What is all this about Med Mooring?

What is all this about Med Mooring?

I received the following question from a person, and spent some time in thought on how to respond.

After the exchange, the person asking thought that others probably have the question, but never thought to ask.

So, I am publishing the exchange but am editing out any identifying info. Hopefully I got it all.

Here was the question:

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I've followed your interesting postings on T&T for years, and I hope I can impose on you to answer a question that seems (to me) a bit beyond the "general interest" mission of T&T.

We were in Palma de Mallorca recently on vacation. I noted that all the the boats in the harbor were tied stern-to-dock, and they all had two (identical) lines running from the bow, down into the water, all at about the same angle. And none had their anchors deployed. And there were no visible mooring balls.

In your travels around the Mediterranean, have you seen an arrangement like this? Were these permanent bow ties, supplied by the marina? How in the heck did the skippers pick them up, without fouling, as they backed into the narrow slit between two other boats?

I can figure out the process for a stern tie-up when an anchor goes in front, and I could do it. But this has me stumped. I've got to be overlooking the obvious answer, and I'm hoping that you'll take a minute to help me out. My wife wants to charter a trawler in the Med, but right now I'm feeling too stupid to try it.

Thanks

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On Sun, Dec 31, 2017 at 1:24 AM, LAL <lazilicata@gmail.com> wrote:

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

What you saw was is called "med mooring" and I have only been in a handful of places in 7 years where I did not moor like this, but moored "side-to."

The lines to the bow have a different name in every country that one visits but they all work the same. The generic name for these lines seems to be "lazy" lines but the term is not universal. In all cases, these lines sink. If there are truly manila lines, they last for years, they sink really really quick so fouling is NOT an issue, and they are marina supplied, usually. I have been to two marinas where the lazy lines were purposely too short and those marinas required me to provide my lines to use their short lines.

There is a huge anchor chain (or more) on the marina's seabed and usually, lazy lines (20-30 mm diameter ) are attached to it via a shackle. The chain is USUALLY anchored to either the concrete dock wall or to a concrete mooring block buried in the harbor / marina.

Near to the end of the lazy line is a very thin but also sinkable line that is attached to the bitter end of the lazy line and that is also attached to a cleat on the dock.

Now here is where things get complicated, especially if there are only two people on board. (I chose not to address how a single handler would do this mooring.)

Some places, using an assist tender, will hand you the lazy /thin line as one is med mooring with the hope that the person receiving the lazy line can take the slack out and tie it off to a bow cleat tight. This takes a strain on the line.

The problem with the above is one, the person taking the lazy line has to have the strength, speed and dexterity to do that work while the Captain is med mooring from a position at the aft end of the boat and also handledling the mooring lines. Trying VERY hard not to be sexist here but usually the lady of the yacht (The Admiral) is struggling to handle this lazy line. On a boat where the Admiral is driving, the process goes a little smoother. If a group is chartering without a professional crew on board, I usually sit back with a glass of wine in my hand, enjoying the show, waiting for them to get close enough to me so I can help. I will not do that with a couple because that is just not right.

Next, if the boat is manned by two people, and the Captain is not mooring from an aft cockpit (think center cockpit, fly bridge or pilot house) , then the line handler is preoccupied with getting the lazy line aboard and tight, the Captain not only has to bring the boat astern, but also has to not hit his neighbors too hard and not hit the wall while also not being able to get the mooring lines across.

So, if done as described above, it makes the mooring usually more excitable than it needs to.

The other way is that the Captain med moors the boat, gets stern lines ashore FIRST and tied off (if one is thinking about this in advance, the mooring line should be long enough so that it can come back aboard so the Captain can adjust lines as needed, the lines are doubled for added strength and shock absorbency, and no assistance from shore is needed when departing). Then, a dock worker hands one of you the thin line (while it is still attached to the cleat), that person walks forward toward the bow hand over handing the thin line until the bitter end of the lazy line appears, then (tries) takes the slack out of that line and to a bow cleat.

The upside to this method is that second person is available to the Captain until lines astern are over.

The downside of the above is that unless one has a gorilla on board, the other person can never take out enough slack on the lazy line to keep the stern off the dock wall in an appreciable weather.

So, if one uses the first method, and the weather is calm and nice, if the one person can get the lazy line tied off tight, and then as the boat med moors, the line becomes quite tight and POWER is applied to get the stern lines over and fastened.

If one uses the second method, then the Captain has to handle the boat keeping it off the wall until the stern lines are over, then slack the lines, move forward in the berth where the lazy line is brought aboard and tied off tight, then come back and apply POWER to take the slack out of the lazy line while taking in the slack on the astern lines

If the lazy line is too tight, then the other person has to release some of the line under load just enough to get closer to the wall but not hit the wall, all the time ensuring that one keeps their 10 fingers and toes. If one releases too much, then the stern can "touch" the wall. If one does not please enough, then there is a do over.

If the stern lines are doubled and really long, then the captain can come forward in the berth, take the slack off the lazy line, the crew can safely "slip" some amount of the line, and then the Captain can come astern.

If the Captain is in a pilot house, or in a center cockpit of a sailboat, things get more complicated if there are only two aboard. The person NOT driving is running around like a chicken without its head, trying to do all of the above.

So, you wonder how the hell do we do it.

If there is no assist boat, I ask where their "lazy line mooring chain" is with respect to the dock, and then I drop my anchor 30-50 meters on the far side of the chain and come in, picking up the lazy lines after our stern lines are over. Little excitement here but this DOES REQUIRE that the marina understands your question about where the mooring chain is and grants you permission to drop your anchor on the far side. (Language barrier comes into play here!) I can only do this when I am mooring to the outside of a wall. If mooring inside the wall or in a U shaped marina, this dos not work.

If this is the case, then I have learned to become quite patient and anchor out until the wind and seas have substantially subsided (read nearly dead calm) before mooring. (I use to not wait. Divorce / abandonment was in the wind!)

If these is an assist boat, The Admiral INVITES the helmsman on board to handle the lazy line. If one does this, one gives up the luxury of the assist boat pushing you around to help you moor, unless there happens to be two people in the assist boat. That only happens when we are mooring at a very pricy ($$$$$) marina.

If there is no assist boat and the marina is enclosed or "u" shaped, then for sure we wait for calm weather before mooring. First we get to the wall and get the aft mooring lines over and doubled. Them I get one of the two lazy lines to the bow cleat as tight as possible but usually never enough. Then I drift forward letting out some slack in the mooring lines. I then take the slack out of the lazy line and motor back, hopefully taking the slack out of the lazy line but not hitting the wall. If all is right with the world, we are in. Then, I use the capstan on my anchor windlass to take the slack out of the second lazy line.

In nearly all med mooring cases, the dock master will insist that one POWERS up the engines taking a strain on the lazy lines to make sure they are holding before concluding that you are safely in.

In my last 3-4 med moorings, the dock master had me power up to 2000 rpm astern for some 10-15 seconds to verify holding. This for me, is a huge pucker factor of a moment. (If you are worried about disturbing the bottom and damaging your prop, do not be. You are probably the hundredth boat to more here so the material that could damage the prop is just not there.)

Most of the boats you saw have crew, so this process is far more of a elegant ballet than a cluster f__k but if one watches a bare boat charter do the ballet, one can see more of a CF and less of a ballet.

This email took me more time to write than to perform the actual mooring………

Any questions? Be glad to answer them.

And, BTW, you really think this is not worthy of a T&T post?

For your info, it took us 3+ years to learn how to med moor without attracting undo attention☺.

Lee

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On Thu, Jan 11, 2018 at 6:26 PM, the questioner wrote:

THANK YOU! Your answer is wonderfully complete. You should consider publishing it on T&T. This sounds like it's a white-knuckle process in a crowded marina, and I'm re-thinking the bareboat charter idea.

Our [names the type of boat] is a wallowing pig in reverse because the bottom is essentially flat. I've wondered why there aren't any in the Med. Now I know the answer.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond so thoughtfully and thoroughly, and best wishes for 2018.

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(My last reply)


If the marina is quite crowded, and there is just inches between you and your neighbors, the process is actually less nail biting for a number of reasons:

The Captain ONLY has to get the stern between his neighbors and then gently reverses to get into the slip. It is like bumper pool.

The first mate can usually grab the neighbor's handrails to hold one in place, but only if one is at dead slow.

Nearly always your neighbors are up and about to assist.

If necessary, you can ask if you can tie off a bow line from you to your neighbor while you work on the lazy line.

And, lastly, if it is a tight fit, one can get closer to the wall by just taking in the stern lines by hand, making a crash with the wall less likely.

Only in one marina, Kemer, did I have to lift my fenders out of the way because with them in position, I would NOT have fit. Yes it was that crowded!

Where it becomes hairy is a place like Simi (Symi), Greece. No lazy lines here yet, and if and when they come, I will decide to anchor out. If you arrive in the morning in high season when the wind is quite low, usually, there is no room at the wall because no one has left, yet.

The ones that do leave tend to leave between 1100 -1300 and by then, the wind is starting to pick up, and due to the local mountains, it roars down to the port toward the sea, usually above 20 knots

The harbor is quite narrow in places, and one needs to drop 70-80 meters + of chain because the bottom is deep and slopes up quickly toward the city wall.

So, what we have done is drop 80 meters of chain (leaving 50 for reserve) and motor back, trying to get in before 1000. We once DID get in at 1500 with a 45 knot cross wind and between two french catamarans (rented so from experience we know they carry maybe 50-60 meters of chain, which means that they are not being held off the wall by a strong anchor moor). We had people on the cats to help but in the wind, one has to line up your stern on the nose of the up wind boat in order to allow for you to slip in between the boats. This of course gives your neighbor a big scare and there is a lot of frantic yelling and waving of hands etc etc etc. Admiral use to get upset by this but knows knows what will happen and she just gives them all her Queen Elizabeth II hand wave.

Once the anchor has grabbed, if you placed it correctly, the stern will naturally slip downwind and when it does, some power will get you in between the boats. Usually by the, the neighbors had either collapsed, been taken to the hospital for suffering a heart attack, or has calmed down.

If one is patient and waits for the wind to die down and for an opening to come available, one waits around the corner in a bay the Brits call "Teflon Bay" because it takes 5-6 times to get one's anchor to hold. This bay is also where a HUGE water ship comes in every other day to fill the island's reservoir. He med moors quite gracefully and I learned after he left that his "lane" has been cleared of every patch of weed, grass and rocks for at least 300 meters off the wall some 20 meters wide.

Now, in Symi, as well as a few other places, if one is NOT leaving, you have to be on board at the bow if you came in after your neighbors and they are leaving before you. Fouled anchors is a daily event, and usually quite entertaining, because MOST are renters, have not had to deal with a fouled anchor before, and are leaving when the wind is picking up so they can go sailing, not realizing that first they have to get clear of the wall.

Being a steel boat and not a "plastic" one means I do not care if they hit me, but they do. I will not use ANY body part to keep them off of me, because I do not want the medical attention.

Also, my chain is 12mm by 130 m with an 88 kg anchor, all worked by a 3 kW anchor windlass with a capstan. Most of these charters have flimsy windlasses with no capstan which cannot lift my chain, let alone my anchor. But IF my chain is over theirs, then I am obliged to help, which necessities me getting into my tender with my pole and some line to assist them at their bow in getting untangled.

If we are able to communicate and if they keep their heads, I need only about 10 minutes to free them.

If they are hostile, belligerent, or just plain nasty, I leave them to their own devices until the harbor master comes by and together, we go out to get them untangle. He has the power to shut them up, fine them, make them return to the dock, and seize their boat soooooooo they usually cooperate.

If I am leaving and tangled, my windlass is not even breathing hard in getting their chain up to ny bow, but the Captain has to let out chain or rope so that I have some slack to get my chain up without pulling up his anchor. If the Captain is not there, or, more likely, does not have enough chain in the locker to let out, then if they are nice, I will pick up their anchor, clear my chain, stow my anchor, and then while the Admiral slowly goes forward, I walk their anchor back toward our stern and drop it.

If they are not nice, I clear my chain and drop their's immediately, which usually necessitates them getting underway to reset their anchor.

I learned this all by watching others, talking with professional charter captains, other captains and harbor masters.

Most harbor masters keep a list of which boats they will not allow to moor at their dock. Being naughty gets you on this list.

If a storm is coming, being steel, 50 tons, and anchored well, harbor masters like me because they can usually tie off a bunch of boats to me to keep them more protected from the winds. In one case, in Thassos, Greece, I had 4 stern lines out doubled, two mid-ship breast lines to the wall, and long port and starboard doubled bow lines running to the wall. The winds were expected to peak above 70 knots, with 50-60 sustained predicted. My bow was tied off to two 25 meter "plastic" motor yachts on either side because they had such a high freeboard, they knew they were going to be knocked about a lot. In this particular case I took a another long line from my bow to a fishing trawler trawler off to starboard to help hold my bow into the predicted direction of the wind, and to help stabilize the rats' nest that I was in. In turn, I helped keeping him from banging too much into the wall. (Yes, real fishing trawlers are always side too, never med moor, and have priority over us recreational boaters. Only cruise ships and warships out rank them.)

(I must carry more than 1000 meters of 16, 18, 22, and 26 mm rope, in total, plus small stuff.)

Never a dull moment around here.

And I have yet to talk about how does on anchor in a place like Mykonos, when the harbor is full of private mooring buoys, one needs to anchor between them and the $$$$$$$$$$$ yachts tied to them, and close to shore because the depth is mostly >>20 meters. And, the harbor is so crowed that when the wind shifts, if done right, you will swing past your neighbor with meters to spare. Oh and for a guy like me, I refuse to go to the wall because the charge can be 100+ dollars a night, plus line handling fees and security fees.

Even with all of the above, there are tens of thousands that charter here in the Med each sailing season………

Lee

Levent Marina, Izmir Turkey

https://www.facebook.com/leezeforsale/
http://leezeforsale.com
https://whereisleeze.blogspot.com/
leezerphtrawlerforsale@gmail.com

Sunday @ the "Farmer's Market"

2017-12-04

Yesterday, I went shopping at our local farmer’s market. It is located underneath a high speed freeway bridge about 2 km from me. It is just under 3 acres and it happens every Sunday. Nearly all the food for sale is produced in country and is seasonal. Just recently "Iranian" pistachios came on to the market but I am not yet convinced they really are from Iran. 

In Turkish, it is called a “pazar” which meaning shopping. What is for sale includes is seasonal fresh fruit and veggies, cheese, eggs, bread and butter, recently caught fresh fish, spices, nuts, and sweets. Chicken (Some are still walking around as well as the parts and pieces one sees in a supermarket) is also for sale but not beef. Of course pork is no where to be found, though the country dos have about 880,000 hogs in country, if you believe the newspapers. 

On one side of the shopping area are people that sell clothing, shoes, hardware, housewares and tobacco products.

In 2 places, there are people who will shine your shoes, sharpen your knives, and repair your appliances.

Lastly, there are two areas where locally prepared food is available. If you want something fresh, there is a thin, round bread stuffed, in my case, with two eggs and melting cheese, cooked over a gas fired hot plate, and serve on recycle newsprint paper. Yum Yum! (BTW this is called a gozleme.) Other stuffings included greens, potatoes, and white (aka “feta”) cheese. 

The most popular appears to be the one stuffed with greens, followed by the potato version. It is not unusual to have someone buy 6 or more remade ones to take home to have later.

So, the attached pictures is a feeble attempt to give someone a “taste” of the pazar.

For an idea of what the currency rate is, see 

https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/USDTRY:CUR

If you have any questions, please ask!

Lee and Zehra Licata

MV LeeZe @ Levent Marina

Haydar Aliyev Bulvarı No:4 / R6

Bahçelerarasi Mah.

35140 Fahrettinaltay / Balçova

Izmir Turkey

Lee's Cell:     +90 533 379 3965

Zehra's Cell: +90 533 389 9464

Leeze's Blog  https://whereisleeze.blogspot.com

http://leezeforsale.com

leezerphtrawlerforsale@gmail.com

Home made pastry mostly stuffed with greens, though some have potato inside. These are ready to eat now or take home.

The lady is making my breakfast using two eggs and some white melting cheese

The stuffed dough is place on this gas fired hot plate and is cooked for about 3 minutes.

Beans and tomatoes

Nuts and popcorn with citrus in the background.

Eggs. These are commercially produced but they are not refrigerated and were probably picked in the last day or two. They have been inspected, and one can keep them out of the refrigerator for up to three weeks. Sold USUALLY in lots of 15. Some also sell local eggs, which have not been inspected and are bought individually. Have had both and the local ones are always smaller, but tend to last the longest. Since eggs on the Greek islands are so expensive, we tend to take 30 of the commercial ones and 15 of the local ones. 

Banans, Kiwis, and citrus. Peppers, eggplants and cucumbers in the background.

All types of olives!

Various made breads made in the local villages next to a potato seller.

Citrus sellers

Here the celery root is highly prized and not the stalks.

Cheese, Cheese, Cheese! And "homemade" butter!

Greens for sale!

"Homemade" butter next to cheese with a sweet called Helva behind the cheese.

2017 Where is LeeZe? Mordoğan > Yassica Ada > Izmir

Dear all, 



It is now 3 Sept and we depart Mordoğan for an island in the lower part of the Izmir bay called Yassica Ada.

The claim to fame of this island is that there are ferry boats that service this island in the summer so that Izmir people can come to the beach. It was a Sunday that we were here, near to the end of the 10-day holiday period and there are maybe 300+ people at the beach. It was also near to the end of the season so concession stands were not stocked up very well and were out of mostly everything.

We had a very hard time finding a good holding spot of the anchor and after trying 4 times, decided that based on the weather prediction, I would live with an anchor that was not holding very well.  When I went to look at the anchor, it was laying on a small piece of sandy bottom, surrounded by grassy clumps of seaweed. Had I chosen to anchor in far shallower water, I would have found a sandy bottom, but I also would have been among very small day boats. I could have anchored in deeper water (20+ meters) but kept that option in my back pocket just in case.

By sunset, the ferry boats had taken the day trippers back home and there were just 3 of us at anchor. There were some nocturnal visitors to the island, a few quite noisy, but by midnight, there was calm seas and a quiet night. The city lights hid many of the stars. We did go ashore to the beach for a few hours, and then came back, cleaned up, and has a BBQ for dinner.

Today is 3 September. It is a Monday, and the last day of the 10-day holiday period. We motor toward Levent marina. There are two dog legs to the marina, and one must stay between the buoys because just outside the buoys is shallow water punctuated by rocky outcrops. 

LeeZe is a steel boat and as we approach, Izmir Traffic Control (ITC) hails us in Channel 16. I kind of knew this would happen, ever since our days in the Istanbul area, where that traffic control authority called so often that it bordered on harassment.

ITC hails us, and wants to know our particulars, why our AIS is not on, etc etc etc. I tell them what we are, and that we are not required to have AIS on board. ITC thinks, based on radar return  that we are a small freighter. It is not until we get near to one of their long range camera stations on the shore that they can see what we are. By then, I had answered all of their questions and they leave us alone. 

Now, I think it must have been a boring day for them as I saw no ships underway, only ferry boats. They needed a distraction and I provided one.

Well, we get to Levent marina and we anchor just outside. We need to lower the fenders, bring the tender up to the starboard side from astern, get lines ready, etc etc. By then, a craft from the marina comes out. It is our good friend from the last time we were here. We tell him what we are doing, and ask him to take the tender in.

About 30 minutes later, we up anchor, cruise slowing in the marina, and with the help of this lone marina person, we med-moor in a place that Zehra had already negotiated with the manager, and with two bow lines on, we are in. 

This complete our summer cruising adventures. There is more to come. My 90 year old mother-in-law is expected soon and she is a hoot to have on board. While she has some typical problems that require her to see a doctor, when she gets on board, as she has each year for the last 5 or 6 years, for a month or so, knock on wood, she has never needed to visit a doctor or a clinic. I chalk that up to boating being a somewhat healthy lifestyle. Zehra thinks it is because she is excited to see us and Mom really does like me, a lot. 

There are some talents that has so far escaped me. I can paint, but I must be doing something wrong because I am never satisfied with the results. So, this marina has a person who job is to paint. I ask him to address a few areas and I see what I am doing wrong. Besides NOT using the right paint, he uses a two part red epoxy to paint over the rust spots that he has just lightly sanded. I normally sand the rust spots completely away and then paint, but with the wrong paint. It never lasted. Learned something new!

The anchor pulpit needs to be taken off, disassemble, cleaned up, painted, and rollers greased and installed. This required taking the anchor off the chain (suspending it from the bow with 4 lines as the darn thing weighs 88+ kilos), pulling the chain out of the way, and removing a custom made 36mm stainless steel bolt. The actual pulpit must weigh over 50 kilos and my worst fear was that when I went to remove this bolt, I would drop it or the pulpit into the water. But, with some careful planning and a rope fastened to each removed part, I was able to get it off and to the yard for renewal. 

After the painter finished painting it, and the area where it is installed, I wisely asked for two people from the yard to help me reinstall it. 

The manager did some reconnaissance and sent over 1 burly person on board, and another in a small boat with the pulpit. Then 15 minutes later, after some choice words and  even choicer mannerisms, the pulpit was again installed. The yard helps me reconnect the anchor chain and at the end of the day, the anchor is no longer dangling and is now stored appropriately.

Meanwhile, thru all this, Mom is on board. She make comments about how much work there is (she has no reference point to compare) and I remind her that I typically do a chore a day so it is no big deal.

After this, I apply teak oil to the boat deck, raise the tender to the boat deck for winter storage, pressure clean the growth from the tender's hull, winterize the 15 hp Yamaha engine, clean the tubes and tender's deck, and leave it out exposed to the warm sun to really dry. The excess fuel I donate to the marina because it will not be fresh to use next April.

Then I borrow a plastic garbage pail; from the yard, fill it with fresh water, and for a number of two-day periods, soak the mooring lines to get rid of the salt. The smaller lines I put into a mesh bag and wash them in a washing machine using just cold water.  As the line dry, they go into the tender for winter storage. After they are in, I cover the tender.  

Lastly, I have recently purchased two 18mm diameter steel springs that need to be galvanized. I use the springs during the winter with the stern lines to help mitigate the shock and the surge from the winter winds and weather. I had been using 13 mm steel springs but they turned out to be not enough. 

These two springs cost me about $150 delivered by cargo from Istanbul. They are each rated for 30,000 kgs so I expect they will work fine. For the record, if I wanted fancy stainless steel springs with rubber inserts in the same load range, two would set me back over $2000. This is a no-brainer of a decision!

So, off to the galvanizing place I go with the springs and chains used to connect to the springs. A week later, I have them back, installed, and the stern lines attached. 

So if this seems like a lot of work, in total it probably is but I do one chore a day.  I take Sunday's off completely. If a chore goes faster than expected, I take the rest of the day off also. By this method, the work gets done, I do not exhaust myself, and I am proud I can say I did most of this myself.

Sundays the Admiral and I have one recurring action to accomplish. We are off to the local Farmer's market for our weekly shopping of fruit, vegetables, cheese, eggs, and bread. This is a large market, under a freeway overpass, with sellers coming from near and afar. We have local farmers who bring their food stuff that was probably in the field two or three days ago. Eggs are not refrigerated because they probably been harvested over the last two days. Veggies and fruit come in from all points of Turkey so whatever is in-season in-country, it is here being sold. Bread is the freshest item, having been baked the night before in local village wood fire brick ovens. The bread is usually round, and a full loaf might weigh 2-3 kilos. Thankfully they also sell it by the half loaf, and I just noticed this year for the first time that some sellers are able to put the piece you buy thru a bread slicing machine. I know, what progress, right!!! It is. We do not buy it sliced, but take it home and freeze what we do not need for the next day or so. The bread has no preservatives so it does not last long without freezing. It is so dense that freezing it does not adversely affect its texture in any way. 

The next time w go to the farmers market I will take some pictures to share.

That is all for now folks!

If you have any questions, please ask. 

Lee and Zehra

MV LeeZe

http://whereisleeze.blogspot.com

2017 Where is LeeZe? Kusadasi > Sağacik > Sapere> Cesme (an accident!) > Eğri Liman > Mordoğan

Dear all, 

The anchor windlass was repaired in Kusadasi and with family on board as guests, we depart for a leisurely cruise around the Çesme peninsular toward the marina we have chosen to winter over in. Our policy for the guests is that we IMPLORE them to sit and enjoy the ride, and not try to prevent any damage to LeeZe as LeeZe is ~50 tons and while I can fix LeeZe, I cannot fix humans. But one of our guests is the brother to Zehra, and he has bought a new 10 meter boat for delivery in 2018. So, since he is a neophyte at this boating life, he wants to learn. Now, I believe that there is not much I can teach and show him. His boat is no more than 6 tons, a day boat, that does 15-20 knots. But, he still wants to learn so I do let him do a lot, but always under my direct supervision. I try to point out where and how one might get hurt and he usually comments that he never would have thought of this or that.

So, on 17 Aug, we depart Kusadasi, conduct an anchor test in the bay, verify all is well and make our way to Sağacik.

The NE wind is above 20 knots for nearly the entire trip but since we stay relatively close to the coast, there is not enough distance for the wind to build the waves. We anchor In the bay close to where we had anchored in 2014.  Sağacik is a very cute town, with a somewhat restored coastal /fort on the bay where on Sundays, a superb local food farmers market is held which attract buyers and people from many kilometers around. 

There is a marina here called Teos where we stayed one night when we were on the East-Med Yacht Rally in 2012. This time, w stay here two nights, going ashore both days. One of our guests was last here about 35 years ago and while he notes that much has changed, a lot more has not. 

On 19 August, we depart for Sarpdere Bay. This is not a long run but the wind has had some distance to cause some waves as we cross the open bay. 

As the crow flies this area is close to Izmir, Turkey's third largest city, so there are MANY fish farms, some so long that they are more than a nautical mile long. There is one that is so long and wide that it blocks the direct path into Sarpdere bay. One ends to see the huge red buoys that denote a passage between the fish nets. We find one, but the width of the gap may be at most 50 meters, and the fish farm hardware is appears to be quite strong and visually imposing. A loss of propulsion or a loss of the rudder would have one in extremis quite quickly and with the depth more than 100 meters in most places, dropping the anchor is not an option.

So thankfully, LeeZe has no problems and we proceed safely thru the farm to the bay.  

Our plan is to stay one night because the GRIB forecast predicts a good day tomorrow to go to Çesme. We had a BBQ, a swim, and talk quite a lot before retiring for the night.

On 20 August, we depart for Çesme.

The wind is 20+ knots as we go around the peninsular, and we arrive at about 1400 or so in the bay.  Now, we have stayed here before, so we know that we have to get directions from the day trip boat Captains as to what mooring spot we can use. It turns out some of them remember us so they tell us to moor in front of the local post office.

This bay is mostly open, and from experience, can be quite rocky and rolly at the wall. I also know that this is a bay where one really must have more than 100 meters of chain out, angled at about 20-30 degrees off the starboard bow. That means for this particular case we I drop the anchor to the north of the post office, and then med moor. 

The wind is blowing 20+ knots so after I get the anchor down and confirm it is holding, I go aft to ask our guests to sit down and enjoy the ride, as Zehra and I know what we are doing.

I go forward to the helm and we get LeeZe close enough to get one line over. This is a great sign as it means that it is just a matter of time until we are along side.

But then, a gust of wind happens and I hear a very loud scream. I run back and the brother has a right hand injury, a very bad one. It is bleeding way to much to take the time to moor. Zehra calls for an ambulance while I get the brother and his wife into the tender to get them ashore. At the wall, a good Samaritan who runs a local cafe is standing by, having heard the scream, and offers to take them to the local hospital. So, while that is happening, I get back to LeeZe and with Zehra, 20 minutes later, we are at the wall.

Zehra is quite upset but like the real trooper, does her job of getting us to the wall, and lines over.

After this, we sit down and she tells me what happened.

She had thrown the line over and someone on shore had tied it to a bollard. At this point with the wind, I normally get the stern close and she takes the slack out of the line. 

This time, brother wants to help his "little" sister so he takes over tending the line. Since he is not much experienced, he really does not know how to handle this line in a gusty wind, and when the line somehow comes off the LeeZe's aft bollard, he tries to hold the line, cannot, and could not get it off this hand quickly enough to avoid injury as the line payed out

I do not want to get into the details too much but we both are feeling terrible, and wondering what we could have done different. Eventually the brother and wife return later that night, and we try our best to apologize but the brother and wife both said: "You told us to sit down and enjoy the view, but brother wanted to help." He admits we told them to sit there. He takes full responsibility for his actions knowing full we we had asked them not to help. But we still feel terrible.

About one hours after the accident, a Master Sargent from the local Jandarma shows up in uniform, asking questions about the accident. Zehra has to go ashore to talk to him because he refused to navigate the passerelle. He the tells us we have to go the the police station to file a report, and when we do, after a series of questions, we are told to go the local coast guard station. We do, and after more questions, it appears that what everyone is wondering is the brother a guest or a seaman on board. We tell all that he is a guest.

Later, we get a call from the regional coast guard station asking that both the Captain of LeeZe and the injured party come to them to fill out a report. By this time, the brother was back from the hospital, filled with pain pills, quite groggy, and says he sees no reason to file another report because he had given a statement to the police at the two hospitals he had went to.

Realizing that there was probably more admin that was required, and with the weather NOT cooperating, we stay at the wall until 29 August. 

Meanwhile, the doctors had authorized the brother to drive, so after on more day, they drive to their summer residence down south. Once there, he got to another hospital for another checkup and that hospital wants a report of the incident. 

The brother call us and after much walking around and talking with the jandarma, coast guard, and the police, we realize that the report the hospital wants has to be issued from the regional coast guard station that w had both declined to go to initially, 12 km away. We make an appointment and go, and again the central question is whether or not the brother was a seaman or a guest. So, the person types up an accident report which I sign, and then he types us a report to the local prosecutor, which he allows me to photograph, but cannot provide to me a copy. 

We e-mail the accident report to the brother, and days later, we learn the hospital also wants a copy of the prosecutor's report. We send that also, and at the end, the State provides all of the medical services needed without charge.

We also had a visit from a couple who we use to hang out with a lot while will lived in Chicago 15-20 years ago. It was fun to note how all of us had changed, or not changed, and to catch up.

Finally, we catch a break and on 29 August, we depart Çesme for Eğri Liman Koyu, a long and narrow bay that offers protection from nearly every direction.

Now, per the port guide and the chart, there is good anchorage deep into the southern part of the bay, and also at the western beach area. The chart also reports that the bottom depth by the beach rapidly becomes shallow. 

Knowing all this and having been here before in 2014, I elect to anchor in front of the beach at the southern end. But first, we took a quick tour with LeeZe in the beach area and did confirm, by nearly running around, that the bottom does rapidly and un-expectantly shoals. That got my heart racing a little. 

After anchoring, and verifying that we are in fact holding, there is a wind shift and now we are about 50 meters from a small cliff and a rocky outcrop. Ugh! 

The wind picks up some more and by nightfall, it looks like we are getting very close to the cliff. I know it is an illusion because it is night time, but it is still quite unsettling. 

So, the next day, we pickup anchor and move a few hundred meters toward deeper water and again anchor. The weather this day dos NOT support us moving on.

A friend had also told us that there are two large red buoys in the middle of the bay that we can tie up to. When we arrived, we saw a fishing boat tied to th one closest to the entrance  and the other one deep in the bay empty. We did "toy" with the idea of tying up to it but in the end, it was occupied most of the day by various fishing boats. 

On 1 Sept, we lifted anchor and got underway. We poked our nose out and found 20-30 knots of wind from the NW and just under 1 meter high waves and whitecaps. Decided to come back and anchor again, and the Admiral was not happy. But it has been like this all summer. The wind has been quite uncooperative.

We try again on 2 Sept and the seas are a little rolly but th wind is low, so off we go to Mordoğan. In all of the times we have boated in Izmir Bay, we had never been to Mordoğan.

Mordoğan Has an old harbor which the port guide says not to enter without local knowledge. There is also a marina to the south of the old harbor that has never been finished. What we see when we arrive is a fast ferry moored inside the old harbor that goes to Izmir as well as a dredging ship. We continued south and anchor close to the mouth of the "new" marina. 

Weather in the bay is very different than in the Aegean, and we luck out because for the next few days, it appears that the seas will be absolutely flat. 

The day we got her though is part of a 10 day holiday that the government created because tourism has been deeply affected by the current geo-political climate. The government thought that by creating this long holiday, Turks would take to the roads and go on holiday. Later, thru the newspapers, we learned that th tourism industry did NOT get the boost that was expected because this current geo-political climate has also affected imports and exports, the economy, and unemployment. The 5-star all-inclusive resorts were charging over $1000 for two to holiday with them, and the turns out to be way too much money for way too many people. By the time this was known, much of the holiday period had already come and gone so there were no real winners, and many losers. 

We saw the effect of this government "mistake" in Mordoğan when we went ashore. There were many visitors to Mordoğan, but nearly all had Izmir (local big city) license plates on there cars. We did eat shore that night in the old harbor area and the meal was quite good and had "normal" Turkish prices, not inflated for the holiday period.

That is all for now folks!

If you have any questions, please ask.

Lee and Zehra

MV LeeZe

http://whereisleeze.blogspot.com

2017 Where is LeeZe? Pythagorio > Kusadasi A Major Repair Job!

Dear all,

On 7 August, we are underway to Pythagorio where this time,  we moored along the wall.





Pythagorio's daily rate for motor yachts is 36 € /day water and electricity included. We came in late so we paid for an extra day. Pythagorio is an active town with lots of people walking after the sun goes down. Took a day trip to Vathy where we had been last year to shop at Lee's favorite butcher on the island and Zehra's favorite fruit and veggie guy.

Our 90 day visa clock runs out on 12 August, so Zehra wants to check out the day before just in case there are problems. So, on 11 August, we trek over to the Passport Police who is so nice and full of useful info that we nearly fall over. He said that Greece allows us to stay as much as 24 hours after your passport is stamped and if one asks nicely to the Port Police, they can extend that one extra day. The we go to the Port Police and tell him we want to depart the next day and he says "then, come back tomorrow."

So, we are officially out of the country, but LeeZe is not. So, on 12 August, we go to the Port Police who have seem to have lost out arrival paperwork, so we sit they while they recreate it. Then out come the stamps, and with numerous chunks, our arrival paperwork is stamped and so it our transit log. Then after taking photos of the now completed transit log (just in case) and paying a €5 exit fee (this is new), we walk next store to the Customs Office and she takes the transit log, looks at it for all of 5 seconds, and says goodbye!!

So, we depart for an anchorage at the tip of Samos called Poseidonio. It is a 5 nm run and when we turn into the bay, there we se what we believe is MV Castalio, a 1968 95 gross ton wood yacht that was built in Scotland, and owned by a very good Turkish friend who last we heard was very very sick.

It is Castalio, and our friend, with part of his family, is on board. We try to anchor near to them, but there was not enough room if the weather turns bad, so we anchored just a little further away. Now, at this time, the anchor windlass was acting "funny" but it functioned and I did not give it another thought. Our friend came by and invited us over later when they return from their shore side trip. We catch up then, and learn that he is about 60% better after falling some 5-6 meters off of a scaffold onto the concrete while doing some repairs to Castalio. He suffered significant neck injuries that took weeks to diagnose. As he is not a spring chicken, the healing process is quite slow and he is still on the mend. But we are so happy that is better that we are both overjoyed.

He invited us ashore for dinner, but as we were officially out of Greece, we did not want to poke at the immigration Gods by going ashore. So we decline.

It is now 13 August and our PLAN was depart the anchorage and go to Teos, north of Kusadasi. Up at 0800 and notice that Castalio is gone. We kind of expected that as the owner is an early bird riser who likes to begin his trips just after dawn. So, we get ready to leave and I goes to retrieve the anchor. The motor spins but the wildcat does not. No amount of prodding can get it to work.

I begin retrieving the anchor by hand but realize that I do not enough in me to retrieve the 65 meters of chain out + the anchor. There is another lifting motor on board which is used to raise the tender. I rig it in such a way that the wire goes from the boom thru an omega shackle tied to a rail thru the bullseye of the anchor system to the chain. In this way, the motor can be used to bring in 2-3 meters of chain.

Surprisingly, a man in a tender shows up and asks if I need help! He is a godsend, and the next time we cross paths, I promised him the dinner of his choosing! With him in the tender, we can place the hook further down the chain and bring in more of it at one time. But this lifting motor is not big, and after 3-4 lifts, the thermal overloads trip. Between dousing it with water and waiting, we are able to get the anchor to the surface but no higher. The entire retrieval process took three hours!. So, again with this man's help, I use a mooring line to lift the anchor as far out of the water and tie it in place along side the starboard side of the bow.

He departs, and so do we.




The plan to go to Teos goes down the tube. We are off to the Kusadasi marina some 15-16 nm away for repairs. The sea is so calm that the anchor hardly ever bangs against the hull. There, we know a person who helped repair the anchoring system (but not the windlass) in 2014 so I call him on the phone (I have his cell #) explain to him the problem and he says he THINKS he can get someone to look at it on Monday, and for sure, Tuesday.

Since we had no anchor, we cannot drop anchor in the harbor and wait for him, so we arrive at the marina and get a space near to the machine shops. I am tired, filthy, and concerned because I have a problem that I cannot fix.

Our good Turkish friend is also in the same marina, comes over later on this Sunday, and between us and two beers, we deduce the problem is inside the windlass, bolted below the deck in the anchor locker.

Meanwhile, our neighbor to port calls up his repair person who tells him that he will be by Monday at about 3 PM to look at the problem.

So, the next morning is Monday. Knowing that the windlass will have to come out, I CAUTIOUSLY open the chain locker (34 bolts, as it is also a collision bulkhead) in the forward stateroom thinking that the chain COULD be laying against the metal plate and could tumble out onto me me and the floor if I am not careful.

But the chain is not resting against anything! It is piled up quite nicely in the middle of the locker. So, laying blankets everywhere, I slowing pull out 100+ meters of chain, leaving just enough so that the person taking the windlass out can stand on the chain, which is relatively flat.

Then I go to the bow and disassemble the upper part of the windlass just on the off chance that the problem is in that part. Nope, having taken this apart every year for the last 5, I see nothing broken.

If you would have seen me, you would have found dirt and grease over most of my body and clothes.

Then a miracle of sorts happens. My person that I called on Sunday shows up at 2PM with two people in tow. He hears my story, sees my windlass is not working, and tells his guys to pull it out. We go down below and his face lights up. I have done all the menial work so the two dive in and 15 minutes later, the windlass is out and on the aft table. Then, we all go off to the work bench in his shop, and slowly taken apart. We get the gears all out and none look damaged. That is a great sign because it points to a "key" on a shaft somewhere being broken. But as we take it all apart, every key is fine and undamaged. Then they start disassembling the motor and we find the broken key. It is tiny, maybe 3 x10 millimeters, and it sure is broken.

(Meanwhile, my neighbor's mechanic shows up at 3PM, realizes that there is no work, gets quite upset with me and throws me the finger. This is when I learned that my neighbor called him on my behalf.)

I got a somewhat generic diagram from the net of the windlass and studied it quite carefully. The mechanics found a 4.5 mm movement between the motor's drive gear and the windlass' main gear, which they thought was excessive. No one could find any evidence that a wear ring was grounded down into pieces. A magnet was used to scan the oil and the oil was clean, and clean also to touch. The diagram showed that there should have been a 4 mm aluminum wear ring there but the other 4 wear rings were steel, not aluminum.

Called the company in Italy and come to learn, for my size and larger windlasses, the wear rings are steel, and they could not believe that one got assembled without one. They also said that I should have been told that I need to pull this windlass apart every three years to inspect, replace the keys (as they wear) apply fresh grease and change the 140 weight oil. When I said that was NOT in the manual, they said that is a generic manual and my distributor should have told me this.

(So lesson learned is no electrical or hydraulic machine can go years on a boat without an open and inspect and repair, and even the most well made items have parts inside that wear and need replacing.)

So, the mechanics measured everything and remade two wear rings to take up the slack that existed. The company said that main gear should have no more than 0.5mm play and when done, the mechanics got this on within 0.2mm.

So, now it is Tuesday afternoon and they are back on board to reinstall, which goes without a hitch. They help me reload the locker with the chain and then we all go topside to reassemble the anchor mechanism topside. Here is where I learn that I was using way way way too much grease, and putting grease on mating surface that allow the anchor windlass to grip and do its job.

With it all reassembled, I go and attach the bitter end of the chain to the anchor and to make a long story short, dump the entire chain locker into the water to ensure that there are no kinks and chain runs thru without a problem. There is none and by late Tuesday, the anchor is in its proper position on the bow of LeeZe.

I go and pay, and the job was not cheap. They stopped two scheduled jobs to handle me so I paid a small premium for the work. The boss also promised me that if this should fail again within the next three years, call him and as long as I am in Turkey, he and his men will come to me and fix it for free.

So, I am just as dirty and filthy as on Sunday but this time, the marina's showers get a chance to clean me up. I am also bone tired and after dinner out, and a walk about after dinner, my energy levels are hovering just above zero.

Wednesday morning I get up to wash LeeZe because guests are coming. Make a quick run to the grocery store, pay my dockage fee (not cheap either!) and by the time our guests arrive, I am dragging my ass on the floor. When the time comes to depart, I call a timeout and decide to stay until the next morning because I think I would have made costly mistakes because I was so tired.

That is all for now folks!

If you have any questions, please ask.

Lee and Zehra

MV LeeZe

http://whereisleeze.blogspot.com