On The Beach
Musandam, lying south of the Straits of Hormuz in the Sultanate of Oman, is known affectionately as the Arabian Fjords. There, steep glacial mountains plunge into crystal-clear water hundreds of feet deep, and numerous long, broad channels push some 10 miles inland from the Arabian Gulf. It’s a remote area, accessible only by boat, with the few visible signs of human habitation clinging to narrow foreshores.
It was therefore with some excitement that my wife, Judi, the co-owner of my boat, Asli Plail, and I planned a spring cruise on Rahala (Arabic for Voyager), our Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 36i. As we obtained the necessary sailing permit from the Omani embassy in our home port of Dubai, we planned our departure for the third week of March, when we anticipated pleasant temperate spring weather before the summer heat set in. Little did we know that our timetable would coincide with a low-pressure system moving down the Arabian Gulf from the cooler, winter climates of Syria and Iraq.
Aft er a pleasant
