Back on the Road Again
26 March 2010 | Gocek, Turkey
Peter
Yeah!!! A new sailing season begins!
We left the marina Tuesday morning. After 3 months, it felt like a jailbreak -- "Another one got over the wall!"
But we cut the dock lines and motored out of Marmaris Bay. We were caravaning with Mehari -- the 37' Dean Cat with Eric and Rachel Hemingway and their 5 kids (with a bun in the oven). We asked them if they have found out what is causing it, and they think it is the water. (We think it is the long, cold winter!!)
Anyway, it was fun to get some water under the hull and put the sails up. This was the first time we had ever caravaned with another boat, so we were both interested to see how it worked out. As it turned out, it was a ton of fun. There was always another boat to check out. And we would radio back and forth throughout the day just checking in. And when we got to anchorages we could socialize.
Only the socializing really didn't happen for the first couple of nights. That is because both crews were hitting the bunk waaay early! We were also eating everything and anything! It was amazing how much we ate. Maybe it is from all the activity of sailing. I always thought I would gain weight sailing while sitting the cockpit sucking down beers. But the exact opposite has happened.
When we flew home for the Coast Guard exam I had to have a mini-physical (including "turn your head to the side and cough"!!). Anyway, I came in at 163#. I haven't weighed 163 since I was, like, 30. Of course, I managed to get back to 170 in one month by the time we needed to fly back to Turkey.
But Mehari was remarking how much they were eating as well, so we knew it wasn't just us. And the sleep! My God! We would go to bed at 8:30!! And not wake up till 7!!! What is up with that? I am pretty sure it has to do with the fresh air and the salt acting as a sedative in the lungs. After 3 days we are both starting to adjust and follow more ordinary patterns.
Our 2nd morning out we took the dinks into a delta looking for these cliff-side mausoleums. The Romans would bury their emperors and other notables in these mausoleums they carved out of the face of these cliffs. As it was, we could not find our way through the maze of waterways to get to the cliffs. But it was fun motoring around between the little, reed islands.
We are now in Gocek. We managed to turn a 2-day trip into a 3-day trip. The weather cooperated nicely by keeping seas flat. But the wind never got much above 10k so we motored and motorsailed most of the way. It was still very nice.
Coming into Gocek we caught a crab pot or something. I was down below (ooops) trying to get the mouse to work on our on-board nav computer. I decided I better have a look around so went up to the cockpit and noticed Mehari was steering a course to port. I looked to starboard and saw a small reef off about 3 boat lengths. I figured that was too close and was getting ready to adjust course when I saw us run over this blue line.
I was sooo mad because I knew better. The main channel was a different way and he we were going over a reef. (As it turned out, there was enough water over the reef.) But I was mad at myself for being persuaded by Will handheld GPS rather than take the route I knew to be right. As it was, God punished me with this fishing line.
I didn't know what to do, so I spun the boat around into the wind. We didn't have the engine on, so I didn't have to worry about wrapping the line in the prop....just yet. After several attempts with the boat hook, I prepared to dive the boat. Now understand that this water is plenty cold, and a March swim is 'frowned upon'!! But what else was I going to do?
I got on the swim ladder with fins and goggles on and then I decided to see if I could check the whole mess out from there rather than do the 'full baptism'. I got lucky and was able to see the whole underside from my vantage point. Even better, there was no line to be seen! So I didn't have to go swimming!! Yeah! But, boy, the bottom still had a bunch of growth on it from the 3 months in the marina -- esp. the prop shaft.
We got to the inner harbor of Gocek (go-chek) and dropped the anchor in twilight. Since Mehari had run out of propane the night before we invited them over for dinner. Their 7 and our 3 made for a cozy cabin! But the kids are all well behaved and it went like a charm. Maggie took the young-uns back to Mehari for bed which allowed us to visit with Eric and Rachel at length. That was a lot of fun.
But oh my God! It's 9 o'clock!! Party over! And off they went. But at least we are all starting to adjust to normal schedules.
We'll hang here for a day or two, get some food and propane, and then head to Fethiye (fe-ti-yeh) for a couple of days. As it was, we ended up dropping our hook next to Koza, an Aussie-flagged Jeanneau 49DS that was just a few doors down from us at MYM. So we'll catch up with them today as well. After that I am afraid we'll have to say good-bye to Mehari as they sail for Cyprus and Israel while we head back to Marmaris and Crete.
The boat performed well, though it wasn't really tested much. I still (always?) have a ton of projects to work on -- installing solar panels and shelves in the closet are the two big ones. But I think I will take a few days off to enjoy the time with Mehari and Koza in Gocek. Bye for now!!