This group of pictures were taken at the castle in Bodrum, Turkey.
Posted: July 5th, 2010 under Joan's View.
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Eastbound to Turkey
New Paige sailed into Marmaris, Turkey at 5 PM on Tuesday, June 8th after a short, very pleasant 5 hour cruise from Symi, Greece. The bay coming into Marmaris reminds us of home for its vastness. Entering the harbour you are almost overwhelmed by the number of gullets moored there. A gullet is a wooden motor sailor and range from basic to quite lavish, 20 meters and greater for size. Most are chartered out and you see them everywhere. We did note that there were a lot of them parked in Marmaris. Not sure if that is a sign of the times or just early in the season yet. We were tucked into between two motor yachts and as usual Captain Roger did a superb park job with the crew (that would Paige & I) bringing up the rear. Actually our job is to throw stern lines to the dock fellow who ties us off and then I run up to the bow and take the bow line and cleat it off as tight as I can pull it. Roger holds the boat so we do not bump and grind until all lines are securely tied off. We then get the passarelle setup so we can get off the boat. John has been helping us with all of this so we set him aside as Paige and I need to be able to do this ourselves, John won’t always be with us. After getting the boat settled we headed out to find a place for dinner. What we found was probably the best restaurant I have ever been to for absolute impeccable service; the “Pineapple Restaurant;” and the food was good too.
On Thursday we went to the local market and that was very cool. Lots of vendors selling fruits, vegetables, clothing, and Turkish Delight, with free samples so we helped ourselves. We have found the produce to be very inexpensive, for example, I paid 1 TL (Turkish lire which is = $0.67Cdn) for a kilo of fresh tomatoes. We watched the fellow on the motorcycle try to pile all of his purchases onto his motorbike without too much success. It was a perfect spot to people watch.
After a couple of days it was time to head out so New Paige steamed north with a couple of destinations in mind and the one that won was the town of Sogut. We moored in front of the Octopus Restaurant (and as usual we were the biggest boat there) and if you ate dinner there your moorage was free. The atmosphere was casual and the neighbours were friendly, we had Australians on one side and English sailors on the other side. We could have stayed longer but we had the bug so off we motored.
Our next stop was a delightful anchorage near Kiseil Ad. We found a little nook where we dropped our anchor backed into the corner, tied two stern lines ashore so we would not swing and laid back to enjoy the solitude. Our peace was broken every once in a while as the locals would come putzing up in their small boats to try and sell us stuff. This is what we bought a tablecloth, (John and Gaye bought one too) blouse, small change purses and even ice cream from the ice cream boat. This was a good spot to get the toys out so we lowered the kayaks into the water and cruised around. Roger and I also scrubbed the waterline of the boat as it was starting to grow a skirt. Roger ended up with swimmers ear from being in the water so has not been a hearing guy (catch my pun). I know it’s bad! We also had the big dinghy down and took a fast trip into Bozburun. We needed internet access to check weather, we have found that most restaurants have free wireless if you come in and have a Turkish tea or coffee. The town was very lazy and the central square had a statue of Mustafa Ataturk. Ataturk came to power in 1922, forced out all the foreigner invaders and went onto rebuild Turkey into a modern republic. He is held in very high regard by all Turkish citizens. And from we have found he has done an impressive job, most towns and cities in Turkey have a statue of Ataturk.
All good things come to an end and we left the anchorage on Monday, June 14th heading along the Carian Coast toward Bodrum. We found a small marina at Palamut to moor at and because we were so big we took 2 spots at the wall so the dock manager charged us double. Oh well, such is life as a big boat. This moorage was one where you dropped your anchor in the middle of the marina and backed towards the stone wall (a first for us). Your chain is played out until the stern is 2 metres from the wall then you tie off your stern lines. The boat settles between the anchor and stern lines. The trick to good anchor mooring is to drop your anchor far enough out which is tough to do in a small marina. But we got hooked and settled. The wind was blowing from the NW and all was good then the wind changed directions and we ended up overpowering the sailboat next to us. We looked pretty intimidating to them as New Paige shifted with the wind. We tied another stern line and tightened our anchor to keep the peace but Roger ended up sleeping on the flybridge just to be on the safe side. We were up and gone pretty early and of course to add insult to injury we hooked their anchor chain when we were bringing ours up. This was not one of our better nights, it was also well into the 30’s for temperature so we were wilting quickly.
We arrived at Milta Marina in Bodrum about noon and it was hotter here. The marina was very nice with all of the amenities and for a price you can use all of them. Boats pay for moorage, power, water and a deposit on a power converter. For the next 4 or 5 days the temperatures hovered in the low 40’s so the air conditioning ran 24/7. In that kind of heat it is hard to do anything accept go to the pool which we did. John and Gaye left us in Bodrum and flew back to Seattle. We were sorry to see them leave as we were having a great time. On Tuesdays and Fridays there is a bazaar in town that if you come to Bodrum you must go too. Friday is the food market and you can get all of your fresh fruit and vegetables there. We wandered the stalls and bought far too much. Tuesday is the merchandise bazaar where you can get all kinds of clothes, tablecloths, material for sewing, shoes, sandals etc. Paige and I went and quickly learned the fine art of haggling over the price. Even she got good at it in the end. There is a castle here build in 15th century by the Knights Hospitaller or Knights of St John which now houses the Museum of Underwater Archaeology. The castle itself is pretty impressive but adds the museum and one could spend hours wondering around imagining how they lived back then. We toured the dungeons and battlements, and the different towers (there are 6). The castle guarded Bodrum until the end of WWI. We wondered until the heat got to us and headed for a cafe for a cold drink. For the next several days we hung out and tried to adjust to the heat, both Paige and I are having a tough time. There was an abnormal occurrence the other day, there was a thunderstorm and it rained hard. According to our neighbour on the starboard side rain is not very common at this time of year. Turan, captain of a 64’ Fairlane yacht has been very helpful answering our questions and helping us find stuff that we need. We had him and his crew member Balil over for a beer on our last night in Bodrum. Their friendliness has made our time in Turkey very enjoyable so far. We decided it was time to ease the pocketbook so we left Bodrum on Friday, June 25th.
Until next time…
Joan
I am having issues posting pictures so when I get it resolved you are in for an eyeful!!
I had a look at the gallery, fixed the thumbnails and added the link- hope that’s OK with you!
Dave (admin)
Posted: June 28th, 2010 under Joan's View.
Comments: 1
The Island of Symi, Greece!!!
What a fantastic place! We were anchored in Pedi Bay on Symi Island in the country of Greece for 7 days (June 2nd-8th). We arrived about 5 PM after a lumpy night coming from Crete and everyone on board had a great calm sleep after anchoring. Our first day there we took the local bus into the town of Symi to check out the sights. Had a nice walk around and ate lunch at the Taverna Trawler. It seemed appropriate as the nickname for New Paige, Maestra & Dreamweaver on the ’05 HAHA was Trawler Trash. (Sorry inside joke) The town was very touristy with lots of souvenir shops and restaurants galore. There are regular ferries that come from Rhodes for the day so plenty of day tourists.
It was time to get the toys down so Roger and I put the kayaks in the water and we had a great time paddling around the bay. We found a great beach to go to which we did the next day, only we took the water taxi instead of paddling. The water seemed cold for Roger and Paige but the dog loved it. Bella seems to like getting in the water but freezes when she gets out.
We have seen a lot of boats come into the anchorage, check it out and some leave, some put down their anchor and stay. It has been interesting to note the different countries coming through; there have been lots of French, some German, Italian, Austrian, and Luxembourg flagged vessels. Some even get up close and personal and anchor too close to us so we get the see the whites of their eyes. As the wind shifts New Paige becomes a very large vessel swinging towards them, they generally pull anchor and leave. Check out the two pictures, one of John standing in the cockpit watching a boat get closer and closer and the next picture is New Paige at anchor and we look rather imposing!
One day we rented “motos” (aka scooters) and took a tour of the countryside. We had a blast driving the narrow twisty roads. Yours truly did try to take out a Mercedes taxi but thought better of it as it was larger than my bike and me. It took a while for me to get the handle of the bike; once accomplished there was no stopping me. One of our stops was to Panormitis where there is a monastery; a very imposing structure dating back to the 15th century. We had lunch there and then toured the monastery but were not allowed to take photos inside. Although none of us got a picture of the dog, she came with us and rode in a backpack with Paige who rode behind Roger. She seemed to enjoy the ride. We returned the bikes unscathed!
For the next couple of days the winds picked up and things got gusty in the anchorage, with a 300 lb. anchor and 1/2” chain we weren’t going anywhere. That is when you get boat chores done.
On Tuesday, June 8th Roger and John went into Symi and checked us out of Greece, meanwhile the rest of us got the boat ready for sea. We left Pedi Bay at noon heading for Marmaris, Turkey.
Until next time…
Joan
Posted: June 20th, 2010 under Joan's View.
Comments: 1
Pictures
I reposted the remaining pictures from Crete.
j
Posted: June 5th, 2010 under Joan's View.
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Crete
To begin here are a few pictures from the crossing to Crete. We must always show you our changing of the flag as we motor from one country to the next; here we are hoisting our Greek courtesy flag. We came across another refrigerator, bizarre! And a sunset picture is always a must when at sea. I could not resist taking this picture of our Canadian flag, this pic is for you mom. The picture of our chart plotter is an example I talked about in the last blog, very busy with ship traffic. The weather was so good that we were able to run off of the fly bridge which is always nice. Roger is making a loop by splicing line together to use while mooring NP. Even the dog found a nice little home by crawling under the settee cover to keep out of the wind and doesn’t John look comfy propped up in the corner of the pilothouse. We all settle into our routines and the days pass quickly.
We spent 5 days in Chania, Crete and really quite enjoyed it. The marina was right down where are all the action was so we had lots of people stop and chat or just stop for a look. We met a number of people from Calgary and Edmonton (& other parts of Canada) and of course they are all curious as to how we got our boat from Edmonton to here; thank you for stopping to saying hello. There was one drawback to being in the thick of things; we were moored next door to the disco which plays music until 5 AM. John’s wife Gaye arrived and she is having a hard time adjusting to the time change when music blares half the night. Chania is a very touristy town so there were lots of things to do. Paige, Gaye & I took a horse and buggy ride and had caught a glimpse of the other side of Chania. Chania is a very old city and has had many different rulers; many of the remains are still standing and in good shape. The light house at the entrance of the harbour dates back to Venetian times (13th century). Around the harbour, restaurants are in ample supply. We got waylaid one night by a smooth talking Greek to come into his restaurant, Paige would eat for free; he would throw in a bottle of wine and guarantee great food. The food was good but the prices were pretty high, we learned our lesson and got off the tourist track. For the most part the food has been outstanding and we tried a number of restaurants around town. Our last night in Chania we went to “The Well of the Turk” and we cannot say enough about the food, simply outstanding. We found the Cretans to be friendly people and most had a little English so we managed ok. Learning Greek on the other hand is an ongoing process.
One thing that worries me is all the plastic that we are seeing as we cruise, bags and bottles are plentiful in the sea. It would be a shame to ruin such wonderful waters.
Until next time…
Joan
I am not sure if all the pictures will post and if they do not I will try it again.
Posted: June 5th, 2010 under Joan's View.
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