Bodrum to Marmaris

Captain Andrew Calm and Warm More Motoring

Getting the Shore Lines out

Swimming in 200m at 2 knots

Steve ever hopeful

Checking where we've been

Steve retrieving the shore lines

Trim Consultant

Hi from Clare, Saturday 29th August THE WEEK THAT WAS Well we had a great week with our Turkish friend Steve sailing from Bodrum to Marmaris. With a 15-20 knot wind behind us, we enjoyed gentle sailing to seventies music via Steve's IPod, sunny days, 29 degree water temperature, warm calm nights, a few DVD's, lively conversation and some extended happy hours. (I have made mention of the 29 degree water because our Aussie friend Patrick mentioned the water temperature in NSW in currently 14 degrees and asked us to stop saying in our emails that the water temperature here is 28 degrees - so how's 29, sorry Patrick). THE PRICE OF FISH So back to our week, we were in no hurry to reach our destination and so we explored many anchorages stopping for lunch and a swim in one bay and then somewhere different for the evening. Steve who knows all the towns we stopped at gained a new perspective approaching the same by sea, he mentioned how amazingly different things look. Steve was very good a negotiating a low price for tasty fresh fish for dinner. Andrew and I fail miserably at haggling on price. We can't identify the type of fish and its value and we can't speak Turkish. There is only so much one can achieve with sign language and even then you run the risk of offending if you don't get the sign language right. We don't know if haggling on price is appropriate when dealing with the local fishermen. They spend most of the night at sea and come into the anchorage exhausted, it somehow doesn't seem right. After a week with Steve I now know to haggle, our fish for dinner started at 30 Liras a kilo and ended up 15 Liras a kilo cleaned. LIFE BACK TO NORMAL We arrived in Marmaris yesterday and Steve caught the local bus back to Bodrum this afternoon. After a week away from his wife he was looking forward to some pampering, air conditioning and his large LCD screen. Andrew and I are quite happy to be alone again and that reminds me of a comment made on the Cruising Net recently. A couple reported that they had delivered the grand children to Lufthansa and intended to live happily ever after. The Net controller's reply was "I'm glad to hear the grand children had such a good holiday..."

That said it all. love CANDY ---------- radio email processed by SailMail for information see: http://www.sailmail.com/

Leros and Gumbet Bay Turkey

Trimming the Spinnaker Leros Castle

Birthday Dinner

The downwind rig

Kaori, Steve, Andrew and Clare in Bodrum

Gumbet Bay, Turkey

Hi from Clare, 20th August 2009

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL The Gods were smiling on Andrew for his birthday. We had a very pleasant spinnaker sail to Leros with Andrew sun baking on deck taking it easy. Leros is a pretty spot with a castle on the hilltop and a line of old style white windmills dotting the horizon. The village has spread up the hill and down the other side. Shopping is a bit of a walk especially when the post office has been moved since our last visit. Suffice to say (and despite getting directions from the locals)we climbed up and down the hill three times before we found the new establishment. We had dinner out for the birthday boy. We choose a restaurant with tables set up on the water's edge. The scenery was spectacular, high mountains all around, flat calm water and a glorious pink sunset. The food was traditional Greek cooking and we finished the evening on a English boat having a nightcap with our recently meet neighbours. GOOD FRIENDS, FINE FOOD On Tuesday the 17th we came across to Turkey. The objective was to get away from the wind and find warmer water for swimming. We have achieved this, there is absolutely no wind this morning and the water is flat calm and 27 degrees. I can't wait to relax and enjoy. We have meet up with our Turkish friend Steve and Kaori, they spent Tuesday afternoon on Eye Candy with us. Yesterday Steve helped us check into Turkey (so much easier with an interpreter) and then sailed with us to Bodrum. Last night we had drinks at Steve and Kaori's house and then out to dinner for a wonderful Turkish meal. THE COMING WEEK This morning we are off to do some shopping and then Steve will join us for a week's cruising along the Turkish coast to Marmaris. Kaori has opted to stay at home, have some time to herself and practice the piano. We are looking forward to sailing the boat with Steve, we will have some fun together.

love CANDY

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Mikonos to Patmos

Eye Candy sheltering at Mykinos Weather on the other side

Where all the others anchored

Not a bad holiday house

Meltemi-ised Greek flag

Hi from Clare, Friday 14th August THE WIND

We enjoyed a short stay on the southern end of Mykonos away from the NW (the Meltemi) wind. Each day we walked over the hill into town for exercise, provisions, lunch and to check the sea conditions on the weather side. The wind by itself is OK but when interrupted by the islands it causes confused wave patterns making for a very bumpy ride. Better to stay put and learn about patience.

MYKONOS

We have been to Mykonos three times and seen most of the sights. It is a popular spot particularly for the young with sandy beaches, restaurants, bar and all night discos. The island has a reputation of "anything goes" and is overrun by tourists. Cruise ships arrive throughout the day spilling hundreds on to the fore shore. Unfortunately the area is grubby, dusty and run down and for this reason Mykonos is not onr of my favourite places. However along the coast there are some lovely homes with swimming pools, helipad's and established gardens. We saw many large expensive power boats and huge yachts. People were making the most of the water, swimming, wind surfing and riding jet skis. We spoke to the skipper of the expensive power boat we were anchored near. He was looking after the boat while the owner was in Athens. The owners holiday house was directly above us on the cliff. Nice work if you can get it.

FAST SAILING We had a terrific sail to Patmos on Wednesday. We left at 6.30am (passing by the disco still in full swing as dawn broke)and took nine hours to travel the sixty miles averaging 6.8 knots. The wind was on our beam and our maximum speed was 8.6 knots. We must have picked the right day, patience paid off. Yesterday we had a repair day washing the boat, the clothes, dying my hair and repairing our Aussie flag. Our Greek curtesy flag, although new six weeks ago, has flapped and frayed in the wind to half it's original size. Good thing we plan to leave Greek waters soon.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREW

We will head out tomorrow for Leros. It is Andrew's birthday and so going sailing seems appropriate. We might even go the ship chandler (where else?) and find him a birthday present. Which reminds me of a conversation we overhead between two couples where one husband said to the other husband "What! don't you buy your wife boat parts for Christmas?" I'm pleased to say it hasn't come to that yet. love CANDY

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Serrifos,Delos,Mikonos

Seatbelts not to be used! Great view

Stairway to Heaven

Town square, Serifos

Eye Candy, Delos in foreground

Delos Lions

Delos Statues and Mosaic

Minoan artefacts at Delos

Hi from Clare, Sunday 9th August THE FISH WAS HOW BIG? We left Paros Sunday 2nd August and sailed 30 miles to Serifos in five hours averaging 6.5 knots. It was a boisterous trip, close reaching and ended with two reefs in the mainsail. We headed for a large bay (Koutala) on the south west corner and tied to shore at the base of a cliff and stayed for three days. We enjoyed the sun and the sandy beach. The guy anchored next to us caught a metre long fish. This is such a rarity in the Med that he immediately got his camera out and Andrew rushed for his video camera. My guess is photographic evidence is a must for future story telling.

SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY We moved to the Serifos town wharf on Wednesday and took the local bus up to the hora on the highest peak on island. From here we could see in the distance the islands of Paros, Sifnos and Siros. In the past this strategic vantage point was used to see any attacks by sea. Today in peaceful times, it's just an old Greek village with a very spectacular view. We climbed many stairs to reach the church at the top. I couldn't imagine doing this every Sunday especially in the winter months. How easy we have it at home, we just take the car.

I LIKE NEAT The town bus was an old fashioned square rattler that could only be described as basic. As always, I sat by an open window. My logic is that if the brakes on the bus fail and we end up in the sea, I want to be able to swim to freedom - how's that for confidence in the local transport? However in all fairness, this bus was not entirely void of safety equipment, it had seat belts on the front seats - but they were cable tied together so they were unusable. They did look neat.

ANCIENT CIVILIZATION We planned to visit the island of Delos. In the cruising community, there is much conjecture as to whether anchoring is allowable at the island. Over a period of years, regardless of how many people we asked we got conflicting answers. So we anchored for two nights on the small island of Rinia three miles from Delos. Andrew watched various ships and a few yachts disappear up the channel towards Delos and they all stayed for a some hours. It looked good to us, so we headed around Saturday morning. What a lot of fuss about nothing, there are even signs up saying you can anchor until 3pm. Delos, being the birthplace of the Gods Apollo and Artemis, was a sacred place for ancient Greeks. It's earliest inhabitants date back to 2500 BC and by 1st century BC 30,000 people lived on the island. We spent a few hours exploring the site and the museum containing statues, mosaics, and artefact's uncovered since excavation commenced in 1872. In their time some of the houses were pretty impressive, large and ornate, obviously the wealthy lived very well. POWER BOATS GALORE We left the site at noon because the wind was blowing 25 knots down the channel and we weren't confident of the holding. We put the storm jib up to cross the channel from Delos to Mikonos, a known windy funnel. We headed for the southern end of Mikonos to escape the n/w winds. It was supposed to be a quick trip and then lunch, but it took four hours to find a suitable place to stop. All likely spots were taken up by large power boats with numerous shore lines out. It's every man for himself and first in best dressed. Eventually we found a spot in front of a power boat who told us he was there for the next ten days. No wonder there is no room. We will stay for a few days until the weather calms down a bit.

love CANDY

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