Day 84 – March 30, 2015

I thought I would share some pictures from yesterday. We started in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Yemen.  We stayed 70 miles off shore until we had to turn Northwest and head for the Red Sea.  We entered the Gulf of Aden from the south and headed for the Gate of Tears.  The Gate of Tears is a three mile wide straight we had to transit to reach the Red Sea.  It has Yemen on the east and Djibouti on the west.  There is a 1.5 mile wide corridor heading north and another one heading south.  If the news showed where the US destroyer picked up the Saudi  pilots who ejected from their fighter, that is the area.  Between Yemen and our ship there is a screen of Egyptian and Saudi warships and now we know US also. Having dinner last night we did see one Saudi warship. We started out at  18 knots and then accelerated to 23 knots to pass through the Gate of Tears.   With Steve’s camera you could really see the Yemen coast. We are now well into the Red Sea and out of any major conflict areas.  Then it is just the usual terrorist concerns in Israel, and we are there on Easter Sunday.  All in all just another day on a world cruise.

The first three pictures are of the chart that we have on the ship that might give you some idea where we are. The last six are ones Steve took of Yemen.