01/10/09 Completed the sanding. Fitted a 'thru-hull' transducer in the hope of curing my long running problems with the depth sounder - there is something very un-nerving about drilling a 51mm diameter hole in the bottom of your boat! My survey report came and it's pleasing to note that all is OK, the two minor exceptions being a) some of my flares are out of date, and b) a rigging clevis pin is capable of taking a larger split pin - both are easily remedied. Out of water work continues.....temperatures are around the 36 degree mark (in the shade), so frequent stops for tea and coffee!
02/10/09 Roger, Astrid and myself continued to work on our boats - interrupted only by the marina's resident pelican stealing sheets of sandpaper or tools. I got as far as the being ready to apply the first coat of primer before knocking off for the evening and heading for the shower block. Shaving is fun.......it seems that Turks only shave when they visit the barber, so the shower block sinks don't have plugs, or hot water (well, I couldn't get any!) and the taps are automatic which only gives a one second burst when you move your hand in front of it. Now, the shower cubicles have western style saloon swing doors to the dressing area, then a door into the shower, so if you leave the shower door open you can look over the swing doors and use the mirror over the sinks - 15 feet away - to shave. Only problem, you cut yourself.......well, I did.....now there's blood swirling down the shower tray plughole and I can hear the music and half expect Norman Bates to come bursting through the swing doors brandishing his knife! This calls for a nerve calming beer in the bar!
03/10/09 Applied the primer coat of anti-foul, silver this time instead of the girly pink of last year. Because of fouling on the white hull at the stern, I again raised the waterline by about two inches - I really must get rid of some more stuff from 'the shed'.
04/10/09 First coat of blue anti-foul on! Soon be ready for sea again.
05/10/09 Anti-fouling completed with the exception of the areas covered by cradle pads and keel blocks. My neck, back, arms and shoulders feel like they belong to someone else (or should do) and the next haul out will be worse because ALL the anti-foul will need to be scraped off, back to gel coat.
06/10/09 A day of sorting out the rubbish that accumulates when you are doing a big job, re-packing the after cabin (my shed) and arranging for the hoist to put me back in the water tomorrow. Helped Roger and Astrid with the primer coat on their boat. Arranged for a full rigging check on Saturday, by Demir Services in Marmaris Yacht Marine.
07/10/09 Re-launch day! Up at 0500 to wire in the (new) depth transducer and clear the cupboard to check for leaks when the boat hits the water, check the weather forecast (wind on the nose all the way to Marmaris), and put away anything else that I may have forgotten yesterday. Rhumb Do was lowered back into the water at 0920 and after checking for leaks and retrieving my dinghy, I cast off at 10am and motored out into the calm bay. It was a case of motorsailing for the whole trip, winds too little to drive the boat at any sort of speed using sails alone. The one drawback was the flies - thousands of the blighters - just like the common house fly, but these bite! Armed with my fly swat, it wasn't long before the cockpit sole was carpeted in dead bodies and I had to sluice it down with buckets of sea-water (three times!) I arrived in Marmaris Yacht Marina and berthed on Echo Pontoon at 1830 hrs. An almost catastrophic computer crash had me busy all evening trying to save data and files without success.
08/10/09 I had to admit defeat this morning with my computer, bite the bullet and completely wipe the hard drive, then slowly re-install the operating system and programmes (including this one), however there are still certain elements that I am currently unable to recover or re-install - one being my e-mail server! Not the same problems today with the damn flies but they were replaced with mosquitoes in the evening - one of which had the temerity to bite me, quite an oddity as they don't normally bother me and I have, in the past wondered, if I have some sort of immunity passed on to me by my Dad, who was hospitalised with malaria after the War in Burma.
09/10/09 Another 'wasted' day trying to get my computer functioning correctly. A beer and meal with Chris and Maggie of Lady Cassandra and Bruce of Praslin during the evening. Today is the official start of the Vasco da Gama Rally, with which I am registered - obviously I will miss the start and, along with several other boats, intend to join up with the rally at a later stage, probably in Port Said, Egypt
10/10/09 Three riggers descended on my boat this morning and spent a couple of hours checking and re-tuning the standing rigging, replacing the forestay clevis and split pin as recommended by the surveyor. Now I just have to get both the survey and the rigging certificate off to the insurers, get some more injections, change the engine fuel filters, oil filters, oil, get US dollars, photocopies of passport, ten passport photographs, crew lists, copies of ships papers, etc., etc., etc!! Early evening saw the return of Storm Dodger from Orhaniye and we all had a beer and meal in the restaurant.
11/10/09 Attended the boat jumble in the restaurant garden (didn't buy anything) followed by a BBQ which was very well attended. Astrid then went off to hospital (after much nagging from everyone) following a fall some days ago as we came out of the restaurant in Marti Marina. She returned late afternoon with the lower part of her leg in a plaster cast! I'm beginning to think that the rally, or Kadir pontoon, is cursed.....the boats involved - Divanty, a bent prop shaft, lost laptop computer, i-phone and mobile phone, Roam II, Fiona with a broken leg, Praslin, Bruce with 14 broken bones in his arm/wrist, Storm Dodger, Astrid with damaged ankle soft tissue and me, Rhumb Do with my rush home for my Mum. Now who said that sailing should be classified as a 'dangerous sport?'
12/10/09 Rewiring of antenna damaged by riggers!
13/10/09 Into town shopping with hopalong (Astrid) for fresh veg and some fish. The usual cat was sitting looking at the trays of fish but never taking any - probably fed up with the same diet! The weather is changing now, down to a chilly 21oC, which I know would be considered quite warm in the UK, the winds are shifting to the south which is not good for my intended next voyage. Also rain and possible thunderstorms are forecast for the next few days, so maybe I'll sit in the marina for a day or so and see what happens - I still have plenty of jobs to do anyway and I would really like to find a crew member for the next six months but it doesn't seem likely at this late stage. I have been looking for over a year now!
14/10/09 Oil change, filter clean, fuel filter renewal (replaced with water sight glass), repaired faulty oil extraction pump - and spent the rest of the day chasing up the marina electricians to fix the shore power supply box which didn't have an earth wired in and has prevented me from connecting to mains power for the last week.
15/10/09 Into town with Roger, Astrid, Jordan and Leah for passport photographs and to the chemist for info on anti-malarial drugs. Got one of my missing jabs too whilst in there but need to go back in a week for booster, which means I can't really sail from here for another week - bummer! I'm also having great difficulty in getting a typhoid booster jab, no-one seems to know where to get the vaccine from! I did manage to locate two more of the required courtesy flags for future country visits.
16/10/09 Awaiting confirmation of boat insurance. Spliced on new control ropes for 'arold (my Aries windvane), obtained another spare impeller for the raw water pump and had Cetin Marine overhaul the pump. The weather is worrying - it's started it's change over to winter winds and is very unsettled and I'm unable to yet make a decision as to whether to sail to Rhodes, Kaş, or go direct to Port Said - or whether to fill up with fuel at Netsel Marina or wait until the next port.
17/10/09 Into town yet again for more shopping (managed to get myself a new 'bendy' bucket) and to visit the State Hospital to enquire about the typhoid jab..... it was closed, so if you are in Turkey, do not get sick over the weekend! I was told to come back on Monday before 8am and see someone in the tropical disease clinic and they could advise me. On the off chance, I went into an independent clinic in town and asked there, the doctor shot across the road and asked at the pharmacy and then informed me that he could have the vaccine by 2pm on Monday and would give me the injection then......result!! Strange that in the UK, all my jabs were free except Yellow Fever whereas that is free here and the typhoid jab will cost me about 60 lira.
18/10/09 Jessica Watson, the sixteen year old from down-under, crossed the start line in Sydney this morning at 09.49 in her attempt to sail solo, non-stop and un-assisted around the World. If she is successful, she will take the 'youngest round' title from Mike Perham of UK. Good luck to her! (Link to her blog)
19/10/09 Still rushing around in town trying to get all the last minute things organised; photocopies of passport, ships papers, crew lists (hey, there's only me!) buying hypodermic syringes, anti-malarial tablets, intravenous drip needles and other medicines for the usual maladies of Egypt and India....not forgetting Eritrea and Sudan of course! The doc. rang me and said he was having difficulty getting hold of vaccine for typhoid (where have I heard that before?), but could I wait until Thursday? Well, I'm due another jab on Thursday anyway, so if the typhoid one is available, I'll have that too.....if not, then I'll have to source it in another country. I'm hoping to leave the marina on Friday and go to anchor for a few days, maybe a week, whilst an anticipated weather front passes over. Speaking of weather (England's favourite topic of conversation), it's still hot and humid during the day here.....around the 30 degree mark, but cooler during the evening and early morning. We have been expecting thunderstorms for a few days which (so far), have not materialised - just a few flashes of lightning and the odd roll of thunder in threatening skies. Today marks my late father's birthday; he would have been 100 today had he still been with us!
21/10/09 Trafalgar Day......and Happy Birthday Sandra. Dinghies and deportation! A trying day for Roger, a miscalculation with Jordan's visa date means that he has 'overstayed' his allotted 90 days and the immigration office want to deport him.....by air.....which of course is extremely inconvenient as we are all intending to sail out of Turkey in the next few days. On Roger's return from the immigration authorities we discovered that his RIB, which had been returned yesterday from the repair shop, had been stolen by the crew of a Russian yacht - and heated discussions, threats of police and marina security were the order of the day on Hotel pontoon! It was reluctantly returned to it's rightful place on Storm Dodger a little while later, the Russians fearing the wrath of an irate Astrid! Another phone call from the doc. in town, and he has obtained typhoid vaccine in Izmir but it won't be in Marmaris until Monday which isn't much good to me as I may have sailed by then, so I had to decline that, rather than waste both vaccine and money.
22/10/09 I went into town and booked the boat out of Turkey at the Harbourmaster's Office, Customs and Passport Police, then visited the pharmacy for my second Hepatitis B injection. Pity that I am unable to get the typhoid injection out of the way too. Roger booked a flight back to the UK for Jordan, who will then fly back to Rhodes and re-join the boat there. Both boats intend to sail from Marmaris tomorrow - which means we will miss the Friday evening 'farewell party' arranged by Thomas of Viva Solo.
23/10/09 So, all the last minute things done, check out of the marina, have a beer in the bar, say goodbye to Thomas, Paul, Gabby and whoever else was there....and cast off. Farewell Marmaris and Turkey! Slipped at 14.30 and motored out into the bay, through the channel and out to sea. I thought that I may be able to motor sail but as soon as I hoisted the mainsail, the wind veered round onto the nose....as usual! So it was a case of motoring across to Rhodes with Storm Dodger in close company. On arrival, Roger went into Mandraki whereas I went into the cruise port and dropped the anchor in 9 metres, had some dinner and caught up on some e-mails.
24/10/09 Mandraki remains as difficult as ever to get a berth and Roger had been trying to get a more secure position within the harbour for Storm Dodger and Rhumb Do but it became apparent that he would have to move out of the overcrowded harbour. We both moved around the wall to a jetty at the head of the cruise port and tied up next to another British yacht, Rockhopper of Lune. A couple of boats along from us is a 'warship lookalike' which is owned by Charles Simonyi, a former Microsoft engineer who oversaw the development of Word and Excel. He is worth an estimated US$1 billion - though exactly why he would want his private yacht to resemble a grey funnel line ship is beyond me! Google 'yacht Skat' and you will see what I mean.
25/10/09 Did you all remember to put your clocks back? The weather forecast for the next 3 or 4 days isn't good for us; the wind is from the southeast - exactly the direction we want to go! Had a generally relaxing day, had a wander through the old town, had a beer with our old friend Suzanne in the Symi bar, then a meal in The Walk In where Leah had been invited to a birthday party. I need to get my tank filled with diesel having opted for the lower Greek price but I cannot get into Mandraki harbour yet.
Sunrise in Rhodes
26/10/09 A storm blew in during the morning and made the berth we were on totally untenable. A large cruiser moored on the same wall was also having difficulties and pulled off, hitting a French yacht on the way out. Once he had gone, there was nothing protecting us from the surge and wind..... and lines began to snap. My dinghy which was tied astern was being pushed under the rising stern, the boat crashing down on it as the stern fell again. Another French yacht was being smashed against the wall - he too pulled off, losing his dinghy, guardwires and stanchions in the process. It was impossible to stay there and both Roger and myself moved off and motored around to my original anchorage where we anchored in 9 metres. A second storm then hit us and the rest of the day and night was very uncomfortable as the boat pitched and rolled in the 2 metre waves and F7 winds.
27/10/09 The winds abated around 2am and I was finally able to grab an hour of sleep. Now in desperate need of fuel but unable to return to the wall, or get into Mandraki Harbour; Roger went in but had to leave again almost immediately, so I decided that the only option left open to me was to return to Marmaris. Not something I wanted to do and I was loathe to do so, but Rhodes remains the most inhospitable place in the Aegean (for yotties), so I had no choice. Sailed back to Marmaris Bay, into Netsel Marina and filled up my tank and jerry cans before motoring over to anchor between Magic Life and Pupa Yacht Marine - that's like someone on the south coast of England sailing over to France just for fuel.
28/10/09 I managed to get some sleep last night, although I didn't go to bed as I was worried about the proximity of another anchored boat - and I was too tired to re-anchor last night. Just after midday, John from Hydrus came over and gave me a hand to move my boat closer to Pupa Yacht Marine, partly because of the other boat and partly because the forecast is for a northerly blow of F6 on Friday. I'm now in a more sheltered spot and with 50 metres of chain out. Storm Dodger, also sick of the weather and unfriendly Mandraki harbourmaster returned to the bay and anchored close to me around 10pm. At last, a good, peaceful nights sleep!
29/10/09 For some reason which I cannot determine, my cockpit VHF speaker has ceased to work and the radio cannot be heard when at the wheel. I went ashore to Yacht Marine in an attempt to find a replacement (no luck) and bumped into Doug of Magic - he told me that Fethiye and surrounding area had also had bad weather, with loads of boats damaged, dragging anchors, lost equipment etc., so we all (Esper, Roam II, myself and Storm Dodger) continue to wait for a better weather window before setting off again.
30/10/09 Dismantled the pilot berth, taking down the deckhead again in order to remove the wiring for the cockpit speaker, then took the whole thing into town to Ege Marine, hoping they can fix the problem with the speaker. To make matters worse, I think I also have a duff engine starter battery which I now need to sort out before leaving again. The weather forecast has also changed and we are now expecting a big blow from the south - I may have to re-anchor on the other side of the bay!
31/10/09 Cockpit speaker returned to me, repaired and in working order again - rewired that and rebuilt the pilot berth. I also fitted a new deck plug for my anchor light, the old one was a pain in the proverbial. My engine starter battery is confirmed dead and it's pulling down the domestic battery bank, so I ordered a new one, which should be here on Monday.
For information on the Vasco da Gama Rally, click HERE
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