Returning to Turkey and Greece

Goodbye Black Sea

Hello One and All




Shipping in the Bosphorus

It is Saturday 28^th September and we are sitting in Poyraz Fishing Harbour at the top of the Bosphorus, Turkey.  It is time to up anchor and move on again towards our winter home in Lefkas Marina on the Island of Lefkada – Greece - in the Ionian Sea.  We still have a lot of miles to cover, but hopefully the autumn will be kind to us with warm days and good sailing conditions.  Also we have the Bosphorus, our “open air” museum, to share with Judith and Graham.  So that is just what we do – up anchor on a lovely sunny morning, cross over to the European side of the strait, and head off towards the heart of Istanbul.  Being my fourth trip along the Bosphorus I become quite the tour guide telling one and all, or whoever will listen, what we are passing!! I am not really a city person, but there is something about Istanbul that other cities don’t have.  Maybe it is because it stands at the crossroads between east and west divided by a stretch of water that has seen more historical events than most others.  But what Istanbul also has is a rich cultural heritage for being the capital of Rome, Byzantine and the Ottoman Empires, in days gone by.  I wanted Judith and Graham to see something of this.

Romania and Bulgaria

Hello Again

Yacht Club, Odessa

Romania and Bulgaria were two of the countries we had not done a lot of homework on.  We had just not had the time, so we really were venturing into the unknown.  First we had to get there. 

Romania has a population of 22.2 million.  Its Communist Government was over thrown in 1989, and, they joined the E.U. in 2007.  It covers an area of 238,000 square kilometres, and its coastline is 225km’s long, from the Danube Delta in the north to the Bulgarian border in the south.  Along the coastline are miles of beautiful sandy beaches which become packed in summertime with holidaymakers.  There are no natural anchorages on its coastline, and, only four ports which yachts can use.  Still each of our stops – three in all – were interesting experiences. 

Harbour Masters Office,
Odessa

Checking out of the Ukraine took a little longer than we planned, then we had some local currency we wanted to spend.  A final coffee down on the waterfront is always a nice way to say goodbye to a place and that is just what we did.  I was also able to get Alec some very yummy pastries for the trip ahead.  So it was not till mid-afternoon that we untied our lines and sailed out of Odessa Port, turned south to run down the coast towards the border with Romania.  Yes another night passage. This leg was 102nm.  It was now overcast and the temperature 19 deg. C.  At first we had to motor as once outside the port we had head winds, and that current, yet again, against us.  This part of the coastline is rather low-lying and once we had passed the large commercial port of Ilyichevsk, it becomes difficult to see much.  Just before dark we were able to raise the sails and move along a little more quickly. Then during the night it started to rain, and yes off in the distance some very active thunderstorm clouds, but this time they stayed well away.  

The Ukraine

Arriving into Yalta



The Crimea Peninsula

 

Hello Again

 

We sat in Samsun waiting for the winds to change to leave for our sail back along the coast of Turkey to Sinop.  The winds were light and variable and the seas rolly with white caps.  This seems to be the norm in the Black Sea, so we decided on a 06.00a.m. start for the 87nm run.  With some tacking, then some motor sailing ( wind and current against us ) we arrived back in Sinop just after midnight.  We anchored outside the fishing harbour as there was no room inside.  Not that we would have entered at that time of night anyway. The following day we took the tender ashore for supply shopping, coffee and to download the weather.  Not sure if the latter will really help as we have found with the three different forecasts we use, they invariably are totally different, and, so is the actual weather from what is reported anyway.  Never mind, we need some guide lines for the trip.  We then proceeded with our check out formalities from Turkey.  Once that was done it was back to SHAMAL for an early night as we will leave on daybreak the following morning.  We are now crossing to Yalta on the south eastern coast of the Crimea – Ukraine.

Fancy Dress Anyone

You may be asking why on earth would anyone want to visit the Ukraine ?  We came into the Black Sea as it is “off the beaten track”. As you will have noticed we like to visit these out of the way places, and the Black Sea is described as one of the most isolated of all the world’s great bodies of water.  We had been forewarned about the challenges of dealing with former communist bureaucracies, but we were up for the challenge.  Also Russia is still closed to cruising yachts on its Black Sea ports, and we felt its boarding countries that were part of the old Soviet Union would give us a taste of what life is like in this corner of the planet.

 

Three Pretty Ladies

Ukraine – population of 45 million.  It is the largest European country.  It still has strong ties with Russia with ethnic Russians making up 17% of the population, and Russian being spoken widely.  We still could not tell the difference between Russian and the Ukraine language.  One thing that still intrigues us is that to visit countries like this one needs a ‘letter of invitation’ to get a visa.  In our case it was our yacht agent in Yalta who wrote it out for us.  Never met the man before!!!!!

Inland Travel - Turkey, Georgia, Armenia



Ann at Ani

Yes it’s us again.



Central Anatolia

 Well we are back in Samsun after nearly two weeks away visiting Anatolia – the ancient name for Asiatic Turkey, then into Georgia and Armenia.  This has been a rather epic trip as we covered so much ground in the space of a short period of time, but oh so interesting if not a little crazy at times. We have walked to the back door of Turkey and through the pages of history that go with it.  We were surprised by the startling variety of landscapes, from stark to forested mountains, deep gorges, steppes – wide grassy treeless plains - and highland pastures.  We have again seen Mount Ararat, this time closer and from the Armenian side.  The last time was from the Iranian side.  Our visit into Georgia and Armenia gave us a wealth of historical fortresses, monasteries, churches and ancient ruins.  We have visited museums, monuments and memorials.  As these countries sit between the East and the West it seems everyone has invaded, tried to settle, and traded with this part of the world, each leaving their legacy with some astonishing sites.

Istanbul, Bosphorus, Black Sea - Turkey

Hagai Sophia, Istanbul

Hello Again

 

After a couple of nights anchored in the same spot we used in 2011 - outside the Kalamis marina on the Asiatic side of Istanbul - and nice and close to the entrance to the Bosphorus, it was time to enter the straits again and head towards the Black Sea.  We were all stocked up and looking forward to a new cruising ground.  Alec had even visited the barber he and his brother Richard used in 2011.  They both say one of the best and cheapest haircuts they have ever had. 



Leanders Tower, Bosphorus

We decided to get an early start and were on our way before 6.00a.m.  We wanted to miss the ferries crossing just inside the entrance at the southern end – the Golden Horn end – carrying the morning commuters to work. It’s like "Piccadilly" at the best of times with everything from ferries to cruise ships to tankers and cargo ships of all shapes and sizes, and even fishermen in vessels not much bigger than a log!!!  Well we did NOT miss the ferries.  No they started early as well.  In fact we did not miss any of them, and they seem to be coming from all directions.  We needed eyes in the back of our heads for the first half hour once we entered the straits. 

Southern Greece to Istanbul

Hello Again

Dusk, Vourkari, Kea

 

Once our family had left us in Vouiliagmeni – mainland southern Greece - and with Kaylene – Alec’s younger brother’s wife - as our new crew member, we made our way down the coastline spending a night in the bay of Anavissou.  Chapel Cove was our anchorage that evening and the waters here are clean enough to swim.  We had good shelter from the ‘meltemi’ – the name given to the northerly winds which begin blowing in June and reach full strength in July and August.  They blow throughout the Greek Islands and the coast of Turkey all the way to Istanbul.  They can be extremely challenging making some legs nearly impossible.  You just have to sit in a sheltered bay and wait for a lull, and then motor. 

Sardinia - Capri, Pompeii - Sicily - Greece

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Our second attempt to leave Tunisia and head out to Sardinia was much more successful.  We had a good run and were able to sail most of the way.  It was another overnight trip and we were all tied up in a marina on the southern end of the Island in Villasimius the following morning.  It was here we picked up our friends Bruce and Rachel Roy. The next morning we sailed up the eastern coast to Porto Corallo.  The marina attendant made a big mess of our mooring here by only winding our port line around the bollard and not tying us on, and, in the wind we drifted down onto the starboard line and got it caught around the starboard prop!!! Alec had to take his first swim of the season a little earlier than planned.  All was well and no damage was done thank goodness.

 

Our next port was Santa Maria Navarrese, a very pretty little place tucked in under high hills.  This was our last stop in Sardinia for this season, but we will return next year.  It was here Bruce and Rachael left us.  We spent an extra day here before setting sail for the Island of Capri at the southern tip of the Bay of Naples.  That trip took us 37 hours with us sailing two thirds of the way.  We anchored outside the Capri Marina Grande, spending the night there under the limestone cliffs.  The town is built on a saddle between two summits, with a view looking out to the Bay of Naples.

Sicily - Malta - Tunisia

Hello to You All Again

Tuesday 16^th April - 0700 - It’s a beautiful morning.  The sun has risen.  Not a breath of wind.  Not so much as a ripple on the water.  We untie our lines from our pontoon and motor on slowly out of the marina.  Our time has come to leave Marina di Ragusa, our winter home for the last five months.  Only a handful of yachts have departed for the new cruising season so far, and most of those to other ports to be lifted out to have maintenance done before starting the new sailing season.  We too are heading out early for this very reason.  A lift out in Tunisia.  Ragusa has all the facilities to do a lift out, but the cost is way over the top plus one cannot work on your own boat, and you cannot stay on your boat while it is on the hard so there is the extra expensive of staying in a hotel.  Our first stop will be Malta.  On board with us we have another New Zealand couple Helen and Kerry, who are hitch hiking to Malta to do some business.

The Winter of 2012 - 2013 Marina di Ragusa, Sicily

Hello Again Everyone

First of all a very big thank you to all of you who have been keeping in contact with us over the last six months.  Yes we are still out here.  I know a number of you have been wondering why we have not updated our newsletter, and the blog, as the sailing season is now under way here in the Mediterranean.  The reason is I am still without a computer after all the problems I had at the end of last year, and I won’t be replacing it till the end of this year when I will be going to Abu Dhabi.  So I am using Alec’s old one which has also caused us some major headaches at times.

Well Spring has arrived with blustery winds which just don’t seem to stop blowing, mostly from the wrong direction too! It is also still quite cool.  Bring on those lazy hazy days of summer.

South - Venice Back To Sicily

Hello to You All Again

First I must apologise to all who have written, for not getting back to you sooner.  I have had a MAJOR disaster – my computer decided
I had bashed it around for long enough and given it too much sea air, so gave up totally.  A trip to an Italian specialist where he worked on it for a week trying to revive it, made no difference. But he did manage to transfer my photo file onto an external hard drive thank- goodness, otherwise I would have had to make Alec retrace our WHOLE trip so far, to replace them – Yeah Right!!!!!  Then we had a few issues with Alec’s computer which he has finally sorted thank goodness, so I will be using his till I can replace mine.  I won’t do it here in Italy as my Italian is not quite up to explaining what I would like.  In fact my Italian is all of two to three words!! But I do have all the hand waving etc. and to date are getting along just fine.  Hopefully I can add another three words to my vocab soon.  OK now back to the matters of our Adventures to date.