05/01/2013, Marmaris, Turkey
We had a wonderful time in Vancouver before we left to return to Turkey. However, we were so busy sorting out the house sadly we did not get to see everyone. If we missed seeing you we are very sorry. Our next visit to Vancouver we plan to be much more relaxed. We had long weekend in England to catch up with my family before we returned to Marmaris and (now our only home) Ta-b.
Ta-b has been on the hard (on land) for the winter and our first ten days have been spent getting her ready to go back in the water. Lots of items on the "to do list" which we are slowly getting through, although we have found there are never ending projects on a boat. The weather has been gorgeous apart from one day (my birthday) when the heavens opened, apparently there is always one last day like that in Marmaris before the summer sets in. Poor Russell got the "Man" flu on my birthday and spent three days in bed he was so sick, luckily he bounced back very quickly and was soon back to work. We would like to thank Jes Holman for all his help and advise, he is definitely worth getting in touch with as soon as one gets to Marmaris at jesholman@hotmail.com. He is English.
We will be in the water for four days before we check out of Turkey on Monday. We are off to Rhodes to pick up our new Parasail. We would recommend Nico at Mandraki Harbour for taking delivery of packages, moorage, car hire, checking into Greece, etc.. he speaks perfect English and can be reached at navigoyachtagency@hotmail.com. We are going to hire a car for a day and will stock up with booze, pork and other European goodies before we head off to Symi where we are meeting a group of friends.
Our plan is to go through the Greek islands together, then through the Corinth canal. First canal that Ta-b will have gone through, but not the last as to get to the Pacific we will also go through the Panama. We will explore the Ionian islands before heading north via Croatia to Venice. We are spending six weeks with about ten boats that we met last year and plan a wind up celebration in Venice on 14 June.
It is with heavy hearts that we leave Turkey, but we are very excited about our next adventure on board Ta-b. Seems strange to think that this time next year we will be back in the Caribbean.
Some reflections that I would like to share about Turkey.
- Firstly the people have some of the biggest hearts we have ever known, and some of their favorite phrases are "no problem" "let us sit and have tea together" and "how can I help you"?
- I have hardly ever heard a raised voice. They always seem happy, content and have big smiles on their faces
- The Turkish are also very hard workers. During summer they are known to work from 8am to 10pm without a day off. The restaurants deliver lunch/dinner to all the shops and if you stop while they are eating they often ask you to join them, even though it means they will have less.
- Turks do not understand danger. You will see families of four on a motorbike with never a helmet to be seen. Work helmets are not often worn, instead they are left on the ground. Also it is worth watching where you walk, as there are often dangerous obsticles in your path.
- The history of Turkey is fascinating, with ruins everywhere. We have to admit that at times we felt "ruined out", but not for long.
- Ataturk was elected the first President of the Turkish Republic in 1923 and is revered to this day. His portrait is an obligatory part of every house, shop and office and there are statues of him in every City. He made sweeping changes and brought Turkey into the 20th centurey. The Turkish flag is flown proudly everywhere, even on little fishing boats.
- Turkish carpets are addictive, but can cost six times what they are worth to the inexperienced. There are carpet shops everywhere, and one has not experienced Turkey without a visit to one or more. We were lucky (negotiated hard) and bought two beautiful carpets when we were in Selcuk at a very, very good price last year. They are stunning.
- Turkey produces most of the food that they eat at very reasonable prices. The markets are a delight with fresh seasonal vegtables and fruit, spices, cheeses and of course olives. The do not eat much meat, most are vegatarians, but chicken and eggs are plentiful as is fish.
- Tourism has recently become very important. The Russians, Swedes, Norwegians and British take over various resorts during the summer months, even though it can get extreemly hot in some areas in July and August. It is fun to watch the locals rub their hands together and smile knowingly at you when a Cruise ship arrives. Favorite phrases ring out from shops "cheaper than E Bay" "Genuine Fake" and "come into my shop"
- The Turks are also very generous and we have received some lovely gifts, one we cherish most was from a family we spent an evening with who presented us with a huge hand painted ceramic plate worth $$
- Women are greatly respected, especially if you are a mother and one of the young workers the other day said I must not work so hard. He later presented me with a magnum ice cream, so that I had to stop to eat it. Delightful.
So it is goodbye to Turkey, what a wonderful time we have had here. We have made so many great friends, have fantastic memories and will certainly be back. We have added all our recommendations for Marmaris on the Marmaris Cruisers blog, we hope they will help our fellow sailing friends and that they will enjoy wintering over in Marmaris as much as we have.
There are not many pictures to share this blog, will overdose I am sure in the next one, however I have added some of our gorgeous kids ☺
|
Comments [0]
03/26/2013, Sun Peaks
Not sure where the time has gone, but in the next few days we leave Sun Peaks having spent the ski season here. We arrived on the 13 December and the night we arrived the snow began to fall big time. The powder days, before popping back to Vancouver for Christmas with the kids, were amazing and have continued all through the season. Magic.
We decided this winter to get as fit as possible, with Russ encouraging me to join him in the Masters Race Training. I thought okay it will help my ski-ing, but little did I know how much fun it was going to be. Every Sunday we trained with Justin, our Coach, and George (his Dad who is a local instructor) how to race through gates. There was normally 4-10 other ex racers with us and the encouragement everyone gave me was tremendous - I have never raced before.
Fridays were race day, and the pressure was on as all the locals are old timers at this game. I must admit I was very proud of myself, especially as I came 2nd in the last two races, and overall 3rd in my league. Russell placed 3rd in his group of locals too, so we are very happy bunnies. We also got some great door prizes, the last one being a night at The Rosedale Hotel in Vancouver who sponsor the racing here!
Sun Peaks is a little (secret) gem and we have fallen in love with the place. It is about 4.5 hrs from Vancouver, so not too far for family and friends to come visit, and the community is wonderful. We have made a ton of new friends and the ski-ing is some of the best we have ever experienced. My brother, who is a very keen skier and has a ski apartment in France, was very impressed when he visited us. We had a ton of fun together with lots of special memories We have found that the slopes here are never crowded with lift line ups rare. The snow is light and fluffy and there are always lots of groomed run. The Sun Guides are wonderful to ski with and showed us all kinds of unknown terrain to ski/board on. We have skied most days, some harder than others, and I know in months to come we will reminisce about the amazing winter lifestye we have enjoyed here.
We decided in December that we would put our house in Vancouver on the market in February, to test out the market. The time was right and we were very happy that we held out for the asking price; which we eventually got - so we are now (well soon to be) real Nomads. Time to sell all of our "stuff" or give it to the kids, with the rest in storage for when we eventually settle down ....
Easter will be spent in Vancouver; with a garage sale on Sunday. We hope to spend lots of time with the kids (both who are on top form) and catch up with some friends before we leave to return to Ta-b our boat on the 11th April. We plan to move west across the Meditterean this summer so we can cross back to the Caribbean at the end of November. Rum punches, carnival and steel drums are calling us, plus snorkeling with my fishie friends.
We will however return to Sun Peaks, it has been such a great experience, and we look forward to reconnecting with the many friends we have made. Photos do not do it justice, but there are a few in the gallery that will give you glimpse of our time here.
|
03/26/2013, Sun Peaks
Not sure where the time has gone, but in the next few days we leave Sun Peaks having spent the ski season here. We arrived on the 13 December and the night we arrived the snow began to fall big time. The powder days, before popping back to Vancouver for Christmas with the kids, were amazing and have continued all through the season. Magic.
We decided this winter to get as fit as possible, with Russ encouraging me to join him in the Masters Race Training. I thought okay it will help my ski-ing, but little did I know how much fun it was going to be. Every Sunday we trained with Justin, our Coach, and George (his Dad who is a local instructor) how to race through gates. There was normally 4-10 other ex racers with us and the encouragement everyone gave me was tremendous - I have never raced before.
Fridays were race day, and the pressure was on as all the locals are old timers at this game. I must admit I was very proud of myself, especially as I came 2nd in the last two races, and overall 3rd in my league. Russell placed 3rd in his group of locals too, so we are very happy bunnies. We also got some great door prizes, the last one being a night at The Rosedale Hotel in Vancouver who sponsor the racing here!
Sun Peaks is a little (secret) gem and we have fallen in love with the place. It is about 4.5 hrs from Vancouver, so not too far for family and friends to come visit, and the community is wonderful. We have made a ton of new friends and the ski-ing is some of the best we have ever experienced. My brother, who is a very keen skier and has a ski apartment in France, was very impressed when he visited us. We had a ton of fun together with lots of special memories We have found that the slopes here are never crowded with lift line ups rare. The snow is light and fluffy and there are always lots of groomed run. The Sun Guides are wonderful to ski with and showed us all kinds of unknown terrain to ski/board on. We have skied most days, some harder than others, and I know in months to come we will reminisce about the amazing winter lifestye we have enjoyed here.
We decided in December that we would put our house in Vancouver on the market in February, to test out the market. The time was right and we were very happy that we held out for the asking price; which we eventually got - so we are now (well soon to be) real Nomads. Time to sell all of our "stuff" or give it to the kids, with the rest in storage for when we eventually settle down ....
Easter will be spent in Vancouver; with a garage sale on Sunday. We hope to spend lots of time with the kids (both who are on top form) and catch up with some friends before we leave to return to Ta-b our boat on the 11th April. We plan to move west across the Meditterean this summer so we can cross back to the Caribbean at the end of November. Rum punches, carnival and steel drums are calling us, plus snorkeling with my fishie friends.
We will however return to Sun Peaks, it has been such a great experience, and we look forward to reconnecting with the many friends we have made. Photos do not do it justice, but there are a few in the gallery that will give you glimpse of our time here.
|
12/09/2012
Not quite snow yet, but nearly there. We arrived late Tuesdy back in Vancouver and it has been non stop since we landed. Lots of catch up time with the kids who are both doing really well. Edwin is still working at Finest At Sea managing their Granville location, and enjoys taking every opportunity he can to get up to the slopes to snowboard and film. Amy is in the midst of taking exams at UBC and still works part time at Show Case. We are off to Sun Peaks ski resort, where we have rented a place for the season, on Thursday. As Amy has to work boxing day we are coming back for Xmas for about five days and hope to catch up with more people then. Let us know if you are around. We will return to the interior after boxing day with the kids.
It feels like a long time ago since we were in Marmaris, but it has only been a couple of weeks. Time sure can fly by. Our last six weeks there were very busy getting Ta-b ready for the winter and also for our big trip next year. We have decided it is time to move back to the Caribbean and will leave Turkey next May. It will be with very heavy hearts as we have come to love the country and feel very much at home there.
Our plan is to sail up to Venice as fast as possible, grabbing the favourable winds via the Greek Islands and the Corinth Canel so we will hopefully be there before the end of June. It will be busy whenever we are there, but we have been told that July-September are when the tourists are to be avoided. We have a few other boats that we are going to cruise with and the idea is that we will then move down through Croatia and Montenegro in July before we have to start heading west.
So Ta-b is getting the "full monty" in preparation for crossing the pond again. Russell has been up and down the mast about 8 times inspecting the rigging, cleaning, oiling, taking off instruments and double/triple checking everything. Our to do" list is being added to and thankfully some of the items are being crossed off slowly. We now have new cockpit cushions, tender seat and helm seat - all looking quite smart. A carpenter has also helped us redo our cockpit table and galley floor which has always been an eye sore.
Time in Marmaris is not all work as there is always a fun group of liveaboards to reconnect and make new friends with. The weather stayed warm and sunny up until we departed when we worked out that we had had eight months with only a few days of rain - pretty amazing we thought. It stayed kind to us on our landtrip up to Istanbul although as we headed north so it became cooler and cooler.
The buses in Turkey are fantastic and we had a very good trip to Selcuk where we spent two nights in a delightful family run hotel in the center of town. Ephesus, just out of town, certainly lived up to it's reputation and was bigger than we had expected. It used to be a port, but is now silted up and six miles from the sea, however during the 1st centry BC it had a population of more than 250,000 making it one of the largest cities in the Mediteranean world. It is known for its theatre, which was capable of holding 25,000 spectators (38 meters high) and also the library of Celsus. The library was built to store 12,000 scrolls and served as a monumental tomb for Celsus and is an incredible sight to see. The excavated terraced houses were also very impressive and are covered with protective roofing to protect the fantastic mosaics and frescos that they have uncovered. We thought we were ruined out, but Ephesus is a must if one ever visits Turkey. As is buying a rug that we did for the first time in Selcuk - what a terrific experience, especially as we ended up with two (one for my brother's 60th birthday present) for less than what one would have cost elsewhere. Yes we bargained VERY hard.
After a few days it was off to Gallipoli, again by the wonderful bus system. An emotional day was spent visiting the sights on the peninsula where thousands had perished, many so unnecessarily, while learning all about the history of Anzac Day. The campaign during the First World War to capture Constantinople (such a lovely name, one I prefer to Istanbul), which was won by the Turkish, lead to the foundation of the Republic of Turkey eight years later under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, himself a very successful commander at Gallipoli. Ataturk is revered in Turkey, every business/home has a picture of him and there are statues of him everywhere with huge ones in each town square. I love the plaque he made for all the soldiers who died (see photo gallery).
We stayed in Bakirkoy overlooking Marmara Denizi in Istanbul with Desmond and John "Awaatea", as Desmond has rented an awesome apartment there for four months. Wandering around the marina and exquisite malls close by was quite the eye opener, one even had a huge fountain which every half hour did a display like the Bellagio in Las Vegas. We suddenly realized we were back in midst of commercialism, a weird feeling after so long.
We arrived in England to sunshine, but boy was it cold. Jamie's 60th was a fantastic evening and we were able to catch up with many friends that we had not seen in a while. We partied all weekend as many people had come from afar for a few days and we were also able to see all of my family, so a memorable event. I also managed a few visits to my mum; she was on good form, such a blessing as she is not at all well.
So now we are into the build up for Christmas, and on that note, before I sign off I would like to wish everyone a very merry Xmas and a wonderful New Year - stay happy and healthy, hugs to you all, love Jane.
|
10/28/2012, Marmaris, Turkey
It was with heavy hearts that we left the Gocek/Fethiye area of Turkey. We felt that summer was starting to come to an end as we made our way to Marmaris even though the weather was still gorgeous.
We spent a few days at Yat Marine connecting with old friends before we left Ta-b to spend a couple of weeks in England. We had a family wedding to go to and also a friend's 60th. My cousin Alex's wedding was fantastic and luckily the rain did not arrive until we were settled in at the reception. We stayed at a lovely pub in Hind's Head and it was wonderful to get together with so many of our family there. Then it was off to see Alex and June "Sonsy Lass" in Cardiff and we had a great time catching up. They live in a delightful town called St. Fagans and we had a lovely sunny day at St. Fagans castle and grounds. From there we headed down to Exeter and Plymouth before meeting up with Peter "Excellence" for his (and Russell's - they are kind of twins) birthday. We had an excellent evening with several friends, a fun way to celebrate together.
Our next port of call was Salcombe to visit Caroline and Simon who have recently built an eco house. Their new home is fantastic and we had a great couple of days exploring the local area. I used to spend summers in Salcombe as a child and luckily it does not seem to have changed much. Devon is a stunning area with delightful single lane (high walled) roads, little towns and a fascinating coastline.
It was not far to go back to Dittisham for Peter's 60th birthday partly. A group of us from the EMYR rally were there, so there was a lot of reminising while we ate, drank and danced the night away. Dittisham is a charming village on the river Dart and the next day a large group of us went on a boat trip down to Dartmouth which Peter had arranged. We last visited Dartmouth and Dittisham on our first boat Waatea, so the area holds special memories for us. Definitely one of our favorite spots in England.
The last few days in England were spent back in Poole where my brother Jamie lives. It feels like one of our homes (with Ta-b and Vancouver we have a few) and we always enjoy our time there and my mum is in a home close by so we were able to visit her each day.
Our plan on getting back to Ta-b was to go off for a week, but the marina had a jumble/BBQ that we wanted to sell some of our stuff at so we stayed put for a few days. Then the weather started to change. We have had two fronts come through with another expected in the next day or two, so we have had a bit of everything and have decided to stay put and slowly get the "to do" list done and get Ta-b ready for the winter. We are due to fly out of Istanbul on 28 November and plan to drive up there, seeing some of the sites we have not yet seen on our way.
|
09/23/2012, Turkey
Whilst we were in Cyprus we headed down to the southern Greek side where we had a wonderful four days with our friends Jim and Elaine of "Jenna", who very kindly lent us one of their cars so we could explore the area. It is very different from the north, the Greeks have been spending lots of money (yup our taxes) on the infrastructure, it is cleaner, newer, more touristy and a lot more expensive, even property is twice the price. We wonder if the two sides will ever become one, it is hard to imagine.
Back in northern Cyprus we spent a very interesting evening with David and Kathy of "Mashona" with their friends from Israel before returning to Ta-b. We had to delay our departure because of a public holiday long weekend, but it was worth it as we were treated to a spectacular air display that went right over Ta-b which broke the sound barrier as it did its aerobatics - wow nearly blew our eardrums off!! We also enjoyed the fireworks, and the navy who all stood on the decks to salute as they left the harbour.
We have never experienced heat like we did in Cyprus. Luckily we were at anchor most of the time where it was approx. 40 degrees by mid day and the water was a cool 33 degrees. On land apparently it was up to 45 degrees. So we were happy to leave the heat and head back to Turkey. We had a good sail most of the way to Alanya where we anchored off the marina, we were the only boat at night, but it was crazy during the day with all the gullets/pirate boats. After checking back into Turkey we linked up with Nev and Sarah of "TaraLee", provisioned up, watched the opening of the Olympics, and then took off again for the ancient city and harbour of Side. A bit touristy, but a fun place to spend a few days.
Next stop was Tekirova a fantastic spot to anchor and explore the ruins of Ancient Phaselis. Yes we are nearly ruined out, but not quite. The backdrop of the mountains was stunning, the snorkeling was fantastic and and at night we were the only boats there with "TaraLee". From there we went to Cineviz before heading into Ucagiz in Kekova Roads. What a delightful spot with restaurants all along the front for us to enjoy. At 15 TL for bream or bass with salad and chips, it was a no brainer (about $7) and the restaurant also does a free water taxi service.
Kekova Roads is an area under a preservation order. The site contains preserved ruins, above and below water, of numereous ancient Lycian settlements and tourism has remained fairly low key apart from the daily boat trips. The small village of Kalekoy is dominated by a castle which is worth the hike as the views were spectacular. We spent quite a few weeks exploring the many anchorages in the area including Karaloz, Sicak, and Gokkaya Limani where we had a lovely little bay all to ourselves which we shared with 2-4 turtles. We met up with "KintuKani" and "TynaTwo" and enjoyed a 66th birthday party ashore, the Turkish love to party and made a big cake and we ended up dancing the night away with the locals. We also took some old friends from England out for the day, we shared our favorite spot Aperlai with them. Mustafa put on a lovely lunch for us over the water, after we had walked and swam over the ruins in Asar Bay.
In Kas we caught up with lots of old friends. There is a fantastic market on Fridays and a delightful bay opposite called Bayindir Limani to anchor. There is a fantastic restaurant/beach in the SE corner where we tied up for a night, watered up and enjoyed a lovely dinner. Kas is a charming town and we had some great days and nights out. We can understand why quite a few of our friends have chosen this spot to winter over.
While we were in Kas we also spent some time over at the Greek island of Kastelorizo. Lots of charm as all the Greek islands have, but a tad expensive. We were also invited over to Kalkan for a night to stay with Vicky and her friends who we had had on the boat in Kekova. The house that she had rented was amazing, two pools, hot tub, media room, gym and stunning view - we felt like VIPs and had a fantastic evening with them in town.
It was now time to move on and leave this stunning area. After spending a few days in Kalkan, a delightful little town although a tad touristy with lots of English, we picked up our friend Derek and made our way to Gemiler and St. Nicholas Island (yes Father Xmas). We were surprised at how busy the area was, but still enjoyed ourselves and before we left had a fun meal ashore at Karacaoren where the snorkeling was great off the reefs.
Fethiye was our next stop where Derek left us to go to Marmaris and we spent time anchored off Yacht Classic Hotel/Marina. What a great place, they allow boaties to use their facilities and have a small dock where boats are only charged a minimal amount as long as they have dinner at their restaurant. Here we met up with Robin and John of p"Panthera" who we had not seen since Italy and their friends Alex and Ruth off "Lucky Lady Lucy". Being New Zealanders we all got together with "Awatea" to watch the Tri Nations rugby and ended up as a large group in the evening, along with our friends Shirley and Andrew "Amazing", at the fish market. Fethiye is known for its fish market, not only do they sell great fish, but they cook it. For 6TL per person ($3) you buy your fish and then take it to one of the many restaurants around the market who cook it and serve it with salad, bread/chips and special house sauces. Where else can you do that and at such a crazy price I wonder?
The sailing around Fethiye and Gocek is fantastic. The wind always comes up by noon and we have had some wonderful trips back and forth across the bay. So far it has always died down at night and we have enjoyed several anchorages with friends. The highlight a few days ago was our friend from Cape Town, Andre's 60th birthday; which we celebrated at Yacht Classic with about 7 other boats. We had cocktails and appertisers on "Kintukani", dinner at the restaurant and finally nightcaps of some South African liquor. A memorable evening for everyone and a fun EMYR reunion.
I have gone on a bit, well it has been a long time since our last blog I suppose.
The gallery pictures will tell you more with their captions - enjoy.
|
