Once safely back in Menorca (after paying 50 E to the marina guys to come out after work hours to dinghy us 5 minutes to the boat) we grabbed a weather window the very next morning to go to Tunisia. We were worried that if we didn’t get moving the weather is getting more unreliable for this trip and we need to get out of Spain (Matriculation Tax) and reset the boat EU visa for the next 18 months.
The trip to Bizerte, the northern most tip of Tunisia and indeed Africa, was uneventful thankfully, motor sailing all the way with rolling following seas and not quite enough wind. The marina staff were friendly and helpful and immigration and customs one the best experiences we have had anywhere. The two men were friendly, courteous and professional, even with a sense of humour asking us if we had any hash and telling Pete when he signed the final page that it was his receipt for the boat! The marina is a bit of a stalled grand project that may even be in receivership. The buildings are not finished including a big hotel and the marina is lacking in maintenance but nevertheless safe and secure. One restaurant serves alcohol the other doesn’t. I can’t quite make sense of it as the nearby carrefour supermarket had a really big alcohol section and seemed to be selling to anyone.
The town is pretty typical – markets, medina, Kasbah etc. Arabic and French are mostly spoken but some people attempt English. this northern area of Tunisia is very rich agriculturally and apparently Tunisia is self sufficient in produce. In the Roman Empire days they supplied nearly all the grain. We scooted around on our e scooters attracting little groups of fascinated 10 year old boys. We ran up the Corniche expecting it to be a bit of a Croisette, but definitely not. Just unused messy beachfront and old hotels and apartments. We have felt safe here, the people have been very friendly and helpful when we’ve been looking for things and bureaucratically safer than Europe – out of Spanish Matriculation Tax, out of EU for boat visa and out of Schengen. Pete’s ailments are all better now so we don’t have to go through the experience of a Tunisian hospital. Speaking of which, amusingly the Christian cemetery is between the Military Hospital and the Training Hospital!
We are now in Gammarth in another not quite finished marina (must try to find out when and why the infrastructure building stalled in Tunisia seemingly around the same time) sitting out some very high winds – gusting 40k. We stayed inside and ate pancakes watching Harry Potter (Pete had never seen any). Hopefully it will all be gone tomorrow and we can explore Carthage, Sidi bou Said and Tunis.
