Six Degrees?

It's been interesting discovering the connectedness of people living on the sea. Cruisers tend to meet and re-meet in strange and interesting ways. Here's some examples.

Gemiler Island and bay

When we first chartered a boat in Turkey, to 'sanity check' our idea of living afloat here, we looked up a chartering site called 'Southern Cross Blue Yachting'. Not only because of the name, but they also had the cheapest charter boat rates we could find in Turkey. It turned out that the owner of that company, Dave Stanley, was an Australian (hence Southern Cross) who used to live near Ballina, where we used to sail. First co-incidence.

View from Gemiler

When we became interested in Pavlov, we called Dave (who lives in Bodrum, close to Fethiye) to have a look at Pavlov for us. We wanted some confirmation that she was a good boat before flying half way around the world to look at her. Dave obliged, and drove down from Bodrum to look at the boat. For company, he took an American sailor who was also searching to buy another boat. His boat had burned to the water just after he arrived in the Mediterranean after crossing from the USA.

Burial tomb

Almost one year later, when we were in Orhaniye, at the weekly markets, we met an American woman who told us about their boat burning down. We kind of made the connections, realizing that Jennifer was the wife of Mathius, the guy who drove down to look at Pavlov. Co-incidence indeed. Mathius and Jennifer have since become friends, currently berthed in Fethiye, and we're travelling to Cappodocia with them.

7th century Church of St Nicholas

Meanwhile, harking back to my previous life as a mathematics teacher, I previously taught with a colleague Chris at Casino High School. Not finished with teaching after retiring from the Australian Department of Education, Chris starting teaching at the Koc school in Istanbul. A further strange co-incidence that we both ended up in Turkey. We invited Chris and his wife Kim down to visit us in Fethiye, and take a short cruise through the 12 Island Bay near Fethiye.

Megan, Chris and Kim

We had a break in the rain, which cleared to 4 gorgeous days of late summer sunshine. We sailed down to Gemiler Bay, a secluded anchorage just before the popular tourist spot, Oludeniz. A small island in that bay has some spectacular ruins of 5th to 7th century churches that were reputed to have been the base of St Nicholas (the real Santa Claus). It was wonderful clambering over this pristine island that was deserted but for us, inspecting surprisingly exciting ruins.

Turkish farming village life

We then travelled down to Kapi Creek, and visited a small Turkish village, where we'd made some friends on a previous visit. This is a small village of a few families, growing olives and homesteading a few goats and sheep. We'd had tea with the Iman previously. The village had one of the smallest mosques I've ever seen.

The mosque is the building on the left

We were welcomed into the village head's home, offered sage tea and some dough ball sweets (It was Biran, a Turkish festival time after Ramadan). We appreciated the hospitality of the village and bought a few handicrafts in exchange (some beadwork and socks).

Hand spinning in the village house

We had a very enjoyable cruise with old aquaintances who became friends. It made me reflect on how we move through relationships in life, and how they move through us. Cruising seems to throw you quickly into new relationships, through mutual co-dependence and shared opportunities, but old relationships can keep coming around, being renewed, and seen in different lights. Lets see what a week in Cappadocia, and a voyage in a hot air balloon will make of our new friendship with Mathius and Jennifer.

Hugging steel buoys

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Finally we were going to leave Orhanye. Orhanye is a beautiful and restful place and we had made friends there but as week four began we felt it was time to leave. No more diving off the boat into a sea of tiny silver fish. No more afternoon tea and cake at the Dogan Restaurant. No more land.. well  just for a few days.

As the day came for us to leave I must say I had grown apprehensive. It was so long since we had sailed. Would I remember how? Land has that comfortable and reliable feeling to it. It stays still. Nevertheless it had to be. After all we are here to see the world!

Kevin and Sarah gave us a parting gift- our beloved plank. And as we pulled it onto our deck and lashed it to the side, we waved good bye to Orhanye. The sky was blue and the winds light so motoring again. But as usual we hoisted the main and prepared the staysail. We planned to take two days to return to our berth at Ece Marina. No problems could we foresee- these emerge when you least expect them.

After about four hours Steve decided that we should find an anchorage. We were in no hurry after all. Our destination for the day, was still an hour away and the sun was soon to set so why not settle early for the night. On the chart he found a small anchorage and set our course. The bay appeared to offer us protection from any winds. It was to be all to ourselves.

As we motored in I remarked that I didn't really like it here. A large steel buoy lay to our starboard. The winds were off the shore. High cliffs looked down on us as we slowly surveyed the scene, checking the depth and estimating swing room before we dropped the anchor. Three goats watched our endeavours. If only they could have spoken and warned us of the events which were to follow.

The first attempt to lay anchor failed. Steve steered  towards another likely spot and dropped anchor again. Over 50 m of chain. To ensure the anchor took we reversed: the anchor got stuck!

The windlass had been my friend but it failed me! Steve had to manually bring the anchor and 50 m of chain back on board. What do do? The night was approaching, the sun had set.

Remember the steel buoy? Plate steel, rusty and approximately 2m by 1.5 m. Steve decided we should try to moor to it. Ironic really - large rusty steel like container, we a fibreglass boat ....

We came along side the buoy for a closer inspection. On top of it there was an enormous shackle. Clearly this was intended for large steel vessels, I thought. Steve said we needed to grab the shackle and tie a line to it!! I looked incredulous. How could " I" do that! At that moment he began to take off his clothes, planning to leave me on Pavlov and take the line to the buoy. Well ..." You are not leaving me on the boat to guide it to the buoy!" I exclaimed , pulling off my trousers and removing my hat. Rather take to the deep, line in hand or mouth, than be left alone on the boat. Steve suggested I put on my plastic shoes to protect me from the rusty metal. Luckily my immunisation was up to date as tetanus was on my mind.

I took a short line at first to attach to the buoy. Back in Fethiye we had bought 100 m of blue line. Steve had cut it into two equal lengths. One of these was to be our mooring line, in the end. Line in hand , underwear, sunscreen shirt,  gloves and plastic shoes I jumped into the water.
" Stay away from the propeller as the nose will blow off as I slow the boat down" Steve instructed, calmly.  Great!

In the water I tried to swim quickly, keeping out of the way of the boat while swimming while  keeping a grasp on the line . The mooring buoy approached. The boat did swing slowly into my path,  but I finally reached the buoy.

A wooden bar had been placed on either side making it easier for me to clamber on top. It was like a barrel. Once painted white, rusty metal scratched my legs as I  pulled myself up , dragging the line with me.

Once on top, blood dripping down my legs, I stood up. Managing to pull the line through the shackle, I found it too hard of me to tie any sort of knot. Pavlov moved away dragging the line out of my hands. Now the longer line came into play.

All  that practise throwing lines at Tafe would come in handy. Steve gathered the 25 m line and threw enough to thread through the shackle. I threw the line back and we were attached. The idea was to have the rope attached so we could disengage the buoy quickly if necessary. Jumping into the water I was soon back on board. Cold, bloodied but feeling safe...for now.

Dinner and a movie followed. We felt secure in Pavlov, as usual until bout 11 pm....
Thud!!!  We had moved into the buoy. The wind had dropped and gradually we had edged closer and closer to this big steel thing- no longer so safe.

Steve and I flew out onto the deck. Pavlov was hugging the buoy. I grabbed a fender to keep some space for Pavlov's hull and the buoy. What to do??  Steve felt it was too dangerous to find another mooring in the dark, better to stay with what we know.

We went on two one to two hour watches. I couldn't sleep . It hit us again. My watch arrived in no time. Realisng that our line had wound around the buoy and was gradually winding us closer, I woke Steve.

Fending it off again with the boat hook we had to wind the line off the buoy. We did it. Steve managed to undo the knot in the line on the shackle and untie us from the buoy. He had made the decision to leave our "known " world to motor to Fethiye.  It was 2am.

We were to have two hour watches.  I was not that happy. First night sail and no sleep .  Took first sleep. Again I found it hard to sleep, hearing Steve "below" deck. Who was on watch!! I was sure I saw a tanker, but no they were the lights of Marmaris.

Finally my turn to keep watch- 4am to 6 am. Under instructions to stay safely in the cockpit and not venture to the foredeck, and call if I was worried, I donned my life jacket. Exhausted but stressed I gritted my teeth to meet the next challenge. Salty biscuits, tonic and the wee bucket accompanied me.  It was an eerie experience. Lights dotted the coast of Rhodes and Turkey. A ghostly sail ship seemed to be ahead of us but  danced above the sea then disappeared only to reappear later. It turned out to be lights on the coast of  Fethiye Bay.

After waking Steve twice during my watch,  dawn began to break, at last.  Greyish blue light spread from the east.

We were both exhausted.

sort of like ours

Getting Off!

I'm always slightly perturbed when people say we are 'on holiday's'. Nothing of our experience on the boat matches what 'being on holiday's' feels like. For a start, we need to work quite hard when sailing the boat, and are just exhausted at the end of the day (Pretty much like working, hey). We always have a permanent List (yes, it is rightly capitalised) of tasks waiting to be done, some urgent, some just day-dreaming. Holiday's also have an end, when you declare 'Oh god, it will be good to get back home again'. We have no sense of end, at least yet. Pavlov is now our home, this is it, there's no escape back to somewhere else.

Pavlov's new arch at the Inox shop

We prefer to say that we are now full-time sailors (or voyager's - but that sounds more affected). As such, we've been working very hard to update Pavlov and her systems. The last battle has been with the               windlass. First, I tried to disassemble it as per the manual, just for a normal service. Could not remove the drum. Consulted with Mathias (friend from Phoenix), who declared that 'the whole thing has to come off' and that I would thank him for making us take the long route. So Mathias enthusiastically jumped into the anchor locker and started hammering and hacking away. Several destroyed tools, many hours and a slightly bruised ego later, Mathias declared that perhaps we needed to get the 'grown-ups' in. So in they came. First the shop sent two young boys armed with small hammers to remove the damn thing. Hours of banging later, the boys phoned home to consult the technical staff, left the boat and returned with bigger hammers. More banging, no success. Then the guru's came, discussed the winch and decided that we needed to up the ante. Acid was used, poured on to loosen the corrosion and left overnight. It still took much concerted banging the next day to remove that sucker!

Pavlov's new veranda

Anyway, boat work has been pretty intense lately. You can see some of the results in the photo above. Note solar panels, crane for lowering outboard, shade panels all around the new bimini (the shade panels can be changed to sunbrella panels with windows to make a complete winter tent), new radar arch with pole for a future wind generator, and even our very own passarelle (a very kind gift from Kevin and Sara - thank you!).

Megan on our passarelle

The decks have been re-caulked, the toilets rebuilt with holding tanks, engine's serviced, things repaired. Its all been too much... so we decided that for one day, WE NEEDED TO GET OFF THE BOAT.

The Air Games entrance

So we decided to go to the beach at Oludeniz. Oludeniz is one of those British outposts, created not by expansionism and imperialism of the past, but by the inexorable colonization by generations of British tourists of the 'wannabe pink' kind. There, you will find all manner of grockle to fill the heart's content; British breakfasts, Irish pubs, Chinese take-out, coconut oil for body basting, toys to wade with, cabana's on the beach, jeeps for jungle safaris; in fact, the whole accroutement of services needed for a genuine British holiday.

Mobile wedding band

On route, we were ensnared by a wedding procession, complete with band that sucessfully improvised over a counterpoint of car horns. I loved how the photographer was intent on capturing photo's of strangers to be the wedding crowd.

Unusual wedding photographer in the bridal car

But Oludeniz also has stunning mountains that fall 2000m in a short distance to the sea, and a beautiful bay, all of which makes it the ideal site for the 13th International Air Games. This is primarily a paraglider event, but the air was full of spinning colourful butterfly wings, it was an amazing sight.

What an excellent day at the beach!

Holiday to London- for 5 days!!!

Walking walking.... our feet, our ankles, Steve's knees- a bike- that's what we need but where will we stow it    ( like the nautical lingo) ? We researched this topic exhaustively. Finally one day in Fethiye, while visiting our local chandler, we met two Belgian fellow sailors riding Brompton bikes. We googled them and yes they were small- see opposite -minimum weight 10kgs until we put all the other bits on them. The site is quite fascinating. You can build a bike of your choice with a "configurator". But where were we to buy them?

The unfolded bike

Athens was the closest bike shop which sold Bromptons. I emailed Australian bike shops on the Brompton site. One in Newtown said there would be a four month waiting period! How were we to relieve our aching feet?

and in its folded splendour              

                                                                               
Go to London- it had to be done- to even consider such a short trip- 5 days from Australia is mad! But by Pegasus from Dalaman airport- anywhere from 4-13 hours but for only $380 return!!  This is the sort of experience I also wanted to have while in Europe - the ease of European travel.

So I contacted Compton's in London and ordered the bikes. Not cheap bikes but sturdy and should fit into our storage space above the generator. So on 12 November we travel to London, stay in South Kensington and hopefully also do some boat bits shopping- Musto sea boots for one.

Turkish Time

We've been cooling our heels for the last 3 weeks in Orhaniye, a very pretty coastal village in Southern Turkey. We came here to get some work done on Pavlov. We needed some repairs to the teak decks, new canvas sprayhood and bimini, new stainless bimini frame and radar arch, holding tanks for our heads, some electronic repairs and an engine service. We've been slowly progressing on all these fronts, but we've had to adapt to what is locally known as 'Turkish time'.

Gulet anchored near island fort in Selimiye

Turks don't have the same obedience to the slave-clock as we are used to. If the weather's fine and the fish are biting, well, what else to do but throw out a line. If its too hot in the sun, a chai and chat with friends sounds a lot better than toiling under a hot sun And so it goes, which means that we just can't create deadlines. We thought we'd only be here for a week, and now, 3 weeks later, it looks like we might be here for another 2 weeks.

Fishing boats

In between frantic searches in Marmaris (a larger, yacht oriented town) for plumbing fixtures, co-axial connectors and macerating pumps, and chaos-making dissembly of Pavlov, we've managed a few 'pleasure trips'. The photo's here are of Selimiye, two villages down the coast.

The promenade along the waterfront

An interesting cafe

We've wandered all around such villages. Although some traditional pursuits still happen, such as boat building and fishing, a large percentage of the employment comes from tourism. Yachts and visiting gulets and ferries transport tourists to these 'off the beaten track' locations, placing them firmly on track. The character is still there but...

Tourist gulet

The summer season is coming to an end, and the tourist traffic is reducing, which is great for us. However, in a few weeks, everything starts closing down. The Dogan hotel closes from November to March. We're coming back here in December to haul out for 2 weeks. We've been looking at renting a small local apartment for those 2 weeks. It will be fun living in the village itself, rather than on a pier attached to a hotel. Imagine a bed that didn't rock us to sleep... How weird.

Cruising tourists

Invasion by slow increments

Megan's new sun armour

I didn't sign up for this......

I have never regarded myself as a technical person. When I have been forced, in the past, to explore blockages in toilets... I have ; painting walls was not a problem; even working on the car was not too bad.

However now I find myself reading about sanitary pipe, crouching in confined spaces undoing bolts or tracking wiring. Pavlov has provided us with many challenges. Steve has always been a technically capable person- fitting toilets, building furniture, painting our boats etc. But I have not engaged in many of these tasks before.

see Pavlov sans dodger- the remake has begun!



At home we decided to fight Altzeimers with crosswords, or scrabble- but no time for such sedentary pursuits- the maintenance of Pavlov provides us both with ample stimulation- and I wondered how I would "busy" myself in retirement!