LeeZe Underway for Parts West of Marmaris 13-19 Aug 2013

Dear all

in my last "saga," I closed with this: We are in a port built thousands of years ago by the Greeks, where their sea-wall is still in use today, where the remains of a amphitheater are off my starboard side, where from the harbor, one can easily see the city's layout and with a little bit of imagination, imagine life back then. What I know that they could not imagine was a 42 meter gulet (http://www.bahriyeli.com/bahriyeli-d-1.phtml) anchored just by their city gate, nor a 15 meter steel LeeZe somewhere in the middle of their smallish harbor. 

13 Aug. Knidos. The night was not so bad but can understand the pilot guide that says this is not a suitable anchorage to wait out a storm. So I wondered how the greeks and roman boats did weather out their storms. My guess being that since their boats were probably smaller, they could bring them ashore, tie them to shore, beach them or something. (Later on, we will meet Owen and Judy West from SV Hitchhiker. They were in this anchorage a couple of weeks ago when the winds were blowing hard. They were forced to come to the pier ad their anchor never held.)

So, the main event of the day was the trip ashore to visit "these old rocks."

We did and on the way back, Zehra expresses an interest to learn more about the tender. In the process of teaching her, a part from the motor she is handling drops over board. I immediately jump in to retrieve it but it slips from my fingers. Come to learn that my museum pass that was in my pocket is now no longer. Hear some "words" from Zehra but have to steel myself..... Anyway, I go and search the waters around LeeZe for the card as it costs about $20 and I just got it today, and it is good for a year. Anyway, I know this to be hopeless, but the water is clear to the bottom (15-18 meters) and I think I spot a "shiny object" among the weeds. I go and retrieve my air tank, get another lecture about this life from her, dive to the spot and lo and behold, it is a museum card. And sitting next to it is the part from the motor that dropped. Today, God is on my side, or at least Murphy has decided to take the rest of the afternoon off. Think I bother to check if it is MY museum card? Nope. Come up from 18 meters, hand both to Zehra and call it a day. Fresh water rinse the dive gear, hang it to dry, get out of my wet shorts, and go take a nap. (BTW, it was my museum card.)

But... at 1800, need to take a swim to check the anchor. Those that are going to go have gone, and those staying will spend the night. Grab my mask, go to the bow, follow the chain, realize the chain has been "repositioned" and now it is making a great big loop. I believe it will still hold so but I warn the sail boater that is near to the chain that we may become very close neighbors during my retrieval tomorrow. He says that is fine, he can motor up and this will not be an issue. He is a New Zealander and has rented a sailboat with a friend for two weeks. 

The plan tomorrow is to go up and around and follow the North coast of the Datca peninsula toward Golyeri. The pilot guide has nothing nice to say about this part of the Turkish coast so we expect to find nothing of interest. There is a "bingo field" at Mersincik and a small marina at Kormen, the place where the ferry boats from Bodrum arrive. The pilot guide picks up at Golyeri, but it is another 10-15 nm before we start to see interesting areas again.

14 August. Well I sure was an optimistic fellow yesterday. And today, I got such a swift kick in the ass that it even hurts to write about. So, what happened? We departed Knidos at about 0900. Knidos is a crowded anchorage so one has to work with your neighbor. However, an interloper came in during the night and plopped his sailboat and chain directly in front of me. So, when I get up and see him there, I am thinking, "oh this could be interesting!" So start lifting my 40+ meters of chain and the New Zealander is not in harms way. But this interloper is directly in my path. So, I call his boat name. Call again. Call again... The New Zealander calls twice. Nope, Nada, nothing. Go inside and sound my diesel locomotive twin air horns for 10 seconds. Finally, a head pops out! I am on the bow, maybe 5 meters from his stern. Zehra has the engine in reverse (idle) just so that I do not run into him. He looks at me and starts to say something and all I say is "I am 44 tons of steel and you anchored in front of me last night so you get to move, and move now, please." He is not happy but moves.... maybe 10 meters. I still have 30 meters of chain to pick up so slowly  I "inch" forward picking up my chain until his eyes are bigger than flying saucers. He then really moves, I retrieve my anchor, and lo and behold, some boaters who watched this tap dance start to applaud. I bow, go into the pilot house, and leave.

Zehra thinks the wind may be too much but does not want to go back. So, we come around the peninsula and head generally NE to East. The first place to stop, Mersincik, is not worth it. The next port, Kormen, has so much construction going on that we cannot stop. The pilot guide talks about Golyeri but I think he must have been on drugs the day he made that entry because that place has no protection from any direction. So, we continue on to Buyuk Cati and anchor.

The weather and waves and winds were actually quite comfortable. So today's underway was 7.5 hours long. We are glad we made it to the point where the scenery gets interesting but the coast we just traveled was so boring that even the camera told us so and refused to allow us to take pictures ☺.

We anchor in  5 meters of water,take some swims, and otherwise relax. We meet a Aussie couple (Owen and Judy West) off of SV Hitchhiker

and invited them over for drinks at 2030. They stay until about 2200. Good time!

15 Aug: Yesterday, had an email from Rick and Mary (SV Orca) that they were in Amazon Koyu. That turns out to be about 3 nm NE of us so we talked this AM on VHF and agree that we will hook up with them there at about noon. We have been emailing on and off after their visit to Kos, Greece as they were doing this bay clockwise, and after our decision to cancel our trip to Kos, we are doing the bay counter-clockwise. So, we were really hoping to meet up and now, we will. Inşallah (aka "God Willing.")

Well, Inşallah becomes for sure and as we enter Amazon Koyu,  

we see SV Orca

so we anchor, tender over to them and talk and greet each other. Then we take the tender to the local campground down a windy and shallow creek, and I remember to unlock the outboard motor's hinge "just in case." Well, "just in case" happens a lot and the motor bounces off the bottom. We tie off, see a cute campground, resolve NOT to come again by tender, and leave. We get back, drop off Rick and Mary, and go for a swim. Later in the afternoon, they come over to discuss their Greek Island's trip. (They had a scare where sea water was coming into the boat when they were healed over, but not when vertical. Rick believes that in the haul out last year, the yard "squeeze" Orca too hard causing unseen cracks when pulling her from the water. So, he has some work to do when they finally stop for the winter. Right, good old fashion high pressure tape is keeping the sea water on the correct side of the hull. I wish him luck.)  They will be back over for dinner tonight. We will BBQ some chicken. Very nice day.

16 Aug: We are up and SV Orca is already gone (toward Knidos and Datca). (Turns out the weather, winds and waves were so bad they only make 4 nm down route to the next cove, where they wait two days to continue on. But I will let him tell that story!) We are underway for Longoz Koyu after learning from Orca that the yellow jackets wasps that I am so allergic to are prevalent at dawn and at dusk in Kufre Koyu, which was to be our next planned stop. But coming out of Amazon Koyu we encounter meter +high waves, 20+ knots of wind, the bow is going and down like an elevator, and things are clanking around in the cupboards and closets. So, I wonder if there is a place to stop before Longoz, but as we round the first point, we are now moving with the seas off the forward port side. The ride improves so I elect to see how far I can milk this run. We continue past the next point and now the seas are off my port quarter, and the ride now is quite tolerable. However, the next turn will put the seas directly astern, and that could be problematic. So, after the next turn, LeeZe is quite happy and I realize that the seas are being blocked by the spit of land I  am now currently behind. 

We check out Longoz, and Zehra says no. While I have no problem anchoring in a cove with maybe just one boat also there, Zehra does and so, we elect to move on to Degirmenbuku. This cove has parts and pieces. There is English Harbor, when some English warships would hide in during WWII while bombing the Germans on the nearby Greek Islands. While Turkey during WWII was mostly "neutral" in fact she was letting both sides use her as long as it was beneficial to all. The pilot guide describes this harbor as almost like anchoring in a swimming pool. Then there is Okluk Koyu, where there are suppose to be lots of boats, two or more restaurants, and markets.

(For completeness, there are two nondescript anchorage's called #1 and #2 deeper into this cove that the pilot guide briefly mentions.) Some charts says the waters around it are restricted, but the current Turkish Navy charts I am using do not. Additionally, the electronic charts also are quiet on this issue. We anchor, no one says a word, the wind is blowing 10-20 knots and will be thru to early morning. After the wind dies down we will tender ashore and check the place out. We probably will spend two nights here before moving on to Karaca Sogut. There is a small marina there and a couple of restaurants with piers so if there is room, we will go pier side, somewhere.

So we elect to drop anchor near to where the Turkish government has a summer residence for its President.

17 Aug: We stayed in Okluk and went ashore in the morning to check out the two restaurants. (We also check out the Mermaid statute.

) They both have docks and if you eat dinner there, the first night is free. If you eat subsequent nights, then they charge 20 tl for the electricity and water. Our plans today are to go to  Karacasogut and stay a couple of days. We "hear" there is a small town there.

18 Aug. We move from Okluk to Karacasogut, where there are 3 "marinas" to tie up. Have experienced a fuel delivery issue with the generator so some time tied to a pier would be nice. We arrive in the harbor and there is no one waving at us. We drop anchor, tender ashore, and determine that the local municipality will take us. So we come in, tie up, hook up shore power, load water ( we may not be allowed to stay past tonight) wash the tender and aft deck, restore the satellite TV signal, take a shower and have dinner at Cardak's Restaurant, some 150 meters inland from the docks. The food there is good, priced reasonably, run by a small family. We walk back to LeeZe on a road that earlier had a BIG cow on it pestering each and every motorized vehicle operator passing it. I secretly wish I had my walking stick with me just in case. 

19 Aug. I am roused from sleep at ~ 0355 by a person coming into the marina by a tender using his outboard. It is dark, no moon, and the tender is lightless. I finally see it and watch as the person approaches the pier, ties it off, and walks into the darkness. I wonder how many others were awoken. Go back to sleep but not for long for at 0705, the gulet next to me has its passarella break, causing a noise as it crashes into the dock. Go back to sleep again and at 0915, Zehra awakes me. 

Today is Grand Central Station here at the municipal marina. There are gulets coming and going. Alas our run lucks out. We are asked to leave. They need the space. So, at about 1230, we depart for Akbut.

We have geese by Leeze. They are loud!

Zehra feeds them.

The dock is NOT in the best of shape

But the area is quite peaceful! 

Here is the path we took as the crow flies:

Zehra and Lee

MV LeeZe

LeeZe Underway for Parts West of Marmaris 6-12 Aug 2013

Dear all,

6 Aug We had an uneventful transit to Kurucabuk where again, we catch up with Salty Dog. We learn that farmer market days are Mondays, Wednesday's and Fridays so we plan to spend two days here. Nice bay, crowded. The village ashore is wonderfully beautiful and colorful, full of plants and trees.  The Wednesday market is the smallest we learn, and while stocked, seems that there is not a lot of variety. Still we find good stuff and had breakfast at a local "hut" so, all is still good. There was a report in June 2013 that thieves were stealing from the boats so we lock up tight when we go ashore. That means that the boat is hot when we get back. Oh well.

I watch other boaters as they handle their boat and I cringe. Most put out way too little chain and as long as there is no strong wind, they are fine. But IMHO, all hell could break loose if we get a sustained 20 knot blow.  None predicted so I sleep thru the night. Had a wonderful dinner 7 Aug on board Salty Dawg. Intentions are to push off to Datca tomorrow morning.

9 Aug. We arrived at about noon yesterday in Datca

and had called Mehmet Ali (+90 532 468 3355) (speaks some English) and he had a spot waiting for us right by the statute of the monk seal "Badem." (http://www.monachus-guardian.org/mguard19/1916mednew.htm)

This place has 32 amp shore power, but it is not cheap. First time in months that I could set the battery chargers to 100 amps and not pop a  c/b. Batteries filled quickly and today, they started a 12 hour equalization cycle so all is good. Walked around last night (first night of Seker Bayrami, which is the first night after Ramazan for those that need to break their fast). It was hopping. We were here in March and could not believe what we were now seeing. The town beach on the "north side" of the town is full of diners. The restaurants are humming. We ate at a small "mom and pop" place and while they have 9 tables, people waited 30-45 minutes to eat. This is due to the holiday. We learn that on Saturday, there is a "huge" farmer's market. I ALWAYS like to go to them because they always reflect the local character. Zehra , not so much. It tuns out that Zehra's Dad ALWAYS went to these markets, and Zehra's Mom,.... never. Zehra does not think that Mom EVER stepped into one of these, ever! If you all were here, you would be amazed as to what they sell and at what price. And, probably, like me, you would not want to miss one.

10 Aug. Today is warm and today is market day. We heard that Datca has a good market and for sure, they do. Every Saturday, by the PTT Telephone office, they have fruit, veggie, cheese, eggs, meat, chicken,  and spice market, along with clothes, hardware, and the like. It is an easy walk from the  quay, even in summer. We have not seen such a market since our days in Izmir. Marmaris does NOT have such a market. And, Marmaris is a larger city than Datca. Go figure. We ran into Salty Dawg at the market and they are in town to visit friends and hopefully, our paths will cross again.

While we will not be here next week, we bet that the crowd will be gone.

As for when we may leave? Maybe Sunday.

11 Aug, It is Sunday and we are leaving. Got the port charge bill late yesterday afternoon and was changed way less than what Mehmet Ali said we were to be charged. Of course did NOT argue, paid, and pocketed the difference. We ate on board, took a walk, enjoyed the crowds and the life and the energy, and went to bed tired. Had done some laundry, shopped for food, etc etc. So underway was about 1000 and it was to be a lumpy ride to Hayitbucu. Winds were from the west (rare for the summer). We get there, after battling a 1.4 knot current, and find the anchorage to be REALLY LUMPY, TINY, SHALLOW and crowded. We are initially in 12 meters of water and lay out some 50 m of chain wile we "survey" the situation. While doing that, a sailboat in a better part of the bay leaves, and so we move, this time to 8 meters of water. Thinking we will be spending the night, and that it will remain lumpy, lay out 70 m of chain. Take the tender in and come to learn we can go pier side. Cost, unknown. Help? Unavailable except for a kind and generous Turkish cat Captain. So, we pick up 70 meters, lay out 30, and now we are stern to to a wooden pier that does not look like to hold us, but does. Water and some electricity is available so we take advantage. We are the only one there at the pier @ 1500. Come 1900? We are one of 11 squeezed in, a guy comes around collecting a 50 tl mooring fee, and we cook on boad at about 2030. The seas and the wind calm down so probably tomorrow morning, we are off 12 miles further west towards Knidos. After discussing it with Zeha, the restaurant that manages the pier is not too bright. Had they said "Eat dinner with us and the pier is free" we probably would have spent more than 50 tl at dinner. But by charging and not offering the option, we ate on board. Others did eat out, but not at that restaurant, but at others. Had they been asked to eat in lieu of paying, some 29 people, each spending 50 tl or more, would have ate at their restaurant. Oh well.

12 Aug. We are still at Hayitbucu but plan to leave after breakfast.

We learned that the pier is run by the Mesudiye's Muhtar (muhtar is a mayor-like person  of a village.) and his representative is Lutfu (+90 542 817 9716) If he knows that you are coming, he will help with lines etc, but typically he says, it is rare that there is no one around to help the first boat in.  While he speaks very little english, he knows enough that if you call, you are calling for help to get in. Guess that is acceptable. Today is better than yesterday and while the Turkish cat Captain has strongly recommend that we go to Palamut Buku, Zehra thinks we should push on toward Knidos. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knidos) We shall see where we end up.

So we did stop by Palamut Buku but the anchorage was rolly, the other spots mentioned in the pilot guide were either too remote, rolly, or otherwise not acceptable and we did not want to go into the harbor. So we did push on to Kniidos and when we get there at 1500, the place is packed. So, we drop 100 meters of chain in 20 meters of water and wait. But we do not have to wait long. Like clockwork, the charter gulets start to leave by 1600 and by 1615, a spot is open so we retrieve the 100 meters of chain and proceed to go inside to where the depth is 9-10 meters. Drop 45 meters, snub it, and we are in

But alas, not to be. I swim to check my anchor chain and see that I dropped my chain over a gulet's chain (Yes the water is that clear that one can see details on the bottom like crossed anchor chains.). So, I swim over to him and try to tell him but they are in the process of leaving and keep telling  me to get out of the way. No amount of talking can get their attention so I yell "I dropped my chain over yours." (When I am in a mask and snorkel, my Turkish sucks.) Some one figures out this is important and now I have their attention. The Captain asks "what should I do?" (strange question I think) and I tell him if you give me 15 minutes, I will get lift my chain off his so he can retrieve his.. He is grateful, I think. So, roust Zehra off the computer, start up LeeZe, retrieve all but 20 meters. That leaves the gulet room to retrieve their anchor but by now, my bow is in the stern cockpit of some sailboat. (The gulet must have dropped over 100 meters of chain because two sailboats down wind from me had to lift their chain to let him retrieve his.) It is my fortunate luck that he is leaving also so he retrieves his chain, leaving me room to retrieve my anchor and move closer to shore in about 8 meters of water. This "texas two step" occurs at 1715, takes about 30 minutes, and I am grateful that it was not as disk.

We anchor close to this theater (This is NOT LeeZe)

So I close with this entry. We are in a port built thousands of years ago by the Greeks, where their sea-wall is still in use today, where the remains of a amphitheater are off my starboard side, where from the harbor, one can easily see the city's layout and with a little bit of imagination, imagine life back then. What I know that they could not imagine was a 42 meter gulet (http://www.bahriyeli.com/bahriyeli-d-1.phtml) anchored just by their city gate, nor a 15 meter steel LeeZe somewhere in the middle of their smallish harbor.

Here is our route thru to Datca, as the crow flies. (I described these areas in email #1 and 2)
The points on the route are our stops.

Zehra and Lee
MV LeeZe

LeeZe Underway for Parts West of Marmaris 31 July- 5 Aug

Dear all,

31 July. We WERE suppose to depart this morning for Orhaniye but again, fuel problems beseech me. Looked to replace both fuel filters on the engine but ouch! Do not have. Drop the anchor again in Selimiye and make a quick call into my engine person in Marmaris and Zehra will be off tomorrow to get them by the dolmus (shared taxi) van. Again kicking myself for not having on board!!! But, there may be a silver lining in this error. It gives me time to think about what exactly am I experiencing....

1 Aug. Been thinking about this fuel starvation issue and do NOT believe it is a fuel filter clog issue. When I had that problem on the East Med Yacht Rally last year, the engine died like a rock falling thru the air. Quick and sudden. The symptoms I am having is like somebody gasping for breath. But, Zehra is off to Marmaris to get the filters and we decide to push on tomorrow. Meanwhile, I am looking for a vacuum leak, believe I found it (loose fitting on the engine fuel pump suction line), seal it with thread sealer and hopefully tomorrow, all is well. Zehra came back EXHAUSTED, but she has the filters and a new bathing suit bottom. We go out tonight for a quick bite to eat.

2 Aug. Had fuel starvation issues AGAIN on the trip to Orhaniye but this time, I put on the fuel purifier pump and slowly came into the anchorage. It occured some 40 minutes after leaving the anchorage, and this after 20 minutes of just circling the anchorage as a "mini-sea trial."  Am bummed out but while anchoring, saw the Nordhavn 55 "Salty Dawg" (David, Lowie, Danforth and new to us, Tatli!) anchored. We last ran into them on 1 May 2012 at Teos Marina (Sagcik, Izmir) while on the East Med Yacht Rally. Socialization though will have to wait.

When I go into the engine room to stop the engine (I start the engine the first time every day from the engine room, and shut it down for the last time every day from the engine room) a fuel drip catches my eye. I  hold off stopping the engine and see it drip again. It is coming from a  pipe connection after my Separ Fuel/Water filter system and is in the line that is the suction pipe to the main engine fuel pump. Normally this line is under a slight vacuum, but because the fuel purifier pump is on, this line is under pressure. Could this be the problem? So, stop the engine, and leave the purifier pump on, recirculating the fuel thru the Separs while I ponder this new bit of data.

So, by playing with the purifying pump's discharge valve, I am able to see exacting where the fuel is dripping from. Turn off the pump and try to tighten the fitting. Does not move so decide to take it apart. I know the drill here. Once you start taking suction fuel pipe apart, you can chase vacuum leaks for weeks. So, being real careful, I disassemble this coupling, apply thread sealant, and re-assemble. Turn on the pump to pressurize the pipe and the leak remains. Now decide to take the pipe off at both ends and inspect. I do, (after a little struggle as to who is going to win!) and decide to apply thread sealant not only to the threads, but also to the coupler's sealing face. Put it all back together (of course going together is more of a problem than coming apart, but you already know that!) and pressurize the pump. Still one leak. (Had not thought to thread seal the pipe threads that this pipe joins, duhhhhh) so, secure pump, take apart, apply thread sealant, re-assemble, and test. No leak after 15 minutes running the pump.

Decide to  saran wrap these joints so with the help of Zehra cutting the plastic wrap, I wrap the offending joints with multiple layers of plastic wrap, thinking that if there is still a small vacuum leak, the wrap MIGHT seal it. I then drain both engine fuel oil / water separator filters (Zehra had brought back from Marmaris new ones, just in case) and refill them with fuel to take out the air. After doing all that, while still at anchor, start the engine and run it for one hour+ at 1600 RPM. (My normal traveling rpm is 1400.) After one hour, stop the engine and think I may have a victory to honor. Too hot and sweating and tired so I plan for a short sea trials tomorrow (but alas, that is NOT to be.)

On a parallel wave front, working to get some Netsel people here tomorrow night for Dinner. Not going as well as I am hoping but... So, after cooling off, and a swim over to Salty Dawg to say Hi!, we have dinner on board and then tender into Ersoy's Restaurant to see if he will have room for pier side tomorrow. He does. He states that a sail boat is leaving at midnight tonight and that I should be here by 1000 tomorrow morning. There goes sea trials. We agree, tender back to LeeZe, and I fall asleep on the salon couch.

3 August. Up early, have coffee, take the tender to Salty Dawg and invite them to Ersoy's for dinner. The two of them agree and that is a good start for the day. (One takes small successes whenever possible!!) Zehra gets up, we have coffee together, and underway at 0955 for Ersoy. Moored stern to at Ersoy's pier at about 1015 this morning. He wanted us early as he was afraid that if the wind picked up, we might damage his dock. No engine problems noted but this was hardly a test. We in using 80 meters of chain, and take on shore power and take a break.

After breakfast, off the the weekly farmer's market some 1000 meters down the road, where we load up on fresh fruit, veggies, onions and potatoes.

After the market, I noted the drinking water seems to be "funny tasting" so performed a soft water measurement test and the water is too hard. So, go down to change the HOH resin and carbon filter and while THAT did not go smoothly, it eventually goes and within a couple of hours, we are agin drinking soft water. I call it quits for the day, relax, take a shower and wait for dinner. As it turns out, no one from Netsel is coming so it wlll just be LeeZe and Salty Dawg.

Dinner is at 2000, the sun is setting, and we are sitting at the table enjoying the dinner and company. While Ersoy has some pretty great looking fish, we end up on the meat and potatoes side of the menu. By 2230, dinner is over, we all are ready to call it a night (Salty Dawg still has to walk their two dogs ashore) and again I fall asleep like a rock

4 Aug: Decided to spend one more day at Ersoy's restaurant. Trying to relax. We took the tender to Kiz Kumu, a beach resort across the bay. Its claim to fame is that it "sits" next to a long sand bar that meanders its way out into the bay.

If you did not know it existed, and you pulled into the bay, and your paper charts were not up-to-date, you would see a wide bay with people like Jesus walking on water! I cannot tell you how many pictures I have seen of yachts stuck on the sand bar thinking they could get to the other side. Anyway, we read a story about some maiden who spread the sand trying to get across to escape some pirates that were attacking her father's kingdom some 3000 years ago. We think it makes for a great story, but have reason to doubt its authenticity. After the beach, we came back, relaxed and had another great dinner at Ersoy's. This time I had calamari and Zehra had a mixed fish and meat and veggie dish.

5. Today is test day. I am NOT looking forward to it. I am actually dreading it. We depart Ersoy's Restaurant for Bencik, a long cove North and West of Orhaniye. Underway at ~1030 and we are anchored in the cove by 1230.

Images for bencik  

The engine operated well the entire time. That is a great first step but I need it to not hiccup the next 4-5 times before I can relax and declare victory. We intend to remain here overnight, explore the cove with our tender, and move on tomorrow to Kurucabuk.

Images for Kurucabuk (That is LeeZe!)

More to follow.


Zehra and Lee
MV LeeZe

LeeZe is Underway for Parts West of Marmaris 24 July-30 July 2013

Dear all,
Our contract with Netsel Marina expired on 24 July so on that day, we departed to continue of exploration of Turkey and maybe parts of Greece, who knows. However, departure day was EXHAUSTING. First item to take down was the pier side digital satellite antenna. Then we had to take the meshed tent off the top of the boat deck (kept the salon cool by about 3-4 degrees C compared to outside) then the mesh side panels that took the sun off the windows (2 degrees saving here) and of course stow all of the above. Then fill up the water tank, do a last minute dishwasher load, two clothes washing loads, and water the battery bank. Some last minute shopping (of course!) and by  1330, I am so sweaty that I am off to the showers one last time. Underway was at 3 and we only go 3-4 nm to Icmeler to drop the hook and to relax.

25 July WAS suppose to include a short trip to "Old Monastery Bay" but Zehra decided to push on to Serce, nearly 75% of the way down the SW coats of the Marmaris' peninsula. The weather turns a little windy but we manage and we pull in to a kidney shaped bay where by observation, you are approaching a solid rock wall before "it" gives way to a cosy anchorage.

To the north is a mooring field and restaurants so we head south and anchor near to, but behind another sail boat. Turns out later this will come back to haunt us.  Any way, we relax, think about taking the tender down from the boat deck but don't (this will really come back to bite me in the ass) and eat dinner. However, remember that sailboat? Seems he drifted toward us but I am holding like a rock. But he is convinced I drag so to keep peace, just after the sun goes down (why can't this crap happen in daylight) we up 60+ meters of chain and go reposition. How did I know I did not drift? I was within 15 meters if where I dropped the chain. The night is quiet but this crap about dragging bothers me.

26 July we are off to Dersik Koyu, across the bay one would enter to go to Bozburun, but since we were there last trip, and we needed no grocery supplies, we go to this bay.

Nice place but this time, when I anchor, I drop a buoy to mark the anchor. Had it somewhat set up and this was its first trial run. Worked nearly as planned (some minor adjustments were required, not worth mentioning, and when I go to swim, I see the anchor in about 12 meters of water, clearly dug in. On this trip, I changed my snubber arrangement. The shipyard added a half ring of steel about 1 meter above the water line and during the lift-out, I moved by 6 meter snubber from the bow (about 4 meters above the water) to this ring. Took some learning but now the snubber gets attached to the chain on deck, deployed and the snubber ends up about 4-5 meters below the water.  So, if my anchoring thoughts are correct, the anchor is being pulled at in this particular case, about 7 meters off the bottom, and with 40 meters out, that scope is like 5-6:1, which means that I do not have to deploy 80 meters of chain (12 meter depth, 4 meter height, 5:1 ratio) but can deploy less and still get the holding I need. (Some one out there please verify that my thinking is NOT screwed up because it easily can be!) Now, what I did NOT expect is the wind might change and vary and that at some point, the plastic buoy will be knocking against the hull but, can't think of everything. So in the morning, I see that the bow of LeeZe is about 5 meters away from the anchor buoy. Retrieval goes well, some minor lessons learned and we are on our way.

27 July. We are off toward Selimiye and the NOAA grib wx forecast is full of wind and white caps. So, we leave, thinking that the morning will be less windy than the afternoon. While that is true, it is not less windy by any measurable degree. While working outside, my Tilly sun hat that has been with me for years blows off into the water and we do some crazy turns to fish it out of the water. (The two gulets nearby must have thought we had lost our minds.)  Avoiding the rocks and shoals, we turn into Selimiye and Zehra calls the restaurant we want to stay at but the owner is less than forthcoming so we decide to try the city marina. We try to land there but the 20+ knots of wind and the yelling and screaming from the boat to starboard makes Zehra so flustered that we head off to anchor.

The wind is too high to launch the tender, so when we had the chance in the last two places, we don't now. So I start to prepare to launch just in case the wind dies. But, that is least of my worries. In Mandraki, Rhodes, we had the winch repaired, so we thought. Nope, nada, not true. Had acted the same. This time, I take apart the cables (they had been spliced to give us the needed length to work the which while launching the tender) and find the splices broken, failed, not together. So, since I had planned this October to install cable connectors so I can take the control head inside for the winter, I elect to install that connector now, in 20+ knots of wind, in the heat of the day... Took 2+ hours but got it all installed and the winch works. Wind still too high to launch but at least the winch works. Of course, the wind dies about 1 hour after sunset... way to dark to launch. So, after dinner and some pre-recorded TV, we head off to sleep. BTW, Internet reception sucks here. My guess is that the cell phone towers are overwhelmed with so many people here.

28 July. Up early and there is little wind. Zehra elects to sleep in so after coffee, decide to launch the tender before the wind picks up. So, we are up on the boat deck, Zehra goes to energize the winch, and ...nothing, nada, nope, kaput. UGH. Verify electricity, look at the connectors, and still no winch. On the winch handle is an emergency stop switch which has to be UP to work. It is down. Wondering how that happen I get this sheepish look from Zehra. She turned it because she thought that somehow, that was the on-off switch and she thought it was off. Ok, get that sorted out, position the boom correctly, the tender under the boom, and we wait for the gusts to pass. They do, we lift, the tender goes over the rail and down the side in a relatively smooth operation!..... Wow! So after some cleanup and re-stow, I go and start the Yamaha 2 stroke 15 hp engine. After my experience in Mersin ($300 "repair" to this engine because I put it away improperly the winter before) I decided this past winter to fog the heck out of the engine and so in May, it started. Today, it started on the first pull. Second WOW of the day. (Cannot have too many WOWs in a day!) I decided to fog the engine before lifting it last time.  Guess that helped allowing it to start on the first pull today. So, my new plan is to fog the engine a little each lift and in the winter, fog it a lot. So, now with a tender, we are off into town, talk to the municipal marina manager, talk to some restaurants about mooring in front of them, and decide that tomorrow, we shall go in, probably. Town is cute, a little small, but has charm. The day is hot so we have a quick lunch, get some water and a newspaper, and come back to LeeZe to swim and cool off.

30 July. Still in Selimiye and now pier side for two days, probably. Worked yesterday on the Satellite TV tracker gizmo with little luck. Had some shore power issues and as this is a very small town, getting someone to be interested outside of "9-5" is next to impossible. The temp is warm but we are coping. Learned some new info about running the engine off of the forward fuel tank yesterday, while moving from the anchorage to the pier. With it only about ¼ full (it is a double bottom tank) at idle, the engine struggles to get fuel when using the fuel/water separators. If you put both on, still struggles. If you bypass, all is fine. So, my original plan to move fuel from the forward tank to the aft one, and run the engine on the aft tank only, appears to make sense. So, why might you ask did I have the engine on the forward fuel tank? Well, I was transferring fuel and after the transfer, forgot to switch over. The case of being a dummy.
Here we are at dinner

Zehra and Lee
MV LeeZe