"Elsie Brown"

Over the past six years I have sailed much of the UAE coast in my gaff rigged trailer-sailer, "Elsie Brown".

Named after my maternal grandmother, she is a stripped-planked Evening Swan designed by Paul Fisher built in Melbourne by Chris van der Cratts. I am shipping her home in May 2009 and will berth her at the Yaringa Boat Harbour in Westernport Bay. She has a shallow bilge/shoal keel ideal for the shallow waters of the Arabian Gulf and Westerport Bay. She is easily beached and sits upright on the sand until the tide returns. She has twin berths (convertable to a double), a portapotty and a small galley.

Ashore on a small sand island five kilometres west of Abu Dhabi. The traditional owners, who have a date-palm plantation on the island, kindly let me camp on the beach for a few nights while I explored the neighbouring islands.

Sailing of the coast of Kalba just north of the Omani border on the Indian Ocean side of the UAE. Shorty after this photo was taken the winds gusted over thirty knots and I lost the bobstay holding down the bobsprit at the bow. My companion boat lost her forstay but we returned safely home.

Sailing the Musandam Peninsula

The Musandam, at the North-eastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, overlooks the Straits of Hormuz. It is bordered to the west by the Arabian Gulf and to the East and South East by the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean. Known as the "Norway" of Arabia, the Musandam Peninsula is separated from the rest of Oman by various of the United Arab Emirates - Ras al Khaimah and Fujairah.

Musandam begins where the mountains rise from the plains of Ras al Khaimah where "Elsie" is berthed. The Musandam Peninsula is difficult to reach other than by sea and is a haven for sealife and birds. Indeed, as I sailed into Khor Habilayn I was escorted by a pod of a dozen dolphins. The cliffs rise a thousand feet from the water's edge and plunge fifty metres underwater just metres from shore. This makes safe anchorages rare and the winds eratic and unpredictable. The shores are populated by friendly Omanis who still live the simple traditional fishing life of their ancestors.