Wind in our sails once again...

> Posted on 17/07/08

It has been a long, hot and sticky eight weeks since our incident with the Sunsail charter yacht but we now see light at the end of the tunnel and hope to resume our voyage westward in the next few days.

The damage to Wayne's hand was more serious than either of us initially thought. Three weeks after the incident he had regained very little movement and retained a lot of swelling. The Orthopaedic surgeon therefore referred him for physiotherapy, where he was informed that it would take six weeks to recover full movement; given daily exercises to perform and a ridged support, like a cast, to wear at night. We were quite concerned at the slow healing progress at this point but the physiotherapy made a huge difference over the following three weeks. He has now regained full movement with only a small amount of swelling and deformity to the knuckles and is now working on building the strength back.

Hitrapia also no longer looks beaten up. A shiny new pulpit has been fabricated and fitted by 'Eddy's Yachting' in Fethiye so she's raring to go!

Unexpectedly, some friends from the UK flew out to visit us 7-14th July, due to the prospect of another vacation on their own yacht in the UK with 17°C and showers, so we finally got to explore the beautiful coves of Fethiye Bay with company. It felt wonderful of course to be sailing again, swimming and snorkelling from the boat, anchored with a line ashore tucked into a peaceful cove. It was also a very good test of Wayne's hand, hoisting the mainsail and heaving up lazy lines with no setbacks or too much swelling.

Having only escaped our winter berth twelve days before the incident happened, our incapacitated time here has been rather upsetting and frustrating, being fully aware of the delightful early summer cruising we were missing. But we tried not to let it stop us exploring completely and still managed to enjoy messing about in boats. Not being able to explore in our own boat we took a gulet trip around the islands and to Gocek Sunday market, with 3 swim-stops en-route and lunch included. Having persuaded some fellow cruising friends to join us, we all thoroughly enjoyed being chauffeured around without the personal responsibility of our own boats. Our next trip to sea was on a 'Flying Dolphin' (fast Hydrofoil) - a first for us - to Rhodes for the day, in order for us to gain new 90 day visa's on re-entering Turkey. We had hoped to sail Hitrapia from Fethiye to Rhodes in May so it felt quite special to be visiting at last, but sadly very hurried with just four hours ashore! Friends Terry and Fiona also gave us an opportunity to escape the heat and entrapment of the marina by inviting us out for a day sail on Roam II, with lunch at anchor and more swimming on the agenda too.

We would like to say a special thank you to everyone who has spent time with us in Fethiye or contacted us with well wishes; you have kept us sane and our spirits off the bottom.

An unplanned pause...

> Posted on 02/06/08

Having chosen a light airs day to make our passage north towards Fethiye, we enjoyed a calm passage past 'The Seven Capes' and were even fortunate, once again, to get a favourable afternoon breeze, allowing us to sail the last one and a half hours of our journey before settling at anchor to the West of Fethiye town, off Ece Marina.

Many cruisers speak very highly of the Gulf of Fethiye, some known to spend the whole season pottering around its many beautiful bays, enjoying short sails across its sheltered waters. It is Turkey's equivalent to Greece's Inland Sea of the Ionian Islands, therefore, as we had passed it by last season sailing from Marmaris overnight to Finike, we thought we should visit before leaving Turkish waters for Greece. It also seemed the perfect place to hang out and wait to catch-up with friends Terry and Fiona on their new boat Roam II, who we had not seen for almost two years.

Our wonderful rendezvous did work out just a few days later, but unfortunately, our luck took a turn for the worse when we were hit, whilst at anchor, by a Sunsail Charter Yacht on Thursday 22nd May. Hitrapia, being quite tough for a little one, is now sporting a bent and off centre pulpit, but came off far better than Wayne, who's right hand got crushed between Hitrapia's pulpit and the Sunsail yachts pushpit in the collision.

With Hitrapia berthed safely in Ece Marina, Wayne has attended the Esnaf Hospital four times in the past ten days and is slowly regaining some movement in his fingers. The Orthopaedic Surgeon removed the compression bandages yesterday and estimates another 20 days to recover full movement with some possible pain and swelling for up to six months.

We hope to continue our westbound journey once Wayne regains more normal use of his hand but until then it looks like we'll be seeing more of the Fethiye area than we planned. The Ece Marina staff have been very helpful and many cruisers, hearing the news, have stopped by to wish us well and lift our spirits. Being delayed in Fethiye also made it possible to meet-up with other Warrior owners and friends, Ian and Heather of 'Blackfoot Warrior', who had sadly pulled out of the EMYR due to a family bereavement.

2008 cruising season begins!

> Posted on 16/05/08

After patiently waiting for an early Meltemi to blow itself out, followed by a couple of days of black heavy skies, rain, thunder and lightening - not a pleasant way to start the season - we finally got a favourable weather window to slip our winter lines from Kemer Saturday 10th May.

With prevailing NW's in this area we've been most fortunate to enjoy a number of passage making days with favourable Easterly winds of 15-25 knots that have pushed us along nicely between anchorages at Cavus Limani, Kekova Roads and on to the town of Kas. We've enjoyed a number of days here absorbing it's charm, tasting it's delights and meandering the narrow streets of old wooden houses, now chic linen, jewellery and antique shops. Tomorrow we plan to sail towards Fethiye, continuing our journey along the Turkish Lycian coast.

Best laid plans…

> Posted on 29/03/08

Firstly, apologies for not posting an up-date for sometime - it was not our intention to be so illusive this winter but rather that we have spent the last few months very differently than we planned. After choosing to winter in Kemer because of its fantastic choice of activities, good climate and diverse boating community, it seems we were destined for a different experience, as we unexpectedly flew out of Turkey 13th December and did not return until 9th March. On 4th December we received a Skype call from Canadian friends Paul & Sheryl Shard, which altered our immediate plans dramatically and turned our settled routine in Kemer into a frenzy of new preparation. Having recently took a late delivery of their brand new Southerly 42RST - 'SV Distant Shores' - in Chichester they were beginning the long, but exciting, passage back home. They had the good fortune to get a great weather window so late in the year to cross the Bay of Biscay, enabling them to escape British waters not only safely but calmly. Calling us from Cascais, Portugal, they asked if we would like to crew for their Atlantic crossing; as they were putting to sea for the Canaries the very next day we had to make an ‘on-the-spot’ decision - and of course that decision was ‘yes’!

We have future plans to cross the Atlantic with Hitrapia and felt it was an opportunity not to be missed. Paul & Sheryl have cruised for 18yrs and crossed the Atlantic three times previously with their 37ft boat ‘Two Step’, so we were more than comfortable with their experience levels and knew that we could learn much from making the passage ourselves. There was much to do aboard Hitrapia as we had not planned to leave her unattended for any length of time. We estimated being away some 6-8 weeks as we would fly back from the Caribbean to the UK before returning to Turkey. Fuelled by excitement we stripped Hitrapia of her sails and unnecessary deck gear and did our best to pack as sparingly as possible for The Canaries; for sea; the Caribbean and the UK! On the evening of the 13th December (our 10th Wedding Anniversary) we left Hitrapia in Kemer and arrived at Las Palmas marina, Gran Canaria around 4.30pm the next day.

It was an exciting rendezvous with Paul, Sheryl and their new boat ‘Distant Shores’. So much ahead of us all and so much to catch up on, and yet surreal to be there at all, as we had said our farewells last May in Malta, not knowing when or if we’d meet again. The plan was to set sail within 48hrs of us arriving (16th) but Paul & Sheryl were still awaiting delivery of a water-maker which was held up in customs in Madrid and did not arrive for another week; although both boat and provisioning preparations took longer than anticipated and with all of us working hard for nine days we finally departed for Antigua on Christmas Eve. The 19 day passage on the whole was a good one, though not text book at all. Heavy weather to begin with and frustrating Doldrums to finish, with only perfect Trade-wind days in the middle, but wow, what an experience. Whilst encountering the Atlantic Ocean’s roll; its magical wildlife; the downwind sleigh ride; tropical rain squalls; explosive sunsets; mesmerizing star-filled skies; mid-ocean New Year festivities; enormous team spirit; great conversation and sharing along with intense isolation. Angie attempted to keep a brief journal of events and emotions which she hopes to post on the website in the future. Having sailed 2,974 miles, on the 14th January 2008 we made landfall in Antigua, all rather exhausted having all been mostly on watch since spotting land just after nightfall. It was our first ever visit to the Caribbean and magical to be moored at the historic Nelsons Dockyard in English Harbour. Sadly, due to Paul & Sheryl’s ‘Share the Sail’ commitments we were there less than 36hrs before sailing on to a remote but beautiful anchorage with two new crew. Just enough time to re-fuel, clear immigration, clean the boat, re-provision, get laundry done and treat ourselves to lunch at the fantastic Admiral’s Inn. Paul and Sheryl had been great to sail with and such easy company to be around, we felt fortunate to be invited to remain onboard ‘Distant Shores’ to experience a little more of the Caribbean. After Antigua we enjoyed the islands of Barbuda and St Maarten before flying back to the UK 21-22nd January via Paris.

Having been disappointed not to have had the time to visit everyone we would have liked on our previous visit home in October, we now had another opportunity with the freedom of not having booked return flights to Turkey. As we were in no hurry to rush back to Turkey Wayne had also decided to visit his GP as he had not felt 100% well before the Atlantic trip and his symptoms had gotten worse during the crossing. Due to the slow procedures of the NHS, six weeks was rather longer than we’d anticipated staying but we made the most of our time between blood tests and surgery appointments visiting friends all over the UK from Cornwall to Scotland! Come the second week of March, Wayne required more blood tests in 6-8 weeks time. Now having more idea of a diagnosis, we could deal with the next set of tests in Turkey and that it was time for us to return to our home, Hitrapia.

Having spent three months on the move, living out of a bag, it felt good to be back aboard; although it took us a while to get straight and re-organised. The Kemer community welcomed us back most warmly and were keen to hear the details of our trip. Now, just three weeks down the line, it hardly feels like we were ever away. We have been enjoying the warm spring weather and the numerous events and activities that the Kemer Liveaboards organise and support, as well as making a concerted effort to catch-up on our boat maintenance jobs. Our Atlantic crossing and brief taste of the Caribbean has reaffirmed our initial enthusiasm to make the crossing ourselves. Therefore, having enjoyed two years pottering eastward deeper into the Med, we now feel it’s time to start heading back west, stopping once again at some favourite spots and no doubt discovering lots new.