Our first Egyptian safari this year commenced yesterday onboard Cassiopeia. The boat was again at the service of divers after a complete exterior paint work and interior refurbishing. Now, following the renovations, at first glance Cassiopeia and Andromeda may seem identical but at closer look, the differences are noticeable.

Cassiopeia’s interior walls of the cabins and the restaurant were completely refinished and all curtains were replaced during the month-and-a-half long dock work. As was the sitting furniture on the covered deck in front of the salon. The exterior lights were replaced and for increased safety, handrails were installed along the staircases.

And for popular demand, we have installed a table for the camera equipmnet as well. As you can see from the photos, the boat looks almost more beautiful than when she first was.

After a long safari season, Cassiopeia arrived in the dry dock at the beginning of December, and into experienced and professional hands to make the entire boat more beautiful as before. You may read about the dock work in our previous article. We are happy to announce that she is back in Hurghada now with all her new permits.

The entire boat has been re-painted and all the necessary maintenance work has been completed. Andromeda has received her own underwater stabiliser wings just like Cassiopeia’s. The interior walls have been covered with new velour finishings and the windows have received new curtains on the main deck and on the lower deck in the cabins.

All damaged wood planks have been replaced, the teak floors have been sanded and the bottom of the boat has received a new coat of algae-repellant finish.

During this time, Andromeda has received her permit to sail to Sudan and she is set to leave for the South in the beginning of February to start her 5-month long work there.

This week the Marine Academy in Alexandria, Egypt started to issue the ID cards that have become manditory for every captain sailing in the Egyptian Red Sea. We have also paid the fee for the cards for our captains and when we received them, we got the surprise! On the back side of the cards the picture of Cassiopeia can be seen, even with the name of the boat visible. We do not know whose decision it was to have our boat selected to be on these cards but we hope others will also like it as much as we do!

In any event, we are very proud that our boat represents all the vessels in the Egyptian Red Sea on the captain ID cards!

alias: Scheduled dry dock for Cassiopeia II

For unknown reasons, in the noon hours last Sunday, the Diving City safari boat caught fire in the Safaga dock and two hours later, was completely destroyed. The boat was right behind Cassiopeia, awaiting works to be done on her. The sometimes strong winds from the North-Northwest managed to blow some of the flames onto Cassiopeia as well, burning off the paint in some areas of the boat.

The fact that Cassiopeia did not suffer any more serious damage can be attributed to the twenty people who were working together to save the boat by emptying all the fire extinguishers and by using an old hose to pump some water that was found nearby onto the fire. Cassiopeia did not have any water onboard as it all had to be drained the day before when she was being lifted out of the water and she fell back due to being too heavy for the operation. It was very close that Cassiopeia could have also been eaten up by the fire.

Following the Sunday scare, the renovation continued on Monday. The new steel sheet were installed along with the stabiliser wings onto the bottom of the hull and all the paint was sanded off to prepare for the new coat of paint. On the main deck the walls of the diningroom are bare, waiting to receive the new covering.

To be continued…

After a well-done job, everyone deserves some rest. For some, it may be a long bath or a massage to rejuvenate, while others will do with just a new make-up or with a little relaxation. After a long season, at the beginning of December, Cassiopiea was lifted out of the water and into the dry dock, into professional hands to beautify and to renew her in the coming weeks.

Every boat must be continually checked and repaired because the constant use and time leave their marks on them. Wooden boats are taken to the dry dock about every 9-12 months where following the lift out of the water and the sanding, the decayed and damaged wooden planks are replaced. However, for steel boats it is enough to do the dry dock work every 3 years. During the interim years the steel boats are maintained by repairs to the interior such as painting, sanding the teak and interior surface cleaning and repairs.

The hull bottoms of steel boats are protected from the algee deposits by special paint which is guaranteed for 1-3 years depending on the price. This special paint protected the bottom of Cassiopeia’s hull for 3 years which is now sandblasted all the way to the steel and the new coat of paint is applied.

Andromeda’s underwater stabiliser wings have worked very well and substantially reduced the rocking of the boat in the wind. As a result, Cassiopeia is also going to be equipped with similar wings.

The rubber caulking around the propeller rod has also served its purpose and their replacement is also part of the general technical check-up and maintenance.

Besides the maintenance of the electronics in the engine room and steel hull, the interiors are also going to be renewed in the dining room, the salon, the corridors and the cabins. Instead of the previous faux leather coverings we are going to use chenille coverings as we did on Andromeda.