Hello
Again
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| 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.
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| SHAMAL, Vourkari, Kea |
The
following morning we set off for the Island of Kea, our first stop in the
Cyclades. Kea is mountainous with a
rather bare landscape. Scattered about
the hillsides are olive trees, and oleander bushes are found around the coast.
They are so pretty as they are in flower over the summer months, and yes I do
know how poisonous they are!! Once away
from the mainland we were able to sail the 12nm out to the Island. We dropped the anchored in Vourkari, in the
NE arm of the Bay of Nikolaou, then went ashore to visit the village. That evening there was a wedding in the
village. We had seen people arriving and
sitting in an outdoor restaurant while ashore.
Well, the party went on till 5.00am!!!
Lots of music and singing.
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| Gavrion, Andros |
So
with little sleep we were on our way by 7.00a.m. Our next stop was the Island of Andros. We were able to sail the whole way with reefs
in the main and jib as the wind was gusting to 38kts at times, but we had a
good sail. Here we dropped anchor in the
harbour of Gavrion. As we were having
lunch we heard whistles being blown. We
did not realise it at first, but the Port Police were trying to get our
attention. We ignored it till they came on the radio and asked us to move
further into the bay as the ferry from the mainland was arriving in 15 minutes
and needed turning room!! So we moved,
and then this humongous ferry steams into the harbour, drops its anchor, and goes
hard astern into the ferry quay. We
would have been a little close for comfort if we had not moved. Again we went ashore for a few supplies and
our evening drinks. Hard life. Andros is a little greener than most of the
other islands in the Cyclades as it has plenty of water, so, more olives, pines
and fruit trees are grown. We were even
visited by a couple of hungry swans.
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| Town Quay, Khios |
From
Andros we headed out to Khios. This is
the island from which mastic comes from – the only island in Greece. It is a resin from a bush from which chewing
gum is made, along with health and beauty products, medicine and varnish. Even
a liqueur is made from it. I bought the
deodorant!! Smells good too. This was a
trip of just over 70nm and we wanted to do it in a day so set off at 6.15a.m.
We had no wind till around 10.00a.m. and then we were away. Again we were able
to sail with the ‘meltemi’ which makes for a nice change. We rounded the S.E.
end of the Island and dropped anchor just as the sun was setting in a nice
sheltered bay. The following morning as
we upped anchor the winds were already 25kts coming down the channel between
Khios and mainland Turkey. We only had a
short distance to the town of Khios, nearly half way up the eastern coast, but
were making no head way, so after two hours of thumping into headwinds and
sharp seas we turned back and dropped the anchor behind a breakwater of a tiny
fishing harbour after only just 6nm.
Just after 4.00p.m. we decided to give it another go, and this time
tacked out to the Turkish coastline and back towards Khios. At one staged we
were only half a mile from the Turkish coast when a voice came over the radio,
“ sailing yacht be advised that you are in Turkish waters “ Ah well time to tack. We were still short of
the town again, so decided to drop the anchor outside yet another fishing
harbour. The following morning we were
up before 6.00 and motored the last 6nm into Khios Harbour. We tied up alongside the concrete quay with
huge black tyres to keep us fended off.
We made sure our fenders were between the tyres and SHAMAL as they leave
really dirty black marks all over your hull.
The water was rather dirty ,and
we read in the cruising guide that sewers empty into the harbour!! Pity as it is quite a nice town, but also
rather noisy when you are tied up alongside the main street running along the
harbour front. We only spent a night there but did manage to see some of the
town. We ate out again enjoying the local food. Oh and yet more music trying to
lull us off to sleep –not !!!
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| Fish Farm off Khios |
The
following morning sees us heading up the channel towards the Island of
Lesvos. This is the third largest island
in Greece. Much of it is covered with
forest of chestnut, oak, pine and our good old olive trees, hence it is greener
and more fertile than many of the other islands. There are so many wonderful bays and coves,
and two deep landlocked gulfs. We could
have spent a good month just exploring this island, but we need to press on if
we are to get to the Black Sea. Again
the ‘meltemi’ is blowing, on the nose at 20kts, but, soon starts to die off. We
pass fish farms which seem to occupy some of the nice sheltered bays. No room for yachts in these places anymore
which is a pity. That evening we drop anchor
in a clean bay outside the harbour of Mitilini on Lesvos under the shelter of
the historic Byzantine Fort, hoping for a good night’s sleep before tying up to
another town quay. There was a bar on
the beach playing music, but we all slept fairly well that night. Once on the quay the next morning Alec gave
SHAMAL a big wash down with tons of fresh water. It felt good to be desalted again. Kaylene and I took a visit to the Port Police
as this was the Island we would be checking out of Greece from. Then it was the
usual boat jobs before taking a walk around the town. Lesvos, like most of the Greek Islands has a
long history dating back to around 3000 B.C .
We walked around the base of the old Fort followed by dozens of what we
think must be stray dogs. The streets in
the old part of town are narrow and winding.
There are still some of the grand old mansions from days gone by. The following day was a day off, and again we
walked through different parts of the town.
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| Mitilini, Lesvos |
The
‘meltemi’ had been reasonable kind to us up to this stage, but now it was about
to change. It had carried us across the
Cyclades and Eastern Sporades without too much tacking, and only being forced
to stop a couple of times. Now things got interesting!! Before leaving Mitilini - our last Greek port
- we visited the supermarket and I stocked up on pork and bacon knowing I will
have trouble finding those in Turkey. Also we visited the fruit and vege
market, bakery and bank. We then took
SHAMAL over to the customs quay to get fuel as we heard it was around two euros
a litre in Turkey, and, we needed to complete our check out procedures from
there.
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| Mitilini, Lesvos |
Just
before 4.00pm – yes it took that long to clear out and get fuel – we were on
our way. We only had a run of 12nm and
it does not get dark now till around 8.30pm. Yes again the winds were on the
nose, but only light so we decided to motor to the Island of Ciplak which is in
Turkish waters. We had stopped and
anchored at Ciplak in 2011 on our first run up to Istanbul. We would continue on to Ayvalik, our check in
port in Turkey in the morning. Again we
had head winds, but only light so motored there and dropped anchor in the
sheltered bay on the southern side of the Island. We had noticed a vibration with the port
engine on the way up so Alec had turned it off and we used the starboard
one. Once anchored he dived to see if
we had something caught around the prop.
Sure enough he came up with shreds of plastic from a plastic bag the prop caught. The winds were increasing, but the island in
front of us gave us good protection.
During the night the winds woke Alec and he got up and switched on the
instruments and found the wind was now gusting 40 kts plus, so he also turned
on the anchor alarm should we drag. I
had plenty of chain out – 55mts in 3-4mts of water- and had been for a snorkel
once we were anchored to see that we were well dug in. The following morning when he checked the
instruments we found we had had a gust of 65.8kts!!!!! during the night. The 25kg. Rocna anchor held firm. The
skipper always sleeps with one eye open.
The Meltemi can certainly have violent gusts.
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Wind Gust, Ciplak Island,
Turkey |
Then
it was on to Ayvalik to check in. We
dropped anchor outside the marina as there was no room inside. Due to the strong winds, boats had not left
the marina on the next leg of their journey, but were waiting for the wind to drop. It was good holding in muddy sand, but I
stayed on board while Alec and Kaylene went to find out what the procedures
were. After a short time they returned
to pick me up as the Harbour Master was out to lunch.
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Shoe Cleaners, Ayvalik,
Turkey |
By evening we were all checked in, having to
use an agent, done some shopping and walked about the town. The first impression we got was that Turkey
is more affluent than Greece. Not all the shops close in the middle of the day
like in Greece. The people are happier
and more friendly, and the shops are all well stocked. After a night anchored out in a more
sheltered bay on the other side of Ayvalik
Lake, we headed north again towards the Dardanelles. After 31nm of sailing we had to take shelter
in the fishing harbour of Babakale, under Cape Burun as winds were now gusting
up to 35kts on the nose. With the strong
winds even in the harbour we had a little trouble coming alongside the quay,
but with the help of other local yacht crew we tied up safely. We had just finished organising ourselves
when a man arrived down from a local restaurant with a huge piece of chilled
watermelon. It was 34degs, so that was
most welcome. There was also a business
card that came with it saying we could dine at his restaurant if we liked. Well
OK. And of course we did that evening, being offered a lovely variety of
scrummy Turkish dishes, including a seaweed dish, and it was not expensive
either. The restaurant was high on the
hill above the harbour with wonderful views looking all the way back to
Lesvos. We are now well off the track of
most cruising yachts and find everything is more authentic which is so
nice. In the afternoon we took ourselves
for a wander around what was an old Greek village which sits on a hillside
overlooking the harbour. There is also a
restored fortress and an old Ottoman cemetery.
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Sheltering in Babakale Fishing
Harbour, Turkey |
We
had another day of tacking for miles before we entered the entrance of the
Dardanelles and dropped the anchor in Morto Bay on the northern side. We were in the shadow of the huge Turkish Monument for
the Dardanelles Martyrs.
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AIS showing shipping entering
the Dardanelles |
The
next day we prayed for no wind and not too strong a currents as we negotiated
our way up the Dardanelles. We only went as far as Canakkale where again in
strong winds we had trouble mooring to the yacht quay. In fact this time it got
the better of us and we ended up with a horrid big chip out of the gel coat on
the starboard stern. Alec has since
fixed it up and it is as good as new now. We then took the local ferry to
Ecebat which is on the northern side, and set off in a hire car around the
Gallipoli Peninsula. Our first stop was
the new Museum which they call a Simulation Centre. It takes just over an hour to visit and you
are taken through the different stages of the war in 13 different ‘chambers’
where some of the films are done in 3D.
It is very well done, and of course from the Turkish point of view. This
was not finished when Alec and I visited in 2011. We then set off to visit some of the war
cemeteries.
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| Ecebat, Dardanelles |
The
following afternoon we are moving on again praying for no wind and again not
too strong a current. With another night
stop north of the Dardanelles we make it to Istanbul where Kaylene will leave
us. We motored those last two days, but
were glad of no wind because when it does blow here it would have been on the
nose for us. In 2011 Alec and I were
stuck on Marmara Island for ten days due to the winds. So the following morning we took Kaylene
ashore and say our goodbyes. She has
been a great crew member and fun to have on-board.
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We carry anything!!
Dardanelles |
We
will sign out for this leg.
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Sunflower Fields,
Gallipoli Peninsula |
Lots
of Love
The
Admiral and The Commander
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