Our summer break away from the boat was most enjoyable despite the poor wea
ther back in the UK (so what's new?). Time with family and friends is always time well spent and this time included a side trip to Sweden to see Lars and Maud who live to the north of Stockholm in a lovely country retreat. Suffice to say we were very impressed with what we saw of the country and we hope to return in the not too distant future.
ther back in the UK (so what's new?). Time with family and friends is always time well spent and this time included a side trip to Sweden to see Lars and Maud who live to the north of Stockholm in a lovely country retreat. Suffice to say we were very impressed with what we saw of the country and we hope to return in the not too distant future.So, back to the boat and into the summer heat again. After finalising the new canvas work with Claudia and Moshe - new hatch covers and windscreen cover this time, our plan is to just "sail where the wind takes us" but end up in Kemer by the end of October to spend another winter there (our 3rd) with the many friends we have made there. Our spring cruise had necessitated far too much of the engine and so our target is to sail as much as we can.
We left Marmaris on 28th August and sailed/motorsailed to the Greek island of Symi. Here we wanted to stock up on some pork products not available in Turkey and some cheap(er) booze! After a quiet overnight stop we headed back to turkey and into Keci Buku to meet up with our friends Jan and Tony on Red Marlin. They arrived the day after and we celebrated with a meal ashore, and of course the obligatory drinks! We lazed about for the next few days in the still very hot conditions, eating and drinking, swimming, and some general maintenance on the boat. Sandra and Jan also fit in a visit by bus into Marmaris for some shopping therapy!
On 4th September we sailed along to Bozburun for some important celebrations. On the 5th, we celebrated 45 years married, and 3 days later, Jan and Tony celebrated 47 years of marriage. Not bad in this day and age!! We have always enjoyed, and had good service from a restaurant called Kandil, run by two brothers , and we decided they would be the venue for our celebrations. We had 2 excellent meals there in 3 days - with an appropriate increase in our personal weights! Unfortunately we also had some boat problems whilst in Bozburun in that the dreaded watermaker pump failed yet again (it seems to last only a couple of seasons before trouble returns). Fortunately we know a man who can help - and a trip into Marmaris enabled the broken shaft to be successfully welded. On start up - which also needs the generator to maintain battery power, the water pump impeller for the generator failed which absorbed a further session down in the engine room! All is now well and we are back to a water surplus again and frequent showers.
This was the parting of the ways with Red Marlin, who carried on to Marmaris for the winter whereas we headed south-eastwards towards Kemer; Gocek being our first stop. Here the weather change
d. No sooner arrived that the forecast took a turn for the worse and for the next couple of days we had thunderstorms and heavy rain - much earlier than we have experienced in earlier years. At least there was no wind to speak of. The only good sailing we experienced was back and forth accross the bay between Gocek and Fethye. Being the period of Ramadan, the drums of Fethye eventually drove us out (no sleep!) and so on we went down to the delightful (Greek) island of Kasterlorizon. Here we anchored in the corner of the small harbour and enjoyed the atmosphere of the local town, including a pleasant meal ashore. A very large turtle could be seen swimming in the harbour and even came alongside the harbour wall whilst we were in the restaurant.
d. No sooner arrived that the forecast took a turn for the worse and for the next couple of days we had thunderstorms and heavy rain - much earlier than we have experienced in earlier years. At least there was no wind to speak of. The only good sailing we experienced was back and forth accross the bay between Gocek and Fethye. Being the period of Ramadan, the drums of Fethye eventually drove us out (no sleep!) and so on we went down to the delightful (Greek) island of Kasterlorizon. Here we anchored in the corner of the small harbour and enjoyed the atmosphere of the local town, including a pleasant meal ashore. A very large turtle could be seen swimming in the harbour and even came alongside the harbour wall whilst we were in the restaurant.After a couple of days we were asked to leave! Not that we had done anything wrong you understand - but it was the day the BIG ferry comes in from Rhodes and it takes the whole harbour to turn arround. As we dont care for berthing to the restaurant quays we headed the couple of miles over to the bay to the south of Kas. We have anchored here before but still enjoyed the relative peace of the place, once the local boats stopped running with their un-silenced engines!
With a stronger wind forecast, we decided to do the short hop down to Kekover Roads, where we anchored below the castle together with a host of other yachts. We concluded after a day or two that these yachts were simply waiting for the 1st October to start their winter contracts in Finike (and elsewhere) and sure enough, on the morning of the 1st, they cleared off like the start of a Grand Prix.
We had been in touch with Alan and Sue who were sailing their new Discovery 55 from Southampton to K
emer and arranged to meet up with them here in Kekover. They c
ame into the anchorage (see pics - the smaller blue one is Stratagem!) and lay close by and then it was like a whirlwind passed through! An escorted tour of the yacht, washed down by lots and lots of "bubbly", drinks on Stratagem, a meal ashore etc etc left our livers a bit under stress. They were keen to get to Kemer and on they went, to be replaced by Helmut and Mary on Lady-B, and Ron and Susan on Gemini. More drinks on Stratagem, and another meal ashore just kept the social life bubbling along.....
emer and arranged to meet up with them here in Kekover. They c
ame into the anchorage (see pics - the smaller blue one is Stratagem!) and lay close by and then it was like a whirlwind passed through! An escorted tour of the yacht, washed down by lots and lots of "bubbly", drinks on Stratagem, a meal ashore etc etc left our livers a bit under stress. They were keen to get to Kemer and on they went, to be replaced by Helmut and Mary on Lady-B, and Ron and Susan on Gemini. More drinks on Stratagem, and another meal ashore just kept the social life bubbling along.....Unfortunately our stay in Kekover had to come to a premature halt as the domestic water pump failed, preventing us getting any water from our onboard water tanks. Pouring water out of bottles and no showers on board is not for us and so we headed for Kemer where we knew we could get a replacement pump. And so, after another motorsail in light winds we arrived in Kemer, only 250 miles from leaving Marmaris on August.
Did we achieve our objective of sailing every where we went? NO WAY! As per the rest of this season we had either no wind or winds "on the nose", needing the ever trusting Yanmar engine to get us there. Still it is nice to be back in Kemer and to the social life that is still one of the best despite staff changes at the marina (we think for the better) and of course many new faces.
We will see what the winter brings.
