2016 Where is LeeZe? Leros > Kalimnos (Kalymnos) > Bodrum-Turgutreis

2016 Where is LeeZe? Leros > Kalimnos (Kalymnos) > Bodrum-Turgutreis

Dear all, 

We arrived in Leros on 24 August and we settle in. Our last blog entries covered the arrival so I will elect to start with my shower.

Yup, for 29€/day, Lakki has showers and shore side toilets. A shower! My last shower where water flow was not an issue was EXACTLY 2 months ago, in Izmir.  (We both have talked about getting a hotel room every so often while underway just a change of pace, but somehow, we never come to do it.)

So, about 1900, we walk off to find the showers. We do, and while I cannot speak for Zehra, mine was heavenly! We definitely enjoyed these showers.  Since I am a little pooped from the day's event, Zehra finds a close-by restaurant for us to have dinner. 

This restaurant is by the ferry dock, and at 2045, it is quite empty. But the food is good, the wine goes down easy, we make a few calls using their WIFI node, and leave at about the time their tables are becoming full.

The next day we decide to wash LeeZe. We should have washed it just before departing Samos when the water was free, but it would still be filthy from the sand and the grit carried by the wind. Water is a little cheaper here than Patmos, but it comes with a warning not to drink. I ask around and the water is artesian and therefore very hard. People either buy softened water from the municipality or drink bottle water. On LeeZe, we use a chemical called silifoz that when you pass hard water over it, out comes softer water so this warning is not a concern. (For those that want numbers, it takes the TDS from above 50 to below 8. (We also use an HOH resin filter to remove even more ions just before it comes out the separate drinking water tap at the galley's sink.))

But before we wash we take a walk into town. Somehow, we both thought there was more to Leros, but there is not. Town is about 6 streets wide by 5 streets long, with three butchers (one selling home- made sausage, one selling dry-aged beef, and the last one really nondescript), two veggie stands, a couple of restaurants and supermarkets, some shore side cafes, and a few other shops. 

I broke a charging connector for my VHF portable radio, and a tech at a cell-phone store charged me 5€ to repair it, which did not hold up at all. Luckily, I found a satellite dish installer and for 3€, soldered on a new tip that should work for a long time. (My soldering skills kind of suck!)

Then, with a brush, water, and some soap, we start with the solar panels, and watch the dirt just flow away! The foredeck in and around the anchor chain area was horribly dirty so that took some time to get clean. Zehra was concerned about the amount of water that we were using, but LeeZe was filthy. After washing the windows and portholes, the last place to wash was the aft deck. This is our "front door" so I try to keep it neat, clean, and presentable but it was anything but. Soap, brush, and some elbow grease got it sparkling! 

By now the day is waning, and having used only ½ ton of water, off to the showers I go for another turn under free flowing water! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

We go back into town later that night before dinner, and it is just not as lively as Samos or Patmos! (Definitely dead if we compare it to Chios!)

This marina is crowded, with boats coming and going at all hours of the day and early evening. 

28 August: Yesterday afternoon, our Aussie neighbor from Patmos stopped by for a visit. He is in Leros Marina, on the hard, working on the boat before flying home later in the week. (I had just come from a long walk to a plumbing shop looking for an exact match to the under-sink water hose that broke, but alas, none were available.) He was over on this side of the bay because the marina told him he had to buy a customs bond for the boat, which unbelievably, Customs was closed. Whoever told him this was badly mistaken. 

First, the marina he is at is authorized to store a foreign flag vessel on the hard (land) by the Greek Government. This means that they have already gone thru the hoops necessary to satisfy what rules Customs has in place for the marina to take possession of the foreign flagged vessel while the owner(s) are out of the country. (Same as in Turkey! Marinas that comply with the government's Tourist Ministry rules for storing foreign flag vessels on the hard do not require individual Customs Bonds.) 

Second, specifically for him, he bought the boat in Portugal, and the boat's Value Added Tax (VAT) is paid. It was paid when the boat was bought brand new by the first owner. He has the paperwork to show it. The fact that it is foreign flagged makes no difference because the Customs Bond one gets is needed BECAUSE the EU VAT (or the Turkish VAT if in Turkey) has NOT been paid. 

He knows this (he is a former lawyer and understands the rules) but since there are so few boats in the EU that are foreign flagged and have their VAT paid that people ashore who do not understand the purpose for the bond default to the "If foreign flagged, need a Customs Bond" answer. Since the Customs House was closed, he never had a chance to resolve the issue. We are both guessing that when he does get to Customs, they are going to tell him that the bond is not necessary as he is leaving his boat at an authorized marina AND that the VAT on the boat has been paid ^{Note 1} .

So, boys and girls, sometimes (OK, if Zehra was writing this, she would says "almost always") the people behind the desk that we have to deal with are programmed to provide just one answer, and are not able to deal with questions that fall outside the programmed response. 

We have decided to leave tomorrow, so tonight, with our Aussie friends, we are heading off to dinner at some little restaurant they know and love. We have our last "water-be damned" shower, I shaved we relax, complete loading water, allow the battery to finish its equalizer battery charge, and at 1945, we meet them at the restaurant. We each order a item so we can share, and next thing you know, after much wine, ouzo, and talk, it is midnight. We say our goodbyes, promise we will look each other up if we are ever close, and walk back to LeeZe.

29 August. Yesterday, this big tall behemoth of a yacht ties up next to us starboard side. He is so big that the marina tells him he has to use his anchors as the bow mooring lines are not strong enough. He is so wide that he pushes me into my neighbor.

At 0550, he starts his big-ass engines and that makes me jump right out of bed! Zehra, bless her soul, sleeps through the entire racket! So I get up,, the Captain says hello and apologizes, and at 0600, departs with more noise (engines and two chains of anchors being recovered!).  I go back to bed and Zehra is still sound asleep. I have no clue how she does that!

I get up later, complete some chores, make us our coffees, walk into town to check-out with the Port Police and Zehra goes her way to buy eggs, bread and whatever good looking veggies are still around since the last island delivery Thursday night. I go off to the hardware store to buy a few things, come back and pay the marina 145€ for 5 nights (OUCH!), 4€ for water (Their meter broke so they charge me the minimum) and return the bathroom access card. Zehra makes it back and we depart for a short trip to Xirokampos, an anchorage at the bottom of Leros Island. 

2016-08-29 Leros to Xirokampos, 2016-08-29 Xirokampos]

We get there at about 1230, anchor, and after a little clean-up, I take a snooze! Later, before dinner, the winds are less than 10 knots so we lift the tender off the boat deck and into the water. We stay aboard tonight but may go ashore tomorrow.

30 August: We go ashore, actually, to a beach club, and hang out. I checked the weather yesterday and it looked fine for the next few days. But around 3PM, I hear a boater describing an engine problem he has and he wants it fixed today because tomorrow, he wants to be in Kalimnos ahead of the bad weather. What bad weather? What did I miss??

We get back to LeeZe and I download the latest GRIB weather data. Yup, the boater was right. There is freight train of a storm coming down the center of the Aegean starting late Wednesday and winds peaking at around 35+ knots with 2+ meters seas predicted for Friday and Saturday.

So, we change our minds and decide to depart tomorrow.

31 August: Up at 0600 and underway by 0645. The plan is to go to Vathi, just NE of Pothia, the main town on the island of Kalimnos. (By the way, it is sometimes spelled Kalymnos.) It is a short 2.5 hour run and it is very, very rolly. The wind is behind us, at times 25 knots, and the seas are confused by the island and when not confused, are some 40-50 degrees off the wind. LeeZe doesn't really mind the the following sea but we do as we roll about. The rolls are bad enough that stuff that is not fastened down with either screws or "museum glue" end up on the deck one way or another, EXCEPT for items that are resting on some heavy and thick anti-slip mats. (The expresso machine is on one of these matts and it did not move an inch. The DVD player and satellite box are held in place with museum glue.)

Zehra finds a spot to sit in the salon and rides out the swells. For nearly ½ of the trip, I manually steer to find a good course and of course, while changing course, we experience some larger than normal rolls. In addition, thinking that the ride was not going to be this bad, I elected to tow the tender, so it is dancing to a far different tune than LeeZe.

We turn the corner not far from Vathi and the seas calm considerably. The tender is still on its tow line so that is good. We motor into Vathi and note that is quite calm, and quite a short and narrow bay. My guess is that the bay is as wide as 50 meters, which means that I need to drop the anchor on one side of the bay and moor stern to on the other side.

I have never been very successful with just 50 meters of chain out, but Zehra makes the call. On to Pothia! Up anchor, turn around, and depart. Me thinks I saw about 5 peoples' faces breath a sign of relief as I left.

From Vathi to Pothia the sea is not rough at all and an hour later, we are in the inner harbor. There is a  guy with a yellow vest that indicates where he wants me to come into, and I drop anchor to prepare. He has no radio, and I really hate yelling (when others do it, it makes them seem quite immature) so I indicate with hands that it will be a few minutes. 

It was rough enough outside even on the last leg that I elected to stay off the boat deck, which is where the fenders are lowered from. The two ball fenders for the bow could have been lowered earlier but I chose to wait. So we do that, move the tender up the starboard side, and make the lines and passerelle ready.

I am about 120 meters from the wall. I elect to keep the anchor down but let out 40 meters of chain. The Eagle Ray guide states the bottom may or may not have good holding, so I really want to test that at 40 meters with a backing bell.  I test and yup! The anchor is holding. I can imagine what the yellow jacketed guy is thinking, all of it probably not good and maybe even hysterical. 

We do then get in, and Zehra gets a line over. The wind was gusting to 25 knots but with a few back and fills, LeeZe is in and safely alongside a sailboat. It is about 1130, and this whole 19 nm escapade took some 4½ hours.

The yellow jacketed guy is a pier master and line handler, and after getting one line over, he wants the main lines also before telling me his fee is 15€. I pay it, grumbling a little bit, but then realize that if boats listen to him, anchors are not fouled when departing. 

(Story: A French flagged Amel sailing vessel came in some ways down from me so very late on the same day we came in that the pier master was not around. The next morning his neighbor was leaving and his anchor was fouled. The pier master made the Amel depart the dock to clear their anchor chain, and then had them reposition to another spot on the wall. I hear from their neighbors that they were charged 30€.)

Knowing what is coming, I put out the winter springs and then double lines. More boats are coming in and the wall is getting full. The big boys moor further to the south closer to the city center where the charter gulets also moor. So this is not like Patmos where the big boys mingle among us small fries. One smallish cat wanted to moor there and was denied permission. 

We clean up and go out for dinner. We are here far earlier than expected, but the town appears to be lively and interesting. Where we are there exist small family run restaurants, and one bar-cafe. One family restaurant's menu board stars with "This is what our family had for dinner tonight, and so will you" and they were charging 8€ for a tuna steak and veggies, drink not included. 

2016-09-02: By this afternoon, we have explored some parts of the city. We found a decent grocery story quite near to us. There are numerous fresh fish stands and butchers around. The city is alive with people late into the night, and on Wednesdays, one local restaurant has greek music that was still playing at 2AM when I finally went to bed. Ferry boats come and go and while they produce a swell upon entry, the springs make the jostle acceptable to me, but not for my neighbors. The wind is forecasted to drop on Sunday and stay down for a week.

We were scheduled for guests but it appears that plans have changed and now, we may not get any. For the record, we were thinking that we would be inundated with guests over the years, and we have not been. We know people have their schedules, but are a little disappointed when they could not make time for us. This is ESPECIALLY true for this that are not distance-wise challenged. 

Anyway, this is probably our last Greek port, so it is time to fire up the deep freeze and stash it with fish, pork and beef for the upcoming winter to enjoy!

2016-09-08: Last Wednesday and last night, a restaurant right by us offered live Greek music till the wee hours of the morning. The people in their boats at the wall were dancing, and so were those in the restaurant. The other restaurants were absolutely empty. Not a soul in them. 

Zehra hurt her right hand on Monday so Tuesday night, we went out and had Pizza @ Il Postino, along the waterfront. Now, every time we have walked by in the evening around dinner time, (which lasts from about 2000-2330 or so!) we maybe saw just one table empty of many outside on the sidewalk. So, we snagged a table and ordered a pizza. Since we each wanted different ones, he did the half and half routine. It was the BEST pizza we had had in such a long time that we cannot remember when we had pizza this good. (Maybe it was when we were visiting friends in Bethesda, MD in 2011 and they took us out on a Tuesday night to a local pizzeria that was just hopping!) 

Yesterday, we suggested to some newly arriver boaters that if they were looking for pizza, may want to check this place out. They apparently did as this morning, the lady of the boat told me they thought the pizza was great! 

For last night's dinner, I had bought some chicken legs with the thighs attached to grill. But just before sunset, a tall and wide catamaran is shoe-horned in on the side where my gas grill is. I thought nothing off it until as I was lighting the grill. The captain asked me not too as he was afraid I might burn his boat. So far, in the five years, I have not burned the rollup curtain just above the grill, so I told him I was not concerned. He did not like that answer and seeing that I was continuing, he insisted. I still did not think there was a problem and said so. 

But he called over the mooring official and complained. The official told him that there was no other room for him to go to at the wall, and that if he wanted he could go to the anchorage. The Captain wanted to know why he would not stop me and the official told him that it is a gas grill, we have observed him cook on many nights, and it has never been a problem. But the official did offer to help move them to the anchorage. 

He stayed, fuming. I cooked. I did not burn his boat, and he left in the morning. Zehra, who does not like confrontation, wanted to cook the chicken inside, but I did not want her to cook, given her right hand was no where near 50% usable, and I did not want to add heat to the salon. 

BTW, the chicken turned out great!

We are moored very near to Super Market Vidalis. This market is identified on Google Maps. It has a red sign with a giant "B" at the top of the sign. If you go down the street to the left on the market (as you look at it) no more than 50 meters, there is a marine store run by a very old man. His store is FASCINATING! I think that he has been adding inventory since the 1950's and has nearly anything one would need with respect to hardware, ropes, etc etc etc. He knows very little English so I was not able to ask if he had bronze bolts, but my guess is that he probably does, as he seems to have so much other stuff. I wish I had found him when I needed some chain. He deserves to stay in business.

2016-09-11: Today we both took a minute in silence for it was 15 years that the Twin Towers were brought down by terrorists. 

But last night was loud. While waiting for dinner, and with Zehra talking to her Mom, a series of 7 very LOUD explosions rocked the city, literally. The locals did not bat an eyelash. The visitors—many were absolutely confused. Just like we were some 13 days ago. The explosions? That is a tradition here when there is a wedding. Yup, dynamite is in the hands of civilians.  Real dynamite, if one believes the locals who clued us in the last time we heard them. The bigger the wedding, yup, the bigger the explosion. And, each of of the 7 were bigger and louder than the one previous. The last one was so big that it caused a mini-rock slide on the small mountain to the North of us. 

And, of course we crashed the religious part of the wedding! It was held in a church just above the port. The women, ladies, young ladies, little girls, and babies were all dressed to the nines! The men, well not so much. Must have been 200+ and per tradition, the bride and groom meet each of them at the foot of the altar after the ceremony. The church was so HOT that I commented to Zehra that the bride must be melting in there!

Then, after dinner, while sitting on the boat deck sipping wine and enjoying the view, the wedding party goes by in the horn honking cars letting everyone know, even the dead, that they had just been married. 

Bu 0030, the city is quiet. I am expecting another series of explosions when the party is over, but, thankfully, they never come.

In Turkey and Crete, at weddings, shots (with real bullets) are fired into the air to celebrate the marriage. Here, they use dynamite. Lots of it. (A fun fact you might want to throw out at your next dinner party!)

2016-09-16  It is Friday night and the sound of dynamite exploding fills the air. There is a church on a hilltop to the south of us that appears to be the source of the explosions.

It was dusk, but with just enough light to see that the explosions were occurring over the rocks below the church. We did visit the church, but saw nothing unusual. We think that there is some type of a device that launches the dynamite into the air from this church. We picture in our brain a spring loaded device that launches the dynamite after its fuse is lit. But we could be way off. There were 6 of them tonight, none as loud as last week. Therefore, we presume that this wedding was smaller.

2016-09-19 It is time to think about leaving. Our visas expire 23 Sept so we have 24-48 hours after checking out to actually leave. We investigated getting an extension but it appears that is quite €€€€. So, since our place in D-Marin, Turgutreis will not be ready until 1 Oct, we will probably anchor somewhere off the coast of Turkey and kill time. There was a possibility of some guests coming to Kalimnos but now I believe that is just going to happen given our expected departure date. 

I have been loading up on cuts of beef and pork to take with us. We had some meat in the deep freeze  (located in the lazarette) which we moved to the house refrigerator freezer just after departing Chios. We turned the deep freeze off and left the door open, so it could defrost and dry. It was just turned on a few days ago, and the cheese, pork and fish we bought was moved to it. The beef we keep in the house refrigerator. The best island for beef was Patmos. Hands down. There was a butcher there that dry-aged steaks, ribs and what-not for ½ the price that I can find here. The pork quality here varies from butcher to butcher but I did find one that slaughters pigs and cows on his farm during the weekend to sell during the week. He can do special orders and speaks pretty good english. The one cut I did ask his for was baby back ribs, but as this is not the time of the year for piglets, he could not provide.

2016-09-23 We formally requested to extend our visas for a month, just on the chance it might be granted. We did not have a clue about the process, and neither did the Port Police, the people who would actually grant the stay. So, they called their boss on the island of Kos who had to call HIS boss on the island of Rhodes. The fee to extend the visa was the same we would be charged if we overstayed our visa– that is 600 € a person + an unknown amount for each day beyond the 90 days. 

So, we checked out on day 90 @ 2000. BUT, we did not go anywhere. Well, ok, yes we did. We went to dinner! Then we went to listen to some music and then we went back to LeeZe for bed.

The next day was windy as heck and so, we did not depart. Per the agent, we have 24-48 hours to leave, maybe, not 100% sure, but probably. (For Turkey, the authorities gave you 7-14 days to leave, but they require you to stay REAL CLOSE to the boat.) We did not press him for a more definitive # because the Greeks seem to make it up as they go along. We did give a call to the Embassy in Athens on the off chance they knew, but they did not. They offered to find out and get back to me, but could not tell me when that might be. 

So,today, Sunday, 25 Sept, at about 0800, there was a very narrow 3-hour window where the wind and waves were predicted to cooperate, so we left. Raising 100+ meters of chain takes some time, but digging the anchor out of the hole it was in was a very painfully slow process. 

We depart Kalimnos and plan to pass south of Plati and Pserimos islands, because the NW wind would be blocked by the islands. 

The winds were, but in the channels between, we had sustained winds of 32 knots, and waves coming over the port side of LeeZe. But we chugged on, knowing that we had a far larger channel to cross– the one between Pserimos and the mainland of Turkey.

And, we were not disappointed. Due to the land formations and wind direction, in lieu of a course towards the east towards Bodrum, the best course for our comfort was practically due north. Waves are still high and the winds were up there also, but as we got closer to the mainland, the winds died down and the waves, well they turned more southerly, allowing us to turn to the east. 

As we approached Bodrum, there was a Turkish Coast Guard (TCG) frigate at anchor within meters of the Greece-Turkish territorial line. There had been a NavTex warning that "many" small craft were departing the Turkish Coast towards Greece, but that warning has not changed one word over the last three years. In fact, unlike last year, we saw no small craft filled with migrates. There was no chatter on VHF Ch 16, there were no TCG inflatables running around checking the comings and goings of the numerous boats around Bodrum, and there was no Greek military vessel watching the TCG vessel from their side of the line. 

The detours we took to make the ride less miserable took their toll on our arrival time and added about 65 minutes to the trip. But we made it, safe and sound, with hardly anything falling to ground, except for the portable VHF radio, which never seems to stay in its designated place. Huh!

We drop anchor and call into the city marina to see if there is space. Nope, nada!  We come to learn that they (at least they say) do not have enough space for the boats with contracts. That might explain why there are 25-40 boats anchored in the bay! And this is the end of September!!!!!

Since we have the hook down, we elect to stay put, just put more chain out and call it a day.

Dinner was the left-over pizza from that fabulous pizza joint on Kalimnos. 

As I was throwing away the pizza box, it dawned on me that the box was the perfect metaphor for what is wrong with Greece.

The box came from an Italian company just north of Naples. The only words written on beside Pizza were english words. No Greek words. Could not the pizza restaurant find a Greek company to make pizza boxes????? And put some Greek words on the box??? Nope! Maybe the box making companies in Greece threw in the towel when being asked to make pizza boxes. Had not a clue. But, given my conversations with the butcher, our agent, the very very nice cheese and cold cuts lady in the local supermarket, the pier manager, and the motor scooter rental guy, Greece has thrown in the towel on many many things.

Tonight after dinner, we are sitting on the aft deck when the castle outdoor lights come on. It is about 2100 so this means that somebody has put these lights on a timer for summer sunsets, and has chosen not to change it for the upcoming fall. And, right after that, I had my first mosque call in the last 90 days. (Oh yes, especially on Kalimnos, there were many churches and many of them ring their bells at all hours of the day and night. Somehow, those  did not seem to intrude into our daily comings and goings as a highly over driven electrically powered 4 speaker sound system of a man saying a prayer. Just thinking out loud!)

2016-10-01: We are underway today for Turgutreis, D-Marin, our winter home. This entry is somewhat late as there was a lot to do upon arrival, we had to retrieve our car in Izmir, Lee had to go to Ankara to complete some dental work that so far, has taken more than two years to resolve, and Zehra wanted to be in Ankara when her mother arrived from Istanbul.

Her is the final route we took:

So, we moor LeeZe in berth C-14,

close to the office and the bathroom/shower complex. After settling down, we go in to do the formalities. One of the things that gets us thru winter is satellite TV from a company called Digiturk. The marina informs us that we cannot use our antenna, but that they do have Digiturk and other digital satellite channels. We are thankful, but turns out, we were thankful wayyyyyyyyy toooooooooo early. (This place has 126 rules, mostly of the "I shall not" variety. I hate corporate marinas!. The marina last year in Izmir had 7. That was good!)

The marina person comes by and hooks us up, and tunes the receiver. Well, all we can get is SOME Turkish news channels, and soccer/football channels. We want foreign film and foreign TV channels. 

We go back to the office and tell them. They look quite surprised as they have NEVER received a request for these channels. They agree to talk with their technical services people and Digiturk. 

We depart for Izmir, do some shopping there, spend the night there, and drive to Ankara. Lee gets his dental work done, and Zehra gets to see Mom and the whole family. Zehra would love to spend more time there, and could have, but with the weather nice in Turgutreis, and coldish in Ankara, we return back to the marina. (The drive was the longest we have ever undertaken in country! If we ever do this again, we need to take rest break overnight in Denizli. This will also make the drive safer because for the last two hours of the drive, one is squarely facing a setting sun which makes driving……… somewhat interesting!)

Digiturk status? While we were gone, they did resolve some issues, but needed us on board to resolve the rest. (That turns out NOT to be 100% true but we have become use to their blaming others for failing to make progress.)

So, they request their technicians, which takes a few days because the people that installed the TV distribution system are not the same as the Digiturk provider.

So, the stars are all lined up, and over a period of three long and frustrating days, they finally THINK they have "our" channels at the head of our pier.  Turns out they do, but when they check to see if the channels are at the connector next to LeeZe, nope, not there. (Turns out their cable under the pontoon is not in great shape, so instead of replacing it, they take a day to get an amplifier to boost the signal.)

The last step is to take the signal from the box and route it to our receiver. We verify the cable is good, but we are frustrated in that the channels we want do not show up. 

Eventually, they connect the box directly to the receiver (not using LeeZe's wiring) and for 5 minutes, we have all the channels we want.

Then poof! All gone. Why? In the process of resolving our issues, they broke the other digital satellite channels.

The fix? Some new type of electronics box that has to come from Istanbul which none of the techs have ever seen or used.

Zehra and me both are starting to feel that Hell will freeze over long before this problem is resolved. 

We wait a few days and yesterday, 19 Oct, at about 1700, after watching them mess with this new box at the head of the pier for two days, we have Digiturk, and every else has what they are suppose to have.

But as of that moment, there is a white cable running thru our back door because the built in wire in LeeZe does not allow enough of the signal to pass thru.

So, yesterday, I decide to look at it before calling in the big guns to route new cable from the aft deck thru a steel wall behind panelling to the TV.

Gaining access requires cutting into wood the covers the back of the connections. The yard never thought that I would need access, so they did not put a door. UGH!

Anyway, gained access and the wires are a mess. For some reason, they took cable TV cable, hooked it up to 12 gauge electrical wire, and then connected THAT to the really good cable I had provided to them that ran behind and thru everything. (I am surprised this Rube Goldberg mess worked at all!)

And of course, the electrical connections were corroded and ………

So, I removed all the corroded stuff, got a piece of my good cable, made up new connections, and tested.

Success! We can now remove the cable from the door and route it appropriately.

(If you think this took just some 5 minutes, it took over 4 hours! It was not obvious to me how to resolve the mess I had in front of me, nor did I remember where I kept the various parts I needed.  Getting access to the spare good cable took time as I had stored it in an accessible place, but not one where access was quick or easy.) 

Once I had all the parts, I tested each connection I made, then shrink tube the connection, did that again and again, until I was at the connector on the locker where the external cable is connected. Since access to most of this wiring is not needed, I doubled or even tripled some the heat shrink wrap tubing just to hold off as long as possible the corrosion creep that eventually catches up with you. I know eventually the wire will have to be replaced, but if I can push that to the future, then I will.)

So, it was last night that we watched Digiturk TV, our channels, with the back door closed. It was nice!

Of course there is a lot of work to do, painting to paint, wood to varnish, etc etc. Do a chore a day when weather is good and EVENTUALLY, the list is done. 

But this does conclude this year's cruising season. What awaits us next year is not at all pinned down yet. 

If you have any questions, please ask. 

Lee and Zehra

MV LeeZe

https://whereisleeze.blogspot.com

Note 1: This note more fully explains the customs bond rules for foreign flagged vessels in Turkey. LeeZe was built in Turkey but exported, so no VAT was paid. Therefore, if Zehra and me both leave Turkey, AND the boat is not at an Ministry of Tourism's authorized marina, then we would either have to get a Customs Bond or designate a person to watch over the boat while we are out of the country and technically, add that person's name to the Transit Log (which authorizes LeeZe to sail in Turkish water) as a crew member. 

Again, in theory, when you put an item under a Customs Bond, you are required to hand it over to Customs to store. That is quite difficult with a 44 ton vessel but in some parts of Turkey, after you put the boat under bond, Customs will come and place seals over all access points stating that the boat is officially in the custody of Customs. We have heard that if in Istanbul, Customs will have you sail the boat to one of their docks but I believe that is not happening these days, if it ever happened at all.

Now once you put the boat under bond, you are no longer allowed access to the boat as it is "sealed." When you come back, one has to get a release of the bond before one can unseal and go aboard.

The main reason one would want a bond is if you are leaving the boat in Turkey for a year or more and not at an authorized marina. Once the boat is under bond, the transit log's annual expiration is suspended, and is restarted once the boat is no longer under bond. I am not sure how long one can keep a boat under bond, but there were a few boats in Marmaris on the hard for years, as  their owners have other boats and are sailing in other parts of the world. 

If one is making a short trip outside of Turkey, then most of us just ask a friend or relative to watch over the boat while one is out of the country. Most of us do not add that person to the Transit log, but make the appointment in writing, sealed with the ship's seal. 

If the VAT was paid on LeeZe, LeeZe would be flying a Turkish flag, would not need a transit log, and I could store LeeZe on the hard anywhere I wanted. Life would be a little bit simpler, but we would be a whole lot poorer!


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Attached are some pictures of LeeZe out of the water for a bottom paint job!

2016 Where is LeeZe? Patmos > Partheni > Leros (with some excitement!)

Dear all,

We arrive in Patmos on 6 August and we settle in. This is the first Greek port that we have been in that the city wall is full nearly 100% of the time, and stuffed come 1800 every night.

When we arrive, we laid out some 100+ meters of anchor and chain, thinking that we had laid it between our neighbors' chain. We were half right. Our port side neighbor was able to retrieve his anchor without touching my chain, but he got tangled up with his neighbor to port. LeeZe's chain was laid over three gulets' chains and one left after we arrived and the other two left the next day. (They all had the old style fishermen's anchor which has a so-so holding factor so when they anchor, if they are anchoring in NY harbor as an example, their drop their anchor in San Francisco Bay (or so it seems!))

Later in the week, two other boats fouled my chain when they landed their chain on top of my chain.

I have never had so many fouled anchor chains, ever, even in Symi!

And the boats that come also side are not small. I currently have a 70' to starboard, but I have had 105', 85', a gulet that had to be over 80' long and three stories tall, a 41' go fast boat, as well as the usual suspects of sailing vessels.

We had an altercation with the 85' who wanted to run his generator overnight but the exhaust was getting into the master cabin. We asked three times for him to go on shore power but he refused, saying the shore power he needed was not here. Finally, in desperation, with the owner present, we pleaded with the Captain to shut it off and even offered to come to the cabin and take a whiff. Guess what? Within 15 minutes it was off and the crew was pulling out their shore power cord. (Liar liar pants on fire!)

So, it seems to be as busy as Grand Central Station especially after 1600 until about 2100. When things get tight or when a really big boy comes in, out comes the "rodeo master" who with a very loud and shrill whistle, directs the big boys to the spot he wants them in. If room can be made by shifting boats left or right, he starts barking orders so room can be made. Once he came to LeeZe and was about ready to "ask" me to shift sideways, but when he looked at my 4 doubled stern lines, he decided not to. Wise man. (We were once asked at dinner time in Lemnos if we could shift, and we said, sure, in the morning. Nope, the guy wanted me to shift in the next 15 minutes! That is just not going to happen.)

So, on Thursday, 11 Aug, my Aussie neighbor to port and I were discussing the upcoming blow, where the wind was predicted to reach up to 50 knots from the N/NW. He has a 42' sailing vessel and he dug out his springs. Ugh! If he thinks he needs springs, then I sure as heck do also.

So, I dig mine out, and decide to add two additional lines from the stern to the wall, crossed at the back, but one cleat over from what my normal stern lines are using. I wish to say that this is a quick step but it is not, as one has to slack the anchor chain, pull the lines tight (after shackling them to the cleat) and then take the slack out of the chain. That whole process took three hours, but at least the day was calm with no wind.

Thursday was also the day when the clamp that I use to attach my snubber line to the chain was repaired and returned to me. I had bent it in Samos somehow and wanted to get it repaired because while I have three, when a big blow is coming, I put two snubbers out in case of failure. I learned this lesson the hard way when I had a clamp come undone in a 45 knot wind and installing the backup, I had to verify that I still had all 10 fingers when I was done. So now, I do this when it is calm.

So, I am moored opposite the Blue Fin marine store. For those that ever come here, the repair person is north of that store, north of the supermarket, and just past a superb boat electrician's shop owned by Skios, make a left and walk 10 meters down that road. The repair shop is on the left. I gave them the clamp on Tuesday and thy fixed it for no charge by Thursday. Nice people. Only speak Greek. Store name is in Greek soooooooo, hard to name it.

But, with the help of another customer, when I noticed that this place stocks all sizes bronze screws for boat building and repair, I inquire about metric size nuts and bolts. Nope, they do not have them BUT there is a hardware store near to the Alpha Bank that does.

I get excited because I have been looking for about 3 years for metric bronze bolts and have been quite unsuccessful.

Get on my trusty bike and with a sample in hand, rush off to find this hardware store.

Again, the owner speaks only Greek, but he asks me to wait and he makes a phone call. 5 minutes later, his 12 year old daughter who is studying English in school is there to help.

I explain what I want and he says he has, somewhere. So he says something to the girl and she runs off, coming back a few minutes later with two greek coffees. She hands me one and tells me to wait. Dad goes digging and so does the daughter. To my surprise. He pulls out three very old looking and dusty boxes from somewhere deep behind other boxes. He opens and there they are! The bolts I have been looking for. He has 20 and I take them all. He also has 21 nuts, and 24 very special thick electrical cable washers. I take them all. The price? About $25. He THINKS he got these maybe 5 years ago, maybe longer. The price he paid for them was written on the box so he added 10% and that was the price I paid. He said that he will order them from Athens for next year, but he thinks the price will be quadrupled of what I paid today.

Later on Friday, I went back to that store. He called me his bronze customer. I look around. This is a hardware store that I imagined one would have been in the fifties. Old dusty boxes of nuts, bolts, door fasteners, knobs, hooks, hinges, etc etc etc are sitting on shelves with inch thick dust in some cases, having not been touched for a very long time it would appear. The inventory is in this man's head, and while he is not exactly sure where stuff his, has a pretty good idea of where to start to look. He is a dying breed.

Saturday, 13 August, the blow starts. My Aussie neighbor to port and LeeZe are so far fine. My 70' yacht to starboard is having a devil of a time corralling his stern. It seems it wants to dance all over the place. He is wedged in between me (at 44 gross tons) and a 36 foot sailboat on the other side, which is taking the brunt of his "dance." Winds peak tonight after midnight (recorded one 50 knot gust), die down a little, and then peak tomorrow after midnight.

We did take the afternoon off

A view from the path to the cave 

to go visit the monastery and the Cave of St John,

The Monastery is at the top. The white boxy building is the cave. The white building below the cave is a school.

the disciple who dictated the Book of Revelations. The monastery was neat and quite interesting as it is more than 1000 years old and still houses a bunch of monks. (No pictures were allowed. They wanted you to buy their slides from their store. Who still has a slide projector?) The Cave……… well a little disappointed. I was expecting more, especially after the walk

needed to get to it. But a cave is a cave is a cave.

We are now looking for a weather window around 20 Aug. And we find it. We take advantage of the nearby beach,

do some chores, and make ready to depart. But first, there is this restaurant in the middle of town that overtime we go past, it is full. Not a table to be had. It could be 2000 or it could be 2230. It serves mostly fish so, on a Friday night,

with our Aussie neighbors, we arrive at the restaurant at about 2030 and there is one table open.

We grab it and after a wonderful dinner, we walk back to our boats.

On Saturday, 20 August, I awake to a scene that I just could not believe. There is a 78 meter fuel ship med moored to the northern most part of the wall. Just last night, before dinner, we walked that area and it was full of cruisers. I ask around and it seems that sometime around 2300 last night, those moored there were told to depart to make room for the fuel ship. Ugh! I further learn that it is refueling an diesel fired electrical generating station across the street. Per the agents on the wall, it comes in about 3-4 times a summer so its arrival is not unusual for them. When he leaves (and we are all taking bets to see if his anchor is fouled (we all loose, it wasn't)), the three large 80-100' yachts moored at the cruise liner dock all rush in to med moor, because having such a large part of the wall empty just does not happen in summer.

On Sunday, 21 Aug, our Aussie neighbor decides to leave. The wall is mostly empty around us and there are no large yachts moored around him, or me. We have decided to go on 22 August, so we watch him retrieve his anchor without incident and sail off. Very nice people!

Later toward evening, we pay our mooring bill (~ 130 € for 16 days), check out with the Port Authority, and have dinner.

22 August: We have coffee, and prepare to depart. Here is the moment I am dreading. I have to retrieve my anchor. It has been messed with so many times that I am unsure what I am going to find. As we move away from the wall, two boats down from me to starboard are also leaving, and of course, their two anchors are fouled with each other, and a third's boat. I am relieved to see my 20 meter chain mark so I know I am close. Then the windlass stalls. So, try again and no luck in getting the anchor up. I put back on the snubber and have Zehra very slowly motor forward, which breaks the anchor free from the bottom. When I finally do get it up, it has a brown clumping dirt on it that is very hard to get off. But we are clear and while I clean the anchor, Zehra drives us out of the harbor toward the Northern point of Leros.

After a 3 hour very rolly ride, we arrive are at Partheni, an anchorage recommended by our Aussie neighbors. It is very sheltered and calm. There are two boat yards and an airport nearby but neither are noisy. We anchor in 6 meters of water, and plan to take two days to decompress from Patmos. I also need to replace a rubber snubber that failed in Patmos.

There is not much here if you take away two huge boatyards that straddle the airport runway. This small enclave of a village is where whatever activity that happens originates from.

But there is a little bit of excitement! Just as dinner from the BBQ is was ready, Zehra notes water on the floor by the galley sink, tastes it, and announces that she must have spilled a lot of our homemade lemonade we drink. But then she notices that it is still coming so she opens the door under the sink and sees nothing. Feeling the bottom of the cabinet, she then announces that the anti-skid mat is very wet and soapy. Dinner is NOW done so I take it off the grill, cover it, and inspect the cabinet with a flashlight. There is a water hose that has lost its wire mesh sheath and the rubber hose is exposed. I also note that the connector of the same hose is very loose. Thinking I found the leak, I get out a wrench and tighten it. I have Zehra go turn on the water pump (we NORMALLY have it off when we are at sea, just in case a water line breaks) for 5 seconds which in theory should pressurize the line and I slowly open the valve. No leak so I think I am done! Hurrah! Let's eat.

Ah, but there is a nagging doubt in my mind so with the valve open, I have Zehra turn on the pump for 10 seconds, and sure enough, I get a face full of water from the now found broken rubber hose.

We decide to eat, and then clean up.

The hose that broke goes to the faucet that we get our drinking water from so after cleanup, we decide to leave the cabinet open to air out and dry. Meanwhile, I take some black electrical tape and tape off the broken wire mesh (little slivers are embedding themselves in my fingers!) and use the hose to fill two more bottles of drinking water just in case repairs take a while.

So after two days here, we pick up the anchor and head south toward Leros. The ride south is really rolly, though the wind is light, but on one roll, there is a huge noise from the galley and the drawer under the oven has coming flying out, crashing into the items that are out from under the sink so we could let that area dry!. Great. Super!!! Nothing we can do about it, but I contemplate the repair to that drawer is going to be very much a big PITA!

We arrive in Leros, and here is where confusion reigns. My trusty EagleRay port guide has remarkably little info about Leros. There is a marina on the west side, a marina on the east side, and the city wall is to the east of the marina on the west side. Got that? Yup, confusing. We were told by another Turkish boater that the marina on the west side was cheap. But, looking around, we do not see any way to contact them! None, Nada! The marina on the east side (Leros Marina) has a sign saying contact them on channel 10. So, I try to raise the Port Authority on Ch12 and no answer. I raise Olympia Radio on Channel 16 but they all me to call the Port on Ch 12 or 13.

Seeing a huge space along the city wall, we decide to take that. Now, let me paint the picture for you, because this dumbass should have seen it for himself. To the left and right of this huge empty space are sailboats so tightly squeezed in that there is no room between the boats. But this space is empty! Just for me? So, drop anchor and start back and when we get close enough, another boater tells Zehra that this space is reserved for the Greek Coast Card boat. And, once we are close we can see the words saying that painted on top of the sidewalk. (BTW hard to see then when 100 meters out!) And, my port guide has NO MENTION of a huge orange buoy in the water directly perpendicular from the center of the empty space. Greek Coast Guard uses orange buoys for mooring buoys.

So, feeling really stupid, I pick up the anchor and head off to the marina on the west side.

Now, this is going to be a very new learning experience for me. And when that happens, Zehra gets so frustrated and depressed that she has to sit down in the salon and take a moment to breathe.

You see, this marina, give you lazy lines that you tie off on the bow after you get a stern line over. The marina person reminds Zehra to remind me not to drop my anchor! Never did it that way. All I have ever experienced is getting these lines from a guy in a small boat before putting over a stern line.

So, as per our routine, I get Zehra to get one line over and tied off, when the guy on the dock says he wants me MUCH closer to the boat to port. Zehra cannot help here, and wisely sits down. He wants me to use my bow thruster to get closer. I do but I am cringing. He yells more , and I do more. More again, many more times, punctuated by the words, "go forward a little bit……… good, now more." I envision my bow thruster going up in flames or melting.

Eventually I am fender-to-fender to my neighbor, a few meters from the pier, so he wants some reverse thrust so he can come aboard and help me get the port lazy line on. So, I do, he comes through a salon all messed up from the stuff under the sink on the floor, as well as that drawer that came out during a roll. I am so embarrassed but he says not a word.

Together we get the port lazy line done, he goes ashore, hands me the starboard one, and I put that on. He wants them tighter but I say I need to fix the stern lines first.

He says "OK, let's do it." Normally I do this myself but I take him up on his offer. Remember I am still fender-to-fender to port, and he says "I need about ½ meter separation between the two of you." Since I normally cross my stern lines, he agrees that will do the trick and we cross.

He welcomes us to Lakki Marina (now we know the name of the marina!) and says that after getting settled, we need to check in. So, while I am tending to lines, putting on chafe protection and tightening up on the lazy (bow) lines, I ask Zehra to see what a night will cost us and ask her to see if there is a place in town to get a new hose to replace the broken one below the sink.

She comes back to say that a night is 29€ (not expecting that given our Turk friend said this marina was cheap!) + water and electricity AND she comes back with a new hose, with adapters to connect the new hose with the old hose. (It is about 1230 and its a Wednesday. greek shops close at 1400 or so on Wednesday's and reopen on Thursday morning, so there is a short window to get the hose I need.)

So, remember, I have not yet finished working on the lines, the salon is a mess, but the day is calm with little wind. So, elect first to work on the drawer, Zehra empties it and I inspect for broken parts. I see none, and think that is really strange. Our drawers close themselves once they close to being closed, and I thought I had broken that doodad. But, I carefully put the empty drawer back on its rails, the rails lock in place with the distinctive click, and the drawer closes itself. WOW! I dodged a bullet! I do not have to repair the drawer! Did I tell you that one of us failed to lock the drawer close prior to underway?

Then on to the sink. I hate adapters because they provide one more point for one to leak and now I to deal with two. The directions that came with the hose (remember, this is the EU!; there are directions on everything! The marina installed new toilets and there on the top of the toilets are direction on how to use the toilet!) say that finger tight is all that is needed. Nope, nada. Tried finger tight and the now dry cabinet is wet again! Try moderate wrench tight and still water. Time to break out the big guns. First I dig out my thread sealant "creme" for potable water connections. I liberally apply and using a 22 mm and an 23 mm wrenches, tighten those puppies up until I cannot move them a silly more millimeter. The sealant needs some 15 minutes to seal so I start to clean up, a little. After waiting, I slowly turn on the water, and behold, no leaks!

Onto the lazy lines. After confirming that we are close enough to the pier to get on and off, I take each lazy line to the capstan and tighten them until the water is wringing out of the line. Then I tie it off. Do the other side and now I am done. Welcome to Leros!

That concludes this entry.

If you have any questions, please ask.

Lee and Zehra

MV LeeZe

https://whereisleeze.blogspot.com