For those who don't know yet we arrived at Lathi 1420pm yesterday, just got access to wifi so thought we would update all our followers.

Our 27.50hr trip from Finike TURKEY was a little hair raising at times apart from that 3hours it wasn't a bad crossing but after the the blow it left a big swell and it took a few hours to settle then we motored the rest of the way. The skies where clear and there was thousands out it was beautiful to see, Neville seen two meteorites on his shift I seen bugger all!!!

I am just finishing the last days of our trip, there is still some good bits to read even though we have finished so watch this space.

Thanks for all your support and hopefully we will get to see you all in person in the near future.

Janey & Neville

Day 51 Nisos Simi - Fethyie TURKEY

This has been the day we have been waiting for since last year. My sister lives in Fethyie so it was going to be exciting actually getting the boat here and my sister coming down to the marina to see us.

It was going to be a long day 70kn miles so we had an early departure 0605am to do a 14hr day. There was not a lot of wind for the first couple of hours but it was forecast a Westerly which would help us across to Fethyie. At 0900am the wind arrived, we ended up sailing with very little engine for 6hrs it certainly was our best sail this trip so we where pleased as it made the journey more comfortable as Artemis sails better under her own steam. The wind was coming from behind so there was the occasional roll when the larger waves came along. The speed was always above 6knts and we had to keep pulling back the engine until it was just ticking over.

It was a very pleasant trip and we arrived in Fethyie at 1830pm, 12 1/2hrs so it was a good average speed. Fethyie bay is very large it looks very nice, lots of mountains in the background. There is also lots of anchorages around the bay but we where going to stay in the ECE Marina as we had to do all the paper work for checking into Turkey. As soon as we had tied up, I texted my sister and she came down to the marina. It was lovely to see her and Derek, but the both of still couldn't believe we where here. I had prepared a Lasagne on the crossing so we had a ready prepared dinner. So my sister Sandra and Derek came aboard Artemis and had dinner with a few glasses of wine to celebrate our arrival and talk about some of our experiences.

Fethyie marina looks very nice we had previously looked around the marina when we visited my sister. We both thought it was posh, good facilities this is going to be expensive. At the marina there is a Carrefour super market, showers, free wifi, free water & electricity. There was a fuel pontoon a lot of marina's didn't have fuel pontoons. A discharge area for holding tanks and ATM points to get money. It really had everything you would need so we thought it might be around 40euros price but it ended up £25stg per night. We had planned to stay a couple of days so we where glad the marina wasn't expensive.

Berthing 63.00lira (£25) Free showers,electric,water & wifi.

Day 52, 53 Non Sailing days - mini holiday with sister

After our early start and long day it was great to have a lie in. Woke up around 8'ish we both went for a shower before breakfast because we haven't had unlimited hot running water for a long time and they where the showers with the square shower heads where you feel you are under a waterfall there is so much water. It was a long lovely hot shower, the little things that please you when you are sailing.

After breakfast we went up to the marina office and enquired about the "Transit Log" etc. In Turkey today it was a bank holiday so a lot of the agencies we shut but the girl called someone up and said they would come down to the boat. Before we got back to the boat there was a guy waiting there and he took our boat papers and passports and said he would be back in 2hrs. He came back within the 2hrs with everything and said because it was a bank holiday the police where not bothered to come and ID our faces to passports. We where pleased but thought the price was a little steep but it was done and we did nothing only wait. We found out in Finike the prices where high so we paid about an extra £30 over the top. The agent there was shocked and explained to the Passport Police and they said they would contact and complain about the prices. The only thing about Turkey which is sad, they seem to like rip off the tourists so it is wise to be careful especially in Fethyie.

Now time to have a little mini break with my sister. We stayed overnight at my sisters apartment and had a lovely couple of days. It was very hot temps 33degrees it seems like summer has arrived at last.




Day 54 - Fethyie - Kas

The skipper has changed the plan for our crossing to Cyprus, we where originally going to Alanya to cross to Latchi but now the weather seems to be settled we are travelling to Kas today which is about 50kn miles then the next day Finike and then across to Cyprus doing an over night sail about 140kn miles.

Our trip from Fethyie to Kas, we departed at 0640am as it was going to be on average a 10hr day. There was no wind around and it was already quite warm this early in the morning so it was going to be a hot day. At 1200pm still no wind but there seems to be a current flowing with us so our speed was around 5.3 most of the way which was good.

On the approach to Kas there seemed to be lots of yachts arriving we counted 8 so we thought we might not get in as it is only a small harbour. We had visited Kas before whilst on holiday, back then the harbour was full of tripper boats so we thought it might be still full of tripper boats.

We arrived at 1705pm, there were guys there to show you to a space and there were still spaces. This was good as there is so many tripper boats you are never to sure where to go, but they where organised and they kept all the visitors in one section. The two guys where quite funny and very friendly. Then along came Mr Smiley who introduced himself to Neville and asked his name and what my name was. Then we found out why, as you left the harbour his restaurant was the first one and as we walked past he came out saying hello Neville and Janey a clever man. The charm came on good food, local prices etc etc the Turkish just don't stop, he even tried to knudge Neville by the shoulder towards the restaurant.

We walked around the town, it looks a nice place. There was lots of people around and then we heard a band. There was a band marching and behind lots of young children dressed in traditional costumes but as well the children where paired off boy and girl. They looked so cute they must of only been around six or seven years old. Some children where dressed as clowns very colourful.

We sat in the cockpit as it is cooler out there. We had just had dinner a cat came walking past. As we had just had some tuna I went and got the tin to let the cat lick it I was just about to set it on the harbour wall and the cat leapt from the wall and landed on the boat. I gave it the tin and it loved it. It hung around and we give it cuddles first over to Neville then it would come back to me it was lovely it must of stayed on board Artemis for about 20mins.

Berthing 40.00lira (£16) Charge for showers,electric,water.


Day 55 – Kas – Finike

We departed Kas at 0700am it was going to be a shortish day but we wanted to get there early as we needed to get fuel and find out where the port authorities where as we need to check out of Turkey as we are heading to Cyprus the next morning. We had a surprise before leaving Kas a plastic bag was thrown in the cockpit and inside it was one loaf and six rolls fresh from the bakery, they where still hot. In the bag there was a card, it was a gift from Mr Smiley’s restaurant. That was very nice surprise as we hadn’t bought any the day before so it came in handy and it is lovely bread, very light and very cheap equivalent to 25p.

We picked up the anchor, no problems and headed for Finike. Virtually no wind around a little from the East, so it was another windless day. We arrived at Finike at 1335pm and about 20mins before that the wind picked up we think it may have been the Meltemi as it was quite strong and only lasted a couple of hours.

Finike is quite a large marina and they had tailed mooring lines hooray I am getting muscles in my arms with all this dropping and pulling anchors. We started to head to the fuel pontoon but two guys in a dingy came across and shouted it was closed “No fuel”. They showed us to a space and one of the guys got on board and did the mooring line, that’s the second time but last time seems a very long time ago in Northern Italy.

We had a wonder around looking for port authorities as we need to sign out of Turkey and they where all within the marina and all together in one row of offices which is very good for us. We went to the marina to check in and ask about fuel, the girl phoned the fuel company and they had run out of fuel but the truck was arriving in 20mins. So our trip to Cyprus is still on for tomorrow, we did panic a little as we needed to fill up.

Finike doesn’t look touristy it is residential around the marina. Finike serves the agricultural region around it growing early tomatoes, peppers and aubergines to export and grows fruit. There are lots of symbols of oranges around the area so Oranges must be one fruit they grow. At a roundabout there was a large hand holding an orange. The facilities are good around the marina, supermarket, chandlery, restaurants & bars. The only downfall is they seem to have a problem with there drains and in the shower/toilet area it was a little smelly. In this marina there is a lot of liveaboards.

Next morning our first chore was to check out of Turkey. The office’s opened at 0830am so we arrived at that time, all the other authorities where there but the passport police didn’t arrive until 0930am. We he did arrive he didn’t speak any English which is strange but he went and got the Agent who’s office was opposite. Whilst the Agent went and did some bits the policeman made us a cup of “Chi”, I hadn’t had my cuppa yet so it was nice then he offered us another one so I had a second. He also put some lavender water in the palms of our hands. What you are supposed to do is rub it in your hands and then rub on your face, it was quite cooling.

Eventually about another half an hour we where sorted and another 50lira for Port Taxes. I had a chat with the Agent as we will be coming back to Turkey about the charges as I had overheard the guy on the boat next door talking about what he paid and it was a lot less than what we had paid. When I told him what we paid he said that was too much, he explained to the policeman and they said they would call and complain on our behalf and apologised for us being ripped off. Whether they do or not we ended up paying an extra £30. So the morale of the story is you need to shop around and watch out for the charges for entering Turkey and avoid doing it at Fethyie. They charged us over the top and it shouldn’t have been. That is the one sad thing about Turkey they seem to try and rip tourists off especially in tourist areas so be aware at what you are being charged. We will next time.

Berthing 71.87lira (£28.75) Showers,electric,water & wifi

Day 56/57 Finike – Latchi CYPRUS

We departed from Finike for our overnight sail to Latchi in Cyprus at 1045am. The skipper had checked the weather and it was to be light winds and in a direction that would assist our long trip. It was another hot sunny day.

We had some good wind, we had the main and genoa out but still had the engine a little but we still averaged 5.5knts for the next four hours. Then the wind disappeared and we took the main sail down and just left the genoa up for some help. Although the wind we had was not strong there seemed to be a bit of a swell around just enough to annoy us.

1800pm and the wind came back with a vengeance, there seemed to be a few black clouds around unfortunate for us it passed over us. We where a little anxious as we had a lot of time and miles still to go, so all we could do was cope with it as best you can and hope it doesn’t last to long or all night! The wind was from SW then moved to the West which was behind us, so in the end we had to go with the blow and sail a little off course just to be able to sail safely. The waves and swell where building behind us. It stayed around for 3 hours and then it took another hour for the swell to die down, it was pretty shitty weather, but thankful it disappeared. In the middle of all this when it was my shift, I managed to make penne pasta with salami and tomatoes and some chilli flakes to warm us up. It was bloody hard work but we needed some food to keep us going but it paid off when we changed shift we had a bowl of food and a sleep all through the night.

After the storm passed the skies cleared and all the stars came out it was beautiful to see but in the back round you could hear and see thunder and lighting. I prayed that this would not come our way and thankfully it didn’t, one storm was enough in one night. So basically for the next 14 1/2hrs we motored. The genoa we got out for a few minutes then back in again anything to try and put the speed up. There seemed to be a current against us and kept our speed down to 4 or 4.5knts.

We arrived in Latchi at 1420pm we where both very excited at arriving in Cyprus. For some reason we didn’t seem to be tired having now been up 31 1/2hr I think it was the excitement so we decided to stay up and have an early night. We had had our bubbly in the fridge chilling, so after 5093kn miles we celebrated our success at reaching Cyprus.

We went to the port police and spent maybe an hour there, they where very friendly. We had to go back later as the Health and Customs offices are in Paphos so they had to drive to Latchi. When they arrived they give us a call and we went up and while we where waiting for the Customs guy they made us a Cyprus coffee and we sat on there balcony and drank it. Everything sorted we are officially checked into Cyprus so the yellow flag can come down.

We decided we would go out to dinner and celebrate again, it was a long two days but worth every minute of it. The dinner was very nice, we headed back to Artemis and crashed out at 10pm. We where both a little tidily with all our celebrations.

We have been to Latchi before on foot, it is a lovely quite town and marina. It is still under construction as there are no toilets or showers yet. There are restaurants all along the marina wall and a couple of super markers for supplies. The best thing about it there is not many tripper boats but the downside for us it is full up and there is no room for us so we have to move on to Paphos. They are extending and building another pontoon supposed to be in December but in Cyprus that could take a few years. Nothing gets down quickly here in Cyprus.

Berthing 9.15euros (£7.88) Free electric,water.No showers or wifi.

Hi Everyone

Posts have been few and far between over the last days.

It seems that after all these days and miles that things are happening really quickly and we have run out of time. We are currently in Finike in Turkey having spent some time with Janeys sister Sandra In Fetihey.

We have made really good time through Greece and western Turkey and having planned and replanned out last passages are on plan G which is to hop from here(finike) to Latchi on Cyprus thats around 150miles at sea prob around 27 hours.

We are really excited and so so keen to be home but have to remember that all the same rules apply re. weather and safety so as it stands this evening the weather looks good and we will depart Turkey in the morning and be in Cyprus around lunch time on friday.

Hoping we can get the blog updated with pics and info in our couple of days lay over in Latchi before going to Pafos

Thanks for watching