April 2009 - Turkey
April 29, 2009
Hi all We went to Gocek on Monday and had the life raft serviced. Al and I watched as they inflated and went through all the supplies and parts. Berkant was good about explaining how everything worked and what needed to be replaced. A one year service cost 340 Euro. We decided to go with 3 year service documents for 500 Euro as we had many parts and supplies due to be updated and serviced either this year or next. He actually charged us 97 Euro less than the original quote. We spent all day Monday fixing the running lights. Al fixed the stern light back in Kemer but didn't realize the others burnt out after we had checked them. We ran a new heavier 40'wire bow to stern. We were amazed that we actually succeeded in fishing the wire that far under the deck along the toe rail. I also hauled Al up the mast to replace the bow light. Now hopefully that is the last we'll have to deal with that for a long while.
Turkey |Gocek | Kirikuyrik Koyu anchorage
We got the life raft back Tuesday about 1 so we moved 8 miles down the coast to a quiet, picturesque anchorage that we had all to ourselves. The birds chirping and the waves lapping were quite peaceful. Today we had the best sail in a long time. We only motored 2 hours and sailed 9 on a beam reach. It was a bit like Lake Superior sailing...cold but we had jackets and gloves so it was great for us. We passed a submarine after lunch now wasn't that a surprise. Quite startling because at first we didn't notice it and it passed off our port less than half mile.
Turkey | Datca | Artemis at anchor
Tomorrow we plan to clear customs out of Turkey and go into Greece for a few weeks. We need a new Turkish visa soon so we decided to visit some islands in Greece we haven't explored yet. Hope everyone is well and spring has settled in. Love and God Bless Sally and Al
April 26, 2009
Hi we left Kekova Roads at 0515 this morning and motored to Boyuz Buku a bay 3nm from Gocek arriving about 4:00. We plan to go to Gocek tomorrow to have our liferaft serviced. It's over due for a repack. We had 4 sunny but windy days in Kekova. The winds would pick up about noon and howl 25-35 kts until about 7:30. It was amazing it was like someone switched a switch and all would go quiet. One day we had 3'seas going by the boat but Artemis is a heavy boat and handled it well. It was just the noise and not being able to leave the boat. We did little projects and read a lot. The first day we hadn't pulled the dingy (our little Praire Schooner) on deck before it kicked up and it flipped. It was actually flying straight out as we lifted it up on the deck. Last night we had dinner with Kemer friends in the village after cocktails aboard Artemis. Some EMYR friends from last years trip stopped at our table for drinks too.
Today we motored into some 1-2 meter seas but as the day went along it became near calm. We tried to sail a few times but as usual as soon as we hauled all the sails up the wind switched or quit :-( Hope all is well. We had hoped to be able to Skype today but no internet here. We'll try some tomorrow when we're in Gocek. Thanks for all your emails. Love and God Bless. Sally and Al
April 21, 2009
Hi we finally left Kemer to begin our 2009 cruising season this morning at 0600. We motored down the coast, beautiful clear skies and mountains. About 11:30 we actually turned the engine off and could sail. We sailed for 4 hours with some nice speeds of 4.5-5 kts but when we began only making 3nm in an hour we decided to motor sail. We should be in our anchorage by 5;00. Several other boats from Kemer are ahead of us so we won't be alone in the anchorage. Two left with us and three left yesterday and anchored out last night. This is the email address you should use to contact us while we are cruising. If you hit return please erase my message before sending yours. It's faster to receive that way. Love and God Bless Sally and Al
April 19, 2009
Yesterday the Tennis people had their last tournament of the year and everyone was invited to watch and celebrate. This was a Crazy Dress Tournament. Good Old Harry showed up in style on a 3 wheel motorcycle. Today was our End of Year Barbecue put on by the Turkiz Marina for employees and cruisers. We had a yard picnic and competitions between staff and cruisers. Then music and dancing.
April 11, 2009
Another successful Kemer Easter Celebration. A Special thank you to Bob and Cindy for preparing another beautiful Easter Service. We have such a wonderful group of cruisers all so willing to jump in and help out. We had hotcross buns again for Good Friday made by cruisers in the Navigator Restaurant kitchen. After our service we had our Traditional Easter Bonnet Parade followed by a full English Breakfast served by the Navigator on the Terrace. Crazy but wonderful Harry showed up with a live duck in his
April 4, 2009
Al was all day yesterday with my help of course, putting a new sunscreen cover on the genoa. He also made a cover for the spool that hangs on our stern rail holding the stern anchor rode. He is loving his Sailrite Sewing Machine and we foresee many projects in the future.
