Dodecanese Islands of Greece ... Oct 2008

18-25 Oct 2008

***Balvenie at anchor in front of the big monestary at Panormitis, on the Southwest corner of Symi***Morning light on the harbour at Khalki***

We had a couple of plans of what to do once Lesley left us to fill the time before our marina booking from 01 November, however like with most plans sailing you have several back ups. We stayed a few days in Bozburun, Turkey as there were very strong winds forecast for the Southern Aegean. Then we ventured out and started by having a great sail pointing towards southern Symi, until the wind died and the motor came on. We had a night in the sheltered enclosed harbour at Panormitis, and went for a big walk along to the monestary and all the way around to the windmill at the harbour entrance.

The following day we hoped to head for Kos, but plan B came into place when there was no wind at all and very confused seas. We headed back to Turkey and had a couple of nights up in Datca. Yesterday we tried to go to the Greek Island of Tilos, but messy seas and 20knots right on the nose put plan C into place and we bore away for a more comfortable ride an headed down to Khalki (Chalki, Halki - the Greeks seem to have 3 names for everything). We are tucked up in the small harbour here, just with one other yacht, its a cute little place but almost closed up for winter. The skies are still blue each day and its only just under 20degrees at night so still very nice. Tommorow (25th Oct) we will start heading back towards Marmaris.
Anchorage info:
Panormitis 36 33.07N 27 50.75E 7.2m swinging, excellent shelter better than it looked in guide book, could get possible roll, entrance straight forward but if strong winds seas may build outside, could be very lumpy. Monestry, small store and taverna ashore. Irregular bus to Symi town. No wifi
Khalki 36 13.35N 27 36.91E 14m swinging. Very good shelter, slight roll came in. Stay as close to shore as possible, we were asked to move after dark when very big inter-island ferry came in. In summer there is apparantley a swim platform that you can stern tie to, it had been removed for winter. Two reasonable stores, a few bars and cafes ashore. Small sleepy place. Bus service to beaches and monestry during summer (stopped now). Reasonable unlocked wifi

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.

Dipping into Greece again - Symi ... Oct 2008

02 - 04 October 2008

***View ashore from the anchorage at Pedhi on Symi***Symi town leads steeply up the hill from the harbour***Walking around the harbour in Symi***

We had very calm seas for our short trip across from Turkey to the Greek island of Symi. Symi Town is at the northern most part of the island and is a busy harbour with many yachts, gulets, superyachts, fishing boats and ferries all wanting to tie up to the town quay. It is also an offical port of entry for Greece and a bustling little place. We decided to anchor in the next bay/harbour around on the eastern side called Pedhi, its alot quieter and you can just swing on the anchor - if you can find a spot. Like so many of the anchorages of late there is very deep water until quite close inshore but we managed to nestle in, in the far right corner and set our anchor. The difference between the Greek and Turkish architecture is so pronounced, there is no way of mistaking what country you are currently in!!

We caught the local bus across to Symi town, it leaves hourly at half past and is 1Euro. The view from the top of the hill before you drop down into Symi town is spectacular, oh so postcard perfect Greece. I closed my eyes as the bus made the final approach downhill along the one lane right on the edge of the water, it realy didn't look like we were goin to fit, but I guess he has done it before!!! We had a big walk wandering along the very busy town quay and right around the other side of the quaint harbour. Then time to relax with a cold Greek beer and people watch. We were joined by friends Robin and Marion off Simba who were tied to the town quay and we had a lovely evening with them and a great dinner out. We caught the bus home again, in this direction it goes on the hour until 11pm.

Everything was perfect, but that never lasts long and an unforecast blow came up about 1am, together with just enough rain to collect dust enroute to earth and make a right mess all over the boat, again. The anchorage was very busy and the wind direction put us much closer to the shore than we were happy with so we maintained yet another anchor watch until things settled down after sunrise. There was plenty to watch, a couple of boats dragged on the other side of the harbour, the water tanker left the town quay then another large cement freighter arrived, never a dull moment.

Wanting to add yet another country to his ever growing list of "Maintainence in Exotic Places" skipper needed to address a newly discovered problem of our leaking raw water pump. This was the same culprit that caused us to postpone our departure from Thursday Island in the Torres Strait, many moons ago, so we had a rebuild kit and a replacement pump onboard. After a few hours and not TOO much swearing the new pump was installed, the engine going and no leaks. We are not altogether happy with the replacment hosing that needed to be added but can save that for another day. We stayed another night, did a trip ashore to stock up on a few goodies not available in Turkey, mainly pork products. There is a small deli/supermarket right at the end of the pier, not a huge selection but adequate and their is a fuel station only a couple of minutes walk away for much cheaper diesel and petrol than Turkey.

Anchorage info:

Pedhi 36 36.94N 27 51.42E dropped in 12.8 settled in 5.5m. Larger shallow area on left side of jetty but too busy. Keep well clear of the jetty and allow turning space for reasonable sized freighters to come and go - all hours. Some yachts tied to left (south) side of jetty, ones on north side told to leave.

Town quay in Symi - drop anchor and back into concrete quay, imagine underwater looks like spiders web. Will be instructed where to go by harbourmaster. Standard Charge for any size seems to be 8Euros per night including power (maybe water too?). Lots of surge/roll from the endless traffic. Maybe asked for Greek papers, maybe not, may also have to show proof of insurance, maybe not. We decided Pedhi was a better option for us for a short stay.

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.

Back in Skopea Liman .... Sep 2008

24-30 September 2008

***Mark and Mum in Skopea Liman watching the scenery go by***The partly submerged ruins in Ruin Bay***Mum at the helm under Skippers watchful eye***Out for a morning walk in Ruin Bay, looking across into Wall Bay

Oh dear, at last our amazing spell of months of perfect settled weather has ended, unfortunately this has coincided with the arrival of Mark's Mum Jackie from London, however we are not blaming her!!!!
After a stormy night at anchor in Fethiye with a couple of boats dragging, the weather perked up and we had a nice easy sail back across Fethiye Bay into the sheltered waters of Skopea Liman.

We headed back to Tomb Bay where we had spent a couple of perfect days while Neil and Barbara were on board and anchored back in the same spot. Although the weather has cooled it is still warm enough for swimming and much more pleasant for getting out and exploring onshore and we did a dinghy ride across the bay followed by a walk up to one of the Lycian Tombs carved out of the rockface, many moons ago. We went ashore to the small restaurant for dinner which was good but cut abruptly short when the sound of distant thunder suddenly seemed very much closer. Whilst zooming back to Balvenie the skies opened and we had the simultaneous sound of thunder cracking overhead while the world lit up around us, this was not on the holiday itinerary!!!!! Another night for the crew on anchor watch, as the bays here are very deep you need to drop your anchor in deep water then reverse into the shore and tie lines ashore to rocks, trees or bollards. Normally we swing to the wind, so when we are tied ashore we feel very vulnerable, and never at ease if there is any wind. But these storms pass and the following day dawned clear and sunny again.

We moved onto Wall Bay and tucked up all snug in the corner and enjoyed a dinghy ride around into Ruin Bay where we explored the partly submerged ruins of an old stone building. There is no information on these ruins so we sat and wondered who had lived here and when and what their lives would have been like. There is a walk from here right back around into Wall Bay or in the other direction you can follow the red painted arrows on the rocks and walk right up to the top of the ridge (45mins one way we were told), we have saved that for another time. A gale warning was issued for our 2nd night in Wall Bay so we put extra lines ashore and made sure everything was secure on deck. Marmaris, Gocek and Fethiye all had high winds and rain but we were lucky and had a peaceful night.

Mum's week was nearly up so we motored in flat seas up to Gocek for her last night in Turkey with us, we were treated to very calm conditions in the anchorage. We went ashore and spent time at the weekly Sunday market, tasting Turkish Delight and Apple Tea while Mark happily watched the latest Grand Prix at the "West Cafe" (good free WIFI here too). We stayed ashore for an early dinner at the "Kebab Hospital", something went a little wrong in the translation to English, no its not Hospital food, it is very good!!!

And then it was time to say our goodbyes. We had a lovely week with Marks Mum onboard, we are sorry she didn't get the picture perfect weather we had been having but as she kept reminding us it was much much better than anything they had experienced in England this summer, it was sunny every day, warm enough to swim and she finally got to experience life on Balvenie, in all its ups and downs!

Anchorage info: All the above were places already visited, see details below under "Fun in the Sun ... Sep 2008 - Cruising Skopea Liman 07-11 Sep 2008

Off out Cruising again ... Sep 2008

24 Sep 2008

***Getting in and out of the dinghy is never easy but Mum mastered it no problem!!!!***Dinner out in Fethiye, spot which meal is on fire***

Marks mum, Jackie, has arrived from London to spend a week with us. It is the first time she has seen Balvenie, so after us being onboard for nearly her 5 years it is quite an occasion.

Yesterday we drove over to Calis Beach while we still had the hire car, and had a look around that part of Fethiye Bay. It's all pretty much tourist hotels and the waterfront is lined with small shops and restaurants catering to the English and Polish package holiday markets.

Enroute we took in some historical sites and visited the Lycian Tombs behind Fethiye town, passed a couple of sarcopogus and the ancient amphitheatre. Then we took in the weekly market and topped up on all the fresh produce available.

A stay in Fethiye wouldn't be complete without a visit to our favorite little restaurant "Kervan" @ Carsi Cad 36, (the first road after the central market covered area). Tastefully decorated with orange and white satin tablecloths and chair covers and big orange bows, lovely! The food, service and price are great though and we had a lovely evening.

Checking in and out: Our 90days are up so we need to check out of Turkey. All the offices in Fethiye are close together and it was only about an hour of skippers time to complete formalities. Cost for checking out was just 6Lira. We returned and checked back in after a few days, all very quick. Harbour Master 12.50L, Transit Log 77.50L (cheaper than our last one in Finike) and no cost for visas on our NZ passports. All took around an hour.

Fun in the Sun ... Sept 2008

Cruising Skopea Liman … 07 - 11 Sept 2008

***Mornings exercise in Tomb Bay, the view from the tomb***View of the tomb in Tomb Bay***Neil and Barbara in Tomb Bay*** ***Balvenie nestled in Wall Bay***

For the first night in a very long time we had wind all night long in our anchorage at Rhodes, a reminder of the excellent conditions we have on the Turkish coast where the sea breeze kicks in late morning and drops generally early evening.

From Rhodes we headed back northeast and had a comfortable downwind sail right back to the bottom of Skopea Liman where the wind dropped away. Never such a bad thing as we then had a chance to charge the batteries, heat the water and most importantly - cool the alcohol. Our first stop back in this excellent cruising ground was Wall Bay. We found a great spot to nestle into, and anchored stern to attaching to bollards provided on the shoreline. Practice is paying off with this stern to anchoring and having extra sets of hands onboard is invaluable, we were tucked up in no time.

The evenings entertainment was provided by the latecomers jostling for the best spots, complete with all the yelling and shouting that normally accompanies anchoring.

We had the next day at leisure enjoying reading, swimming, kayaking and even squeezed in a walk ashore to stretch our legs. There are some ruins just around the corner in Ruin Bay which are partly submerged and you can kayak through the rooms, going in one door and out the other which was fun. That night after onboard Pimms happy hour we patronized the onshore restaurant for dinner and had pre-ordered the roast leg of lamb, served with potato and rice, plus it included breads and dips for entrée and melon for desert. At 35Lira pp it seems about the average price for these rustic cafes that also provide free mooring docks for those that wish to tie up. Most of the market for these places are the charter boats, away on one or two weeks holiday with a much higher budget than us long term cruisers and generally converting from Pounds or Euros, so they all seem to do quite well during their very short season.
Anchorage Info: 36 38.58N 28 51.06E dropped in 20m stern tied to bollards settled in 7m. Very sheltered, a few little gusts only

Another sunny day dawns and after more water activities it’s time to get another sail in. We had lots of fun in Tony's kayaks with exploring and races around the bay. Mark got a little over enthusiastic and actually managed to flip his which Barbara did well to capture on film (see extra photos below!!!) Skipper and crew raise all the sails and it’s a fast ride in flat water across to Fethiye. We have spent so much time in Fethiye now that we are recognised by the restaurant owners when we walk down the street!!! It is a good spot to top up on a few supplies, look around the interesting old town area and eat out.
Anchorage info: apprx 36 37.46N 29 05.82E 13m mainly mud but with some thick spots of weed. The anchorage is comfortable, dinghy tie up in the marina and generally access to wifi although this time I had no luck (I have an external aerial). Wifi code changes every two weeks, on counter in marina office is yellow leaflet advertising Levante Restaurant. Wifi code is on this leaflet.

We just stayed one night and had another fast sail in flat water, hard on the wind, back across Fethiye Bay into Skopea Liman again, this time we headed for Tomb Bay which came highly recommended and was just beautiful. Two nights there gave us time for more relaxing with Neil and Barbara making the most of the sunshine before heading back to London. The water is still very warm and clear but refreshing, and we even did quite a long walk and climb to explore the Lycian Tombs high above the bay.
Anchorage info: 36 41.64N 28 ?2.00E dropped in 20m, stern tied to one bollard and a tree, settled in 6m, flat water very little wind

We left late afternoon in light winds and motored the few miles to Gocek. It’s only about 20 minutes to Dalaman airport so a good option for drop offs/pick ups. Taxi prices still very expensive though, 45Euro/60Lira one way - everything priced for the shortstay tourist market.
Anchorage info: 36 45.18N 28 56.04E 20-25m good holding. Very busy anchorage with yachts, motor cruisers and gulets. A lot of very fast tender traffic makes for much noise and wash. Try to tuck up in the north east corner as far as poss. New marina being built which will decrease anchorage space even more. Can be exposed in afternoon seabreeze, choppy dinghy ride ashore but calm at night. No wifi but several free ashore (rec Cafe West on front)

We had chosen to pick them up from Marmaris so we could get some good sails in as well. For a week long taste of cruising, sailing, blobbing, swimming, exploring, eating, playing, we think we did about the best mixture you could do around these parts. We really enjoyed Neil and Barbara’s company and had a great time with them onboard. We hope they have gone home with some great memories (besides the blocked toilet – another story on another day!!!!).

Off to Rhodes ... Sept 2008

06 Sept 2008

***Neil, Barbara & Mark on one of the old town walls in Rhodes with the med in the background***Well they did order 2 large beers!!!!***Checking out the boutiques in Rhodes old town***Neil and Barbara in the main square***

With Neil and Barbara having been in Turkey now for 2 nights we decided they needed a change of culture so time for a quick dip into Greece with a trip down to Rhodes. It’s less than 30 miles south of Marmaris so makes for a good spot to top up on all those yummy Greek delicacies, pork products and much much cheaper alcohol. We left with light winds and motored further west along the Turkish coastline in flat seas until the wind started to pick up. We then headed south towards Rhodes at a slightly kinder angle but still had the strengthening afternoon meltimi pretty much on the nose for most of the trip but with seas under 1m so comfortable enough. Down came the Turkish flag as we closed in on Rhodes and up went the Greek one. Because this was a one night stopover we stayed outside the main harbour areas and anchored off a small beach just 20 minutes walk from Rhodes Old Town.

Again we had the anchorage to ourselves, it was a short dinghy ride ashore and we left the dinghy safely on the beach while we set off to explore.
The walk into town went through the “car repairs” area and we started to question if this had been a good idea. Once we hit the main harbour area – jam packed with 4 cruise ships and found an entrance through the old city walls a new world opened up in front of us. Rhodes town has been around since 408BC, with plenty of wars and sieges to add colour to its history.

The magnificent walled old town has been beautifully restored and is very well maintained. The shopping/eating area is a “cruise ship passengers” emporium of upmarket ‘designer label’ boutiques, craft shops, galleries, duty free shops, restaurants and cafes, and with the passengers of 4 cruise ships packed onto the narrow streets it was very very busy, but this didn’t detract at all from its charm. We had a great walk around through the alleys and around the wall then stopped for a drink on a roof top terrace where the boys had a foot of beer each at inflated cruise ship prices (or are we just used to Turkish prices now).

We enjoyed a traditional mix of Greek food in a lovely courtyard setting for dinner and ambled back through the rather seedy car repairs area to Balvenie. We never really like leaving her in an anchorage alone with the dinghy on the beach, but both were just where they should be when we got back. Back onboard we cracked open a bottle of Balvenie Doublewood 15 year old Scotch, that Neil and Barbara had spotted ashore and kindly bought for us and ended the excellent evening with a nightcap.
Anchorage info: 36.25.60N 28.14.20E 6m shallows up slowly, sandy bottom off beach. Possiblity of anchoring inside breakwater (unfinished marina?) just north. Over 20knts daytime, around 15knts overnight but comfortable and calm water. Bali Hai advised ok snorkelling off shoal area by breakwater but we didn't investigate

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.

Sheltered Waters of Skopea Liman ... Aug 2008

19 - 29 August 2008

We have finally managed to prise ourselves away from the sheltered anchorage at Fethiye, with all those great little affordable cafes, big screen televisions for all the sport Mark could watch and reasonable wifi access free at anchor, to say nothing of the sun shining everyday, oh well - time to move on.

Our first stop over here was at Boynuz Buku, the bay shown in the photo on the left. We met up again with Gone with the Wind, Tactical Directions and Ascension and enjoyed being out in a quite sheltered bay again with clear water and good friends. There is a dock ashore with free tie up if you dine there. It looked pretty flimsy but looked to have good depth and there were plenty of boats using it.
Anchorage info: 36.42.66N 28.53.79E 22m some stern to but we swung in the middle along with several other boats. Rustic restaurant and dock ashore. Walk up gravel road, ok for some exercise and think there is a walk to waterfalls but didn't find it. A couple of fresh water creeks some talk of bad mossies but ok while we were there

After a few nights it was time to explore further and moved around a couple of bays into Sarsala Cove. It is another lovely spot but this time everywhere was too deep for us to anchor out and it was time to get into med mooring. For our 1st real attempt we didn't do too bad, we didn't do too good either but we got the anchor set and the new floating stern lines attached where we wanted so not a bad result. We met up the following day with friends off NZ yacht Baracca who we met in Fethiye and had a very productive afternoon with Emerald Lady who are seasoned med cruisers and gave us plenty of info on must see spots along the way. In our excitement of successfully med mooring I didn't take down our anchorage details.

It was time to make a move onto Marmaris, and we decided to do it in 2 hops, first a short one around onto one of the bays on the southern peninsular of Skopea Liman. We ended up in the small bay on the right (north) of Kizil-Kuyruk Koyu, a delightful small bay with a couple of little peebly beaches, well treed, very scenic, thats it in the photo on the left. Balvenie looks rather small next to the gulets!! Dinghy around to the bigger bay and take path on far right up the hill to some reasonable ruins and good views, partly in shade about 15minutes up, reasonable path. We had our first experience of "nude yachting" in here with an Israeli yacht anchored next to us. Firstly the chap on board went skinny dipping, not much harm in that, but the following morning when they went to leave he prepared the sails and stood up at the bow raising the anchor all in the nuddy. Oh well, it was hot ... each to their own!!!

Anchorage info: 36.37.30N 28.52.08E dropped 20m stern tied to rocks, settled in 15m. Our rock came away (it looked solid enough when I tied it), since then we have put 2 lines ashore and tried to find trees instead. We just pulled up on the anchor but if it had happened during the night or if there had been more wind it may have got a little messy!!

The sail from here across to Marmaris will always be on the nose, unless you are very very lucky. We had up to 20knots and were able to sail the entire way but it was very tight and very wet, not one of our better days but we have made it to Marmaris.

Waiting in Fethiye ... Aug 2008

01 - 18 Aug 2008
CLICK ON EITHER PHOTO TO ENLARGE ***Lycian Rock Tombs set in the cliff just behind downtown Fethiye***The culprit watermaker part - lighter is to give some idea of size!!!!***

The good news is that the watermaker part has finally arrived. This little piece of plastic with shipping from Swtizerland (quite close to Turkey!) has cost $295NZD and we will treasure it dearly, lets just hope that when skipper finishes fitting it, we will have freshly made water again and no more big big drips. Latest moral to the story is if you want parts sent to Turkey, well frankly, just try and do without them, or get someone to bring them, or fly somewhere and get them yourself!!! If you really really have to; and you are in Fethiye DONT use DHL, they don't have an office here (besides the marina staff telling us to use them), use UPS or FedEx. So now we have our part but there is a tri nations rugby game on tomorrow between New Zealand and South Africa so we best stay to support the All Blacks, whats another day!!!!

We have actually taken some time out from just waiting and done some more sightseeing. The Lycian Rock Tombs in the photo are just on the cliff face behind the harbour area and are quite impressive for a little excursion. Then a couple of days ago we caught a dolmus (minivan) and went to Kayakoy. In past history this present day "ghost town" of around 2000 stone houses was settled by Ottoman-Greeks who were relocated to Greece after the Turkish War of Independence. This was around 1920 when all the Greek Orthodox Ottomans were moved to Greece and the Muslim Ottomans were moved from Greece to Turkey. The numbers weren't even though and no Muslims settled in this village so over the years it has decayed away, with help from the frequent earthquakes that occur in these parts. It was all a somber sight and well worth the visit. For those of you that have read Louis de Bernieres' novel "Birds without Wings", this was this village that provided the inspiration for Eskibahce the village in his novel. Unfortunately I went out without my camera so the scenes from this haunting location are committed only to memory.

The days don't seem to be much hotter than July was but the nights are not cooling off as much at the moment. Last night saw 32degrees celcius in our cabin at midnight. We have now taken to putting our water spray bottle in the fridge (previously left at room temperature) during the day and when we go to bed we spray ourselves down and turn the fan on full and try to lower our body temperature. Mark is constantly melting, whereby I am still enjoying it especially knowing that for the first time in five years we are going to experience a winter this year, long may the gloriously hot, cloudless, sunny days remain!

It's 18 August today, and we are seriously thinking about leaving!!! We have been enjoying the Olympics, the quaint little port area, the cheap restaurants we have found, plus its a great secure anchorage, but can't stay here forever so maybe today will be the day to leave. Update at 5pm, after a busy morning provisioning we have decided to stay another night!!!!
19 August 12.40pm, sea breeze just kicked in, we are off cruising again at last.