Sellixs Set Sail

January brought a couple of storms---rain, thunder, lightning, wind and swells. Marina staff checked boats for adequate, secure mooring lines. We rocked a bit but otherwise were OK.
One sunny day we took a road trip with Wade and Diane to Mamure Castle, a World Heritage Center, located in the province of Mersin--District of Anamur. The castle has been standing for over 1500 years and is ranked as among the best preserved Medieval castles on the Mediterranean coast. The road clung on the coastal hillside, many twists, turns, switch backs and breath taking views. Wade had checked with Google to make sure that the castle would be open but when arrived we found it was closed due to renovations. Not to be discouraged, we stopped and ordered "take out" lunch and implemented Plan B. (always have a back up plan).
Plan B was visiting the ancient city of Anamurium which was a short distance from the castle.

Welcome to 2021,
“Turkey is taking Covid very seriously”.
Turkey was one of the first Mediterranean countries this summer to open its ports to recreational boats and if you wanted to stay in Turkey beyond the duration of a visa or longer than 90 days, you were required to obtain a resident permit , an “ ikamet card”. When we first arrived the end of July we took a month contract with the Alanya Marina. We soon realized that Covid constraints were limiting travel throughout the Med so we met with an agent who helped us to apply and receive an ikamet permit which allowed us five additional months in Turkey. The middle of December we again met with our agent and have applied for a years residency permit. At this point with country borders changing almost weekly, we would rather stay here in Turkey than find ourselves stranded at sea as we did on our Red Sea Passage. Hopefully, we will be granted the year permit.

Restrictions are changing day by day. Turkey has a FaceBook page that is a Coronavirus Information Center which posts global information as well as specifics in Country. According to last minute news; Health Minister Kota said that starting December 28, every passenger coming to Turkey by air or December 30 by land or sea will be obligated to submit a negative PCR test result made in the last 72 hours. This procedures will be valid until March 1, 2021. At the moment ikamet holders 65+ are on weekend lockdown and allowed on the streets M-F only between 10am-1pm. It has taken a couple of weeks to work with this schedule but it’s been totally doable. We plan our outings very carefully, travel by taxi, bundle errands by location and schedule appointments accordingly. I had to make a dental appointment last week and was told to come in at 9am but when I told them my age they immediately told me 10am!

Despite Covid restrictions we find ourselves very busy. We are doing projects that were not necessarily scheduled for winter 2020/2021 but are finding that it makes sense to take advantage of time, availability and cost here in Alanya. Currently we are on the hard having taken the hulls down to gelcoat and putting on copper coat anti-fouling. We had a stainless steel frame made for a cockpit enclosure and Eric is working on sourcing canvas, clear material, snaps, zippers, etc. While we could order everything from Sailrite in the US, shipping packages to Turkey has been difficult so he is trying to locate materials within country.

Our Christmas was probably the most memorable Christmas we’ve had on on Pied-a-Mer. Along with our cruising Canadian friends, Wade and Diane, we put together a traditional Christmas dinner complete with roast Turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, broccoli casserole, steamed carrots and pomegranate/persimmon green salad. Securing a Turkey in Turkey was touch and go as the Turkish people, at least the ones in Alanya , don’t eat turkey! We weren’t sure whether the butcher was really going to produce a bird—-but he did. Wade and Diane had made friends with Jean-Eves, a Canadian fellow who is married to a Turkish woman, Tooba, and over the holidays we had also invited Duygu, one of the marina office gals to come aboard for Christmas activities. Both Tooba and Duygu are Muslim and had never been a part of, what to the four of us, was a traditional Christmas celebration. Neither had participated in a “secret Santa” gift exchange or listened to Christmas carols . Tooba was so excited when she received her first Christmas gift and Duygu took photos of the lights and Christmas tree. For Eric and myself, this convergence of good things was why we are cruising. It was wonderful.

Here’s to 2021! May we all be safe and healthy!


SV Pied-a-Mer III




Sent from my iPad

This post is a bit of a "back track", "fast forward" and repetition, bear with me.

After 2 1/2 months at the floating dock in Port Suez, hearing that Turkey was open to foreign boats was wonderful news and we began preparations for transiting the Suez Canal. Details for a Canal transit must be made by an official "agent" and we had the best of the best, Ehab Soukar, better known as Captain Heebie, Prince of the Red Sea. We had paid our Canal fee when we first arrived in Port Suez. The amount of the fee is based on the measurement and weight of the boat plus an unknown formula of unknown specifications. It's been known that similar boats have paid significantly different fees. The two fellows who came to measure Pied-a-Mer had come empty handed, nothing with which to measure. We supplied them with a large tape measure which, of course, was in inches not meters! Captain Heebie was on board and once the measuring completed we paid our $237.00 USD Canal fee.
Boats transiting the Canal are required to have a Canal Pilot on board as a guide only, not to "Captain" the ship through the transit. We had heard many stories of "Canal Pilots and Baksheesh". It is customary to present the canal pilot with a gift of money, preferably US dollars, a meal and maybe another small gift. Articles that we had read told of rude angry pilots who demanded a certain amount of money to humble pilots who were happy with whatever they were given. To avoid problems with the pilots we gave Captain Heebie two twenty dollar bills( the going rate) and he took care of the "gift". The canal transit is a two day journey and early in the morning on June 24, Mohammed, our pilot for the first leg of the canal arrived. Kar Kar, our "man Friday and good friend", helped with our lines and off we went---for some this would be a "Bucket list" adventure but for us it was, " This is how we get to the Med".
We had beautiful weather for both days of our transit. Day #1, we left Port Suez at 0412 traveling at 5+ knots and arrived in Ismalia at 1250. We tied up to the cement wharf and spent a quiet night. Robio, our pilot for the second half of our transit arrived at 0430 the next morning and off we went. Traffic in the canal moves north in morning and early afternoon and south later in the day and night. In addition to the two sailboats that we were traveling with, we saw only one other pleasure craft, a powerboat going south. We were continually passed by cargo ships, container ships, barges, etc. The canal is very narrow in parts reminding us of the Columbia River, we were used to being very close to huge vessels. On Day#1 both sides of the canal were mostly sand dunes but there was much more activity on Day#2, a railroad bridge under construction, military installations, lots of flags waving on shore, people waving at us from small fishing boats sitting peacefully on the sides of the canal. When we reached Port Said it was time for Robio to leave us. We had been told that we would be directed to a dock where he would disembark but this was not the case. At 1145 he was picked up underway by an old fishing boat, he jumped off Pied-a-Mer, onto the boat and off they went. This was a well orchestrated move as the boat never touched us---he jumped off and on!
Once out of the canal we spent about 12 hours in a very high traffic area of cargo ships, anchored ships, fishing boats with nets out and oil well heads. As we dodged the various vessels and objects we were escorted by a pod of dolphins which entertained me as I fixed dinner. (Thank You Seawind for my panoramic view in the galley!) That night the unique experiences that we encountered on this passage were whirling around in my head and I was having trouble staying alert on my midnight to 4 am watch. The following is an excerpt from my journal: "While on my midnight watch I was still hungry and, this is awful to admit, I ate the following----2 slices of apple bread, 6 Oreos, 1 bag of Crispy Chips (the kind I don't like) and 1 small package of Sour Cream and Onion crackers". Maybe I had been a bit stressed!
The Suez Canal was behind us, the Red Sea was behind us and Turkey awaited us with open ports. We booked a month at Alanya Marina in the province of Antalya. Our next decision was where to spend the winter? We spent a month contacting marinas in the Med, reading reports from other cruisers, reading Covid updates (which seemed to change daily), understanding Schengen (we had lots of questions on this one) and, of course, studying weather patterns. By the end of a month we decided that our best option was to stay here in Alanya until late February-early March .
The marina is quite large and filled with local boats and two large "tourist pirate boats". Along with Wade and Diane on a Canadian monohull, sv Joana, we are the only foreign cruising live aboards here for the winter. I am struggling with the Turkish language and Eric is finding it impossible. We are loving the food in Turkey. Every Friday the marina takes the four of us to a Bazar which has the most amazing selection of local produce. We have never eaten such luscious fruits and vegetables.

The time finally came for us to transit the Suez Canal. We had paid our Canal fee when we first arrived in Port Suez. The amount of the fee is based on the measurement and weight of the boat plus an unknown formula of unknown specifications. It's been known that similar boats have paid significantly different fees. The two fellows who came to measure Pied-a-Mer had come empty handed, nothing with which to measure. We supplied them with a large tape measure which, of course, was in inches not meters! Captain Heebie was on board and once the measuring completed we paid our $237.00 USD Canal fee.
Boats transiting the Canal are required to have a Canal Pilot on board as a guide only, not to “Captain” the ship through the transit. We had heard many stories of “Canal Pilots and Baksheesh”. It is customary to present the canal pilot with a gift of money, preferably US dollars, a meal and maybe another small gift. Articles that we had read told of rude angry pilots who demanded a certain amount of money to humble pilots who were happy with whatever they were given. To avoid problems with the pilots we gave Captain Heebie two twenty dollar bills( the going rate) and he took care of the “gift”. The canal transit is a two day journey and early in the morning on June 24, Mohammed, our pilot for the first leg of the canal arrived. Kar Kar, our “man Friday and good friend”, helped with our lines and off we went---for some this would be a "Bucket list" adventure but for us it was, " This is how we get to the Med".
We had beautiful weather for both days of our transit. Day #1, we left Port Suez at 0412 traveling at 5+ knots and arrived in Ismalia at 1250. We tied up to the cement wharf and spent a quiet night. Robio, our pilot for the second half of our transit arrived at 0430 the next morning and off we went. Traffic in the canal moves north in morning and early afternoon and south later in the day and night. In addition to the two sailboats that we were traveling with, we saw only one other pleasure craft, a powerboat going south. We were continually passed by cargo ships, container ships, barges, etc. The canal is very narrow in parts reminding us of the Columbia River, we were used to being very close to huge vessels. On Day#1 both sides of the canal were mostly sand dunes but there was much more activity on Day#2, a railroad bridge under construction, military installations, lots of flags waving on shore, people waving at us from small fishing boats sitting peacefully on the sides of the canal. When we reached Port Said it was time for Robio to leave us. We had been told that we would be directed to a dock where he would disembark but this was not the case. At 1145 he was picked up underway by an old fishing boat, he jumped off Pied-a-Mer, onto the boat and off they went. This was a well orchestrated move as the boat never touched us—-he jumped off and on!
Once out of the canal we spent about 12 hours in a very high traffic area of cargo ships, anchored ships, fishing boats with nets out and oil well heads. As we dodged the various vessels and objects we were escorted by a pod of dolphins which entertained me as I fixed dinner. (Thank You Seawind for my panoramic view in the galley!) That night the unique experiences that we encountered on this passage were whirling around in my head and I was having trouble staying alert on my midnight to 4 am watch. The following is an excerpt from my journal: “While on my midnight watch I was still hungry and, this is awful to admit, I ate the following——2 slices of apple bread, 6 Oreos, 1 bag of Crispy Chips (the kind I don’t like) and 1 small package of Sour Cream and Onion crackers”. Maybe I had been a bit stressed!
The Suez Canal was behind us, the Red Sea was behind us and Turkey awaited us with open ports. We booked a month at Alanya Marina in the province of Antalya. Our next decision was where to spend the winter? We spent a month contacting marinas in the Med, reading reports from other cruisers, reading Covid updates (which seemed to change daily), understanding Schengen (we had lots of questions on this one) and, of course, studying weather patterns. By the end of a month we decided that our best option was to stay here in Alanya until late February-early March .
The marina is quite large and filled with local boats and two large “tourist pirate boats”. Along with Wade and Diane on a Canadian monohull, sv Joana, we are the only foreign cruising live aboards here for the winter. I am struggling with the Turkish language and Eric is finding it impossible. We are loving the food in Turkey. Every Friday the marina takes the four of us to a Bazar which has the most amazing selection of local produce. We have never eaten such luscious fruits and vegetables. We have done just a few day trips in and near Alanya and next week we will be going to a Cappadocia.

We were at Port Suez for a little over two months( a record for boats waiting to transit, most go on to Ismalia) and as time passed we fell into a comfortable daily routine. Being tied to the dock allowed us to have visitors. In addition to the few fishermen whose boats were at the dock we had three regular visitors who became dear friends, Captain Heebie, Kar Kar and Old Man Sayeed. Most mornings Sayeed would stop by for Nescafé and a sweet, Kar Kar would stop by for Nescafé or tea, breakfast or sweets and again for a meal. Captain Heebie, as our agent, took care of all of the government paperwork required for our Suez Canal transit. The cost for transiting the canal is based on a very unique system of measurement and the personality of the "measurer"who would come up with an interesting set of numbers which we felt was out of line with reality however, that's simply the way it is. Every other day Captain Heebie would stop by for Nescafé and make sure we had everything that we needed. Through Captain Heebie we were able to order provisions, pieces & parts for the boat, sim cards and money (Egyptian pounds). Since we were not able to leave the boat we would give our credit card to Captain Heebie who we trusted implicitly, and he, in turn, would go to the ATM and bring back cash. The maximum limit available for withdrawal from the ATM was so small that Captain Heebie have to do several transactions and the transaction fees would total almost 50% of the withdrawal! Sayeed was our "personal shopper" and did an excellent job of sourcing our provisions. Often it took him weeks to find what we needed but he was always successful. There were times when he would not quite understand what we wanted ie. toothbrushes instead of toothpaste and toilet paper rather than paper towels. Kar Kar was our "Man Friday" always looking for ways to help us with things like cleaning the boat, removing trash, getting petrol and wanting us to find him an "American" wife. (We have not been successful with that one).

For the months we were here all of our clothes and linens were washed by hand. Actually this was not a problem because at the dock we had access to all of the fresh water we wanted and my most abundant resource was time.

The words "Sands of Time" come to mind when I think of Egypt.
We've never been anywhere where sand was in the air 24/7.
As we came up the coast we ran into one significant sand storm and additional sand on the way up to Suez where we could wash the boat. The first boat washing must have taken a thousand pounds of sand off the rigging, decks, cockpit and parts inside the boat.

June brought a few more boats into Port Suez. Most stayed only one night having pre arranged with their agent for the boat to be measured, officials to be brought to the boat, provisions, fuel and water delivered. During these times Captain Heebie, Kar Kar and Sayeed were very busy. The few boats that stayed for several days were side tied to us or tied to the on space across from us that at times was empty. By the time we reached Port Suez we were starved for the camaraderie of other cruisers. My journal entry for June3, 2020 reads: "Probably the most fun we have had in months. Twelve people who haven't been on land in 2-3 months--total isolation and the bonus is kids.” Captain Heebie provided dinner for all of us, a very special evening."


PHOTO, ERIC AND CAPTAIN HEEBIE

The time finally came for us to arrange our transit of the Suez Canal. Turkey was opening ports and, after contacting several marinas, we decided to follow our friends on SV Joana to Alanya Marina in Alanya Turkey. We originally booked one month, extended to two months and, due to the ever changing Covid Regulations, Schengen policies and weather patterns, we extended our marina contract to the end of February. We are now working with an agent to extend our 90 day tourist visa to a one year visitors visa.

We are very comfortable in the marina. We are, along with SV Joana, the only live aboard vessels here. There are many, many boats, large and small, charter and private, along with three "tourist pirate ships" and all are, as near as we can tell, day use only. One of the things that sold us on the marina was the cost of berthing. Here the price for Catamarans is based solely on LOA (length over all), unlike many marinas where cats pay one and a half or double the monohull rates. We were also given a berthing discount and able to take advantage of free WiFi, free laundry and free showers.

So, let’s explore! Alanya is a resort town on Turkey’s central Mediterranean Coast (also known as the Turkish Riviera). Covid concerns have kept us pretty close to Alanya where we have explored many of the historical sites in the city. Sailing into Alanya Harbor we were greeted by the Alanya Castle sitting 820 feet high on a rocky peninsula jutting into the Mediterranean Sea, which protects it from 3 sides. Most of the castle was built in the 13 century on remnants of earlier Byzantine and Roman era fortifications. We opted not to walk up to the castle but rode the Alanya Aerial Tramway (Teleferik), which has become one of the icons of the holiday village.
Another of the landmarks of Alanya is the Red Tower, one of the best examples of 13 century Mediterranean defense structures, it sits at the point where the castle meets northern fortifications. It has been built to keep the port under control for centuries.
We marveled at the the interior of the Alanya Shipyard, built by Seljuk Sultan Alaaddin Keykubat (these names are a challenge), in 1228 which has been used as shipbuilding and ship accommodation for centuries. As we wandered through cavern like rooms filled with ancient shipbuilding tools and materials, we marveled at how, in many countries, historical/museum artifacts are in the open air with no protective coverings or security.
Another popular “must see” is The Damlatas Cave, which is famous for its healthy air for asthma patients and the cave leads directly to the most popular beach in Alanya, Cleopatra Beach, where Queen Cleopatra is said to have enjoyed the two kilometers of crystal clear sea and golden sand. When we arrived in Alanya , Cleopatra beach was packed with people however a couple of days ago when I walked the beach it was empty—-Covid and Winter have taken over.

In the six months we have been in Turkey finally managed to do a day trip to Aspendos and Said and an weekend in Cappadocia. These trips were before the following announcement from the Ministry of the Interior: Alanya , Turkey......November 18, 2020.
“Curfew for over 65 now restricted to 10am to 1pm and ‘under 20’s from 1pm to 4pm each day.” Turkey is continuing to take Covid seriously.

Wishing everyone a happy and safe Holiday Season!
Eric & Pam
Sv Pied-a-Mer III





Photo is inside the Shipyard.