Aden. Wow. Certainly a place we won’t soon forget. Where to start? Pirates, pickpockets and pimps… no, doesn’t quite sum it up. We started off from the Maldives on the 17th of March. We anticipated a three to four week journey across the remainder of the Indian Ocean to the African continent. We where nervous about what to expect out there as the good weather season had finished four weeks ago and we have no long range communication. Luckily, as it turned out, we had the best weather imaginable. We had a constant ten knot wind except two days in the middle where we had no wind at all. The sea was so still, it was eerie. The surface as far as the eye could see was like a mirror, with only the odd flying fish breaking the surface as we approached. Even though the weather was good, we didn’t want to take any chances of getting stuck in bad weather, so we motored the whole way and made the trip in a record eleven days. We got a bit nervous during the three days it took to pass the Somalian coast as there are huge amounts of pirate attacks reported there every year. It seems luck was on our side again, but not entirely without incident. During our sales we have encountered a lot of curious fishermen. Some just want to take a closer look at the boat, some want to come aboard and look, and others want cigarettes, whisky, money or dirty magazines. Three times we had boats approach us outside Somalia. And none of them looked particularly friendly. Normally a sailboat can do a maximum of around 6 knots on motor alone. Tops. So all three times the boats that approached us where pretty surprised when our boat roared up to ten knots when they approached. Two of the boats we outran. It took a long time before they gave up and went on their way. The last encounter was two small motorboats from the west coming straight towards us at around 15knots. Keeping in mind this is 300nm miles from land, it’s a pretty un-usual scenario. They gave chase and were quickly up next to us. The thing that saved us (if they meant any harm) was Oliver’s quick maneuvering and our turning speed. Their boats where small and top heavy, whilst ours has a keel. So doing the same speed, we could turn a lot quicker then they could without tipping over. So when they where up next to us (we where doing ten knots) Oliver whipped the wheel around and the boat spun a full 360∞. By the time they were halfway around, we were heading straight for them. And us being a big steel boat we wouldn’t have thought twice about ramming them and turning their boats into kindling had they produced a weapon at that stage. So after that, they were on their merry way again. As it turns out, we heard on the radio yesterday that a sailboat was attacked by pirates in two boats like the ones we saw. The pirates attempted a robbery using AK-47s. But luckily a tanker-ship was nearby and came to their rescue. I guess another notable incident, during this journey, was when I managed to get a 50’000 ton tanker ship to divert its coarse for us. But that’s another story. We arrived in Aden, Yemen on the 28th of March and where keen as mustard to have our first beer in over a month. The check-in gave us the first tastes of what this country may be like. First we went to immigration where we found a heavy man in his early fifties with a massive lump protruding from his right cheek. There was no aircon, so the first thing you notice as you step into the small dark office is that old office smell mingling with the smell of sweat and cigarette smoke. After signing in at immigration we where directed to go to the customs office. Luckily one of the local children helped find the customs office as it lay in what looked like and abandoned slaughter house. As it turned out, it was an abandoned goods inspection store. We walked into a very small room. Once again I was struck by the same smell, with an added hint of grass smell. In the room we found a desk, a chair and three men laying on the floor sleeping. One of the men noticed us and yelled “what do you want?!” first in Arabic – at least I assume he said the same thing in Arabic. His English was bad, but it certainly didn’t help that he had a massive lump protruding from his left cheek. Our first thought was ‘Wow, two people in a row with tooth ache. Not often you see that’. Then we notice the other two also had tooth aches! That was a bit too coincidental. So we asked the angry man in customs, after introducing ourselves, what he had in his mouth. He replied with a broad smile and green saliva oozing out the side of his mouth, “Ghat”. Ghat is apparently a type of grass they grow in the mountains. It has much the same effect as coca leaves when you chew it. A calm relaxing effect, which it seems, almost every man in Aden enjoys. It used to be illegal up until the president accidentally addressed the nation chewing it. This is getting to be too long. After arriving we went straight to the closest bar, which was called ‘The Seaman’s Club’. It’s a noisy conspicuous place full of crooks and Somalian prostitutes, where apparently “You can get anything you want. ANYTHING”. The notable thing about Aden was the old fashioned way of life. The poverty. The food. The landscape. And what I can say is I only wish I saw more of the place. You have to watch your step though. Thanks for visiting the site! Enjoy the pictures.