First Impressions of Tunisia

Having settled the extremely generous fee for our extended stay, averaging only £9 per day inclusive of hauling out and relaunching, the totally unexpected happened as Antonelli, the dour and sometime abrasive Marina owner, came to the boat and gave us an inscribed bottle opener in the shape of a workman with hard hat as a memento of our stay at Marina del Sole, Cagliari. I am sure I detected a tear in his eye. In any case we were absolutely delighted and a little flabbergasted.
An 0830 start found us motoring away from the marina Del Sole, a place along with Cagliari itself, which we had come to like very much. A base here would not be the worst in the world with its easy access to the pleasant cruising grounds of Sardinia, Corsica, mainland Italy the French Riviera and the Islands between.
As soon as we had cleared the confines of the Golfo di Cagliari and were in deep water Miggy cast her new game fishing tackle. She was becoming disillusioned at not having a bite when the strike came and for the next hour and a half Miggy fought with this creature until it gave up. She was black and blue with the scars of the battle with a Tuna of around 12 kilos or 25 lbs. To cap it all we had to take dramatic action during this struggle to avoid a massive tanker that had taken a dislike to us and was determined to send us to the bottom of the ocean.
This wasn’t the only fish we caught as overnight our first flying fish landed on the deck. In total contrast to our previous catch it was about 15 cm long!
We and the locals have been saying that this has been an extraordinarily windy year. Once again despite the forecast for light to moderate conditions, we encountered force 6 winds overnight from around 2000 to 0500 the next morning. Bella romped along at 7 knots plus enjoying every minute but I’m not sure the crew were quite as enamoured. Spectacular stars shone out of a moonless sky and our wake echoed their brilliance with sparkling phosphorescence in islands the size of dinner plates.
An easing of the wind and sea state as we threaded the Galite Islands and a bacon (brought back from the UK) roll soon restored the crew’s zest for life in time for our arrival at the Tunisian port of Tabarka at 0845 on the 13th September where Miggy directly butchered the fish. We had covered the 147 mile passage in just 24 hours. Tabarka is only about fourteen miles from the border with Algeria, which remains an unwelcoming land into whose waters we are glad we did not stray.
Entry formalities into Tunisia involve a lot of walking between the Offices of the Harbour Authority, Customs and a multitudinous number of Police Forces but we gained our ‘Permis de Circulation’ in the end.
We got a ‘Tunisiana’ SIM card after much tooing and frowing including the production of a passport! The number is 00216 214 353 17.
After a delicious supper of fresh caught Tuna steak washed down with Sardinian vino rosso at 1euro per litre we went to bed only to be woken cruelly at midnight by a violent thunderstorm with torrential rain and winds gusting at 40 knots or more.
The harbour of Tabarka has disgustingly filthy water and electricity and water facilities are either broken or have been repaired by Heath Robinson. The town is awash with dirt and discarded litter and rubbish from overflowing bins ground into the pavements. The dockside is awash with feral cats all of whom want to join us as crew! It is not a place in which we would like to spend any length of time. It is however reputed to have excellent diving as there is rare red coral which is savagely harvested.
There are a lot of prayers being sung all day as, not only is it Ramadan, but it is also the Muslim holy day. A maroon was launched at sunset to let the Muslim populous know they could eat, drink and be merry until sunrise. Thank God we don’t take Lent as seriously as this.
The coastline of this northern coast of Tunisia is mountainous interrupted with sand dunes and beautiful white sand beaches. The laurel, mimosa and herbal plants on the hillsides are surprisingly green. The valleys just to the south of the coastline are reportedly fertile with pine, cork oak, eucalyptus and oleander as well as fruit orchards. The region is known as ‘Green Tunisia’
Just five or so miles to the north of Bizerte we passed Cap Blanc which is the reputed to be the most northerly point of Africa although the geographically correct northern tip of the continent is Ras Ben Sekka which we sailed past a few miles to the west.
Our first impression of Bizerte was good. The welcome and assistance of the Port de Plaisance ‘Surveillants’ on our arrival, the ease of formalities and the clear blue water and fresh air all being in total contrast to our experience at Tabarka.
Bizerte has the dubious claim to fame of being the last stronghold of French colonialism. Around 1600 Tunisians died in the battle here in 1961 when Bourghuiba finally ousted the French. The harbour has been of strategic importance since the Phoenicians settled here around 800BC and has been fought over since by everyone including the Romans and Turks and it was settled by the Spanish Andalusian Moors in the 17th century.
The Old Port area is attractive, the small quay being lined with fascinating buildings. The entrance is guarded by the Kasbah on one side which houses the Great Mosque and a huge Medina and a citadel or fort on the other. The produce on sale in the vast fruit and veg and fish and meat market is not as plentiful or diverse as we have experienced in Europe. In fact the fruit was overripe and needs to be bought daily. We withhold judgement on the meat and fish until we have tried it.
The daily rate for berthing in ports along the north coast is around £8 inclusive of water and electricity and it is still considered high season! Let’s hope this keeps up for the Bay of Tunis where next we are headed. Let’s also hope that we can access the internet more often than at present.