Page 367 - The Tigris Expedition

From Asia to Africa; from Meluhha to Punt
hundred miles of the African coast from the Gulf of Aden south­
wards was closed to us.
So we had to avoid the Horn of Africa on our way into the Red
Sea. We must steer slightly more to the north in order to stay away
from the African side of the Gulf of Aden. This meant that it was
necessary to keep our course closer to the Arabian side.
Then came a warning from London that the Arabian side of the
Gulf of Aden was also forbidden territory, for this was South
Yemen, which had closed its borders to visitors. South Yemen
filled the entire thousand mile stretch of the Arabian peninsula
between Oman on the ocean side and North Yemen inside the Red
Sea. South Yemen, with a communist government, had armed
border clashes with both these capitalistic neighbours.
We now had to navigate with caution and try to reach and then
follow the midline of the Gulf of Aden, 900 miles long, without
touching the forbidden lands on either side. Our intentions caused
renewed anxiety for our security among our consortium contacts in
London:

Do you actually intend to navigate into the Gulf of Aden and
from there into the Red Sea. Arc you able to sail and navigate this
course. Please beware of political situation in this area as previ­
ously advised. We have had no cooperation from either the South
Yemen or Somalian Governments. Stop.

We were sure we were able to navigate that well. We aimed for
the narrow Bab-el-Mandcb Strait leading into the Red Sea from the
far end of the critical Gulf of Aden. Then the wind died down.
Completely. There was not a gust from any direction, and we
became a prey to the invisible ocean currents while there were still
1,400 miles left to the strait we had to hit. The sea became calmer
than I have ever seen any ocean. Not a ripple except from us. The
sail hung like a wall carpet, its beige pyramid and red sun mirrored
perfectly on the surface. When we dived and rose again to the
surface of this marine mirror there was no visible horizon any­
where; we became almost dizzy, floating about in all that blueness
like spacemen beside a suspended Tigris, with sail and emblem
duplicated like the figures on a playing card. Beautiful. But the two
navigators checked sun and stars and told us we were drifting
towards Socotra.
Socotra was a large island well in front of the Horn of Africa and
equally far from Somalia and South Yemen. It now belonged to

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