The Suez is a sea-level canal dug through Egypt gusing slave labor by France under the supervision of Ferdinand de Lesseps and opened in in 1869. No locks meant a free flow of water between the Med and Red Sea, a height difference of around 4 feet, depending on the season. The first surveys indicated a difference of 33 feet, which discouraged the undertaking for years.
As a sea-level canal it is less interesting as an engineeriinng feat than canals such as the Panama, with barriers such as disease, mountains and jungles and the Main, crossing the European Continental Divide with 100 foot locks.
The passage through took 10 hours, starting at 6 AM, as the fifth ship in a north-bound convoy of 25 ships. Most of the canal is one way. One north-bound and two south-bound convoys each day are timed to reach the two passing lanes on the canal at around the same time. The north-bound convoy does not stop, but the others do.
Beautiful day, with temperatures in the 60-70s made being outside delightful. But, the passage was a little dull, with mainly desert on both sides.
We are now enroute to Haifa, Israel for a few days exploration.
No comments:
Post a Comment