Hi everyone,
We've now been in Monastir for three weeks. Time to let you know what we've been up to!
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| The Ribat |
It's mid-summer so we're not doing much touring beyond Monastir. We're also restricted by Covid regulations. So we've stayed in or near Monastir so far.
The marina complex includes apartments and lots of cafes and restaurants. We're gradually trying the latter, mainly for an evening coffee after a swim at one of two beaches adjacent to the marina. It's great to have another FSC boat here. Terry and Mike have been very helpful in showing us around.
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| View across the marina to its entrance |
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| Revision II on the hard in Monastir |
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| View of the marina entrance from the hard stand |
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| Murals around the new marina cafe "Sidi Bousaid" |
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Crews of FSC boats Revision II and Zen Again, and Swiss boat Zebreak
eagerly awaiting Bambaloumi |
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| Deep frying Tunisian delicacy Zambaloumi |
The largest market in Monastir is outside the Medina (old town) walls and is pretty big. It is closed as a Covid measure. The smaller market in the Medina remains open...
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| Tuna in the market |
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| Prawns in the market |
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| Carcass in the market |
The walled Medina is filled with regular shops and tourist stalls/shops. Both are interesting but the shopkeepers are much 'keener' in the latter, perhaps due to the lack of tourists. The regular stalls have lovely French-style bread and the fruit and veg stalls are marvellous. Lots of in-season stone fruits at the moment. And the melons are fantastic in the current hot weather after chilling in the fridge.
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| Tunisian-style deli in the Medina |
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| Tunisian-style deli also in the Medina |
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| Fruit stall in the Medina |
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| The Tunisians love their birds |
We took a day trip outside Monastir to visit the fabric 'market' in the town of Sahline.
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| Monastir railway station |
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| Electric train towards Sousse |
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| Fabrics Market |
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| Fabrics Market |
The first president of Tunisia was born in Monastir. He is buried close to the centre of the town in an impressive mausoleum.
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| The approach to President Bourguiba's mausoleum |
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| Inside the compound |
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| Memorabilia |
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| Tomb |
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| Nicki and Terry in the mausoleum |
After touring the mausoleum we walked back towards the city centre. We came upon Fatima the camel and naturally Nicki had to take a ride...
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| Fatima the Camel |
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| Nicki goes for a ride |
Monastir Ribat (castle) is impressive and dominates the city. It was well worth a visit...
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| History of the Rebat |
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| Inside the Ribat |
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| The courtyard |
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| Buried water store |
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| Inside the Ribat |
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| View over the Marina from the Ribat's tower |
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| View over Monastir from the Ribat's tower |
There's a small museum in the Ribat. It houses some very old items, ranging from manuscripts to pottery to navigation instruments...
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| Ottoman-era Pottery |
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| Ancient Navigation Instruments |
On arrival we erected Zen Again's boom tent and bow cover. They certainly help reduce the heat below. Sand 'falls out' over the boat so we wash the boat down weekly. We scrub the hull weekly using our
Scrubbis. The hottest day so far was 43C with very little wind. The local beaches are a big help, as is our new, large electric fan!
We're working through our to-do list. We've got three months to complete it so we're pacing ourselves. So far we have...
- Attached a new anode to the prop shaft
- Had three new stainless steel mainsail slugs manufactured (by Mr Adele)
- Fitted the three slugs to mainsail clew and two reefing clew lines
- Constructed and fitted laminated marine-ply hydro-generator and outboard motor mounting board
- Constructed and fitted two holders for boat hooks, tender oars, broom sticks etc
- Moved our ensign to the backstay
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| Zen Again in Monastir marina |
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