I am keen to do the Felucca tour, but am basically a big chicken when it comes to water... I can swim, but wonder how big the boats are, and how stable. Can you give me a more indepth description of the felucca part of the tour?? I really don't want to have to chicken out and go on the big touristy cruisers down the nile ...
Thanks Paula
Re: Felucca worries
Hi,
Firstly, let me assure you that on most felucca trips you would not need to spend any time in the water, so it is not essential that you can swim at all.
Feluccas are small sailboats. They have no motor and are entirely dependent on the wind.
They come in all sizes. from tiny ones that will take just a couple of people to massive one that are used as cargo boats to shift rocks from riverside quarries.
The ones we use can accommodate between 8-10 people.
So a normal felucca group will have 2 boats, each with a crew of 1 or 2 sailors, and with up to 8 persons on board.
I guess the boats are about 15 feet (4.5m) long and about 8 (2.5m) feet wide.
Each boat carries life belts.
The boats pull in to the shore at regular intervals during the day for toilet stops and for sightseeing.
The boats should always be moored at night.
The direction we sail in means that under normal conditions we are sailing with the current and into the wind.
Therefore the boats will be tacking back & forth across the river.
This does mean that they 'lean' a bit at times, but our sailors do this for a living and know their boats.
In actual fact, because of their simplicity and the fact that they are low on the water, feluccas are much more stable than the big cruise boats.
Because you are on a small boat and are within arms reach of the life belts you are much better off than you would be on a big boat.
Go for it.
Martin