomachs (as well as a smelly boat for a few days!)

We left Sidi Daoud on the 5th June in much calmer conditions, managing to sail for the first hour and with no drama, travelled round Cap Bon to Kelibia, passing enticing stretches of golden sand. Kelibia is another, larger fishing port with a dedicated yacht quay, which, like Sidi Bou Said and Tabarka, draws the locals to see the visiting boats and have their photos taken by their favourite ones. It's located beneath the watchful gaze of a large stone fort. The views from the fort are fantastic and from the fort we wandered back down to a neglected Roman site, where the lovely mosaics are literally crumbling away in an open and rubbish strewn square.

Kelibia harbour, with the fort in the background

Views from the fort



Crumbling mosaics


More views of the harbour


Our second day here was spent at one of the lovely beaches we'd passed on our way here, El Mansourah. Being sunday there were quite a lot of people, plenty of families and lots going on. The quad bike racing through the sunbathers on the beach was a bit worrying to our British standards - no stringent health and safety concerns stopping the fun here (note to parents/grandparents, we were well out of their way, eating crepes in the cafe, yum!).

On our return to the harbour around 5pm there was another boat rafted alongside us, by 8pm there were 6 of us in two lines of 3 boats. Cosy. This is the most boats we've seen in transit since arriving in Tunisia. Funny how we've converged on the same small fishing port.

Rafted up


Our forthcoming plans are to move south, to El Kantoui, a secure marina where we hope to leave Skyran for a few days, rent a car and take a small trip inland and southwards, to find oases, camels and Berber markets, in the region where they filmed parts of Star Wars and The English Patient. We can almost feel the Saharan sand whipping against our faces already.