Summer's end, Autumn in the UK and Winter begins with an unexpected blow (to the budget)!

> Posted on 30/11/07

For the last two weeks of our cruise this season we were fortunate to enjoy an extra pair of deck hands and the wonderful company of our good friend Phyllis. Sailing between Marmaris and Kemer, we experienced a very special night sail under a huge full moon and explored a number of ports en-route in the extremely pleasant late September temperatures of around 25-35°C.

A busy start to October set the pace for the remainder of the month. After a few days sight seeing and exploring Kemer and the nearby city of Antalya, Phyllis flew home on the 5th, we lifted Hitrapia out of the water on the 6th and flew back to the UK ourselves on the 7th! We found our 3 weeks back home to be not nearly enough. We thoroughly enjoyed Wayne's Sister's Wedding, naturally a very special event to be home for, and also 6 days in Dorest, camping with Wayne's parents in their brand new mobile home. A little shopping and a few more family reunions soon disposed of the rest of our days and before we knew it we were back on a plane to Turkey.

It was very pleasant to return to Turkey's warmer climate. We had found the UK extremely cold, even though it had been a very mild October, but we had little time to enjoy our beautiful surroundings with 2 weeks boat maintenance work ahead of us. Kemer's winter community had arrived in force during our absence. The marina was alive with new faces and buzzing with the beginnings of numerous organised winter activities. Apart from one Sunday hike, we resisted the temptations and remained focused on getting Hitrapia back into shape and back in the water, otherwise we feared we might remain in the boat yard all winter!

The weather was unusually unsettled the first two weeks of November but despite a few days of torrential downpours we still managed to be ready to launch, as planned, on the 15th November. We had the most perfect, calm, sunny day to re-launch and Hitrapia looked as good as new again. Sadly, the launch was far from perfect. Going through our routine checks as we were being lowered in to the water, Wayne found water flooding into the boat through the stern gear. We were sinking! It transpired that the work we'd had done to fabricate and fit a new Cutlass Bearing had, during the process, fractured our Stern Tube, which on closer inspection must have been weak for some time. After the initial shock and deflation, we now feel quite fortunate that this happened whilst being held in the slings of a crane - other scenarios just don't bear thinking about. Kemer Marina's Technical Services dealt with the problem extremely professionally and efficiently, but sadly for our budget, not at all cheaply. Hitrapia was re-lifted and re-cradled overnight while they awaited delivery of the bronze materials being shipped from Antalya. The following morning a new Stern Tube was fabricated and fitted by 11.30am. By 3pm, we were re-launched with 100% success and safely docked in our snug winter berth!

A number of liveaboards and cruisers who have returned to Kemer for a number of winters, do a superb job of event organisation for the wintering community. It is like no other place we have visited and has us dusting off our Filofax to keep track of our schedule! The week goes something like this; Monday is market day, Turkish Cooking Lessons in the afternoon followed by Quiz/Games Night in the Marina Clubroom. Tuesday and Thursday mornings we have free Tennis Coaching with a tournament every Saturday and Angie has bravely resumed her running regime every other day; English, German and Turkish Language lessons run 3 times a week; Wayne is running an Art Group on Thursday afternoons; Sundays usually see us hiking in the mountains and/or visiting local ancient ruins followed by 'Movie Night' back at the marina. We are also fortunate enough to have the weekly opportunity to attend an Opera, Ballet or Symphony in Antalya. This week we thoroughly enjoyed the Opera 'Ali Baba' for the astonishing ticket price of £2.85!!

So, as you can see, we are very bored and lonely! With such an extensive social calendar here in 'Camp Kemer' we shall have to make an extra effort to keep up with our boat maintenance work. At this rate the winter will pass extremely quickly.

Stuck in the mud up the Dalyan River! > Posted on 16/09/07

We stayed in Bodrum for a little longer than planned after an unexpected reunion with friends on Yacht 'Stella', following their recent curcumnavigation. When we did leave Bodrum to head a little further east, we experienced some quite boisterous and challenging conditions that turned out to give us the best sail we've ever experienced in Hitrapia. We were a little perturbed beginning our passage, beating in to a sharp sea and building wind strength making little over 2.5 knots, but gradually the wind came onto our beam and finally to 120 degrees, blowing around 30 knots. Hitrapia galloped along like a champion thoroughbred maintaining over 7 knots and peaking at 7.8 with just one reef in the mainsail! She performed quite spectacularly and never felt over pressed, proving to us that she'll take care of us across the Atlantic and further afield. Sailing in the Mediterranean has been both disappointing and frustrating this past two seasons, there very often is either too much wind or not enough here. But it is the sea-state that has been our biggest surprise - often hideous with not enough wind to sail making for very tedious and unpleasant passages. Hitrapia struggles in light airs so it was wonderful to be reminded of how beautifully she sails given a descent wind strength to push her through sharp seas.

A couple of day sails stopping overnight at the ancient ruins of Knidos (400BC) and the little harbour town of Datca, saw us make passage to the Bay of Marmaris, a spectacular natural harbour where Lord Nelson organised his fleet for the attack on the French at Abukir in 1798. Sadly the once-sleepy fishing village and harbour of Marmaris has been lost to the concrete sprawl of cheap package tourism so we headed to Marmaris Yacht Marine tucked in the quiet SE corner of the bay. It was a very good move...the marina and boat yard here is excellent value for money with all the facilities one could ask for, including air conditioned showers, swimming pool, gym and sauna for just €15 per night! Then we realised that the price of one month here is the same price as one week!! So we have spent the last two weeks chilling out here and are enjoying meeting new people. Ironically our neighbours are fellow Midlander's, and there are two other Warrior's here, Blackfoot Warrior and Grey Glider, so we have been busy swapping notes and stories.

As Hitrapia is safely moored in a marina, we recently took the opportunity to book a days excursion up the Dalyan river. We visited Iztuzu beach, one of the Mediterranean's last remaining nesting sites for the Loggerhead turtle, the breathtaking Lycian tombs of Kounos and the very smelly hot springs and mud baths of Sultaniye. Wayne braved the supposedly youth bringing dip while my excuse was to photograph the event to give you good people a laugh!

Apart from the fact that it is still well over 30 degrees here, far too hot for much energetic sight seeing, we are also now tiring from our passage this season. We are therefore in no hurry to leave the relaxation of Marmaris Yacht Marine and intend to stay a while longer. Our winter berth in Kemer, about 150 miles away, is booked from the 1st October, Hitrapia is being lifted on the 5th and we fly back to the UK on the 7th to enjoy three weeks back home and a family wedding.

Across the Aegean with the 'Meltemi' and landfall in Turkey.
> Posted on 29/08/07

Back in the Spring, planning our trip across Greece to Turkey, looking over a chart of the Aegean Sea, we envisaged an idyllic, easy cruising ground if we were careful to dodge the Meltemi (a strong to gale force summer wind in this area). With 1,400 islands one imagined no long passages, only pleasant day sails in the sun, with numerous harbours and anchorages to choose from. Crossing the central Cyclades in the month of August proved quite different. The islands in the west were terribly overcrowded with charter fleets pouring out of Athens. We have since learned that this area has the highest concentration of yachts in the whole of Greece. Harbours are insanely pressed for space which proved not only stressful but damaging to Hitrapia and our nerves. We ditched our original plan to cruise the islands of Poros and Hydra on a SE path and made two longer distance passages, between the Meltemi, to the central Cyclades islands of Paros and Naxos.

Here the harbours were a little less crowded but small so we opted for anchorages, which called for more vigilance when choosing to ensure good protection from the Meltemi. After spending a week anchored beneath the ancient ruins of the unfinished Temple of Apollo, sitting out another Meltemi and watching with horror the ugliness of the sea with only F5 winds, we made the decision to push eastward once again. Leaving the mid Cyclades which bear the full brunt of the Meltemi for the Dodecanese. The Cyclades have much more to offer than we experienced but August was not an appropriate time to visit by boat. There is much to explore but we rarely felt comfortable leaving the boat for long with the combination of the heat, the crowds and the Meltemi. We hope to re-visit these islands someday in the springtime.

Again chosing to move on between the Meltemi, we sailed overnight from Naxos to the well-known and popular island of Kos. After an unbelievably frustrating passage which threw a bit of everything at us we couldn't have been happier to radio Kos Marina requesting a visitors berth, to which a pilot boat came out to greet us and escort us in. For €20pn Kos Marina was not only excellent value for money but offered exceptional service and facilities. As with everywhere we visited in Greece in August it seems, they were also fully booked and were only able to offer us a berth for 3 nights which we gladly accepted. Having not been in a marina for a month we made good use of our time there, the decadence of a laundrette, Hitrapia got a well deserved fresh water wash, we also wallowed in the marina's excellent shower rooms, and the town itself even though touristy, was pleasant and interesting. The 14th century castle was of particular interest to us having spent so much time in Malta, it too was built by the Knights of St John. The Hippocrates Plane Tree also still stands here, although much aided by scaffolding, marking the place of his first teachings.

But Turkey's presence just across the water was far too tempting to keep us in Greece any longer and on Friday 24th August we left Kos marina for Turkish waters. A few hours later we were anchored in the lee of St Peters Castle, another Castle of the Knights which over-looks Bodrum Marina. We enjoyed lunch in this spectacular setting while awaiting confirmation of a marina berth. Although the marina was at 140% capacity they helpfully accommodated us, sending a pilot boat to escort us to our berth where marina staff were waiting to take our lines and welcome us to their country. Apart from a brief trip into Morocco, this is our first time outside the EU with Hitrapia and Bodrum Marina has certainly made an excellent first impression. Having heard several horror stories about the complexity of clearing into this country we found the officials most friendly and completed the whole process in about 1 hour 15 minutes. We now intend to leisurely cruise south and eastward along the Turkish coast, some 220nM to Kemer, Nr Antalya, our winter destination.

Patras, Greece's 3rd largest city and a hive of activity, was a pleasant contrast to the small village harbours of the Ionian Islands. As it was approaching Wayne's Birthday we took advantage of the city's convenience for shopping and he was treated to a PlayStation Portable. Quite a treat as we both gave up birthday gifts when we moved aboard Hitrapia 3 years ago! The morning of his birthday, we left Patras marina and sailed under the largest suspension bridge in the World towards the Island of Trizonia in the Gulf of Corinth. The Rion Andirrion spans 2,290 metres joining the Peloponnese to Western Greece. Trizonia is the only inhabited island in the Gulf of Corinth. Having just 55 permanent residents, about as many cats and no roads, it was a very tranquil stop.

From our next port Itea it was possible to visit the ancient site of Delphi (4th Century BC). The ancients regarded Delphi as the centre of the World and from its stunning location on the slopes of Mt Parnassos, extending into a valley of cypress and olive trees, one can see why. Finding the energy to do anything other than swim, read or sleep in Greece's souring August temperatures has been difficult. But having made the effort to catch the first bus of the day, at 7.15am, we enjoyed 3 hours at the site, beating the intense heat of the day and the crowds before ducking into the air-conditioned museum.

After a rendezvous with fellow cruisers from our winter in Malta who were heading west we set sail eastward to what seems like the 'dead-end' of the Gulf of Corinth. On Saturday 4th August, after a 2hour wait in 20knots of wind and a 2m sea, we were finally given permission by traffic control to enter The Corinth Canal. Despite the tedious and uncomfortable wait it was an impressive and exciting passage. Cut through solid rock joining the Ionian sea with the Aegean Seas, the canal is over 6km long, just 23m wide and its sides rise 90m above the water. Started by Nero in AD 67 it was not completed until the 19th century by a French engineering company. It is allegedly the most expensive canal in the world per mile and cost us €127 for Hitrapia's mere 10.7m, but what an experience!

We are now in the Saronic Gulf on the island of Aegina, just south of Athens. We had intended to visit Athens from here but after visiting Delphi we think it rather impossible to cram Athens and the Acropolis into a hot August day trip. A weekend trip from Turkey during the winter months is now on the cards. From here we plan to island hop across the Cyclades towards the Dodecanese, it is set to be our most challenging part of the season. Gale force winds frequently blow in this area during the summer months, strongest in August. Our little holiday is probably over, we're preparing to batten down the hatches!

After eight and a half months in Malta, we said some difficult farewells and finally slipped our lines Monday 11th June, (a month later than planned), to begin our 2007 adventure further east into the Mediterranean. As Valletta's dominant skyline faded behind us we pointed Hitrapia's bows to 065 degrees. It is true what they say... we smelt Kephalonia long before we could make out its rugged towering mountains. The aroma of thyme, oregano and bay leaves awoke our senses to pastures new, and seventy hours later on Thursday 14th June, we made landfall at Argostoli, the very pretty capital port of Kephalonia, the largest of the Greek Ionian Islands.

The 3 day passage was uneventful other than our fluxgate compass breaking down on day two, suddenly veering us 110 degrees off course. After the initial sombering thought of hand steering for the last 24 hours of the trip, we thankfully discovered we could fool the auto-helm into thinking it was steering 175 degrees when it was really steering 065 degrees! Starting the season with a long passage was a great way for us to rediscover our sea legs and get back in-tune with Hitrapia after so many months in port. After slinging our kedge anchor over Hitrapia's stern for the first time, we were safely moored bows-to our first Greek town quay. We'd made it... back to where our dream began just 5 years ago on a Sunsail charter holiday!

We have spent the last 4 weeks leisurely pottering around the islands of Meganisi, Levkas, Kephalonia and Ithaka and have been fortunate enough to meet up with, not only fellow cruisers from our winters in Portugal and Malta, but also a number of British friends chartering yachts here on holiday. It really feels special to be back in the Ionian islands with our own boat. It is even more beautiful than we remember. Our time here has made the more challenging days, weeks and months of the past 5 years totally worthwhile! Sadly the islands are now becoming over-crowded, therefore a few days ago we bid farewell to the Ionian and made passage into the Gulf of Patras, visiting Missalonghi before heading to the city of Patras. Having thoroughly enjoyed our little 'holiday' in the Ionian, we're looking forward to this next chapter in our voyage.

Our winter here in Malta has been fantastic! We've experienced a warm climate, the islands even warmer people and thoroughly enjoyed exploring its historical sights together with visiting friends and family. Our destination this winter attracted an astonishing 14 people to visit us, just wonderful to spend quality time catching up and gifts of rich fruit cake, Earl Grey tea, cheap Gin, Scotch and fresh reading material were of course an added bonus!

While all this fun was had, the weeks slipped by so very quickly, we can hardly believe that it's April. The countdown clock to our departure and the beginning of our 2007 cruise is now ticking very loudly. We're knuckling down to business, working hard preparing Hitrapia for another season. As well as the annual cleaning, polishing and waxing maintenance we are re-designing and installing a new holding tank system and unexpectedly re-fitting all our windows. It seems that we were ill-advised when fitting them 2 years ago and it came as quite a shock when Hitrapia began to spring leaks. Thank goodness for Vaseline (used as a temporary sealant) and that Malta had a dry winter! We are now re-bedding them all on an adhesive/sealant appropriate for polycarbonate that is also highly UV resistant. A very destructive and time consuming process which we hope will last longer than another two seasons.

When the work overalls come off each day we wind down with our heads buried in a new pile of Cruising Pilots, charts and Lonely Planet guides, planning our route and getting enthused by new landfalls. We're very excited to be sailing through the Greek Islands and east to Turkey this year as this is where our dream began - on a Sunsail two week charter holiday in the Ionian, back in 2002. To be cruising these beautiful islands at our own pace, in our own boat will be a dream come true. As for Turkey, we have never visited and are not quite sure what to expect - but if it's as good as what we've heard from other cruisers, then we're in for a real treat!