NOVAS MENSAGENS

O PHOENICIA acaba de atravessar a Linha do Equador

Mensagem de Vera Sanada
15 de novembro

Estou um pouco atrasada em mandar o texto do Philip, pois hoje já passaram pela Linha do Equador e devem ter comemorado a bordo. A tradição é que o Rei Neptuno vem a bordo para batizar os primeiros a cruzarem a linha. Não sei quantos que estão a bordo do Phoenicia que não navegaram nessa região. Normalmente alguém a bordo se veste de Neptuno, também bebem, geralmente rum, bebida tradicional dos barcos, para comemorar, mas como no Phoenicia a maioria é de muçulmanos, eles não tem álcool para beber, mas com certeza farão uma festa, ainda mais que estão saindo da zona de risco dos ataques dos piratas Somálios.

Como escreve o capitão Philip abaixo, "obrigado aos deuses Fenícios!"




Mensagem do Capitão Philip


Blog 12 from Captain Philip Beale
Thanking the Phoenician Gods

We have had a good 24 hours and have covered 142 miles over the period, of which nearly a knot is due to favourable currents of the average speed of nearly 6 knots.

We have spent part of the day reflecting how lucky we have been so far and in fortuitously avoiding the pirate attack area now just some 200 miles to our west. As the report below indicates, the crew of the MV Felitsa were not so lucky.

More information has emerged regarding the vessel hijacking in the Indian Ocean reported in the November 11 Drum Cussac Gulf of Aden Piracy Alerts.

The 23,709-dwt Greek-owned, Marshall Island-flagged bulk carrier MV Filitsa, was hijacked by Somali pirates at position 00:35S - 062:40E, approximately 1050nm east of Mogadishu, Somalia in the Indian Ocean, at 0105 UTC on Wednesday, November 11. The vessel was approached by pirates in skiffs, with the ensuing chase lasting for five hours. Three pirates were reported to have been injured in the attack.

The Filitsa and its 22-man crew, made up of three Greeks and 19 Filipinos, was carrying a shipment of fertilizer (urea) en route to Durban, South Africa when the incident occurred. The vessel, owned by Piraeus-based Order Shipping Co. Ltd, is subsequently reported to have turned around and headed north towards Somalia.

We are now a few miles from the equator and heading south east and plan to pick up the south east trade winds a few hundred miles further south, that will take us towards East Africa.
Tomorrow morning we will celebrate a time honoured tradition of a reception with King Neptune for those of the crew whose first time it is to cross the equator under sail. We will then have a small party to celebrate the achievement. Nothing too grand mind you, there is not a drop of alcohol on board. So soft drinks and a few sweets will be the order of the day.

NOVAS MENSAGENS

Apesar dos aniversários e das pizzas ( feitas para compensar a má qualidade da cozinha do barco, na qual se revezam os tripulantes) o PHOENICIA ainda não saiu da faixa de maior perigo de ataques piratas. Na última comunicação de Yuri para casa disse que às vezes a comida é tão apimentada que nem os árabes, acostumados como se sabe a muita pimenta, conseguem comer.Mas as maiores preocupações são outras no momento.

As últimas comunicações vem de Vera Sanada e do Capitão Philip.




Mensagem de Vera Sanada, do Brasil, via email
13 de novembro de 2009


Fiquei bastante preocupada depois de ler o blog do Philip do dia 12.
Houve ataque de piratas a 200 milhas de onde eles estavam, e como ele mesmo coloca, é provável que tenha uma "nave mãe pirata" na região.

Bom é que os ventos continuam a soprar a favor deles e estão navegando bem , chegaram a fazer 137.1 milhas em 24 horas, acredito que esse tenha sido o récorde até agora. Estão saindo ao máximo da rota dos piratas e tudo indica que breve estarão fora da zona de risco.
Que bons ventos continuem soprando a esses bravos navegadores históricos!

Abaixo texto do Philip.

Beijocas com carinho e um pouco preocupada.


Vera


Mensagem do Capitão Philip

"It has been another busy and nail biting 24 hours on board Phoenicia.

The main cause for concern was the report below mentioning two very recent pirate attacks.

"On 10/Nov at 0200 UTC a container ship was attacked by pirates in 2 skiffs in position 00 43S 061 57E. The skiffs where white in colour with 7-8 persons on board. Assault rifles were fired .
The vessel deployed anti piracy measures, increased speed and was able to evade the attack.
On 09/Nov at 0830 UTC a VLCC was attacked 35 NM from the position above."

The attacks took place just over 200 miles south east of our position and would indicate a pirate mother ship in the area. What made matters worse was that the location was directly on Phoenicia's intended course. We took immediate action and diverted course as anyone will be able to see who is following our progress on the Yellow Brick tracker. Fortunately we have had strong winds and have averaged over 5 knots during the last 24 hours and managed 137.1 miles, moving as fast as we can away from the area of the attacks.

Otherwise we have been making a few running repairs to the rigging. This afternoon Dirman ventured aloft with the help of the bosun's chair to put an additional parell in place should our recent one fail from chaffing. We have also had 4 of the brailing lines break due we think to some pretty sub-standard hemp rope we have on board. We have repaired one with out having to drop the yard and the main sail remains partly furled due to the strong winds. Nevertheless we are doing around 6 knots as we head into the evening. We are praying we won't see any ships as we head to the Equator, which we should now reach tomorrow or early Saturday.

NOVAS MENSAGENS

Mensagem de Vera Sanada

Tudo indica que está correndo tudo bem a bordo. Os ventos estão favoráveis e a pesca também. Eles tem pego muito peixe, o que é muito bom, assim tem alimento fresco todo dia.

Chegou outra mensagem do Phoenicia, agora escrito pelo capitão Philip.

Bons ventos para esses navegadores que, quem sabe, estarão reescrevendo a história.


e do Captain Philip Beale

10th November 2009
05 08.3N 6007.4 E
Blog 10 from Captain Philip Beale

The weather seems to know just how to frustrate us. Just as we were reaching the edge of the high risk zone to the east of the Somali basin, the wind changes to the north west and pushes us further east! Still we should not complain, the silver lining is we are heading south east at over 5 knots and enjoying some magnificent sailing with a good force 6 wind.

The sail is hoisted high into the sky with brailing lines pulled aft as depicted in one of the 6th century BC Greek vases at the British Museum that we used to inform some aspects of the sail and rigging. Phoenicia makes a tremendous sight as she surfs over the rolling waves that are hitting our starboard quarter. The wind strength has just increased further and the waves are now some 5 meters high with crisp white horses heads forming on their crests.We have just reduced the main sail area by hauling in on the brailing lines, a primitive but effective form of reefing the sails that the Phoenicians invented. So far it seems to be doing the job pretty well and keeping our sppeed to a manageable 5 knots rather than the encroaching 6-7 we were experiencing prior to reefing the sail.

The other piece of very good news here is that overnight Sulhan caught a very large two foot long tuna, following a lull in our fishing fortunes. So you know what we are eating today- fish and rice for the lunch today followed by fish cakes for dinner. The only issue is how many bonus points towards the competition we should award Sulhan for his spectacular catch!

NOVAS MENSAGENS

Date:
9th November 2009
Location:
06 31.4N, 59.21.9 E
Message:
Blog 9 (Day 16 on the Indian Ocean) from Niklas Andersson

I'm now sitting in the galley watching Dirman and Philip playing chess. The last days the wind has slightly changed to the north which is giving us wind directly from the stern with good speed as a result. In the last 24 hours we have sailed 120miles. We now have approximately four days to the equator and maybe a few more days before we can turn west towards Africa. Today Philip showed me a wind and current chart. There might be some tricky winds and maybe rainstorms to expect when we're crossing the equator. Exiting! I’m tired of good weather.

No, I don't really mean that. But still, it's exiting.In the last couple of days we discovered that some of the bracer lines to the sail have snapped, and a few other lines being torn down and are about to break. Naturally for hemp ropes in tough conditions I guess. Just a reminder that there is a lot of weight hanging over our heads and we really don't want the wrong ropes to snap. I can imagine this was one risk that the Phoenicians must have been very careful about. For security we changed the broken parell, that brings the mast and yard together, to a modern thick fibre rope. The fishing competition is now Philip 6, Dirman 4 and Julhan 2.I want to thank Yuri for a lovely birthday supper the other day. He made us pizza with fruit cocktail for desert. And last, not to forget, an Arabic birthday song.

Thank you!

Niklas

British Museum Collectinon

Silver bowl with scenes in relief

Phoenician, 8th-7th century BCFrom Amathus, Cyprus

This fragmentary silver bowl was discovered in a tomb at the end of the nineteenth century. The tomb had been looted, and its two chambers contained the broken fragments of fifteen sarcophagi. This bowl was found in a copper cauldron along with an iron dagger and the fragments of a shield. They may have been discarded as of little value - the bowl was heavily corroded and the silver only obvious after conservation.

The bowl is decorated in low relief with Canaanite and Egyptian deities, couchant sphinxes wearing Egyptian headdresses, and a scene showing the siege of a city. The decoration shows clear Egyptian or Egyptianizing and Canaanite motifs, but such mixed influences are typical of Phoenician products. It is comparable to bowls found elsewhere, such as the bronze bowls from Nimrud, several of which are in The British Museum. The outer frieze, with the seige scene, may illustrate a forgotten episode from Phoenician or Syrian mythology.

The use of similar artistic motifs over a wide area shows the extent of commercial contacts established by the Canaanites of the Levant coast (known as Phoenicians) in the first millennium BC. They grew rich by supplying luxury materials to Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Iran. Their natural harbours became major ports for handling international shipping.

L.P. di Cesnola, Cyprus: its ancient cities, to (London, John Murray, 1877)
B.F. Cook (ed.), Cypriot art in the British Mus (London, The British Museum Press, 1979)
S. Moscati, The Phoenicians (New York, Rizzoli, 1999)

The British Museum - Explore/Highlights

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/me/s/silver_bowl,_scenes_in_relief.aspx

About Phoenicians

Texto extraído do site The British Museum

Phoenicians
The British Museum - Explore/ World cultures
Iraqhttp://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/world_cultures/middle_east/phoenicians.aspx



Image caption: Ivory plaque depicting a winged sphinxPhoenician, 9th-8th century BC. Found at Fort Shalmaneser, Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), northern

The Phoenicians were the direct descendents of the Canaanites of the south Syrian and Lebanese coast who, at the end of the second millennium BC, became isolated by population and political changes in the regions surrounding them. The name derives from the Greek, Phoinikes, referring to the purple coloured dye which the Phoenicians extracted from the murex shell, and with which they produced highly prized textiles.

The major Phoenician cities were Tyre, Sidon, Byblos and Arwad. These cities represented a confederation of fiercely independent maritime traders. By the late eighth century BC, the Phoenicians had founded trading posts and colonies around the entire Mediterranean, the greatest of which was Carthage on the north coast of Africa (present day Tunisia). Explorers and traders from Carthage even ventured beyond the Straits of Gibraltar as far as Britain in search of tin.

Phoenician craftsmen and artists perpetuated the purest ideals of their Canaanite ancestors into the first millennium and transmitted them throughout the Mediterranean world. They were extremely skilled in metalworking, ivory carving, jewellery manufacture and glass-making. One of the most significant contributions of the Phoenicians was in developing the alphabet invented by the Canaanites and passing it to the Greeks: it is the same alphabet we use today.

.

Cavalgando os mares

O Hippo, este cavalo, enfeitava a proa dos navios fenícios

Nas fotos, o Hippo do barco PHOENICIA

MENSAGENS DE HOJE

Um susto no mar

Mensagens enviadas por Vera Sanada

Leia a respeito do susto que nossos aventureiros levaram a noite passada.
Realmente isso acontece no mar.
Yuri e eu já passamos por vários quando navegávamos.
Imagina eles que estão na altura da Somália.
Realmente eles andam muito apreensivos!

Esse é o momento de mais atenção, e levará no mínimo 15 dias até passarem.

Beijos
Vera

6th November 2009
09.32.5N, 58.37.9 E


Message:Blog 7 Suspicious contact at 50° on the starboard side.

It was 18:30 hrs local time yesterday evening and dusk was just descending. At first there was a report of a contact on the starboard side with the spotting of a light. The narrative ran something like this: “What is it?” “It is a large ship”. “How can you tell that?”

“The mast is a at least 10 meters tall”
“How can you tell that?” Ermm....
“How long do you think the ship is?
“About 20 meters”
“The same as Phoenicia then?” “Yes”
“so most likely either a pirate mother ship or a fishing boat?”
“Wow their deck lights are bright”.

“Yes they are obviously doing something on deck, either launching a skiff or two or hauling nets”
.
“Looks like it is getting closer”.

“Yuri can you get the generator started and the LRAD plugged in. Nicolas can you check the satellite phone is ready and switch on our navigation lights.”

“You are 20° off course- for goodness sake’s concentrate or we will be in real trouble. You should be steering 150°, not 130°”.

“That is interesting they have turned off their deck lights but they have their navigation lights still on”.

“Darken ship and get our navigation lights off. They will know we have seen them but if they are coming for us it will be more difficult for them to find us as it is pitch black right now and the full moon won’t rise for an hour or so”.

“There is another contact on the port side, several lights”

“What is it?” “It is a very large ship, a container ship” comes the reply. “Okay it is going to clear us easily- so lets concentrate on the starboard contact”.

“Oh xxxx. It is turning and coming right for us”.

About 10 minutes later. “Actually I think it is a fishing boat and its bearing is moving down our starboard side”.

An hour later- “stand down everybody. But be extremely vigilant on the lookout unless you want an enforced vocation inside a Somali cave. It must have been a lonely fishing boat. We don’t want to see any more of them as they are not good for the nerves”.

“What is for supper and are there any more of those pancakes left?”

Message from Phoenicia UK office: Blog readers please note the latest position report has come in from the ship and all the crew are well with no sign of any problems since the incident last night. Please keep following the blog and satellite tracker for the latest news. You can also leave a personal message for the crew on the Phoenicia message board.

Nota: Veja em box à direita como falar com Phoenicia Expedition

Acompanhe também as etapas de navegação do PHOENICIA em www.live.adventuretracking.com.phoenicia

Posição de Yuri hoje pelo rastreador Spot

Latitude:9.40018
Longitude:58.6551
Localização GPS Latitude Data/Tempo:11/06/2009 09:39:12 BRST

Para ver no mapa, clique em
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=9.40018,58.6551&ll=9.40018,58.6551&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Comunicações

Date:
3rd November
Location:
12.58.00N, 57 47.0 E

Blog 4- Day nine on Indian Ocean
Blog from Crew member: Niklas Andersson

We have just hoisted the mainsail and we are really tired. It took a lot of effort from everyone to get it up. But the decision was right to hoist it. The last days we have struggled with the storm sail to get more east and away from Somalia without any success. And when the wind got a bit stronger Philip decided to try the mainsail again. Now we are racing down the Indian Ocean in almost 4 knots going southeast. The feeling to sail with the mainsail is great. It must be a beautiful sight from a distance. This is how sailing is supposed to be. Soon there will be lunch and our favourite cook Aziz is making spicy food again. Without chilli I hope!

Philip is now in an unthreatened position in the fishing competition. He has now caught six and Dirman is on second place with two. Thought Dirman almost caught a shark a few days ago. A beast, almost 1.5m between the eyes.

We were just about to drag the beast aboard when the hook snapped and it got away. The fresh food is about to go off now. Though we have lots of canned food left and the eggs are now covered with Vaseline to keep them fresh for the whole leg to Dar Es Salaam. Oh now something is happening. The parell just snapped and the yard is flapping lose and away from the mast. No time to rest, All hands on deck!



Captain's Blog-

Sailing Close to the Wind

As you will know from earlier blogs we have been trying to make progress to the east of us to avoid the pirates. However this has been difficult because as everyone one knows, Phoenician ships couldn't sail close to the wind, anything under 90 degrees is considered good. And with light north easterly winds we have only managed to go due south or worse these last couple of days. We are therefore sailing close to the wind in the metaphorical sense, as we are just some 450 miles from the Somali coast and the security advisers recommend a minimum distance of between 600 and 900 miles offshore because of the almost daily attacks taking place.

The good news is that in the last 24 hours the winds have freshened (12-15 knots) and with the mainsail now up, we are starting to make a little headway to the east and over 3 knots total speed. Tonight we expect even stronger winds and faster progress. But as far as other risks go we are still sailing pretty close to the wind and a little too close to the Somali coast for comfort. That having been said most of the recent attacks have been several hundreds of miles to the south of us, something to worry about next week perhaps. In the meantime we are, for the first time in a long time, enjoying some magnificent sailing. The shape of the mainsail is a fantastic sight and we are all happy to be part of the experience.

PHOENICIA, O FILME

Equipamento utilizado nas filmagens

Primeira fase

Filmadora Panasonic P2 com vários HDD
Filmadora Sony HDV Ccaixa estanque Ikelite com duas luzes e baterias para imagens submarinas

Fitas mini hdv
Capa Outex para filmadora apa fazer imagens durante as tempestades no convés
Câmara fotográfica Panasonic com caixa estanque para fotos submarinas
MacBook Pro da Apple
Painel solar portátil para carregar as baterias
Luzes de leed com bateria
Microfones + microfone de lapela
Gravador de áudio portátil
E demais acessórios.

Segunda fase
Mesmo equipamento, mais:
Filmadora Panasonic HS9 ( grava em cartão )
Câmera Conteur para acoplar ao mastro do barco

Mensagem de Yuri

Date:1st November 2009

Location:15 04.8 N, 57 35.0E

Message:Blog from Yuri Sanada (Film maker & core crew)


We are sailing for a week now, still trying to get as far east as possible, before we turn and head south. The reason is obvious if you are following our voyage around Africa, to avoid the dangerous waters around Somalia, presumably infested with pirates. Unfortunately, we are not making as much progress as we planned in the beginning. So we are taking our time, and enjoying the simple but meaningful pleasures this water world can offer to us.

First of all, we have freedom. Not the same kind of freedom you have back home of course. Our world now is limited by the area of the ship, but even with a crew of 11, everybody seems to find his own private corner when comes the need to be alone. Our freedom here is more like no appointments, no need to go to the grocery store, no phone calls, no salesman at the door (however we did encounter a medium size shark the other night), and no schedules outside our environment.

We do have obligations, but they come naturally, like keeping the boat afloat and moving towards our destination. For that, we are divided in two groups, 5 people each, and the captain, Philip, showing up every time he is needed. Our watches are 4 hours during the day, and 6 hours at night, so everybody can get a longer sleep time.

While this Phoenicia Expedition is voyage of discovery, trying to prove that the Phoenicians had technology and skills to sail around Africa, it is also a voyage of self discovery, as we are exposed to different cultures aboard.
Our group in this leg is composed of five sailors from the Royal Omani Navy, three Indonesians, and three westerners, from England, Sweden and Brazil.

The food varies each time there is a different nationality cooking, and you can, sometimes, really taste how "hot" the difference may be. Water is a major issue for us now. We are carrying three thousand litres, but we didn't calculate the need of eight Muslim crew members to wash with fresh water five times a day, before they put their rugs towards Mecca to pray. They could use up to 1/3 of our total supply just to fulfil their religious obligation. So, as good comrades, we all are adapting to this new situation, and agreed to save more water, maybe by using more seawater for cooking and washing.

The differences fall apart when we have to work together to achieve a common goal, like raising the main sail, that weights over a ton, and when we change watches, and everybody has a meal together. So we go, sailing along, being creative in the kitchen, pumping water from our bilge, adjusting the sails, and looking out trying to decide if that dot on the horizon is a star, a friendly cargo ship, or maybe a pirate vessel waiting for us.

Talking about that, it's funny the way the cargo ships seem to accelerate when they see us. I don't blame them, for a replica of a 2500 Phoenician Ship must look like a pirate ship to them.

We continue on this long leg towards Tanzania, playing pirates, and praying not to meet the real ones. Yo ho ho, a pirates life for me.