Bodrum - Back in Turkey ... Apr 2009

23-25 April 2009

We actually managed a good sail in brisk northwestly winds back across to Turkey to visit Bodrum, one of Turkeys busiest package holiday destinations and popular on Cruiseship itineries. Not really our ideal stop, but on the way so why not. We anchored below the stunning Bodum Castle close to town and sat back and watched the sun dip behind, then silhoutte the castle. Ideal, we thought, little did we know there was a Rock Festival on this week and we were anchored right by the venue. At 8pm we were almost blasted out of the bay, but we could cope with a free rock concert and surely it wouldn't go on all night. Then shortly after 8pm the neightbouring disco kicked in, affording stero sound but of different music, time for us oldies to leave!!!! We moved across the bay and anchored outside a large white hotel, had a peaceful sleep and were asked by the coastguard at 8am to move as we were in "a restricted area", oh well back to the castle.

We filled in our day ashore with hordes of tourists wandering around the quite cute little streets, along the waterfront, found a little 2.50Lira chicken doner place (now we know why cruisers hate to leave Turkey!!) then spent the afternoon in the excellent Underwater Archaeological Musuem located within the Castle. The Castle of St Peter, built in the early 1400's deserves a visit in its own right, with a collection of towers, courtyards and a dungeon but in addition to this the underwater museum (which isn't actually underwater, just displaying items found underwater!!) houses an excellent display of items found in Turkish waters, most discovered quite recently and dating back to the 14th century BC.

Next back out into the Dodecanese Islands slowly heading north.

Cruising Info:
Anchorage - Up in the bay to the east of the castle amongst the gulets. Good holding, just a little noisy a night!!
Money - ATM's everywhere, some dispense Euro alsoProvisions - Everything available, Tansas Supermarket behind the otogar, a few of blocks back from the beach, Carrefour and Marks & Spencers by the Marina,Fruit and Veg market by Tansas on Friday
Sightseeing - Bodrum Castle/Underwater Archaeological Museum. We spent around 3 hours in the castle and the 10Lira pp entrance was well worth it.
Internet - Couldn't pick up any unlocked signals at anchor, some free wifi cafes ashore

76 knots in Marmaris ... Jan 2009

28 January 2009

***This was L dock at Netsel, it just sort of buckled upwards and snapped, at least it stayed in one piece!!***The storm came from the south and brought with it plenty of African dust, it rained mud for a few hours***Very unfortunate sight at Netsel Marina, luckily major damage avoided by landing on the building***The cockpit was clean before but it just blew dust and dirt***

While parts of France and Spain have been badly damaged and lives lost in dreadful storms, little ole Marmaris has unfortunately been getting its share also, although luckily not as bad. We were forecast to receive a storm from the south with gusts to 50knots to arrive overnight Friday night. As with most of the weather forecasting here it was pretty accurate, but it just built and built and kept building.

Arriving in the wee small hours and building to 40knots quickly we were hoping for a short sharp blast and then resume normal quiet life but by daybreak things were still building. The yacht pictured had left their headsail on and not locked it off properly, the wind caught and unfurled it, of course making the yacht want to sail away, with devastating consequences. While this was going on our dock decided to part company with the main concrete pontoon, it was still all anchored and chained down, but no longer attached to solid land. Not a reassuring thought as the winds kept building. Then the cleats on the docks started popping out of the concrete pontoon, as each one went it then meant that the boats attached to it were no longer attached to the dock!! All hands were on deck, including all liveaboards, marina and charter boat staff to retie to other cleats, of course adding extra load to the remaining cleats, but desperately trying to keep the boats attached.

Still the wind was building, our cockpit wind instrument peaks at 50 knots, it was being pinned on 50 knots for minutes at a time. The noise was horrendous, the spray and sea state in the marina unbelievable, and still it kept coming. We were now getting gusts over 70 knots, and the highest recorded was 76knots, that's way too high. We were watching the clouds build and build, desperately hoping for the rain to start which usually settles the wind down, but more carnage occurred.

A few bow lines broke on boats around us, necessitating the marinaros to take temporary lines into the tender and go across the marina to attach to the far docks. Once the bow lines go there is nothing to stop the boats from falling back onto the dock, damaging their sterns or from being pushed by the wind onto the boats adjacent.

Meanwhile there was minor damage occurring everywhere, awnings shredded, dodgers blown away, the plastic windows in our canopy were blown out, fenders were popping, mooring lines shearing, dinghies flying off decks - then at last around 10.00am, the rain came and the winds started to ease. I remember coming below and thinking how quiet it was now the wind had eased, I looked at our wind instruments and we were getting 38 knots - NEVER have I thought 38 knots was peaceful!!!!!

The heavy rain, actually falling African mud, lasted only a few hours but what a mess it made, it looked like we were to be covered in a layer of clay when it set. So we have been cleaning up since, Mark has hosed all the dirt away inbetween downpours, I have fixed 2 of the windows but am awaiting the easing of the rain for long enough to remove the canopy before I can fix the last one. The marina staff are trying to get the marina back together again, power was only out for about 7hours, water is still off on our side of the dock, and we still have to walk over 18 lines that run across our dock to get to the end as they can not bed new cleats in the rain, its like doing a 200metre hurdles!!!!

Overnight we had another blast of 40knots through and we sat and prayed for nothing higher and it looks like things will calm down for a few days. We shall be very glad when this is all over, the wind dies, the rain ends and the sun comes back to play.

See video footage of the storm at Yacht Marina on http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/storms-in-marmaris-yacht-marina/13883291

Christmas in Marmaris ..... Dec 2008

December 2008

****There's not too many places on a yacht to put the Christmas decorations, but we do our best, inside and out!!!!!!****

Merry Christmas everybody

After a very busy month back in New Zealand and a record breaking 55 1/2hour trip from Auckland back to Balvenie things have been a little slow on board since my arrival back, I suspect they were a little slow during my absence also!!!

It is Christmas Eve, the Christmas emails have all finally been dispatched, if you missed out it must be because we have lost your email because we have sent plenty. Tonight we go down to YachtMarine, the other marina here in Marmaris, to join several friends for a pot luck dinner. We will have to tuck up warm as it is forecast to go down to 2c overnight, goodness me it must be snowing somewhere close by. The days are still mainly sunny, so ok out of the wind but it certainly does have that winter feel to it and after no winter for 5 years it is quite an adjustment for us.

Marmaris is a different place now to the rowdy tourist town of mid summer, there is not a fat tattooed belly or an oversized body bulging out of undersized clothes with bright pink sunburned skin to be seen. Thankfully in winter Marmaris reverts to a pleasant, laidback, provincial town with the locals just going about their business, it's really quite a nice place to spend some time.

The Season ends ... Oct 2008

25-31 Oct 2008

***Looking down from the citadel ruins into Bozuk Buku, Balvenie lies at the top of the bay***Mark is King of the Castle at the excellent ruins at Bozuk Buku***

We left Khalki with 2 reefs in the main and the headsail reefed and poked our nose out and had an excellent sail with 20knots on the beam headed northeast towards the southern coast of Symi. Plan A for the day was to anchor in Pedhi for the night and we made great time up in solid winds until we closed in on Symi. The winds died, the seas calmed down, the reefs were taken out and we pottered along for awhile. When we got into Symi straight it all livened up again to keep us on our toes with up to 25knots on a very tight reach, full sail up in flat water. Balvenie and skipper were very much enjoying stretching their legs, the admiral, well she wasn't minding it too much either!! We decided that Plan A may just have to wait another day and we thought the anchorage in Pedhi might be just too gusty with these winds so we bore away and had a great beam reach sail across to Bozburun, always nice to return to a familiar anchorage after a day at sea. We met up with English friends Jo and Dennis onboard Aurora, and also Peter and Brigette onboard White Rose, great to see some familiar faces again. We had a couple of nights in Bozburun while the winds kept blowing, then had a pleasant sail back across to Symi for a night to alcohol, pork and fuel up for winter.

Our cruising season was drawing to its end. If we were in New Zealand with this weather we would never be heading for a marina, the days are still brilliant with blue skies, still no less than 18c overnight and around 25c during the day and even the admiral has been in swimming again (by choice!!!), but we are constantly watching the weather now and everyone says we have had a good October, the storms will come soon.

So we say goodbye to Greece for the year and head from Symi back across to the bottom of the Datca Peninsular and have a very gentle sail downwind across to Bozuk Buku, a beautiful big sheltered bay overlooked by the ruins of an impressive citadel, it was a fitting site for our last night at anchor for 2008. We enjoyed a big walk and climb through the ruins the following morning and got in one last swim for the season before we up-anchored and had another very unpredictable sail with winds from all directions and from 5-25knots, keeping us on our toes until the end!! We are now at Netsel Marina in Marmaris, home until mid April 2009.

Anchorage info:
Bozburun and Pedhi same as before.
Bozuk Buku 36 34.44N 28 00.65E 12m swinging, three restaurant docks stern tie with bow lines, but plenty of room for several boats to swing at anchor also. No wifi signals, impressive citadel ruins ashore to explore

Fuel info for Symi Island - you can side tie up to the dock in Pedhi (rough concrete dock, nasty big black tires for fenders) and walk up to the fuel station on the road that heads for the hill (about 5 minutes walk). They have a little tanker truck and will come to the dock. Cost was 1.29Euro per litre. Credit card accepted. They are closed between 1pm and 4.30pm. They had run out of diesel when we were there so the other option is you can go round to Symi town and as you enter the harbour on the left is the fuel station and dock, nice clean big orange fenders and they throw you mooring lines, didn't look very deep by wall but ok for us, water is just so clear is looks shallower. Cost was 1.15Euro per litre (much better), credit card accepted. Only negative about here is if a ferry comes in while you are tied up, the wake is dreadful as they go by.

Datca Peninsular & Symi ... Oct 2008

11-17 Oct 2008

***The ruins at Knidos***Pedhi houses and harbour***Lesley - flat out on Monday morning*** The ancient sundial at Knidos***Pedhi on Symi, this one looks like a "do-up"***The cats of Symi with Balvenie at anchor in Pedhi in the background***

Lesley has arrived (see Dalaman Airport info below). Her flight was delayed so we didn't get back to Balvenie until 2.30am so we had a very slow start and cruisy day with some afternoon exercise kayaking to the head of the bay to Orhaniye, there are a few restaurants with docks up this end of the bay and the small Sunsail Charter base dock. Another blow was forecast for the night so we were very happy to stay put in our sheltered spot in Keci Buku. (anchorage details on previous posting). Sunday dawned bright and sunny again and we had escaped the wind so headed out and tacked along the peninsular in very light winds to the small town of Datca. There doesn't seem to be much in Datca, its a sleepy fishing village with a few day trip boats as well, a pleasant town quay and a few restaurants crying out for the tourist lira. We had a walk round town, lovely dinner ashore, a pleasant quiet night and pulled out the next morning.

More light winds with a very pleasant but slow sail along to our next stop at Kalaboshi. Lesley enjoyed the calm conditions to lie on the foredeck and top up her tan before that long English winter! The days are cooler now, even we are enjoying the suns warmth after years of escaping it in the shade. Winter is coming. Kalaboshi is a tiny cove tucked into the southern peninsular with a little pebble beach, a couple of restaurants and backpackers accommodations, very low key and a good stop for the night. We went ashore for a walk and happy hour but had dinner onboard. We heard Oguns did 60 for dinner though, all from yachts on the dock, it may be the end of the season but there are still quite a few of us out here. They have a good reputation.

Another day of light winds so we had to motor some of the way to the ancient city of Knidos on the end of peninsular. These Dorian ruins date from around 400BC. It was a thriving city in its time as it is an excellent spot to wait for favorable weather before stepping out into the Aegean. The ruins are spread over several kilometres and are great to rummage around in, with so many artifacts just "lying around". There has been some work excavating the ampitheatre and buildings and although they are not the best ruins we have seen we certainly enjoyed our time there. Entrance was free, we maybe just got lucky as we had heard it was 10Lira. There is a restaurant with a somewhat drunk owner ashore, he may be the reason the dock was empty!!

Just as we were supping on nightcaps we started to notice lightening in the distance, and sat and watched as it got closer, and closer. We, like all yachties hate lightening. A nearby strike can cause absolute havoc to the boats electrics, in some cases wiping out all electrics, navigational equipment, radars - the lot. We put what we can remove into the oven and microwave then cross our fingers and toes. It came closer and closer to the east of us and at one stage we saw 4 forks coming down at once. We had another long night on anchor watch, the winds in the end didn't exceed 25knots, but a couple of yachts dragged and some were way to close to each other. We are never comfortable enough just to go below to sleep in these situations, better to know whats happening. We have now done more anchor watches in Turkey/Greece than in our previous 4 years. Not so much because of the wind strengths but because of bad holding, too many yachts close by and other less experienced sailors who don't anchor well enough for the conditions.

So time again for a dip into Greece. We were looking forward to a great downwind sail back to Pedhi on Symi. The forecast had shown wind for the day but it must have been what came through in the night. There was much disappointment when we had to motor the 25miles back to Symi, with very grey skies and even a little drizzle at times, out came the sweat shirts - a first during the day for a very very long time!!! The skies did start to clear as we approached Symi, and by the time we anchored the world was looking a brighter place and it was even starting to warm up again. We got the small local bus over to Symi town. Everywhere was so much quieter than when we were there 10 days ago, the town quay was almost empty, some restaurants have already closed for the season and the last bus home is now 10pm. We had a lovely wander through the streets, it is such a quaint place, the postcard images of a perfect Greek Island. We completed it all with a fine Greek salad, souvlaki and mousakka before getting the last bus home, another peaceful night. We had a big walk around Pedhi in the morning in glorious sunshine yet again, while hoping and waiting for some wind to fill in.

Eventually we had enough puff to make our way back across to Turkey and have ended up at Bozburun, another well protected anchorage at the head of a bay, with a small quay (heard its 35Euros a night) a small town with a few restaurants and stores and a dolmus (minibus) service to Marmaris. We found a great fish restaurant ashore for Lesley's last night with us. Bozburun is famous for its boat building yards, and although we went for a big walk in search, so far we have only found gulets afloat and a couple of abandoned projects on shore, we are definitely missing something so further excursions will need to be made!! Sadly it is time for Lesley to leave so we get the dolmus to Marmaris (7Lira pp ow) where we have organised a transfer for her to Dalaman (see details below). We have had a great week with her exploring new territory and fitting in a return to delightful Symi.

Now we just have a couple of weeks before we are due into Netsel Marina for winter and we have to decide what to do, where to go. The weather is looking a bit blowy for a few days so we have finally decided to stay tucked up here then make a run out into the Aegean and visit a few more of the Dodecanese Islands in the Southern Aegean, like always that is plan A, stay tuned!!!

Anchorage info:
Datca 36 43.20N 27 41.38E mud 8.5m Good protection from N and W. Ample room to swing. Took dinghy into town dock. Wifi good signal but needed codes
Kalaboshi 36 41.00N 27 34.43E dropped 14m stern tied to rock wall (may be turned into dock by 2009) Restaurant dock was busy, room to swing anchor for one or two boats only and more exposed, bottom mix of weed and sand, very clear water. Oguns Restaurant good wifi, got password from bar. Also got water from them.
Knidos 36 40.99N 27 22.52E 10m think hard sand, swinging. 2 attempts to get anchor set. About 12 yachts & 2 gulets and still plenty room. Dock was empty despite attempts by staff to fill it, don't know why. Good shelter, had 20knots for a while during the night, 1 boat dragged
****The above 3 can be rolly we have been told if the meltemi is blowing, we had very settled conditions except for Knidos where we had an electrical storm during the night****
Pedhi 36 36.82N 27 51.49E dropped 12m settled 17m, swinging. Opposite side to where we anchored last time, holding seemed better and larger shallow area. Also picked up wifi at random to check emails. Fuel info - see "The season ends... 25-31Oct"
Bozburun 36 41.42N 28 02.46E 14m mud outside the town quay just to the west. Beware of the shallows further west which are easy to see in good light only. Good shelter from all but south. Several wifi-one unlocked, or have drink at Gordons Restaurant and ask for their code

Dalaman Airport Info:
To/from Keci Buku (Marti Marina)
We hired a car from the marina travel office from 2pm till 9am for 100Lira (120Lira for 24hours) and needed 50Lira fuel for the trip to Dalaman and back. Airport car parking was 9Lira. Keci Buku is 30mins from Marmaris on the Bozburun Road
To/from Bozburun
We caught the last dolmus into Marmaris at 5pm, takes 1 hour and is 7Lira. We walked to Netsel Marina and connected with a transfer from Yacht Marine (shared with 7 others and booked by phone earlier) at 6.50pm for Lesley which was 30Lira. The last dolmus back is at 6.30pm so we negotiated a taxi back to Bozburun for 100Lira, took about 50-55minutes.

Datca Peninsular Turkey ... Oct 2008

05 - current October 2008

***Out kayaking to the ruins of the Byzantine Fort***Balvenie in Keci Buku, if you look closely enough you can see the olives on the tree***

We slipped out of Pedhi Harbour with a gentle southwest breeze, rolled out the headsail and had a very relaxing sail north to the Datca Peninsular and headed for the large bay of Kuruca Buku. As the wind was from the south we decided not to anchor off the beach, although there have been reports of wifi onboard from there (always a bonus!!). We went in search of a shallow enough spot to swing on the anchor but ended up stern to in a great sheltered spot. The next morning all the yachts that had anchored off the beach came over to join us as they had had a bumpy night, but by then we had heard that a northerly blast was due later in the day so we decided to move on to somewhere with better shelter and had another lovely sail east to the end of the Peninsular into the big bay Keci Buku.

We are in a great spot and have now had 3 nights here, dead flat water, wifi from Marti Marina and just getting a few jobs done. We have been getting some exercise in the kayaks and have been out and around the small island in the bay. We climbed up the Byzantine Fortress ruins right to the top for a lovely vista.

The weather is definately autumnal now, down to 18deg this morning but still getting up to mid 20's during the days and this week we have had lovely clear days., long may it last. We are not far from Marmaris by road here so can get to Dalaman Airport to collect Lesley on Friday and then we will explore the rest of the Peninsular with her.

Anchorage info:
Kerucu Buku 36 44.89N 27 53.81E dropped 18m settled stern tied in 13m. Had trouble setting anchor further out as thick weed bottom
Keci Buku 36 45.80N 28 07.22E dropped 13m settled stern tied in 5m. Can swing on anchor, very protected spot, access to marina for water, store, chandlery and wifi onboard (no password, very good signal) Beware of underwater large rock about 20m north of this waypoint close to shore if stern tying.

Time to move on ... Oct 2008

30 Sep - 02 Oct 2008

***Digital cameras have so many uses, always a good idea to take a photo first so you know how to put it all back together again!!!***Our anchorage at Serce - onshore for a morning walk with the cows, its a while since we have woken up to the cows mooing***

We now have 10 days before our friend Lesley arrives from England for a week, so we have many discussions as to whether we stay in Fethiye Bay or move on to anchorages new. First we need to address our power problem. Over the last few weeks our batteries have been dying after 4 years of active service. We are now down to just 50% and struggling so it is time to invest in some new ones. Gocek has a good selection of chandeliers and we found "Blue Yachting" to be very helpful, competitive and they spoke good English. After delivering Mark and batteries by scooter down to the dinghy dock and removing our old batteries we then had the fun job of getting them back to Balvenie and onboard without getting them wet. Of course the sea breeze had kicked in by then, but we did it, eventually. Skipper spent the rest of the afternoon wiring them all up, while Admiral finally hard wired in our hot water cylinder we installed in Finike. By the end of the afternoon we were all wired up and made the big decision to move on the following day. A last trip ashore to get a few provisions, phonecard, and a delicious pide at "Gocek Pide". We have been in and around this general area for a couple of months now, we are sad to say goodbye.

We left early the following morning for our longest day sail since the Red Sea, just on 50 miles. It is a good idea to try and get around Kurdoglu Burnu (the bottom of Skopea Liman) before the sea breeze kicks in as it gets somewhat confused at the cape. The winds were light to begin and we motored sailed most of the way across, ending up bashing into 25knots on the nose before entering the very enclosed and sheltered anchorage at Serce on the southern tip of the peninsular west of Marmaris. When we came through the gap into the anchorage we were met by two rival restaurant owners in dinghies offering mooring buoys for the night. We explained that we wanted to eat onboard and the one from the northern end of the bay (which looked more sheltered) was happy to have us anyway so we slowly made our way up and they gave us the end buoy in 4meters, shallow - but enough. I quickly tied on the buoy then went ashore with stern lines to secure us there while skipper held station.

About 15 minutes later a couple of dinghies came by selling wares and as one was leaving he called that we were not attached to the mooring buoy any longer. Thinking of course that the buoy line had parted, and while getting a long enough line to take in the dinghy to reattach, we were doubting whether we should be on a mooring. This doubt was cast aside when Skipper realised the line wasn't attached to the cleat on Balvenie any longer, whoops. Admiral has been fired from the job of attaching lines!!!!!, personally I think someone must have come along and undid it (yeah right). Anyway, no harm done and we had a very peaceful night and awoke to the sounds of cows mooing. We had a good walk ashore to stretch our legs then let the lines go and motored in very calm water around to Greece, time for pork chops!!!!
Anchorage info:
Serce - Mooring buoy at 36 35.05N 28 02.89E each restauarant had about 8 buoys which took up most of the room in the bay, probably able to find somewhere to anchor with stern line though if necessary.

Dalaman Airport & Marmaris Bay ... Sep 2008

04 September 2008

We have my cousin Neil and his wife Barbara arriving onboard at 1am from London so we are getting organised to go sailing for a week with them around the Marmaris/Rhodes/Fethiye area so will update everything when we are back in Fethiye for a couple of days. The sun is still shining and its forecast up to 20 knots and 35degrees today, excellent!!!!!!!
Anchorage Info: 36.49.53N 28.18.85E 12m mud - good holding Little choppy if strong afternoon sea breeze. Closer to Yacht Marine also puts you close to resort (watersports, music etc) Access to Yacht Marine Wifi (no password needed), dinghy ashore to YM. Dolmus to town half hourly 2.50L each, each way. Chanderly, supermarket, showers, toilets, swimming pool and upmarket restaurant at marina.

Dalaman Airport Information … Sept 2008
We decided it was easier to rent a car to go and collect Neil and Barbara from Dalaman airport which is the one airport that covers this whole region. It’s not actually far by boat but it’s around 120 km’s by car so quite a distance. All the flights seem to arrive and leave late at night, so we got our car delivered at 11am and did a trip into town for some last minute provisioning, met up with Sarah and GB off Djarrka and Tony off Tactical Directions for lunch in Marmaris then back to Balvenie still at anchor outside Yacht Marine to get things looking shipshape. We left Marmaris around 6.30pm and stopped enroute for dinner and arrived at Dalaman around 10pm, in plenty of time for their 10.45pm flight. The airport has obviously been designed for holiday traffic only, there is really no access permitted inside to even wait for or see off any body, luckily the weather is good, as there is an open café in the carpark and nothing else except an ATM machine!! They arrived on time and we were back on Balvenie by 1am. It wasn’t a bad drive, the road ok.
Airport info: We got a small car from Koral Travel for 80Lira (special rates now for winter!!!) and needed 50Lira fuel for the journey, petrol is currently 3.40Lira a litre, one of the most expensive in the world. You can organise a transfer through the marina (either Netsel or Yacht Marine) for 65Euro - about 104Lira, I think it will take up to 8 people – cost per transfer not per person, and they have a book you an put your details into. The car was best for us as we got all our heavy shopping done and we wanted to meet them at the airport.

They arrived laden with all sorts of goodies for us, from much needed Marmite for skippers morning toast, Dijon and Colemans Mustard, duty free alcohol and a selection of magazines and papers to get us up to date. Thanks guys!!!

05 September 2008
After a well earned nights sleep and a slow start to the morning we went ashore and dropped off the car keys, said goodbye to Tony off Tactical Directions who flies back to Thailand next week for winter. He has very kindly lent us his 2 kayaks to play with until we go into the marina so we are looking forward to lots of fun and some exercise on them. With us all back onboard and settled we decided to start the weeks adventure with a sail around Marmaris Bay, up into the old town area and then had a pleasant but unpredictable downwind trip outside Marmaris Bay. We anchored stern to in a little cove just north of Gokce Limani, we didn’t find it in our old guide book but it was a lovely spot and the bullets shooting down the bay kept missing us. We had our own anchorage for the first time in Turkey, a relaxing dinner onboard and a very peaceful night with just a slight roll.
Anchorage info: 36.45.77N 28.16.02E Dropped in 17m backed up to 7m stern lines to rocks, sheltered in settled conditions with afternoon seabreeze

A few days in Marmaris ... Sep 08

03 September 2008

Currently we are anchored outside Yacht Haven Marina in Marmaris South Western Turkey. We are just here for a few days. We have booked into Netsel Marina in Marmaris town for winter starting 01 November so will be coming back here for about 5 months. At the mo we are sorting out the boat as we are lucky to have visitors coming during September/October. The first arrive on Thursday night, my cousin Neil and his wife Barbara who live in London, so we are busy getting Balvenie ship-shape, moving her from passage mode to entertaining mode. I have been having a major clean out and Balvenie now weighs less and there are even empty lockers. Still it does help not having to provision food, drinks and spares for an Indian ocean crossing. Supermarket and chandlerys are aplenty around here!!!!

I have posted CHRISTMAS IN THE SURINS .. DEC 07. It's a little overdue but still making our way through our journey and hope to eventually get everything we have done on the blog, bear with us.

Mark still promises to do "The Skippers Cruising Notes" - on how it really was!!!!! I am still waiting.