It is time to start the blog up again as we are getting ready to depart our winter over "hole" for other places. So, I need to begin, and I will with the preps needed for a sea trial.
Actually, Zehra's Mom was with us for about 30 days, and departed 8 May. Lovely lady, no bother to having on board, low low low maintenance. After she departs, we have a few get togethers to attend and I have so sea trial prep work that I really did not want to do in front of Mom…
One of the FUN activities is placing back in the hole at the bottom of the boat the transducer that was pulled at the end of last season. Since LeeZe's draft is a 1.5 meters, my GUESS is this hole is about .75 meters below the water line. So, with Zehra to help minimize the water inflow, I pull the plug that is in place and attempt to insert the transducer. All does not go well, water is coming in, Zehra is freaking out, and I stop and put the plug in to think about what I am doing. Ah ha! The light bulb goes on! The transducer has an arrow on it and you can guess that I was not placing it correctly in the hold. Zehra is NOT too enthused to me pulling that plug out again, but she is a trooper. I do, she covers the hole with a towel and I get the transducer seated. She and I are dripping wet from the waist up, my dry bilge is no longer, but success. (Had a diver over to clean the hull, why did I not think to have him cover the hole while in the water? Duh????)
Our marina contract ends on 18 May, so if all was to go to plan, I wanted to do a sea trial on 14-15 May, work out the kinks, verify things work as designed, and of course, fix the stuff that doesn't.
But, the weather is not cooperative and the winds from the North blow steady and fast on those two days. NOAA GRIB data indicates Friday will be OK, but now getting antsy as this does not leave much time post sea trials to resolve whatever issues arise. So Friday it is.
Friday, 16 May. Up a little early, engine running, Navigation system up, radio checks complete and waiting on the marina for assistance in getting underway. Ahhhhhhh, what is that noise??? Look up from the salon toward the helm and note the autopilot is alarming, the plotter also, the Navtex unit, and both radios are dead. I also come to learn my tank level indicators (TLI) are also. Hummmmm.
I call the marina to cancel my request for assistance and start to trouble shoot.
Check circuit breakers. None are popped. Reset what I think are the appropriate ones and nope, nada, no life / juice. Place a call to my electronics guy to get on his calendar for the day and he can be by "after lunch." He suggests looking for a blown fuse, so I start.
But of course, the following does not IMMEDIATELY pop out to me but after about 15-20 minutes checking some fuses, come to realize that it has to be a BIG blankety blankety fuse for all the stuff that is suppose to be working but is not.
So, I turn my focus to the 24 to 12V DC power converter. An initial cursory check seems to show that it is fine, but what I am actually measuring in the accessory adapter's voltage. Need to get to the main terminals and after some minutes of disassembly, I can get to them, and sure enough, the power supply is working.
Right above this power supply are 12 circuit breakers to the 24 and 12V DC Pilothouse systems. So, I want to measure the voltage output of each breaker to help me narrow my search. As I check each one, all are fine until #9, and when I go to measure the voltage, the radios pop to life. Now, I did NOT cycle that circuit breaker, nor touch it in any way before this but now, the radios are working. Hummmmm. Turn off and then on the c/b and the radios are dead. Measure the voltage and they come back to life. Now a little bit confused. Recycle the breaker again and the radios come back to life.
It has taken me more than 2 hours to get to this point, so I bike ride over to my electronics guy, tell him my story, and to get confirmation that circuit breakers can fail this way. He says they can, though not frequently. Go to town, get some spares, come back, have lunch, (weather is windy now so underway today is not a go…) and my electronics guy is there on the pasarelle. He comes aboard, quickly confirms that what I am seeing is what is actually is, shows me how to replace the c/b (believe it or not, did not know. Probably could have learned but most probably would have broken something while learning).
Ok, power up the 24 VDC PH systems and everything is working. Decide to leave everything on to see what fails overnight.
It is now Saturday. Weather is fine so we do depart, go to the nearest bay, anchor and retrieve (all does not go smoothly as my trip line gets caught in the chain, but will get it (more) right next time. Steam around for an hour or so, and return to port. (The engine had been run under idle load at the dock for just over two hours while Mom was here so if there was to be a problem, it would have to be while under higher load than dockside load.)
We go out to dinner Saturday night, come back watch some TV and go to bed. Sunday will be a long day.
18 May: Sunday morning comes and it takes longer to disassemble and put away the shore side gear, load water, clean topsides, say our goodbyes, etc etc. We finally break the marina bonds and depart of Sagacik, Teos, some 33 nm toward the NW. Weather is fine and we arrive about 1700, tired but thankful for a smooth first day. Teos is one of the 12 Ionian cities so it has been around for awhile. We lived in this area while LeeZe was being built so we have explored it.
19 May: Monday morning, with light winds, we launch the tender from our boat deck into the water with little fanfare. (If you would have observed this evolution in 2011, you would have thought that either we are going to get divorced, or we are selling LeeZe tomorrow!) Now, I wanted to test the tender and outboard while on sea trials, which meant launching it then, but the winds started to blow and I elected to return to port. So, having fogged the 2 cycle o/b last season, it should start. Of course it does not. Multiple pulls, multiple tries… nope no life. Then I remember I took the plugs out to fog the engine and probably did NOT reconnect them. Off comes the engine cover, and there they are, two wires flapping in the breeze. Connect, pull, and engine comes to life. Go for a quick spin and that afternoon, go into Sagacik for a walk about and dinner.
20 May: The weather is good so we get underway for Alacati. Alacati is the wind surfing capital and we get in and anchor in 4 meters of water in 20+ knots of wind. Little did we know this was to be the norm. We go ashore on 21 May, but the town is some 7+km from the anchorage so we are lucky that a man with his dog offers us a ride.
Alicata is a VERY picturesque town and while it is early in the tourist season, from the looks of things, they are expecting a crowd this summer. We walk around, buy some supplies, and return to LeeZe by way of a "Dolmus" (which is a minivan that as many as 12-16 people can use to get from one place to another. A check of the weather indicates that maybe SATURDAY, the wind and the seas in the Chios/Cesme Channel will be small enough to allow us safe passage to Cesme, Until then, we are in Alicata, experiencing sustain 20-30 knots of winds, gusts to 40+, with LeeZe dancing around the end of a 60 meter anchor and chain rode.
However, some are enjoying the wind:

24 May. Finally!!!!!! A day where the wind and waves will cooperate and we finally depart for Cesme!. Cesme was our FIRST port of call after taking possession of LeeZe in 2011 so returning here is like returning to the place where it all started. Back then, we were exhausted both mentally and physically from the new construction and the sea trials, and our first trip was no picnic either and that was icing on the cake! (The weather was so bad that we took blue water over the bow and white water spray above the pilot house. We dragged anchor threes times in five days, and … well, why were were out there is a very long story but, we were, and we did NOT like it.)
So, after an very un-eventful trip we arrive at Cesme
and anchor.
About 4 hours later, the Turkish Coast Guard shows up to tell us we are anchored in a forbidden zone. No zone is listed on the Turkish charts, and he cannot point to me where such a zone is published. He also tells us to change our Turkish Flag ( the winds in Alicata had all but shredded it) inspects our Turkish Transit Log and notes an error, which we negotiate with him some time to get fixed. He suggests a place to anchor, but it is open to the north and north west wind, which around here, can really blow. He says that the weather will be good for the next few days so we will be safe there. We instead chose to come ashore, get the error fixed (which there was none… he was confused) and talk to the people on the city wall if we can come along the wall. The "man-in-charge" says yes, and helps us in. Again, I need two tries to get it right (just like Symi from last year) so guess I am slow to learn.) This is a med moor, with the anchor chain out some 80 meters in 4 meters of water, nearly tight as a drum, with our stern tied to the wall. There is no electricity, but there is water (from a tanker I come to learn), and with our solar panels, we are fine.
So, at about 1800, we are in and happy, and at 2000, go for dinner
and a walk around town
before returning "home."
25 May. Uneventful day. We learn from the "man-in-charge" that he will want us to move to a different spot tomorrow morning because some charter boats are coming in and they like the spot we are in. No problem. Another opportunity to practice this mooring technique. Today is "Pazar" Day and the local Farmers' Market is in town. So, after breakfast, we take our shopping carts and go off to buy fruits, veggies and some cheese. Prices in Cesme are 30-50% higher than Kusadasi, but we come back with about 15-18 kilos of fruits, veggies and cheese, having spent about $22. (We know that is cheap by what Americans are paying in the USA, but just to counter, unleaded gasoline here is approaching about $10/gallon.)
There was a lot of phone calls today from family. There was a 6+ earthquake in the Northern Aegean, a hospital was damaged in Canakkale, and the callers wanted to know if we felt it. We may have, who knows, but there is not a chance we would have known the movement as an earthquake and not a wave….. But for the record, we did not feel it, and of course we said we were fine……
That is it for right now. Will post and start another chapter in the next few days.
Zehra and Lee
MV LeeZe
Currently Med Moored Cesme, Turkey
Actually, Zehra's Mom was with us for about 30 days, and departed 8 May. Lovely lady, no bother to having on board, low low low maintenance. After she departs, we have a few get togethers to attend and I have so sea trial prep work that I really did not want to do in front of Mom…
One of the FUN activities is placing back in the hole at the bottom of the boat the transducer that was pulled at the end of last season. Since LeeZe's draft is a 1.5 meters, my GUESS is this hole is about .75 meters below the water line. So, with Zehra to help minimize the water inflow, I pull the plug that is in place and attempt to insert the transducer. All does not go well, water is coming in, Zehra is freaking out, and I stop and put the plug in to think about what I am doing. Ah ha! The light bulb goes on! The transducer has an arrow on it and you can guess that I was not placing it correctly in the hold. Zehra is NOT too enthused to me pulling that plug out again, but she is a trooper. I do, she covers the hole with a towel and I get the transducer seated. She and I are dripping wet from the waist up, my dry bilge is no longer, but success. (Had a diver over to clean the hull, why did I not think to have him cover the hole while in the water? Duh????)
Our marina contract ends on 18 May, so if all was to go to plan, I wanted to do a sea trial on 14-15 May, work out the kinks, verify things work as designed, and of course, fix the stuff that doesn't.
But, the weather is not cooperative and the winds from the North blow steady and fast on those two days. NOAA GRIB data indicates Friday will be OK, but now getting antsy as this does not leave much time post sea trials to resolve whatever issues arise. So Friday it is.
Friday, 16 May. Up a little early, engine running, Navigation system up, radio checks complete and waiting on the marina for assistance in getting underway. Ahhhhhhh, what is that noise??? Look up from the salon toward the helm and note the autopilot is alarming, the plotter also, the Navtex unit, and both radios are dead. I also come to learn my tank level indicators (TLI) are also. Hummmmm.
I call the marina to cancel my request for assistance and start to trouble shoot.
Check circuit breakers. None are popped. Reset what I think are the appropriate ones and nope, nada, no life / juice. Place a call to my electronics guy to get on his calendar for the day and he can be by "after lunch." He suggests looking for a blown fuse, so I start.
But of course, the following does not IMMEDIATELY pop out to me but after about 15-20 minutes checking some fuses, come to realize that it has to be a BIG blankety blankety fuse for all the stuff that is suppose to be working but is not.
So, I turn my focus to the 24 to 12V DC power converter. An initial cursory check seems to show that it is fine, but what I am actually measuring in the accessory adapter's voltage. Need to get to the main terminals and after some minutes of disassembly, I can get to them, and sure enough, the power supply is working.
Right above this power supply are 12 circuit breakers to the 24 and 12V DC Pilothouse systems. So, I want to measure the voltage output of each breaker to help me narrow my search. As I check each one, all are fine until #9, and when I go to measure the voltage, the radios pop to life. Now, I did NOT cycle that circuit breaker, nor touch it in any way before this but now, the radios are working. Hummmmm. Turn off and then on the c/b and the radios are dead. Measure the voltage and they come back to life. Now a little bit confused. Recycle the breaker again and the radios come back to life.
It has taken me more than 2 hours to get to this point, so I bike ride over to my electronics guy, tell him my story, and to get confirmation that circuit breakers can fail this way. He says they can, though not frequently. Go to town, get some spares, come back, have lunch, (weather is windy now so underway today is not a go…) and my electronics guy is there on the pasarelle. He comes aboard, quickly confirms that what I am seeing is what is actually is, shows me how to replace the c/b (believe it or not, did not know. Probably could have learned but most probably would have broken something while learning).
Ok, power up the 24 VDC PH systems and everything is working. Decide to leave everything on to see what fails overnight.
It is now Saturday. Weather is fine so we do depart, go to the nearest bay, anchor and retrieve (all does not go smoothly as my trip line gets caught in the chain, but will get it (more) right next time. Steam around for an hour or so, and return to port. (The engine had been run under idle load at the dock for just over two hours while Mom was here so if there was to be a problem, it would have to be while under higher load than dockside load.)
We go out to dinner Saturday night, come back watch some TV and go to bed. Sunday will be a long day.
18 May: Sunday morning comes and it takes longer to disassemble and put away the shore side gear, load water, clean topsides, say our goodbyes, etc etc. We finally break the marina bonds and depart of Sagacik, Teos, some 33 nm toward the NW. Weather is fine and we arrive about 1700, tired but thankful for a smooth first day. Teos is one of the 12 Ionian cities so it has been around for awhile. We lived in this area while LeeZe was being built so we have explored it.
19 May: Monday morning, with light winds, we launch the tender from our boat deck into the water with little fanfare. (If you would have observed this evolution in 2011, you would have thought that either we are going to get divorced, or we are selling LeeZe tomorrow!) Now, I wanted to test the tender and outboard while on sea trials, which meant launching it then, but the winds started to blow and I elected to return to port. So, having fogged the 2 cycle o/b last season, it should start. Of course it does not. Multiple pulls, multiple tries… nope no life. Then I remember I took the plugs out to fog the engine and probably did NOT reconnect them. Off comes the engine cover, and there they are, two wires flapping in the breeze. Connect, pull, and engine comes to life. Go for a quick spin and that afternoon, go into Sagacik for a walk about and dinner.
20 May: The weather is good so we get underway for Alacati. Alacati is the wind surfing capital and we get in and anchor in 4 meters of water in 20+ knots of wind. Little did we know this was to be the norm. We go ashore on 21 May, but the town is some 7+km from the anchorage so we are lucky that a man with his dog offers us a ride.
Alicata is a VERY picturesque town and while it is early in the tourist season, from the looks of things, they are expecting a crowd this summer. We walk around, buy some supplies, and return to LeeZe by way of a "Dolmus" (which is a minivan that as many as 12-16 people can use to get from one place to another. A check of the weather indicates that maybe SATURDAY, the wind and the seas in the Chios/Cesme Channel will be small enough to allow us safe passage to Cesme, Until then, we are in Alicata, experiencing sustain 20-30 knots of winds, gusts to 40+, with LeeZe dancing around the end of a 60 meter anchor and chain rode.
However, some are enjoying the wind:


24 May. Finally!!!!!! A day where the wind and waves will cooperate and we finally depart for Cesme!. Cesme was our FIRST port of call after taking possession of LeeZe in 2011 so returning here is like returning to the place where it all started. Back then, we were exhausted both mentally and physically from the new construction and the sea trials, and our first trip was no picnic either and that was icing on the cake! (The weather was so bad that we took blue water over the bow and white water spray above the pilot house. We dragged anchor threes times in five days, and … well, why were were out there is a very long story but, we were, and we did NOT like it.)
So, after an very un-eventful trip we arrive at Cesme

and anchor.

About 4 hours later, the Turkish Coast Guard shows up to tell us we are anchored in a forbidden zone. No zone is listed on the Turkish charts, and he cannot point to me where such a zone is published. He also tells us to change our Turkish Flag ( the winds in Alicata had all but shredded it) inspects our Turkish Transit Log and notes an error, which we negotiate with him some time to get fixed. He suggests a place to anchor, but it is open to the north and north west wind, which around here, can really blow. He says that the weather will be good for the next few days so we will be safe there. We instead chose to come ashore, get the error fixed (which there was none… he was confused) and talk to the people on the city wall if we can come along the wall. The "man-in-charge" says yes, and helps us in. Again, I need two tries to get it right (just like Symi from last year) so guess I am slow to learn.) This is a med moor, with the anchor chain out some 80 meters in 4 meters of water, nearly tight as a drum, with our stern tied to the wall. There is no electricity, but there is water (from a tanker I come to learn), and with our solar panels, we are fine.
So, at about 1800, we are in and happy, and at 2000, go for dinner

and a walk around town

before returning "home."

25 May. Uneventful day. We learn from the "man-in-charge" that he will want us to move to a different spot tomorrow morning because some charter boats are coming in and they like the spot we are in. No problem. Another opportunity to practice this mooring technique. Today is "Pazar" Day and the local Farmers' Market is in town. So, after breakfast, we take our shopping carts and go off to buy fruits, veggies and some cheese. Prices in Cesme are 30-50% higher than Kusadasi, but we come back with about 15-18 kilos of fruits, veggies and cheese, having spent about $22. (We know that is cheap by what Americans are paying in the USA, but just to counter, unleaded gasoline here is approaching about $10/gallon.)
There was a lot of phone calls today from family. There was a 6+ earthquake in the Northern Aegean, a hospital was damaged in Canakkale, and the callers wanted to know if we felt it. We may have, who knows, but there is not a chance we would have known the movement as an earthquake and not a wave….. But for the record, we did not feel it, and of course we said we were fine……
That is it for right now. Will post and start another chapter in the next few days.
Zehra and Lee
MV LeeZe
Currently Med Moored Cesme, Turkey
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