HAPPY NEW YEAR
The Allard family hopes that all of our family and friends have a wonderful New Year and all the best for 2011. Come visit us on Salt Spring!
Posted: December 31st, 2010 under Joan's View.
Comments: 5
Back To The Heat
The crew of New Paige returned to Turkey after spending almost 5 weeks in Canada and boy IS IT HOT HERE! We flew into Istanbul and met up with friends Frank, Joni and Kiara from California. We stayed in the Sultanahmet district of old Istanbul at the Ferman Hotel; very centrally located. We were there for 3 days and took in as much as we could. We jumped on the tram to the Grand Bazaar where we shopped and shopped and shopped. We found the biggest button store on the planet and great bargains on souvenirs. We toured the Blue Mosque and were awe struck by the architecture and beauty of it. It is still custom to have your head, shoulders and legs covered while touring the mosque so we just had to go head scarf shopping to look our best while touring. Joni also had to cover her legs as they deemed her dress too short to enter. We also toured the Topkapi Palace which was home to the Ottoman sultans for centuries. It also houses the Spoonmaker diamond weighing in at 86 carats, magnificent! We found the spice bazaar and were overcome by the smells; some good, some not so good. And of course everywhere we went shopping the discussion of price was greatly contested until we arrived at an agreeable amount always much less than the asking price.
On Monday, August 2nd the six of us flew down to New Paige which is still at Yacht Marina in Marmaris. The weather got hotter and Joni got happier as she loves the heat. The rest of us are wilting! The air conditioning has been running 24/7 since we got here. There is a bus from the marina into Marmaris so we jumped on board on Tuesday to see what the city had to offer. The offer was a shave for Frank who got the royal treatment which included a massage. Joni, Kiara and I had our eyebrows threaded, which was something new for me and will not be repeating. The idea is that you take a piece of thread twist it up and roll it across and around your brow; it brought tears to my eyes that is how painful I found it. The others had no issues. Paige and Kiara had henna tattoos done on their backs. The adults found shade where beer was being served. We actually slowed down a little here and took the day off from being a tourist. It was very nice just to sit around and talk in the air conditioning of NP. The girls hung out at the pool trying to keep and look cool. On Thursdays the local market happens and it is something everyone needs to experience when in Marmaris. The ground floor is produce and the upper floor is clothing. Roger and Frank shopped for food and we went jean shopping for the girls. Keep in mind the outside temperature is 35 C+ and in the market building without air conditioning and hundreds of tourists wanting a good deal make it 40 C+. Just trying on clothes is an ordeal. Both girls found jeans with a designer label on it for a reasonably negotiated price. We met Roger and Frank at the restaurant across the street from the market and our waiter was the friendliest guy we have met in Turkey as you can see by the photos. Sadly the Hagar’s left us and continued on with their vacation in Europe. Thanks for a great time guys. Turkey has turned out to be a fantastic country to visit and we have enjoyed every moment here.
Roger, Paige and I spend the next week getting New Paige ready to be hauled out of the water. We were also packing to head home. Yes, we have parked the boat and are becoming land lubbers back in Canada. We spent 4 years sailing the seas and we felt it was time to go home. For now, New Paige will stay in Turkey and with some luck someone will come along and buy her. Give us a call we will negotiate a good price!!!!
Posted: September 9th, 2010 under Joan's View.
Comments: none
This group of pictures were taken at the castle in Bodrum, Turkey.
Posted: July 5th, 2010 under Joan's View.
Comments: none
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