“Our experience in Israel was wonderful and we would highly recommend visiting there!”
The folks who wrote this on their blog even posted directions. “It’s just a simple overnight sail from Port Said upon exiting the Suez Canal!”
Herzliya Marina
Adding to the ever-increasing number of foreign tourists to Israel are those that tour the world on their yachts. Hardly thought of in the not too distant past as a hot destination for the sea-faring crowd, this has changed in recent years as sailing has taken off locally, reflected in the increasing number of marinas along Israel’s coast.
Apart from Tel Aviv, there are marinas in Eilat, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Jaffa, Herzliya, Haifa and Acre. Clearly, sailing is riding the crest of a wave in popularity as more and more Israelis are pursuing their dreams at sea. Among them is former Capetonian, Dr. Jonathan Benjamin, a psychiatrist from Caesarea.
L’Chaim (“Cheers:). Katharina Haendler from Kibbutz Nir Eliyahu, Martin Wolff from Ra’anana (ex-Cape Town) and visitor from Australia, Alan Abrahams (ex-Johannesburg) off the coast of Netanya.
Martin Wolff doing the bowline.
Anchors Aweigh
“No shoes on board,” bellowed the captain as the writer together with Stanley Milliner from Kfar Saba and Michael Witkin from Grand Rapids, Minnesota obediently complied with “Aye aye captain” and climbed on board “Gone with the Wind”, Jonny’s 35-foot sloop berthed at Herzliya. All had been childhood friends in the Jewish youth movement Habonim in Claremont, Cape Town, and this was going to be “a serious reunion,” said Stanley armed with enough beers to support it being “serious”. Stanley reminded the group the last time they had sailed together was as teenagers in Saldanha Bay off Cape Town’s west coast “and I doubt we were sober then.” Those who were already on board were Jonny’s usual crew of Katharina Haendler from Kibbutz Nir Eliyahu and Martin Wolff, from Ra’anana. Martin, who had many years of sailing experience volunteering with National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) in Cape Town, knew more than most how to vasbyt in the wind holding his beer.
No sooner had we edged away from the pier, the true value of our days in Habonim became evident, when Jonny asked, “Nu, any of you okes (Cape Town parlance for ‘blokes’) remember the bowline?” Frequently referred to as the King of the knots, the bowline is one of four basic maritime knots. “Of course,” all replied in unison, proving that the intervening decades may have grayed the hair but knot-tying was not yet a grey area! All boasted recollecting the differences between the granny and the reef, the sheepshank and the sheep bend, including the impressive Highwayman’s Hitch.
Ready to Cast Off. Katharina Haendler from Kibbutz Nir Eliyahu knows her ropes.
With Jonny behind the wheel, Katharina hurrying from portside to starboard, unfurling the main sail followed by the foresail and with Martin working the winches, it left the rest of us to do the important work of cracking open the beers and getting into the true ‘spirit’ of sailing. When Jonny ordered “prepare to tack”, Mike from Minnesota assumed that meant passing the nuts to go with the beers. Well over a nautical mile off shore, ‘Gone with the Wind’ headed north towards Netanya.
Coasting Along
With his yacht named after Margaret Mitchell’s immortal classic, an email address that begins with ‘Zola’ of J’accuse fame, and who majored in Latin at UCT because he enjoyed the bawdy poetry of Catullus, it was hardly surprising that Jonny – with one hand on the wheel the other holding his ‘pint’ – was in his element quoting endlessly from a rich array of poetry and prose at a drop of a swell or a swill of his beer. With the sun’s rays beating down, a gentle spray coming off the surf and a brisling breeze in our faces, one could understand how yachtsmen romanticize about the freedom they feel out at sea.
Below deck on the coffee table in the salon, lay a copy of Jonathan Raban’s Sailing Alone Around the World’ which Stanley browsed quickly through en route to bringing up more beers from the kitchen. A celebrated critic, academic and seafarer, Raban expounds on the relationship between man and nature, noting the first thing that struck him when returning from sailing the high seas to his apartment in London was “how the weather was entirely inconsequential.” Whether raining or sunny, windy or breathless, for the city dweller it has little relevance beyond the choice of apparel. “On the other hand,” stresses Jonny, “when out
Captain Johnny Benjamin tying up loose ends
at sea, the weather dictates your day and defines your routine. What is inconsequential on terra firma could prove existential at sea.” He recounted personal experiences to prove his point. With such insights, some of us slowed up on the beer and practiced our bowlines. Thankfully, we all had confidence in our captain.
Thrill Seekers
In 1996 Jonny, a pioneer in genetics, was catapulted into the international spotlight when his research group at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, corroborated the dramatic linkage between genetics and personality with their discovery of the ‘Thrill Gene’. Those individuals who were found to have an elongated version of a gene referred to as D4DR were shown to be more exploratory and risk-taking. This may explain that those who crave thrills such as skydiving and whitewater rafting may have a genetic basis for this behavior. For the time being, we were all simply “thrilled” to be on deck relaxing.
Learning the Ropes
Soon we were having lessons how to increase our speed one nautical knot at a time. A release here and a quick tightening there did the trick and was rewarded “as is the custom” by a celebratory schnapps. It also cleared up the question as to the connection between measuring speeds at sea and knots. Taking us back to the pirate days of Blackbeard and Captain Kidd, Jonny explained how “these sailors would tie knots along a long line of rope at regular intervals, and then cast one end (weighted down by a floating piece of wood) out behind their vessel. The number of knots let out in a given period of time – measured, usually, by a small hourglass – would allow them to calculate the distance and consequently the speed at which the boat was moving.”
Homeward Bound
Prior to a sumptuous lunch of delicious sandwiches prepared by Katherina, Jonny asked, “anyone for a swim?” To deep to anchor, a cleaver play with the sails brought the yacht into a stationary position. There was only one rule: Once hitting the cold water one had to immediately grab the rope attached to the rear of the yacht and hold on. Bobbed up and down by the swells and swept by the current, it was a rule obeyed without question. Swimming out at sea is vastly different than at the beach. The notion of the word “home” takes on a different meaning. Holding tight onto the rope and staring at the very distant coastline, ‘Gone with the Wind’ was a chilling metaphor for ‘home’! Soon it was time to return home. As we approached Herzliya Marina, the writer feasted his eyes on a colourful kaleidoscope of yachts of all shapes and sizes and was reminded of a Raoul Duffy seascape with it shimmering reflections.
On Reflection
A long passage of time separated the sandy beach and lagoon at Onrus, 120 kilometres east from Cape Town where Habonim machinot (camps) were held, from the blue turquoise sea off Israel’s Mediterranean coast but we all felt – in sailing parlance – an enriching sense of our mooring. It was Mike Witkin of Minnesota who eloquently summed up the reunion: “I was blown away”!
Mike Witkin
