Explore Sailing Voyages in Oman 🇴🇲

We had planned for some time to take a longer trip over the children's half-term holiday, a four day long weekend, and we decided we would go down to Muscat, Oman. The boys were both born in Muscat when we lived there previously so going there is always like going home. Following the same procedure for a Musandam permit, I obtained a permit for sailing in Oman with ease from the Omani Embassy. The guy in the Embassy recognised me this time and asked how our previous trip had been so we were off to a good start. Friday 9th October. We were up and driving out of the yard by 0620, having set everything up the night before. The only thing we had to do before setting off was pack the coolbox and the breakfast bag and predictably we had not gone more than 5km before the boys were tucked into the croissants. Five and a quarter hours later we rolled into Muscat, having sat at 100kph on the cruise control virtually the whole way and taking just 30mins to clear the border out of the UAE and into Oman. Given that I would reckon on 4½ hours on a good day without the boat on the back this was pretty good going. The temperature registered by the car thermometer was 40°C and it was 11:35 when we arrived so we decided that lunch was in order before going off to launch. I phoned Kirsten, a friend of old who lives in Muscat, and she had just finished her shopping and would love to join us for lunch.By the time we finished a long, lazy lunch it was nearly 2pm and the temperature had dropped to 37°C - the heat of the day was past. We drove down to the public slip in Kalbuh, at the eastern end of the Muttrah corniche, but although I remembered it from a few years ago and could still see it on Google Earth, the slip was in a poor state of repair, probably ripped up by Cyclone Gonu a couple of years ago. The commercial marina at Bandar Rowdar wanted OMR25 (US$65) to launch a boat and the same again to retrieve it so we decided to chance our luck at the Capital Area Yacht Club. The security guard took me to see his manager and we agreed OMR10 to launch, I wasn't sure whether this included retrieval but it was a price I was prepared to pay. We ended up paying OMR14 for the launch, retrieval and a nominal guest entry fee - very good value. Within 45mins we had the mast up, car parked and trailer hitched to the launch tractor and off we went. We stopped in to Bandar Rowdar to fill the second tank with petrol, the water tank with water and to smarten Morwenna up by hosing off the grime from the road journey. We departed Bandar Rowdar at 1545 and set sail with spinnaker and main, but alas the wind was pitiful. 35 minutes later and a mere 1.1NM later I decided that we had better get going under motor if we were to get to the anchorage in daylight. A snug anchorage in Bandar Khyran Arriving in Bandar Khyran, or BK as we know it, we checked out a couple of potential anchorages before settling on a narrow bay with a small beach. We flopped into the sea for a swim and then cooked up a simple pasta supper and fell into bed very early. I elected to sleep in the cockpit and Rach decided to sleep below until midnight when she escaped the warmth below and came up too. Distance run 10.1NM Saturday 10th October. We awoke at 6am as it was getting light and by 0620 the sun was up, bathing the bay in a soft golden light. Shoals of fish were slowly circuiting the inlet and there was just the shush of the small waves on the sandy beach to break the silence. A cup of coffee helped the eyelids open and then we had a snorkel round the bay. Cyclone Gonu had done a lot of damage about 2 years ago but it was good to see both the soft and hard corals taking advantage of the clean field and growing back strongly and the fish life was a vibrant as ever. Luke bleary eyed at dawn Dawn in Bandar Khyran After a breakfast of scrambled eggs with smoked salmon (who says camping is roughing it?) we cleared up and then hauled anchor and set off with the intent to sail down the coast and try to catch some fish. This morning the wind was a little fresher, NNW F2-3, and we were soon splashing along at 3-4knots heading for the tropics. The Tropic of Cancer runs across Oman so I had the thought of at least going down the coast far enough to officially enter the tropics. At 1047 we passed 23.5°N and shortly thereafter we took in the spinnaker, set the genoa and hardened up onto port tack, heading out to sea to try slightly deeper water for the fishing lures. On return home several days later I looked up the exact definition of the Tropic of Cancer and found that it is 23° 26' 22" N so we had actually been short of the tropics by a little under 3NM when we turned around - a good reason to go back! We tacked again and headed back towards the sandy beaches just south of BK thinking of a lunch stop. All of a sudden Rach shouted that she had seen a fish jump aft of the boat where our lures would be, there was a momentary bowing of one of the rods and then I could see the fluorescent orange lure bobbing on the waves. A fish had clearly taken the lure, snapped the line and then let go, all in a split second. Not wanting to leave the lure behind I tacked Morwenna and held her hove-to. We drifted down towards the lure and Rachel dived in to retrieve it. It took us a little while to untangle the lines from around the daggerboard and rudders but once we were on our way again we could examine the trace. The wire trace had the merest suggestion of rust on it at the point that it had snapped and I knew that this was a very old trace so I guess it had weakened enough to be snapped by the mystery fish. Another thing to be repaired! We took in sail as we approached Paul's Point, the southern edge of BK and motored slowly into the beach for lunch. Being open to the ocean we also hoped to find some driftwood to fuel the cooking fire later on and we were rewarded by finding an old pallet washed up on the shore. After 1 ½ hr lunch stop we slowly motored back to our previous anchorage, trolling all the way but with no further luck. We decided that since we wanted to barbeque the evening meal, and since it was rather warm to sleep below, we would shift the cushions to the beach and sleep there under the stars. Whilst I was ferrying the kit ashore, the kids set up fishing rods on the cliffs and actually managed to catch a moray eel although it refused to come out from its crevice and left us with another broken (nylon) trace. Sleeping on the beach was cooler than below on board and less cramped than the cockpit so everybody got a better night's sleep, although it was still fairly warm. Another few weeks and the temperature will be perfect! Distance run 14.3NM Red = 9th Oct, Green = 10th Oct, Blue = 11th Oct Sunday 11th October. We had a very lazy morning although it started early again. We swam and snorkelled, packed the camp back onto the boat, swam again until by just after noon we were ready to leave. BK was flat calm as usual but I could see that the afternoon breeze had already picked up to a good NW F4 with lumpy waves and many whitecaps so I set sail with a single reef and maybe just over half of the genoa unfurled. As we left the shelter of the bay we healed over dramatically and uncomfortably. After a few minutes it was clear nobody was enjoying the spray dashing over the bow and the rate of progress was a mere couple of knots so I took in the second reef, furled the genoa completely and we motor-sailed back to CAYC in two hours. We recovered Morwenna onto her trailer and stowed the mast as we had a snack lunch and finally drove over to our friends' house. Kirsten and Dave had responded kindly to our plea for an air-conditioned place to sleep and we shared a very pleasant evening over a bottle of wine and a Chinese take-away - thanks guys! Distance run 10.9NM, total this trip 35.3NM, total in Morwenna 234.7NM Purple = 12th Oct - the route home Monday 12th October. Since our hosts had to be up early for work and we had a long way to go too, we decided to get up and get going in the morning. There was also the revelation that Robert did actually have homework to finish that he hadn't told us about, so we thought it better to get back home sooner rather than later. We set off at 0930 and arrive home at 1445, so 5½ hrs to cover 422km (262miles) including the border crossing which took ½ hour - not bad really. The trip was enjoyable in that it was great to get out of Dubai and to get into the beautiful backwaters of Oman. I am having to face up to the fact that the rest of the family don't really enjoy the sailing part that much. What saddens me even more is that as our time here in Dubai is coming to an end in the coming months I will almost certainly have to look for a new owner to look after Morwenna. We'll make the most of the intervening months but it looks like this little experiment is drawing to a close.

Monday 9th February 2009. The plan for the first "Big Adventure" had been hatched for a while - we wanted to go to Musandam (see my Google Map) and the half-term holiday coinciding with my parents visiting seemed an ideal opportunity. Musandam is an exclave of the Sultanate of Oman located to the north of the UAE and forming one side of the famous Straits of Hormuz. It is a mountainous area with a fjord-like coastline, most of which is only accessible by boat. We had visited and camped several time previously and had even taken a tourist dhow into Khawr al Shamm but we wanted to explore ourselves. Of course in this part of the world it is never quite a simple as just hitching up and going - there are permissions to be gained. I went to the Omani Embassy (8th Street, Umm Hurair 1, Dubai, tel. 04-3971000, N25°15.252' E55°18.510'), spoke to Mr Abdullah and obtained the necessary forms, got them typed out in Arabic at one of the typing shops round the corner and submitted them, together with passports of the family, boat registration certificate, a letter from myself stating that Morwenna is seaworthy and that I would not need rescuing and the fee. I could have waited an hour or so for the forms to be processed but I was busy with other things and picked them up the next day. Friday 13th February 2009. We got under way at 0930, a little later than I had aimed for, and set off up the Emirates Road towards Musandam. The journey was uneventful and we easily passed by both the UAE exit post and Oman entry post. Just after the latter was the Customs inspection area and of course the guys wanted a photocopy of the sailing permit (note to self - take a copy next time) and to look inside. The policeman climbed in and made a superficial inspection of one of our coolboxes before settling himself on the sofa, pulling out his mobile phone and requesting me to take a photo of him lounging in luxury! A couple of photos later and we were sent on our way. Just beyond the border crossing is the town of Bukha. I had been unable to see whether there is a proper launching ramp in the harbour there from Google Earth so we stopped to check it out for future reference. There is a ramp (26°8'50.63"N, 56°8'43.56"E) and it looks suitable for launching. Launching at Bukha would add about 9NM to the sea journey to Khawr al Shamm but would cut out about 30km of very windy roads to Khasab. The wind had been blowing strongly from the west for the past couple of days and the bay was extremely rough so we carried on to the sheltered harbour at Khasab. By phone we obtained the required sailing permission from the Royal Oman Police Coastguard (tel +968-26341699) - they were insistant that we were not allowed to sail in Khawr Ghubb Ali or close to Jazirat Umm al Ghanam (see BA chart 3172) but we already knew that since the restriction was printed on the sailing permit. We confirmed our intent to sail in Khawr al Shamm and permission was readily given. We further checked with the curious ROP personnel that had appeared from their workshop that it was OK to use the slip and then set about preparing Morwenna for sea. Route: Red=13/2/09, Blue=14/2/09, Green=15/2/09 Three-quarters of an hour later Morwenna slipped off the trailer and shortly after, with the car and trailer safely parked, we left Khassab behind us. Almost immediately we were joined by a pair of dolphins, streaking back and forth just inches from the toes of Robert & Luke sitting at the bow. The dolphins stayed with us almost until we reached the funnelling entrance to the Khawr and then disappeared as quickly as they came. With the wind on a broad reach we decided to sail for a while and were quickly carried past Telegraph Island and the gaggle of tourist dhows anchored in its lee. I had used Google Earth to scout out a few possible camping spots and the first of these was on Jazirat Shamm. We dropped sails and nosed in gently to find a shallow but perfectly sheltered anchorage with room to pitch tents. Although an ideal spot, Morwenna does not (yet) have an echo sounder so I was a little nervous that the tide would drop too far and leave her grounded on a rocky bottom. I decided to continue up the Khawr for a while longer. Rounding Ras al Khatm, we turned north and headed up the slightly broader bay. I saw the mast of an unknown pirate vessel (ok - another yacht) behind Jazirat Sibi as we passed but we were undetected as we dropped anchor and came ashore to claim a camp site for the night (26°14'27.73"N 56°23'35.10"E). We brought Morwenna into knee deep water and transferred all the camping kit first onto the beach and then up to some ancient abandoned fields situated a few metres back from the beach. The ancients obviously had good taste in selecting a spot for their village - the view down the Khawr was stupendous. We had the canvas up just as the sun was dwindling and the camp fire burning as dusk drew in. Cooking steaks on a driftwood fire under the stars in a camp situated at the head of a desert fjord - now that's an Arabian Adventure! 13/02/2009 Evening Sun 14/02/2009 Morning Calm Saturday 14th February 2009. I don't think anyone remembered it was Valentine's Day until mid-morning and nobody had brought a card for their sweetheart. As usual it was the boys who surfaced first and tried to get the fire going from the embers of the previous evening. "I'll go and get the matches" was the phrase that brought the adults out of their tents to the glorious view down the Khawr and a slow breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon, washed down with mugs of tea and coffee. With the washing up done, we cleared the valuables out of the tents and clambered aboard Morwenna for a day's exploring. Motoring out of the bay, we caught a slight breeze so set sails and cruised down the Khawr towards Telegraph Island. The wind was extremely fluky, bouncing off the mountainsides and constantly shifting but we made steady progress at a couple of knots, enjoying the scenery and chatting. By the time we got as far as Telegraph Island (Jazirat al Maqlab) the tourist dhows were out in force so we did a quick circumnavigation and went back to the creek we had investigated the previous day. Telegraph Island was the site of a repeater station on the Europe to India submarine cable laid in 1865. Some say that it is the origin of the expression "round the bend" since those that went round the bend in the Khawr to get to Telegraph Island often came home slightly mad from the boredom & isolation. These days it is a popular sight-seeing and snorkelling spot for the fifty or so hardy tourists the make it this far each day. 14/02/2009 The Adventurers After a relaxing lunch (and swim for the boys) we set off again and got the spinnaker up to run up the Khawr, keeping up a steady 4-4.5 knots. There are few things better than a good run under the kite but unfortunately as we passed Ras al Khatm we lost the wind again and motored the last short distance to camp. As we arrived back we were visited by a fisherman from his shack on the other side of the headland. He asked for a cup of water but refused the bottle offered to him. We figured he was either just curious about these strange visitors or just wanted some company - unfortunately our common language skills were not good enough for a proper conversation. Robert, Luke and I took a walk up the mountainside to get an aerial view of the camp and explore the remains of the huts in the area. We have no idea how old they are - could be hundreds or even thousands of years old. The rocks in the area have a great range of fossils on display too - an amazing landscape if you can read it. The evening was spent barbequing, chatting and watching the fishermen out in the bay, earning their livelihoods as they must have done for may generations. 14/02/2009 Aerial View 15/02/2009 Dad - Morning Coffee Sunday 15th February 2009. After a relatively slow start we struck camp and loaded all the kit into Morwenna again. There was not a breath of wind and the sweat was flowing by the time we had finished stowing. We left the bay, our wake being the only disturbance on the mirror-like water. We transited the passage between Jazirat Sibi and the mainland and took a leisurely trip round the head of the Khawr before we headed back down towards the sea. We stopped for lunch near the mouth of the Khawr and managed to catch a breeze and sail for an hour or so as we approached Khassab. 15/02/2009 Robert - Lunchtime Swim Unfortunately there were no dolphins to escort us this time. We landed Morwenna, lowered her mast and set off for home, making it back to Dubai in 3½ hours including the border crossing. By the time we got back, everybody was tired but everybody had enjoyed the weekend and Morwenna had definitely lived up to our expectations.

7kts NE, 6kts SE Beautiful day. The waves were bit rough by the end.