07/22/2010, Symi Island, Southern Greece
The passage from Turkey to the first Greek island of Symi, took all of 2 hours, a mere 10 miles. Despite their close proximity to one another, they are very different from each other, a fact both peoples like to stress. In fact, Turkey may as well be on the other side of the world for some. When we told the lady at the shop here at Pedi beach that we came from Turkey, she told us, while shaking her head that "Turkey is very hot". We nodded in agreement as we wiped the falling sweat from our brows and gazed out over the water at visible Turkey. Her husband declared nonchalantly that he only goes to Symi town twice a year, and that's even too much. Symi town is only a short distance over the hills.
Joining his sentiment, we too decided that Symi town was too crowded for us, and we anchored in the quieter Pedi Beach instead. Since its too hot to ride our bikes, we take the airconditioned bus to town.
The precipitous landscape around us is rocky and barren, terraced hills now take the place of where pine trees once lay. The steep hillsides converge to a more fertile valley, towards the town, and on either side lie the pretty colored adobe houses that lie like building blocks upon each other. Behind the main street hub, narrow winding alleys flow into more of the same; clean and peaceful, echoing the ancientness of Greece with its old churches and stoned monuments and the hum from the old folk chatting, as they watch the world go by. In the town, many delectable taverns beckon; the enticing aroma of fried Calamari and fresh Greek salad are hard to resist.
Just before sunset is the best time to be outdoors as everyone seems to emerge, to eat, to drink, or to sit and watch the disappearing sun.
Kara had fun with a German boy Lewis, who was anchored next to us; when they were not jumping from the boat, they had fun playing at the little beach. And our friends from Kleiner Bar have also arrived. A contented place, indeed.
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07/20/2010, Bozburun, Turkey
Once the anchor tucked into a small little bay around the corner from the small sleepy village of Bozburun, we too decided to settle in for a few days.
The heat was heavy, and the water just heavenly. After taking a stroll around the village we came across a small restaurant a little distance away from the other busy eateries.
No one stands outside to beg you to come in, and this subtlety continues from the moment you eat the deliciously fresh food prepared by the lovely couple who own it. In all our travels we have had one unique eating experience that stays with you; that was at an authentic family run Italian restaurant in Wellington New Zealand. At this restaurant in Bozburun named "Adastra", we had our 2nd. It was my birthday and we had planned to leave already for Greece, but now we had a reason to stay for a special night. And so it was; we tucked into the tastiest Turkish "mezze" plates, accompanied with a Turkish wine made by a family who have been making wine for 300 years, hence, it was good, our chairs were inches from the water, romantic music, great company, perfectly kind hosts- it created a memorable birthday dinner.
And I just realized I spent an entire blog talking about food! Makes me want to watch "Babetts Feast" again!
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07/16/2010, Turkey; near Bodrum
Meltdown or as they call it here, “Meltem” the name applied to the strong winds that blow through here in July and August. They cannot be forecasted and can last anywhere from one day to 2 weeks. And we had our first experience with it on our first day out.
After being landlubbers for quiet some time hanging around Germany and Ireland we made it back to Mamaris, Turkey, to get going on Magnum once again. We dragged our feet and bicycles through the hot temperatures, to actually finish the chores and leave the marina. Tomorrow turned into tomorrow and again into tomorrow. The marina had no diesel for us so we decided to leave with what we had in the tanks. With Tank # 1 on, the engine stalled. Same with # 2, but tank # 3 got us out of the marina and the bay and the sails did the rest. A glorious day to be out again on the water particularly since the 34 degree heat is so intense on land. The next anchorage was just a stone throw away. With only the jib up, we sailed at 5 kn. The wind; hot and dry, slowly turned against us and when we dropped the anchor for the first time it gusted to 28 kn. With the anchor down we moved slowly away from our spot and 2nd time around no better luck was had. The hook just was not able to penetrate the grass and dig into the sand. Our friends from SV DreamKeeper noticed the same dragging after they were settled down already, pulled up and left the scene. A big dayboat did the same followed by a German sailboat. Only us and another Australian boat with 2 girls an board remained. Kara had met them before and definitely needed to stay. After 2 more attempts we anchored in the middle of the small bay with a stern anchor employed. The gusts still blew pretty strong. I went down to check the chain and of course it was tangled around a rock. So, we had to re-anchor again and reset the stern hook. In the cockpit of the Australian boat where we went for sundowners we could hardly hear our voices due to the howling wind. Next morning I had the kids in the dinghy who where thrilled to observe a blue Marlin near the beach for quite a while. A while later they watched from our boat 2 fisherman with a speargun hoping to kill “skipper” as he became known. They searched and hunted but to the relief of the girls they gave up. We prepared for departure I discovered the stern line and chain twisted together. What the ..happened during the night we wonder? Now we know better and the coming afternoon we leisurely imitated other boats as we watched them anchor. The wind was not too bad and all went well with 2 long sternlines tied to the shore rocks. This med mooring takes a bit of practice when its blowing. And so at the end of the hot day, typical fun things followed: swimming in clear water, exploring with the dinghy, dinner and wine in the cockpit. As soon as darkness surrounded us the wind piped up a bit and Anne observed the closeness to our 90' charter boat on our starboard side as well as to the rocks. What to do? With the help of the captain and his mate from next door we made it into the bay. The anchor was encapsulated in a ball of clay. We circled around in the darkness in deep water. When the depthsounder showed 20 metres we dropped the hook and drifted back to 32 meters until Magnum stopped. I spent the night in the cockpit do an anchor watch. And now a new day started and all is well and ready for the next test of skills. But may I add, just how truly beautiful this cruising ground is, with tons of little bays with clear refreshing water to cool us down.
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