I guess anybody reading this is aware of the horrible situation in Israel. This blog is about sailing so with a heavy heart, and although I have my own opinion on the matter, I will not get into it here.

26.4.2024 – Friday – Last year we put Two Oceans in Teos marina, Turkey, for the winter. In normal times we would have taken a flight to Izmir and a taxi to the marina, but now there are no flights between Israel and Turkey so we had to improvise. On Wednesday we flew to Athens; on Thursday we took a flight to the Greek island of Chios and since we could not find a ferry to Turkey on the same day, we rented a car and toured the island.

An interesting location was the village of Mesta, a place built in the 12th century having a unique architecture of connected stone houses with narrow streets turning the place into a sort of a maze.

We had lunch in a place called Emborios and had a group of cats surround us wishing to have a share of our food, the remains of the huge portions we got were given to them by the waitress.

 

26.4.2024 – Friday – A 35 minutes ferry trip to Cesme in Turkey and a long taxi ride brought us to Teos and Two Oceans. We had to accomplish a lot of work in order to be able to leave the next day to Greece. One of the jobs was to replace the boat’s markings according to her new registration in the U.K. A new flag, the name and the home port on the back and a carved wooden sign with her new number and the tonnage.

27.4.2024 – Saturday – The yacht agent we employed, Murat Ozbek Acente (+90 5333616166) , cooperating with Inanj of Rodos Makina who took care of our boat, arranged the launching for 0900. At 0800 we presented ourselves at the immigration office which is near the launching basin and had our passports stamped. Murat said:”once you are in the water call me. I will advise the customs and you can sail away”. The procedure when using an agent may be a bit expensive but (being British flagged) is worth every penny.

At 0900 the travel lift came and lowered Two Oceans into the water.

 

We filled our fuel tanks and at 1000 went out of the marina for the 39 miles leg back to Chios. At the beginning we had good wind and could use full sails but later the wind disappeared, came back against us so the engines were started. On the way we tried our luck trolling and had three strikes; each time we caught plastic bags. Where are the fish? It took us seven hours to reach Chios harbor.

We rushed to the authorities and after one hour the entry procedure was completed.

Future plans – sail to Chalkida and have a local friend, Marco the master engineer, work on our port engine. Shimon our friend is joining us tomorrow for that trip. Alas, there is a problem with the weather; the meltemi is going to blow fiercely for the next three days, 25 gusting 35 knots, so we’ll have to wait until the first of May to go out. 

TBC…

24.9.2023 – Saturday – From Bitez the distance to Gumuslik is 15 miles. We were happy to see that there was a free berth on the T dock where water and electricity are included in the exaggerated price. On the first try the anchor did not hold and we had to go out and try again, this time successfully. On the dock we were met by Emet, perhaps the harbor master who immediately informed us that there is (again) a break in the water service. “Maybe later in the evening or tomorrow morning”.

Yoshi and Irit came in the afternoon and we had a really good meal in the evening.

25.9.2023 – Sunday – We are actually on the way north to Teos marina, where we would lift the boat onto the hard for the winter. First stop is Cukurcuk, 19 miles away. The girls had a nice idea of looking for a stop on the way to do some swimming. We found a small bay on the northwest of the bay of Yalikavak, where four big motor yacht were at anchor.

Going on close to twelve noon a westerly wind came and we could  pleasantly sail to destination. We anchored and a delegation, Irit and Miki, was sent to shore to investigate the “simple restaurant” appearing in the guide. The owner, who seemed to be German or a Turk who lived in Germany for a long time and had an interesting appearance, let us understand that the place was far below our expectations.

So back to the boat, where Gili with Irit as a sou-chef, worked for hours to prepare a very good meal: Zukini pie, Moussaka and arugula salad and each of us had his favorite drink.

26.9.2023 – Tuesday – On the way to our day’s target we stopped at a bay called in the guide Mavisehir and on Navionics Seddef. It is not the best place to anchor as the bottom is weed and rocks but we found a spot that was good for a short stay and went for a swim. Then on through a mass of fish farms to St. Nikolau, southeast of port St. Paul. St. Nik is much nicer than its neighbor. One has to be careful as the bottom comes up to 2 meters and less in places.

We had the bay for ourselves; good feeling.

27.9.2023 – Wednesday – With no suitable bay for a swim-stop on the way to Kusadai we decided to have our mid-way break in St. Nikolau. We were greeted by a nice heron sitting on a rock.

taken with a long lens

A visit on shore with the ladies gave Irit the opportunity to take our picture.

Miki, why the strange face?

A short swim to check the passage between the island and the mainland and we were on our way to Kusadasi. Entering the marina we were led to a berth opposite the one we held last time, that is close to the office, the showers and toilets and the exit from the marina.

In the evening as we went out for dinner we could see lightnings far to the south. None of us felt that had any relevance to us, but a short time after we came back drops of rain turned very quickly to heavy rain. We were lucky to be on time to close all hatches. The storm lasted about ninety minutes and it was peace and quiet once again.

This was the last day for Yoshi and Irit on the boat; tomorrow they will fly back to Israel.

28.9.2023 – Thursday – Our plan is to reach Teos marina on Saturday for the lifting out next Monday, so we had two days we could find bays on the way. Today we would  go to an anchorage near Kormen island, a rocky one almost connected to the cape after which one turns to Teos. The sea was flat and oily; we crossed the courses of three fishing trawlers and had to maneuver between them.

We entered the bay with Gili on the bow watching out for a wreck reported in it.

The tip of Kormen on the left

We swam around the bay and were surprised by the phenomenon of air or other gas bubbles coming out of the bottom in many places. The guide tells about hot springs in the bay and that might be the explanation, although I came out of that swim practically freezing.

29.9.2023 – Friday – The light of the early morning painted the Kormen island with beautiful colors. The yacht in the picture came just a few minutes after we did.

We took our time in the anchorage paddling the SUP and swimming. At 1130, just as we raised the anchor the serenity of the bay was shattered by three tourists noisy gulets. We rounded the island and turned north to Teos limani, 1.6 miles to Teos marina as the crow flies and 4.5 miles around land. The ruins of the old city  of Teos are near the anchorage and of course we walked there to see the standard, but always interesting Theater, Agora and a sanctuary for Augustus.

30.9.2023 – Saturday – It took an hour to reach Teos marina, motoring against a rising northerly wind. Teos is a big one, I downloaded the picture from their site.

Once in the marina the marineros guided us into a berth near the basin from which they would lift us up. Near the boatyard, far from everything else in the marina, but that’s only until Monday.

Some of my friends told me about an Israeli yachtsman living here for many years. I called him and he came for a visit.

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Gideon Tur knows the village and the marina people well. He has a 16 meters aluminum yacht which he decided to keep in a boatyard in Chios, Greece , very close to his abode, where the price is half of what they wanted in Teos. Had we known about that option before…

After I told him that I had quite a few maintenance jobs I wanted to accomplish during the winter he recommended a yacht service company called Rodos which he knew well and took me to meet its owner.

Saadik seems to be a nice guy; he does not speak good English, so he suggested that on Monday I will meet his son, who has better English to talk about our needs.

1.10.2023 – Sunday – The day before the boat would be lifted to the hardstand was dedicated to cleaning, Gili doing most of the work. In the afternoon we went to the old part of the town which is actually called Sigacik and pronounced Siaachik. There was a big bazar with a lot of people meandering between shops and eateries, especially those selling sweets.

Gili was hoping to find bananas in the veg market but there were none.

She finally found them in the Migros supermarket near the marina. We had a simple dinner and went back to the boat. On the way Gili saw one of the bicycles the marina scatters for the free use of the people.

“I want to ride it” she said and in her stubbornness refused to listen to her husband who was against her idea. “It is ages since you rode one” I said. She tried to mount the bike and even before she started moving she fell down, hurting a knee, a hand and the top of head. Yachties from boats nearby rushed to help offering ice-packs, water and sympathy. She recovered quite quickly and limped to the boat.

2.10.2023 – Monday – Lift up day! Strong wind in the morning, more than 20 knots. I was a bit worried but the marina guys came on two dinghies and helped us go into  the lifting basin.

So ends our 2023 sailing season. The plan is to come back on the last week of April next year.

Until then – unless I have an interesting story to tell – Adios from Gili and on the way back home.

19.9.2023 – Tuesday – Out of Sogut to Kargilibuk, five and a half miles to the entrance. Stretching your imagination a bit you would say it has the shape of a shoe. You go inside and turn right to a narrow and shallow part of the bay.

As you turn right you see boats that came in before you, med moored to the restaurant’s dock and near it.

We tied to the dock too but thought that the noise from the Gulets would be more than we wanted, so left the dock, anchored and tied to trees on shore. During that operation the starboard webbing was caught by the prop and luckily was released easily. When I tried to tighten the anchor chain I found out that it ran out of too far and the rope connected to it got tangled in the gypsy. It took an hour of labor to disentangle it and pull back the chain into its place.

I went back to the restaurant to make sure they took credit cards. (they did). The man in charge, Ali, wanted me to order whatever we would want to have for dinner in advance. A bit strange but it seemed to be a sort of adventure and I accepted.

As I motored back to our boat I saw a monohull that  came in and a lady on it motioned to me to come. “Can you please tie us to shore?” she said : “I do not know how to do it”. Doing it with the dinghy was not an option due to the shape of the bottom but with a push from Gili I did it swimming.

At 2000 we showed ourselves at the restaurant, the only guests. Ali received us in a pleasant way and all of the food was brought at once to the table.

Ali is the manager, the host, the waiter and also the cook.

This is not a gourmet place but the food was OK and the price not inexpensive. Ali does services to yachts including filling up water and has a small mini-market.

. 20.9.2023 – Wednesday – The day’s target was Yedi Adalari, seven islands, and the anchorage we chose was East Creek. You can anchor on the south of the entrance where a small headland will protect you from the westerlies or go on into the inlet, pass carefully through a bar about 2 meters deep into an area of 5 meters and anchor with lines to shore. The forecast was for winds from the west increasing in the afternoon to 15-25 knots but I was sure we would be well protected in there.

As we entered the inlet we saw a woman fishing from the bank, standing in the water where no trail could be seen. We anchored at 1130, went for a disappointed swim, the water was not clear, saw a few fishing boats tied to the end of the bay and went back to the boat to have lunch. At 1400 the forecast became a reality; we did get gusts of 20 knots but the combination of the anchor and webbing tied to shore kept us safely in place. After our afternoon rest, as we went out of the cabin, we were surprised to see that woman still fishing, taking out very small fish. She only left at 1700, a long working day!

As the sun went down the wind abated, a new moon was seen descending to the west. It should be a quiet night.

Dinner by Chef Gili – Fajitas, far from middle-eastern food but it is good changing your habits.

21.9.2023 – Thursday – Out of the bay we motored seven miles to Buyuk Cati. Looking at it on Google Earth it seems ideal, especially the bay with the red dot.

As we went in there we were repelled by the number of vessels, most of them small fishing boats. We turned to the bay with the yellow dot which was empty and tied stern to to the north shore. Light wind from behind, peace and quiet.

Having seen signs in Turkish with the words “market” and  “Amazon Cafe”  we took the dinghy to the “red” bay. None of the promised establishments were there. Looking at it from the north it did not seem so bad but the area near the dock we tied the dinghy to was full of garbage.

This part of the bay could have been a gem had someone taken care of it. What a pity.

22.9.2023 – Friday – 17 miles from Buyuk Cati to Cokertme. In the beginning some western wind allowed us to sail with no engine, on our left we could see white horses but in front and on the right the sea was light blue and completely flat. Very soon the motor was started, a bit later the jib was furled and we continued to our target. Once in, remembering that in the evening relatively strong wind would blow from the north, we anchored and Gili tied our webbings to the west-northwestern shore.

We tried a different taverna, not Ibrahim’s, for lunch and were not really satisfied. Tomorrow we go west in order to reach Bodrum marina on Sunday, where our friends Irit and Yoshi will join for a few days.

23.9.2023it  – In the quiet of the early morning I sat at the laptop to recheck the plan for the next four days. I very quickly found out that I made a mistake measuring the distance between two night anchorages; I thought it was around 20 n.m and in reality it was 40 which is possible but not likeable by the ladies, especially with the forecasted northerly wind.Then I had an idea; we’ll tell our friends to come to Gumusluk, which is only 10 minutes more than the ride from the airport to Bodrum and save the distance.

We sailed (that is motored) to Bitez and tomorrow to Gumusluk to meet our friends.