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Dorcas Chase
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June 2015 and we ve been back in Turkey now over a month. Scally spent what, according to the locals, was the wettest winter they remember sitting on the hard at Albatros marina in Marmaris.

We had an inland trip booked to Cappadocia which helped break the frustration of sitting on a work dock with guys crawling all over your boat.

She now organises tours for local yachties and it was on one of her trips that we went. Unusually, together with one other American couple, we were the only yachties out of 24 people on this trip.

Cappadocia is located close to the centre of Turkey which is a big country; we had a night enroute staying in a hotel in Konya. have been turned into desirable residences over the years.

1 June 2015 and we ve been back in Turkey now over a month. Scally spent what, according to the locals, was the wettest winter they remember sitting on the hard at Albatros marina in Marmaris. The list of work completed is extensive, hopefully the biggest until we eventually get back to NZ. We had an inland trip booked to Cappadocia which helped break the frustration of sitting on a work dock with guys crawling all over your boat. There s an old expat American who has lived on a boat in Marmaris longer than Blatter s reign of corruption at Fifa. She now organises tours for local yachties and it was on one of her trips that we went. Unusually, together with one other American couple, we were the only yachties out of 24 people on this trip. The others were all expat poms now living in Turkey. So it was an interesting group with which to spend five days exploring Turkey s innards. Cappadocia is located close to the centre of Turkey which is a big country; we had a night enroute staying in a hotel in Konya. have been turned into desirable residences over the years. The modern way to take in the scenery is by hot air balloon, even the 3:30am start doesn t distract from the adventure. We were up on the huge central plain maybe 800m above sea level and surrounded by snow-capped mountains. This plain is green and fertile accounting for the incredible fruit and veg to be enjoyed in Turkey. It also has some big industry, we passed a massive Merc Truck factory which forms it s own town. We d read and heard about Cappadocia and in real life it doesn t disappoint, the landscape is amazing, huge mushroom shaped rocks that

But there s more, the next day we got to visit an underground city, one of many, that housed 35,000 Christians several levels underground for 3 to 4 months at a time as they hid from the invading

2 But there s more, the next day we got to visit an underground city, one of many, that housed 35,000 Christians several levels underground for 3 to 4 months at a time as they hid from the invading Persian armies. On the trip back to Marmaris we stopped at Pamukkale to visit the famous white terraces. I think it s classified as one of the wonders of the world and it is an amazing sight but now very touristy. The hotel we stayed at had somehow fluked a 5 star rating. It was built around a number of hot mud pools which were nice to lie back in but it was a bugger to get the mud out of all your crevices later on. It was here that I witnessed another wonder of the world. We d seen these foot cleaning fish in Asia but never given it a go. It s a weird experience but the big mystery was why when Glor put her feet in the pool all the fish abandoned everyone else and she looked like she was wearing very thick ugg boots. I have my theory on this but will keep it to myself. Back at Albatros the work had progressed, the mast had been off, rigging replaced and it was back in position. The rigger did a great job, reckons he found two broken wires in the starboard shroud when it was cut off from the swage, good idea to get it replaced then! We d got to know some of the trades guys quite well by this stage so when yet another system failed (seven year marine industry built in redundancy), this time it was the kiwi designed Fusion stereo system, Ali the electrician had the frustrating job of replacing it. Frustrating as the new head unit was not compatible with the old remotes. In the process I talked secretly with Ali about enhancing the system during the upgrade with a subwoofer. So one day he turns up onboard with a large box under his arm and tells Glor it s a circuit board. We now have the ability to get own back and annoy the tourist boats if we wanted to. Turkey is such a safe culture to live within; crime is at a relatively very low level. We went shopping the other day with our shopping cart. It start to piss down with rain, thunder and lighting, so we left our cart under a foot bridge and went and had coffee down the road. You would never feel safe doing this in NZ never mind Liverpool, people here are just so honest. Tomorrow is election day here, If the current party gets re-elected it could be the end of democracy for Turkey. I know this sounds a little dramatic but from what I understand and observe, although its incredible complicated, the current majority party is dominated by the president. He in turn is attempting to return Turkey to dictatorship rule, with himself in power, moving the country to a more Islam fundamentalist state. It s very worrying for the people on the south western coast of Turkey, the press is getting supressed and people who speak out are being imprisoned. It s now weeks later, the election didn t produce a majority party so talks are still under way trying to form a government, failing this they face another election later in the year. We finally left Marmaris having made the call to move out rather than wait another couple of weeks for the second replacement pump for our new watermaker. It means that we ll return to Turkey at the end of this season

rather than end up in Sicily as planned. This will work well for us next season as Scally will be ready to go as soon as we arrive back and our 18 month EU clock will be reset.

We make landfall in Greece at Symi Island but avoided another Rat bay experience. This time we anchored in a beautiful long narrow bay which looked like it offered good shelter.

3 rather than end up in Sicily as planned. This will work well for us next season as Scally will be ready to go as soon as we arrive back and our 18 month EU clock will be reset. The late start means we re well into Meltimi season and the strong northerlies that can blow for a week or more without any letup. We make landfall in Greece at Symi Island but avoided another Rat bay experience. This time we anchored in a beautiful long narrow bay which looked like it offered good shelter. Unfortunately as the day progressed the wind built and we started to get bullets rocketing down the high surrounding hills reaching 45knots and blowing the of the water ito what looked like horizontal white water shower. To make matters worse we re still in the range of charter boats one of which determines he would be better sheltered nearly on the beach at the top of the bay. During his imperfect manoeuvre he managed to lift the anchors of boats that had sat there for the past week and somehow disturbed Scallys. Boats started dragging, the wind built further and other boats joined in, it was chaos, worse than Liverpool s defence this season. Luckily it was still light and order was restored before nightfall, Glor taught me a few new derogatory names for male captains. as going stern to in the harbour isn t the best orientation for Scally as we pivot from the anchor well below the mast rather than the bow. This can mean we get very friendly with our downwind neighbour if the wind hits us on the beam. This however is a minor issue compared with anchor knitting. Anyway we timed it right, got a big gap on the basin wall, and proceeded to do the full circuit of the town on foot as typically the three authorities we need to visit are evenly spaced around the proximities of the town. First stop was the Port Police, fulfilling the immigration role. Up the outside steps to the first floor and turn right at the balcony barricade which is holding back hordes of refugees. These are the first we ve seen this season and won t be the last. Mainly male, but amoungst them many families with young kids and babies. Its incomprehensible how they manage to first cross the border and then walk through Turkey before somehow finding a boat to escape to Greece. It took us two days on a coach to make that trip. They should be happy now as they ve made it to the EU and will get shipped to the mainland for processing soon, however the songs they sing to pass the time of day sound very mournful. The next day looking for and finding new excitement we moved around to Symi port to go through the entry procedure for Greece. We don t normally stay in a local town basin It serves as a distraction for us as we wait for the official to honour us with his time. Turns out the young guy was suffering from a big night out but me offering the advice to use more water with his ouzo next time was met with a lecture on how real Greeks would never dilute their ouzo unlike the Turks with

Now the cause of this is sometimes due to just stupid laying of the anchor chain across others, sometimes due to drifting downwind before the anchor is lifted and picking up neighbour s chains then

4 their raki. Now legal in Greece with the clock counting down from ninety days we go to leave the next morning. Characteristically, we re not the first up and away but this gives us the opportunity to watch the best performance of anchor kitting we ve yet seen. Now the cause of this is sometimes due to just stupid laying of the anchor chain across others, sometimes due to drifting downwind before the anchor is lifted and picking up neighbour s chains then Symi harbour adds to this theatre by being so narrow you can also pick up anchors from boats opposite you. Waiting for a gap in the performance we, by some miracle, escape without any drama. We claw our way north 37nm to Palon on Nisiros. Again a town basin but this time very well setup and wide. Spending a few days here sheltering from my mate Meltimi we hire a motorbike to explore inland and view the volcanos crater. Great day out and I ll try to find a picture of the quintessential Greek village we visited. Returning to the harbour the wind is up a little and a new 40ft Lagoon catamaran has arrived and looking to moor. Now this isn t easy as the wind is on his beam and he is trying to drop his anchor avoiding everyone else s as abundant advice is shouted from the dock with arms pointing everywhere. This may appear a little unfair or unfriendly but if he drops in the wrong place and lifts your anchor it can turn horrible very quickly. Now I have to admit that my sudden shift to nice guy Paul was more motivated by selfpreservation that a feeling of charity. Anyway, as our dinghy was in the water I shot out to offer some help or encouragement. Suddenly I was overcome with a feeling of Deja vu as he welcomed me on-board and gave me the helm. Luckily I ve manoeuvred cats in more trying conditions so managed to get him moored without incident. I did reflect afterwards that maybe it wasn t such a bright move as had I damaged his or someone else s boat in the process it could have cost me a few Euro. Anyway we ended up with free beers and some new Greek friends. We left Nisiros on the day the Greek government announced that the banks were closing for a week and that ATM withdrawals were to be limited to Euro 60 per day. Foolishly we only had enough Euro cash for one more moussaka dinner so headed for Kos marina with the idea that we could catch the ferry from there to Buderim in Turkey to hunt for Euro. However as it turned out, at that stage the banks still had some Euro s and the limit only applied to locals. We stressed the ATM s that day to our daily card withdrawal limit and returned for a rerun the next day. We should now have enough cash to last especially as it s looking like there won t be any produce to buy in a few weeks time. Our next venture north got us to Emborios on Kalimnos. We knew my mate was threatening to make an appearance the next day so we picked a sheltered anchorage and tied up to a

We re now up at Arki island stern tied to the rocks and looking forward to a few days of relative calm in this great location.

5 mooring. proving that knots do weaken ropes. My new bridal sports a very flash butterfly knot which is supposed to withstand strain from three directions, maybe seven years of hard work didn t help either. We re now up at Arki island stern tied to the rocks and looking forward to a few days of relative calm in this great location. From here we re well placed to ride the next blow from me mate across to the Cyclades group where we ll meet Rose and Barry on Paros towards the end of this month. Yet another stunning location with five or six tavernas ashore but not much else. Showing off me mate blew so hard one afternoon one arm of Scally s anchor bridal parted sounding like a gun being fired. Luckily we were on-board at the time and could jerry up a temporary fix. The bridal had parted were it was knotted in the middle

From the Balearics to mainland Italy

From the Balearics to mainland Italy Travel letter 2-2004 I t has been a long time since you heard from us. The last news was from Ibiza and the summer is already over and we have winter now! We are in Fiumicino a small village west of Rome.