Sorry for the delay in writing this but I had some computer problems that had to be resolved before I could finish writing this blog.
I left the last entry with our arrival in Moudros Gr on 2 Sept.
I left the last entry with our arrival in Moudros Gr on 2 Sept.
The town is quite a sleepy one and we have come to learn that it is SO SLEEPY that when a new boat arrives at the dock, the many of the town's people come out to check it out. Our French dock mates had warned us about this but it is a little creepy to be eating dinner or watching TV when two or more strangers peak in on you. It turns out that we are the new show in town until a very large yacht comes in to the commercial pier, but alas, it does not stay long.
The approach to the harbor is scary as my various references on board state that the water is just 3-4 meters deep in the channel, much less outside the channel, rocks everywhere, and the channel itself is not marked well. But we purchased a cruising guide from Eagle Ray out of Athens that for all intensive purposes, was like having a person with local knowledge in the pilot house. This guide was accurate and detailed, and gave us the confidence that we needed to enter without mishap. We moored side too because that harbor was so small and shallow in so many places that side too was all that was available. And, even though med moor was not possible, the local authorities charged us a 25% surcharge for being side too. Still, at about 10 euros a day with electricity and water, that was not bad.
Town itself is quite small. The main restaurants are along the harbor's wall, and there are none in the town itself. There are sandwich shops in town along with a couple of grocers and a very (!) nice hardware store. The town was the place where during WW1and II, many ships came in to prepare for war against Russia. The pictures that we saw showed so little room between the ships that one could appear to walk from one to the other. This is also the harbor where the UK, Aussie, and NZ forces used to prepare for their assault on Turkey in 1915. Again, wall to wall ships. (I may have some of this history wrong.)
Tourists come to this town to visit the Cathedral
but for our French dock mates, they must have loved it because they had been here for more than a month and did not seem to be in a hurry to leave.
But we did, at the first weather window, move to Myrina. The day was 8 Sept and the move was not too bad.
We find the city wall somewhat empty
(A snapshot from my aft deck. There is maybe 1.5 to 2 meters between me and them. Their skill in coming alongside each other and "squeezing" in between me and a sailboat whose owner could not be found was amazing to witness.
At the base of the fort to the North like a really nice beach with bars and cafes along the shore. This is where the young people hang out but life along this area is still pretty tame.
Our typical day (not Sunday) is to take a walk in the mornings among the shops and the beach, and once or twice a week, go to the grocery store in the late afternoon for whatever we need. Either before or after dinner, we would again take a walk, and then settle in for the night. The night after our rally friends came in (to take refuge from the westerlies) we sat down on board their boat and caught up!
There is an old man waving to us to come alongside so we do, starboard side too. But he is just a bundle of nerves, not making much sense telling me to bring LeeZe closer to the restaurant boat just ahead of me, demanding I do it now, quickly, and gets so excited that somehow, he falls into the water pier side, cutting his hand, drowning his cell phone, and his wallet.
Come to learn that he is just a local fisherman, but wanted us close to the restaurant boat because BIG trawlers were coming in behind me (which they did, 6 days later!!!)
This docking excitement is not what we need. For some reason, we just cannot communicate to these highly excitable people that we will comply with their wishes, but not in the next 30 seconds, but during the next hour. Zehra really does not want to piss them off but there are times we would just like them to go away. We ask them politely, but that does no good. We do not want to get nasty but it appears that may be what needs to happen. LeeZe is 44 tons, and steel. I can get close to that restaurant boat, but want to do it with lines, not engine power. That takes time, and these "helpers" ashore are just do not have patience.
Anyway, we are in, and settled.
Electricity at this port is erratic, with voltage being all over the map. (My thanks AGAIN To Arild, who designed my electrical system to handle these erratic shore power availabilities. (He has recently passed and I hope that wherever he is, he is enjoying his new life there with gusto! ))
But we eventually arrive in Çanakkale,
The approach to the harbor is scary as my various references on board state that the water is just 3-4 meters deep in the channel, much less outside the channel, rocks everywhere, and the channel itself is not marked well. But we purchased a cruising guide from Eagle Ray out of Athens that for all intensive purposes, was like having a person with local knowledge in the pilot house. This guide was accurate and detailed, and gave us the confidence that we needed to enter without mishap. We moored side too because that harbor was so small and shallow in so many places that side too was all that was available. And, even though med moor was not possible, the local authorities charged us a 25% surcharge for being side too. Still, at about 10 euros a day with electricity and water, that was not bad.
Town itself is quite small. The main restaurants are along the harbor's wall, and there are none in the town itself. There are sandwich shops in town along with a couple of grocers and a very (!) nice hardware store. The town was the place where during WW1and II, many ships came in to prepare for war against Russia. The pictures that we saw showed so little room between the ships that one could appear to walk from one to the other. This is also the harbor where the UK, Aussie, and NZ forces used to prepare for their assault on Turkey in 1915. Again, wall to wall ships. (I may have some of this history wrong.)
Tourists come to this town to visit the Cathedral
we are told but in our numerous walks into town, we never found it open. This town was just a little too quiet for us,
but for our French dock mates, they must have loved it because they had been here for more than a month and did not seem to be in a hurry to leave.
But we did, at the first weather window, move to Myrina. The day was 8 Sept and the move was not too bad.
We find the city wall somewhat empty
and with the help of the first, and so far, only day-tripper boat Captain (to our port side in the picture above) we have come across in Greece so far this year, we tie up stern too. Water and electricity is free here also, like Moudros, but there is a movement to start charging for it once they can get the machines that control such things working. This being Greece, there does not appear to be any urgency toward making that happen. So be it.
It turns out that we lucked out and dropped our anchor in 13 meters of water where the bottom was less fouled with debris than the western part of the anchorage. While here, we saw one sailboat needing to hire a diver ($$$$$) to help them retrieve their fouled anchor, and watched another boat struggle in rough seas to retrieve their anchor. (More on this in a moment.)
But the day is calm and clear, and we settle in, this time prepared with bow lines to the wall for when the wind comes.
And it does come, sometimes up to 30 knots. Most of the time, the hill behind us shields us from the North and East winds, but we did have two days where there were strong westerly winds, and these two days saw fishing trawlers come in and moor side too, three abreast, off our starboard side just meters away. (This was the day some sailors / friends from the 2012 East-Med Yacht Rally came into the harbor at dusk to escape the weather, dropped anchor near the harbor's mouth, and between the rain, the wind, and the waves, and whatever they had grabbed on the bottom with their anchor, they struggled to get ready, retrieve and come in. This was also the same day that at 1815, I was asked if I could move my stern 5-10 meters to port to make room for these three fishing trawlers that we coming in. I said sure, could do tomorrow…. nope, big miss communication as he wanted me to do it in the next 15 minutes. Told him not a chance, and good thing I did because those rally friends needed that spot to tie up.)
It turns out that we lucked out and dropped our anchor in 13 meters of water where the bottom was less fouled with debris than the western part of the anchorage. While here, we saw one sailboat needing to hire a diver ($$$$$) to help them retrieve their fouled anchor, and watched another boat struggle in rough seas to retrieve their anchor. (More on this in a moment.)
But the day is calm and clear, and we settle in, this time prepared with bow lines to the wall for when the wind comes.
And it does come, sometimes up to 30 knots. Most of the time, the hill behind us shields us from the North and East winds, but we did have two days where there were strong westerly winds, and these two days saw fishing trawlers come in and moor side too, three abreast, off our starboard side just meters away. (This was the day some sailors / friends from the 2012 East-Med Yacht Rally came into the harbor at dusk to escape the weather, dropped anchor near the harbor's mouth, and between the rain, the wind, and the waves, and whatever they had grabbed on the bottom with their anchor, they struggled to get ready, retrieve and come in. This was also the same day that at 1815, I was asked if I could move my stern 5-10 meters to port to make room for these three fishing trawlers that we coming in. I said sure, could do tomorrow…. nope, big miss communication as he wanted me to do it in the next 15 minutes. Told him not a chance, and good thing I did because those rally friends needed that spot to tie up.)
(Three 25+ meter fishing trawlers take shelter next to me because strong winds are forecasted!)
(A snapshot from my aft deck. There is maybe 1.5 to 2 meters between me and them. Their skill in coming alongside each other and "squeezing" in between me and a sailboat whose owner could not be found was amazing to witness.
(This is a pictures of the last of the 3 trawlers coming in. The wind and waves in the inner harbor made the entrance "interesting.")
Myrina: Nice town. It has two reasonably sized supermarkets, some great butchers, a decent hardware store, and nice restaurants. The main shopping street leads from the port past the fort toward the Greek Church in the center of town. But like in the rest of Greece, shopping hours are set in stone, and not even a cruise liner with hundreds of passengers coming ashore on a Sunday can get the shop owners to open. How sad!
The Fort is up about 900 meters from the town vertically, and occupies a large plateau.
The Fort is up about 900 meters from the town vertically, and occupies a large plateau.
It has been around since Roman times and for some reason, was shelled 3 times by a passing German WWII submarine. It is in the process of being restored, with some information available.
(Zehra at the flag!)
We found it strange that little is known about this fort. People say the information was destroyed sometime in the past, but knowing how the Ottomans kept detailed records of nearly every place they took over and restored or rebuilt, I find the lack of info to be a little disturbing. There are buildings within the fort whose purpose can only be guessed at.
Some it its history is known, but there are huge gaps in it. The local authorities are just now trying to make the entrance way more visitor friendly and if I cared to guess, their "to-do" list must fill many books. There are plenty of opportunities to trip and fall, and some precarious paths one takes to get to the good spots.
My gut tells me that the view from the fort at night has to be breathtaking, but to climb up (or down) at night is probably life threatening.
My gut tells me that the view from the fort at night has to be breathtaking, but to climb up (or down) at night is probably life threatening.
At the base of the fort to the North like a really nice beach with bars and cafes along the shore. This is where the young people hang out but life along this area is still pretty tame.
Our typical day (not Sunday) is to take a walk in the mornings among the shops and the beach, and once or twice a week, go to the grocery store in the late afternoon for whatever we need. Either before or after dinner, we would again take a walk, and then settle in for the night. The night after our rally friends came in (to take refuge from the westerlies) we sat down on board their boat and caught up!
After they left, we meet some Greek Americans from Cleveland who come to this island every year as their family is still on the island. They turn out to know a lot about the island, and they are a wealth of info.
But after two weeks, and with our visas expiring in two weeks, we start looking for a weather window so we can depart. We find one during the fourth week of September but the locals tell us for SURE there will be one the first week of October.
You can guess where this is going!
There is no good weather window. So, I want to talk with the Passport police, and the port authority people give them a call for me to help me answer what happens if we cannot leave before our visas expire. There is some room for interpretation in their answer so I go and search out their office. One would think they would be at the Port like every other passport police office has been in every other Greek Port of Entry, but not here. And the Greeks really cannot point out on a town map where their office is. They give directions like go the street with the bread store on the corner, turn left, go up three or 4 streets to the corner where there is a florist, then etc etc etc….
So, with my bicycle, I go out and search for them. Turns out they are located at the top of the shopping street, in the same building as the Greek Police, but access to them is via an unmarked door down a alley.
Good thing I checked because on the phone they said our visas were good for three months, but when queried exactly what date they expire, come to learn the visa is good for 90 days.
But, they are also quite accommodating. If we cannot leave, they will check us out, and they ask that we stay close to the boat and not go wandering around the island and that we leave when the next good weather window occurs.
Ok, so with that answer, we realize that they are not going to kick us out nor put us in jail. Good!
But the Weather God shows some mercy and on 6 Oct, we depart toward GoKceada, Turkey. But while the weather is good, the current around the island is strong, and not favorable for us so we anchor in a very quiet (eerily quiet) in Kereirio Kimonos harbor and hope the next day is better. This harbor was spooky quiet, spooky empty, spooky everything. There were no boats near by, no lights ashore, no music heard, no life recognized except for the very small fishing boats that we pass us at odd hours of the night.
We awake on 7 Oct to reasonable good weather, and fighting the current some more, make our way to KaleKoy Gokceada Turkey. We arrive in the late afternoon and after not being able to contact anyone ashore, we come into the harbor and look around.
But after two weeks, and with our visas expiring in two weeks, we start looking for a weather window so we can depart. We find one during the fourth week of September but the locals tell us for SURE there will be one the first week of October.
You can guess where this is going!
There is no good weather window. So, I want to talk with the Passport police, and the port authority people give them a call for me to help me answer what happens if we cannot leave before our visas expire. There is some room for interpretation in their answer so I go and search out their office. One would think they would be at the Port like every other passport police office has been in every other Greek Port of Entry, but not here. And the Greeks really cannot point out on a town map where their office is. They give directions like go the street with the bread store on the corner, turn left, go up three or 4 streets to the corner where there is a florist, then etc etc etc….
So, with my bicycle, I go out and search for them. Turns out they are located at the top of the shopping street, in the same building as the Greek Police, but access to them is via an unmarked door down a alley.
Good thing I checked because on the phone they said our visas were good for three months, but when queried exactly what date they expire, come to learn the visa is good for 90 days.
But, they are also quite accommodating. If we cannot leave, they will check us out, and they ask that we stay close to the boat and not go wandering around the island and that we leave when the next good weather window occurs.
Ok, so with that answer, we realize that they are not going to kick us out nor put us in jail. Good!
But the Weather God shows some mercy and on 6 Oct, we depart toward GoKceada, Turkey. But while the weather is good, the current around the island is strong, and not favorable for us so we anchor in a very quiet (eerily quiet) in Kereirio Kimonos harbor and hope the next day is better. This harbor was spooky quiet, spooky empty, spooky everything. There were no boats near by, no lights ashore, no music heard, no life recognized except for the very small fishing boats that we pass us at odd hours of the night.
We awake on 7 Oct to reasonable good weather, and fighting the current some more, make our way to KaleKoy Gokceada Turkey. We arrive in the late afternoon and after not being able to contact anyone ashore, we come into the harbor and look around.
There is an old man waving to us to come alongside so we do, starboard side too. But he is just a bundle of nerves, not making much sense telling me to bring LeeZe closer to the restaurant boat just ahead of me, demanding I do it now, quickly, and gets so excited that somehow, he falls into the water pier side, cutting his hand, drowning his cell phone, and his wallet.
Come to learn that he is just a local fisherman, but wanted us close to the restaurant boat because BIG trawlers were coming in behind me (which they did, 6 days later!!!)
This docking excitement is not what we need. For some reason, we just cannot communicate to these highly excitable people that we will comply with their wishes, but not in the next 30 seconds, but during the next hour. Zehra really does not want to piss them off but there are times we would just like them to go away. We ask them politely, but that does no good. We do not want to get nasty but it appears that may be what needs to happen. LeeZe is 44 tons, and steel. I can get close to that restaurant boat, but want to do it with lines, not engine power. That takes time, and these "helpers" ashore are just do not have patience.
Anyway, we are in, and settled.
We are back in Turkey, so while there is no pork, and wine is expensive, there is a "farmer's market" (not a good one mind you but after not having one for so long, any market is acceptable!) and stores open all hours, fresh bread available at nearly any hour of every day, and where one can get a real shave at the barber shop! (Yup, that is right. I could find no barber in the greek towns we were in that could give me a shave, any shave! So that first one after 3 months without one, with a straight edge razor to boot, is like heaven!)
Electricity at this port is erratic, with voltage being all over the map. (My thanks AGAIN To Arild, who designed my electrical system to handle these erratic shore power availabilities. (He has recently passed and I hope that wherever he is, he is enjoying his new life there with gusto! ))
Water is also available, but arrangements have to be made with the Port Captain to turn it on.
The port itself is about 5-6 kilometers from town, and one rides a dolmus (12 person minibus that runs on a set route that one hails to get on or off) to get there. As this island is very near to the Istanbul Straits, it has strategic value and that is obvious from the military presence on the island.
We have decided to winter over in Çanakkale, Turkey so to make the arrangements, Zehra takes a day trip involving 4 ferries, 4 bus rides, and lots of waiting to and from Çanakkale to get the info first hand.
Meanwhile, I have some work I want to do, and try to find someone who could haul the tender and pressure wash the sea growth off its bottom. Although the port captain said he would find someone, he does not come thru so that chore is left for another day.
There is not much to this island, and having had some pretty rotten luck with finding god weather windows, we decide that the first good one we get we will depart.
That turns out to be 7 Oct, and we depart. The run is very uneventful but it gets boring very quick when we are bucking a 2-3 knot current going up the Dardanelles to Çanakkale. The last 12 nm takes more than 6 hours. I had expected the Dardanelles to be very busy, but it was not as busy as expected.
The port itself is about 5-6 kilometers from town, and one rides a dolmus (12 person minibus that runs on a set route that one hails to get on or off) to get there. As this island is very near to the Istanbul Straits, it has strategic value and that is obvious from the military presence on the island.
We have decided to winter over in Çanakkale, Turkey so to make the arrangements, Zehra takes a day trip involving 4 ferries, 4 bus rides, and lots of waiting to and from Çanakkale to get the info first hand.
Meanwhile, I have some work I want to do, and try to find someone who could haul the tender and pressure wash the sea growth off its bottom. Although the port captain said he would find someone, he does not come thru so that chore is left for another day.
There is not much to this island, and having had some pretty rotten luck with finding god weather windows, we decide that the first good one we get we will depart.
That turns out to be 7 Oct, and we depart. The run is very uneventful but it gets boring very quick when we are bucking a 2-3 knot current going up the Dardanelles to Çanakkale. The last 12 nm takes more than 6 hours. I had expected the Dardanelles to be very busy, but it was not as busy as expected.
Cutting across the down leg lane to get into the up leg lane took more than an hour and then going further west to try to find good water with little current took even longer.
But we eventually arrive in Çanakkale,
med moor right in front of the office, and conclude this season. We will have to move west a little later because that is where the stronger lazy lines are installed, but we are in, safe and sound. As this is a city marina, the bathrooms and showers are not as elegant as private marinas, but we will manage.
The city is some 50-75 meters from our pasarella, and it appears to be always lively, as there are universities in town. A few days after arrival we go to Kusadasi to pick up our car, stay with a superb friend, have a great steak and potatoes meal with 11 more friends,
The city is some 50-75 meters from our pasarella, and it appears to be always lively, as there are universities in town. A few days after arrival we go to Kusadasi to pick up our car, stay with a superb friend, have a great steak and potatoes meal with 11 more friends,
and depart the next morning back to Çanakkale.
That concludes this blog entry. Of course, comments and questions are warmly welcomed. If you receive the link to this blog via a personal email, and no longer wish to, just me me know and I will remove you from the list. No hard feelings, OK?
Thanks for taking the time
Lee and Zehra Aboard MV LeeZe
Çanakkale, Turkey
PS: OK, now I promised to fill in the gap between Mytilini and Molivos.
Turkey had Presidential elections on 10 August so to ensure that Zehra could vote, we departed Mytilini on 4 August and dropped anchor in Ayvalik so Zehra could catch a plane to Ankara and vote.
We did not want to go thru the hassle of checking out of Greece and then checking back in so we did this surreptitiously. We had some excitement on the crossing. Turns out the hydraulic rudder arm the steering system uses separated from the rudder post itself and the clunk I heard when that 55 kg arm dropped to the steel deck was AWESOME!
Thank GOD the weather was clear, calm, the seas nearly flat and no one was around us. (Zehra says that I have no "Cojones" and tend to wait for the "perfect" weather to get to the next port, and I do tend to wait for good weather. Had this failure occurred in windy or rough weather, the recovery would have been a hell of a lot more complicated, and dicey, and un-nerving!)
Tried to jury rig something but failed.
So, while at idle, in deep water, disassembled the clevis connector, reattached the hydraulic arm to the clevis, and repined the clevis to the rudder post. Zehra is at the helm with the words to drop the anchor if we get into water some 10 meters deep of less. Never had done this before. And, thankfully, we hardly move while I do the repair!
The failure could have been worse because if it had happened 30 minutes later, we would have been in a very narrow channel approaching Ayvalik with very little margin for error.
That concludes this blog entry. Of course, comments and questions are warmly welcomed. If you receive the link to this blog via a personal email, and no longer wish to, just me me know and I will remove you from the list. No hard feelings, OK?
Thanks for taking the time
Lee and Zehra Aboard MV LeeZe
Çanakkale, Turkey
PS: OK, now I promised to fill in the gap between Mytilini and Molivos.
Turkey had Presidential elections on 10 August so to ensure that Zehra could vote, we departed Mytilini on 4 August and dropped anchor in Ayvalik so Zehra could catch a plane to Ankara and vote.
We did not want to go thru the hassle of checking out of Greece and then checking back in so we did this surreptitiously. We had some excitement on the crossing. Turns out the hydraulic rudder arm the steering system uses separated from the rudder post itself and the clunk I heard when that 55 kg arm dropped to the steel deck was AWESOME!
Thank GOD the weather was clear, calm, the seas nearly flat and no one was around us. (Zehra says that I have no "Cojones" and tend to wait for the "perfect" weather to get to the next port, and I do tend to wait for good weather. Had this failure occurred in windy or rough weather, the recovery would have been a hell of a lot more complicated, and dicey, and un-nerving!)
Tried to jury rig something but failed.
So, while at idle, in deep water, disassembled the clevis connector, reattached the hydraulic arm to the clevis, and repined the clevis to the rudder post. Zehra is at the helm with the words to drop the anchor if we get into water some 10 meters deep of less. Never had done this before. And, thankfully, we hardly move while I do the repair!
The failure could have been worse because if it had happened 30 minutes later, we would have been in a very narrow channel approaching Ayvalik with very little margin for error.
So, after reassembling, we go to shallow water, anchor and I have Zehra move the rudder left and right a dozen times and verify that this is not going to fall apart again. With that test complete and sat, we slowly motor our way thru the narrow channel (hand steering just in case) and drop the hook off the city wall (Ayvalik#1 above)
That turns out to be a mistake because the traffic from the day charter boats is just too much so we opt to go further into the harbor and anchor in a quieter area. (Ayvalik #2 on the map above!)
Ayvalik's harbor is NOT clean. One would not want to take a swim in this harbor. The only place to moor pier side was at the fishermen's port on the North side of the harbor and they wanted over $50 a night to moor. Compared to what we were paying for a med moor spot in the Greek Islands, we consider this to be highway robbery!
That turns out to be a mistake because the traffic from the day charter boats is just too much so we opt to go further into the harbor and anchor in a quieter area. (Ayvalik #2 on the map above!)
Ayvalik's harbor is NOT clean. One would not want to take a swim in this harbor. The only place to moor pier side was at the fishermen's port on the North side of the harbor and they wanted over $50 a night to moor. Compared to what we were paying for a med moor spot in the Greek Islands, we consider this to be highway robbery!
Anyway, Zehra got to vote,
(Here she is at a waterside cafe just before going to vote!)
we stocked up at a large grocery story, and then got underway for Molivos, arriving there on 15 August. (One thing we forgot to stock up on is tea. If you are a tea drinker, compared to the price in Turkey, tea prices are through the roof so if one likes tea, buy it in Turkey before going west!)
We had no more rudder problems the rest of the trip, but this winter, will take it apart and reassemble it using some techniques the engineer I talked with from the factory suggested.
For those that are interested, here are some screen shots of our trip:
(Here she is at a waterside cafe just before going to vote!)
we stocked up at a large grocery story, and then got underway for Molivos, arriving there on 15 August. (One thing we forgot to stock up on is tea. If you are a tea drinker, compared to the price in Turkey, tea prices are through the roof so if one likes tea, buy it in Turkey before going west!)
We had no more rudder problems the rest of the trip, but this winter, will take it apart and reassemble it using some techniques the engineer I talked with from the factory suggested.
For those that are interested, here are some screen shots of our trip:
Mitilini > Ayvalik
Ayvalik >Molivos > Moudros
Moudros > Myrina> to an anchorage overnight >Gokceada
Gokceada > Çanakkale, Turkey
Çanakkale City Marina
No comments:
Post a Comment