Dec2000

Gone Troppo Newsletter #6

Coo-eee Cobbers,

Well another three months has flashed past, so time for another update and Christmas wishes.

In September we left Kalimnos, Greece and sailed to Tilos, where we spent a few days riding out some strong winds, in an exposed anchorage, lee shore. Anchor watches all night every night. Many yachts dragged but only one ended up on the beach (rocks). We ran out of our cheap Kalimnos wine but luckily found a ready supply of Retsina at the right price. Gail found the local yoghurt, tziki and garlic dips wonderful. We left this anchorage with just our main up, triple reefed, but still moving along at 5-6knots. We headed for Panormittis on the island of Simi, this is a really sheltered anchorage with an old Abbey on its shore. We spent a week here resting and sampling the Abbey bread with much Retsina to help it down, and listening to the Abbey bells all day and night. We then sailed to Rhodos and anchored just south of the old fortified city. This old city is an amazing place, much to see. Big cruise ships come and go at all hours, plus flights, so the number of tourists can be imagined. We had great fun walking the back streets trying to find a super market. The owner of one gave Gail a lift back to the boat because she had bought so much, mainly wine of course. It was great to stock up on cheap spirits and great wine in Greece. As well a bit of bacon was welcome. It is funny how you miss some foods. Luckily our visitors during summer kept the supplies of vegemite coming so we have yet to have vegemite withdrawal symptoms.

We sailed to Kastellorizon with the intention of clearing out of Greece there before going to Kemer in Turkey for winter. Went stern-to to the town quay, and were asked to move to a "better spot" shortly after. This little town is very Greek and the setting is very picturesque. Most of the inhabitants are Australian or have family in Australia. The little super market was about 10 feet from our stern, so it was easier to get drinks from there than from the fridge. The owner of this shop would rush out every now and then and catch an octopus on a squid jig. He would then commence to throw it on the concrete repeatedly and gut it, then "wash the concrete with it", all this took about ten minutes. Twice a day his wife would throw out the dish washing (chamber pot?) water from the upstairs balcony, and it would land in the water between our stern and the quay. They made us feel very welcome and always chatted to us. We found out that we could not get a stamp in our passports at Kastellorizon so we had to return to Rhodos. It came up rough the night before we were going to leave, and the "better spot" was not better, so at midnight we had to move. Unfortunately we managed to bend our port propellor skeg while leaving the quay. We thought we must have hit a rock. We anchored about 50 metres off the quay. The next day we investigated the damage and places to haul out and fix the skeg, and found that Kemer would be suitable.

That day was too rough to try and get to Rhodos so we left the following day. It was a long trip with variable winds on the nose, but we completed the 70nm trip about 0300hrs that night. We did some more shopping and cleared out of Greece and left the next morning for Turkey. We arrived at Kekova at 2200hrs after a wonderful days sail. The next morning we sailed to Cineviz and the day after to Kemer.

During winter it is normal here for yachts to stay in a marina and do the much needed maintenance bit. A few yachts find a safe anchorage and stay at anchor for the winter, but as we plan to do a little bit of land travel we opted to put the boat in a marina. Kemer marina is small and its manager, Hasan, is recognized as the best in Turkey. He impressed me when we first met, and everyone who has stayed in a marina managed by Hasan has had nothing but praise for him. The staff here are fantastic, they make us feel very welcome and a part of their "Marina Family". The winter live aboards, as the yachties staying on their boats for the winter are known, are a mixed but great bunch of people.

We decided to wait till after Kev and Chris Walker had visited before hauling out, as it is not easy when living on the hard. Kev and Chris arrived the following week and stayed for ten days. We met them at Antalya airport and shared a taxi to Kemer with a German tourist, 30,000,000 Turkish Lira. The Walkers had heaps of stuff for us, as they made the mistake of asking Gail if there was anything that we needed. We went for a day trip on a Gulet (Turkish tourist boat) to Olympus and Phaselis, had a great time watching the Capt'n belly dance. We spent a day in Antalya visiting the museum and the old city. We even saw some of St Nick's bones in the museum. We had a very relaxing time with Kev and Chris and the time went too fast. Maybe we will catch up with them in London next year. We hired a car for the trip back to the airport, my first experience driving on the wrong side and the first time behind a wheel since Christmas Island.

We hauled out Gone Troppo and inspected the skeg. We found the prop shaft was bent as well, but there were no marks on the prop or skeg. We can only assume that a rope caused the damage??? We had limited time available on the hard, about three weeks. We were unable to get a new shaft that was the right size so had the old one straightened, and the skeg cut off and welded back on. Arranged for two new bearings to come from Nautical Supplies in Darwin, as the local chandler wanted about AUD$300 each. We plan to replace shaft/skeg next winter if required, we will certainly know by then. Went for a test run after going back into the water, seems to be OK, only time will tell.

While on the hard we had three continuous days of rain, on the forth day we noticed that the mountains were topped with snow. An amazing sight for Darwinites. Gail decided it was time for a change of hair colour, so I now live with a red head.

Have been filling our days with a little bit of boat maintenance every day and trying to keep up with the busy social schedule. My day starts at 0730 with a 1 hr power walk with some female yachties around Kemer. One of them worked in an ER in Hawaii, and had her moment of fame on a show called 911, so I feel confident that I will survive the walks. Gail's day starts at 0830 with aerobics, we then have breaky, and do some maintenance. After lunch, belly dancing for an hour or two for a show on New Years Eve, this is being taught by a Russian girl, an ex Russian Policewoman, but a real dancer/stunner. Tuff job for me, I'm the Sultan and have to sit around watching the harem go thru their paces, all behind locked doors to keep out the perverts. How did I get in? After that we go to the gym for an hour of step aerobics for Gail and weights for me. Monday – Thursday nights Gail has Turkish lessons, and she is the teachers' pet according to the rest of the class, she keeps getting 100% for her homework. I have started learning German thanks to a CD that Kevin and Chris sent from London. Fridays is normally music night, either in Antalya for their Symphony Orchestra or the marina restaurant for a quartet from the Antalya Orchestra. Before it turned cold they played in the garden right behind Gone Troppo so we could just sit in the cockpit and listen. I am absorbing lots of culture but according to Gail not much couth. Sundays are outing days, and they consist of going to ancient sites to see the ruins (piles of old rocks), or walks in the mountains. The walks consist of daylight lengths of a walking trail called The Lycian Way. The lady who mapped out the walk came to the marina and gave us a slide presentation, inspiring us all. This trail is 500km long and we expect to have completed a lot of it before we leave in spring. The scenery is spectacular, and the walks have lots of excitement with getting lost and people sliding down mountains. One walk took us past the Chimera, or eternal flame, very strange to see flames rising from the ground. In between the organized outings there are the normal rounds of dinners /drinks with friends. I am playing Santa for the marina staff and at the marinas Christmas dinner; I'm not sure how I got conned into that. Gail is taking part in the Xmas Carol singing, and somehow fits in practice for that as well. I somehow fit a few chess games in each week in the bar or library, an excuse for a beer. I normally play against an eight year old; this is fun for me and gives his parents a break. I am trying to teach him as many bad manners/tricks as I can, generally being a typical grandpa. I fill him full of coke and chocolate before dinner and watch him fly off home full of energy. Another benefit of playing an eight year old is that I get to win sometimes. With all this activity Gail and I get to wave to each other as we pass during the day, and fall asleep easily and happily every night.

We are having dinner Xmas Eve in a Turkish friends house, which luckily doesn't start until after Gail finishes singing here in the marina. Christmas day afternoon is the big marina celebration, and on Boxing Day a small group of us are hiring four wheel drives and going up the mountain for a picnic in the snow. New Years Eve venue has not been decided yet, but no doubt it will be fun.

As you can tell we have at last started to relax after our adventures earlier in the year. Our troubles have tested our desire to "go sailing" and our relationship, happily our love of sailing and love for one another has survived and actually grown. We have had many letters of encouragement from our family and friends, and we feel very lucky to have such friends. The Aussie humor in some was a great benefit to us, eg "What's This Pie Rat Shit Then". A BIG THANKS to Patrick, your letter arrived here the same time as we did, and we put it to good use.

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR from GONE TROPPO and her crew.

We hope your year was a good one and may next year be even better.

Love.

Gail & Stephen

Gone Troppo