The Marble sea: well it sure is not as flat as a piece of marble. We entered it via the Dardanelles and the wind and current were against us most of the way.
Sea of Marmara
We entered from the Asean side of the Dardanelles and started to sail again after motoring for two long days.
It was great. The sea was choppy but the wind direction did not make the sailing easy.
We deceided to skip the island of Avsa Adasi due to the lack of good places to stay and headed for Pasalimani Adasi.
The pilot notes that the western entrace should be negociated with care and someone on the bow because Rod Heikell put his boat on top a charted reef!
Entering the area we could see the shallows and the south cardinal mark but no dangers. The port mark was obvious but a lone black mark seemed in the wrong place until
I relised the cone on the top was a starboard mark so we soon changed course and entered a wide shallow bay lined with a few houses set in to hamlets Parsalimani and Harmanlis.
The former has a very stunted spire to the mosque. We anchoed in 9m to the west of the hamlet which turned out not to be such a great idea because
the swell enteres the bay, hits you on the beam. Not an uncoumfortable night but enough to make one move opposite the mosque the next day. We went ashore and found the bakery but no baker.
A young girl let us in and we purchased two great loaves. Hope they were not designated for one of the local families.
Marmara Adasi
We left Pasalimini the next day and shot down wind towards Port Marmara which has a narrow entrance and very little room. We anchored out next to a German boat who had returned from sailing round the world via Oz and SA. The town has a great feel about it. The harbour undertakes repairs to local vessels by dragging them up the hard on two sledges. We saw no mavna vessels just ferries, fishing boats and the odd local yacht. The Thursday market is good although small.
Saraylar
The marble quarries dominate the mountainside above the town and the bay has many empty freighters waiting to be loaded with large blocks of marble. We anchored in a bay NE of the town. It is sheltered but the swell rolls round the point and we had to put out a sterm anchor to settle the boat. The town is creating a swimming beach in the bay with a roped off area, a diving platfoem, shows and fresh water all fringed by a marble faced wall.
Images of the Sea of Marmara
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After a hard days slog into the wind we stopped at Gokceada at about 1500 wherepon the wind dropped. We should have kept going and found an anchorage on the Turkish coast but we did not. We left the next day at 5:00 before it was light and motored into a light breeze towards the entrance to the Dardanelles. Give the SE Kumkale point a very wide berth because it is very shallow with a strong current flowing onto it.
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles is like a large deep river flowing from the Black and Marmara seas into the Mediterranean Sea. It has the classic shape of a meandering stream with the deep sides at the inside of the bends and the shallows at the outside of the bends. It can get very shallow in these wide bends so look out. The stream flows down the middle but there are many counter currents in the bays. Stay just outside the current line which you can see by the sea grass and rubbish. The recommended route north is to take the starboad or Asian side however if the wind is strong the local yachties seek the shelter of the European side which requires more vigilance, the pace is slower but the chop is less. We entered the Dardenelles with a local yacht who took the port side. We were ahead of him most of the way but as the wind rose and the chop increased we were under full power but only making 2 knots SOG and he arrived at Canakkale just ahead of us. We did not follow his advice the next day and struggled into the wind and waves on the starboard side. The wind was in excess of 20 knots most of the time.
Well we made the first days run into Canakkale Marina and put the bow to the wall. The 20mm mooring line was straining under the wind but we stayed away from the wall. We took a quick walk around the town which is dominated by the military with off duty conscrips aimlessly stroling around the town. It reminded me of my weekends in Walvis Bay in the 60's. We visited ANZAC House, a marketing location for Hassle Free Tours. We signed up for their half day tour of the Gallipoli peninsula. E60/p
Gallipoli Peninsula Tour
The tour is well organised with a very well spoken (english) and educated turkish guide. We took their ferry across the Dardanelles to a small hotel for lunch and then joined their bus from Istanbul on the tour of the northern battle fields. I met an ex ACTEW employee from Canberra at the hotel.
What can one say about the Gallipoli campaign, the organisation, the decisions, the people and the thousands who died there - one is left speachless. Having heard from people who have walked on the soil, through the trenches and up the hills and gullies I was surprised at how rugged the ravines and terrain actually is. I can understand how the two forces were able to be so close yet move men and supplies right up to the front line. For the British navy to think that they could blast their way up the waterways of the Daedanelles can only indicate that the First Lord of the Admiralty must have had whisky not salt water in his veins. Complete madness. It was a great tour and worth the time and money.
The day was a moving experience, thankfull that I am now too old to carry a weapon ever again.
The next day we set off at dawn before the wind rose and made a few miles before the full 20knots came right into our face. We were able at times to raise the staysail and get 20 degrees off the wind which did help but most of the time it was into the wind and chop. On the bends the stream gets quite strong and north of Lapseki the shipping lane is quite close to the shore. We had to take evasive action to get out of the way of a Turkish ship who wanted to cut the corner at full speed. On the first day we saw 31 ships and on the second more than 53 - all at close quarters, not dangerious if everything goes well. I was pleased to get into the relatively open waters of the Sea of Marmara.
Images of the Gallipoli Peninsula
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We left Candarli with it's well restored Genoese Castle and save anchorage and sailed north into a northerly wind. By early morning it had got up to more than 20 knots with a short chop but the sailing was good. We tacked back and forth for most of the morning.
On the port beam was Lesvos while on the starboard was Turkey. As with a number of these large bays the wind can change direction and you can get a good lift but on the other hand in the corner of the bay the wind drops away altogether
and you are left with no wind with white horses not two chains away. In the end we switched on the engine and motored the last few miles through the islands and into the channel which is clearly marked with two south cardinals and three sets of channel marks.
It is reassuring when my waypoints which I set between the channel marks arrive on time and in the right place.
When in Ayvalik Limani known as "The lake" we turned south past the Marina towards Carnlik Koyu for a safe anchorage in a bay much larger than it appears in the pilot.
Ayvalik
The Carnlik Koyu bay is close by a major road which get quite busy in the early evening as the workers go home but the head of the bay
is next to the southern suburb of the town and is served by a municipal bus which turn off the main road into the back streets and return to the centre of the town. It is one YTL, pay as you enter into a large steel box which took two strong men to off load when we stopped en route to Ayvalik. In other parts of the world there would have been a highjacking but not in Turkey.
The town has some old greek style buildings and a distinct Greek feel because that community only left in 1923 when they were exchanged with the turks on Lesvos.
The Thursday market is the high point of the week when the out of towners come to set up stalls and purchase the goods from the stalls on either side of the narrow back streets.
It amazes me that people can buy all the goods - generally cheap and nasty. The tomatoes ranged in price from 1 YTL to 12.50 YTL a kg. What the difference is we could not establish. I purchased a range of tasty black olives which are quite unlike the greek Calamata olives having been processed in salt rather than brine.
While at anchor a Swiss vessel Octopus 1 anchored in the same bay so on returning from the market we stopped by to say Hello to Gerry & Brigitte. A delightful couple who accompanied us on Sunday up the adjacent hill Kucuk Koy to take in the view. We could see the full extent of the archipelago and the many anchorages. On the Monday we motored into the Setur Ayvalik Marina along side Bonito - Sandra & Merv. That evening we boarded the ferry for Lesvos on a visa run to update our 90 day Turkish visa. 100YTL per person return plus the E15 for the turkish visa - well it had to be done and this was the easiest route.
Lesvos
The ferry left at 1800 in the evening and passed out through the channel across the wide bay we had struggled up and into the Greek town of Mitilini. We arrived just after 2000 and raced to the the nearest supermarket to buy up big on wine and breakfast cereal.
The wine is always a hit and miss affair because you cant taste it and have to go on the Greek description on the label. We were able to fit 12 one and a half litre bottles in my bag with wheels which I could only drag but not lift. What is the legal Turkish limit on the duty free?
Immediatly we arrived at Mitilini we realised we were not in a Muslim country. The street were alive at 10 in the evening with families and people eating and drinking in the sidewalk cafe and restaurants. We stopped in at a little place to have some stewed beef and lamb with a half litre of red. Great meal.
Gerry and Brigitte had offered us their quater berth for the night having cleared out of Turkey on their way to the Greek Islands. They were tied up along side of the town wharf. It was great to rest our heads in a bunk rather than a park bench which was our other option. At six the following morning we sliped out and walked to the ferry dock to board the 8:30 ferry back to Ayvalik Turkey. Well who said a Greek ferry left on time if there was a large tour group to join you and they had not yet arrived. At about 10:30 after a good shoving scrum we passed through the immigration and was on the ferry to Turkey. On arrival the locals walk through the greek day trippers entrance and put their ID cards in a box and receive a ticket while the others have to wait for the visa offical to be summonsed. After the usual boarder delay we paid our money, reeceived our visa stamp and now we have another 90 days in Turkey - great.
I finish reinstalling Linus on my eeePC with a new distro having again lost the content by fiddeling without adequate knowledge. Hopefully this will be more stable and I learnt a lesson. Thank goodness for the backup.
We fill the tanks with water and headed out to anchor opposite the old town of Alibey. Late in the afternoon I saw in the distance a Halberg Rassie and a stars and stripes ensign. Could it be Meg my neighbours from Marmaris. With no answer on the VHF I jumped into the RIB and race after the dissapearing vessel. A supprised Susan greeted me from Meg
Susan and Bob had sailed more than 40 miles that day on their way north before entering Greece to sail west to the Greek Islands. We agreed to anchor in a nearby bay Kumru Koyu to catch up on the news. They arrived first and I came up along side and dropped the anchor they had given me. It took first time with a perfect set. We had them over for a roast chicken and potatoe dinner. A great evening. I hope we cross wakes again soon.
The following morning we set off north to Sivrice for an overnight stop on out way north. Look out for the reef off the beach - it comes up very quickly. Holding is good in the area but a very narrow area shallow enough to drop the anchor.
The following day we were off at dawn to round Baba Burnu where the wind rose to more than 25 knots all on the nose. A nasty chop so we set the furled genoa and tacked towards the Isalnd of Bozcaaada. We saw 14 ships in our vicinity all converging on the Dardanelles.
It is a nice harbour with helpfull people but not worth the 40YTL. The restored castle is worth a visit as is the local winery where you can purchase some over-priced wine which we did.
We left at dawn for the long slog up the Dardanelles.
Images of Ayvalik and Lesvos
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