  Karte gross |
Sailing trip along the Turkish coast
von SV. OTARIES / Christine Sidler and Rudolf
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Kusadasi (Turkey) SV. OTARIE Trip 2002 The golden sun of the Northern Aegean and the unpolluted air of Kusadasi marina are the right environment for the privileged sailor's dreams. Air temperature definitely announces summertime. The winds calmed down, announcing a quiet night to OTARIE and her crew. What more could we desire, after the first eventful month of our 2002 trip? 
But let's start from the beginning. After our arrival on May 8 here in Kusadasi, we found OTARIE in perfect shape, due to efficient "looking-after" and hard work by Manfred's Yacht Service and his crew. We brought over the last spare parts which we had to get from France (the Dufour Yard). And those parts (together with us) had made an "odyssey": from France to Switzerland (by mail). From Switzerland to Cyprus (by plane). From Cyprus to Greece (Rhodes) by plane. Then by catamaran from Rhodes (Greece) to Marmaris (Turkey). And last but not least by luxurious over-land-busses (4 hours) to our destination: Kusadasi marina.
For the ones of you that are not literate with the political situation of Cyprus, we must explain you our "marathon" to get to the boat: in our modern world dictated by globalisation, there is a very rare (fortunately!) situation in Cyprus, the last divided country in Europe. After the Turkish invasion (1974) occupying the Northern part of Cyprus where mainly Turkish Cypriots were living, it is no longer possible to travel from the South (Greek Cypriot part) to the North (Turkish Cypriot part). Furthermore, there are no flights from Cyprus to Turkey (for the non-friendly relations between Cyprus and Turkey). 
But last but not least: it is worth to travel, if you find a good marina, reliable people, and a friendly environment. We are so happy here that we have decided to come back to this place at the end of our trip in September, and leave OTARIE another winter in Kusadasi, although if there is now a brand new marina in Kos (Greece), offering dumping prices for wintering boats. We prefer to pay more, but to have good workers caring for OTARIE. (And for the ones of you who own boats, you know that the works never finish...)
On May 20, our friends Ruth and Christoph from Switzerland arrived. They visited Ephes (a must for culturally interested people) which they appreciated very much. But unfortunately, the same afternoon, Christoph fell down the slippery stairs of the marina's shower rooms. His holidays started under an unhappy star. He was suffering a lot, we tried to give him some relief with ice cubes on his back, and anti inflammatory creams. At that moment, we did not know if to start the cruise the day after or not.  Anyhow, he was courageous and we lifted our moorings the following morning, heading for a 37 N.M. trip to the next harbour, Sigacik. After a nice sailing, we had some stress at the anchor manoeuvre. But a helpful harbour master, assisted by strong men, spared us from a major damage as the anchor winch command did not work in around 25 kn. of side-wind. We could pick up a mooring line as our anchor did not held, so OTARIE passed a relatively quite night in a never ending strong North-westerly. .
The Sigacik harbour lies in a huge natural bay, protected by a small island from the mainly strong winds. The harbour is being enlarged. May be if we come back in 2 years, we will find a big marina. Christoph had passed the day suffering, and after a hard night he thought it was better to look for a doctor. We found a kind doctor in Sigacik, who recommended to go to the hospital for x-rays. The hospital in the near town of Seferihisar (about 7 minutes by taxi) was just one year old and rather big. We were accompanied by the doctor's taxi and welcomed by the "hospital-steward" (like in an aeroplane). Of course, in that hospital, the nurses and assistants did only speak Turkish. A challenge for Christine (the "kaptan"). Christoph was immediately put into a wheel-chair (to underline the perfect service offered by the hospital). They pushed him into an elevator, whereas Ruth and myself were waiting in a long corridor. (We were the only clients). On his way to the elevator, Christoph (in the wheel-chair) lost his valet with lots of money, credit cards, etc. etc. A woman came and showed us the object, being sure that it belonged to Christoph (the only patient in the hospital lounge). Turkey's people of the street are generally very honest (not as most of their politicians...). The "steward" came and informed us that - if we had no Turkish health insurance card - we had to pay for the x-rays. He accompanied us to the cashier where we paid TL 15 Mio (around 12 Euro). They gave us a little cash receipt (like the one you get in Italian high-way bars to take your cappuccino), and so we were enabled to send Christoph (still in the wheel-chair) to the x-ray room. After a few minutes, the x-rays were ready. First, an assistant inspected the films. Then a nurse. She already was speaking about "therapy", upon what Christoph angrily made them understand that there was now way to keep him in the hospital for therapeutical reasons. Finally a doctor arrived, speaking some words English. He asked how old the patient was, then looked at the pictures and finally said: for his age it was all ok., nothing broken. With great relief, Christoph went out of the wheel-chair, and a consternated "steward" got an order from the doctor "to disappear", as the patient was in good health. Our taxi (speaking only Turkish) brought us back to the harbour where Rudolf was acting as the "OTARIE-guard", sitting in a garden café, speaking with an old Turkish (his mother was Greek) captain. Rudolf had learnt in the meantime all the family story of the captain. I am still wondering in which language their conversation took place. But the man also spoke some German, French, English, etc. etc. Christoph was so much relieved that all his bones were still on place, that we celebrated the evening duly with an extended meal. Sigacik, the old walled village with the fort of Genoese origin has changed little over the centuries. Life here is hard. Most people are still engaged in farming or fishing, although there is an oversized touristic infrastructure. For whom? For the people of Izmir gathering there on summer weekends? Certainly, the income from the rare yachties (around 3 a day!) will not be enough to feed a whole village. The nearby antique harbour of Teos may bring some culturally interested guests. And then, the surf sport freaks, riding over the regularly rising waves in the afternoon. Inshallah.... The following days with Ruth and Christoph were more and more relaxing. We sailed up to Cesme where we found a new marina, well sheltered with straight view on the Genoese fort (14th century). Cesme is a historically difficult spot for the Turks: in 1770, their fleet was attacked by the Russian squadrons and destroyed completely. The Russians had now access to the Mediterranean from the Black Sea. The city is on the way to be restored, and the main street houses the "suk" where we passed the late evening hours, stocking up shirts, trousers, etc. until getting short in storage on OTARIE... We passed the following days sailing in the beautiful clear waters of the Ildir Körfezi, swimming in the 22 degrees Celsius of the Aegean sea or in a hot thermal swimming pool on the border of "Pasha Bay". We wondered how few sailing boats we encountered. Far away were the crowded bays between Bodrum and Marmaris / Gocek, where yachties and gulets are sometimes battling for a quiet anchor place. Ruth and Christoph (up to 95% "restored" from his accident) left us in Cesme. We e arranged for them a private chauffeur (the harbour master of the new marina) for a lift to Izmir airport. We heard that the man safely brought them to the airport, and accompanied them until the check-in, carrying the luggage bursting with t-shirts, etc. from the "suk"... As the man was in uniform (he looked like a policeman), they had a very smooth check-in treatment. This was another aspect of Turkey: lots of serviceable people, eager to earn some extra money to their more than modest wages. Rudolf and myself sailed South again back to Kusadasi, as we still have some works on OTARIE to be done. Just before entering the harbour, we had our first "fishing success" of the season: After half an hour of fishing with the line, and after a good "rhaki" drink to give us courage for the fishing, we caught 2 big (around 35 - 40 cm long) bonitos. It was too much for the two of us. For a tasty fish dinner, we invited Manfred and his wife Sukran from Kusadasi to help us eating this big quantity of fish. But even the four of us did not succeed in eating all. Fortunately, Zeus, their boxer dog helped us with this delight. Now, we are making "holidays from the holidays" in Kusadasi marina, finishing some works on OTARIE and preparing for the next cruise towards the North. I try to improve my Turkish as much as possible, as in the less touristic places of the Northern Aegean, the people will speak less and less other languages than Turkish.. We are very well, enjoying the sailors free life. The weather is now getting more stable, we hope on good winds for the coming weeks and months. To all of you we wish a good time, hoping that you also will have some spare time to enjoy your favourite occupations. Nice to hear from you soon! Canakkale - Turkey 40° 09.30 N - 26° 24.30 E On the hillside opposite the Canakkale harbour, a message is written with huge letters: DUR YOLCU! Besides, the picture of a soldier. In fact, it is time to "DUR YOLCU" (stop your trip) also for the OTARIE crew. Let's remember our so many adventures and impressions we had during the most exciting and interesting trip through the Dardanelles and the Marmara Sea, with an extended visit of 8 days of the fabulous town of Istanbul. And this stop is also a reverence to the historic place of Canakkale, where many young soldiers of the ANZACS and British troops, together with many young Turks died in Churchill's grand folly of a campaign. The sign opposite the hill remembers that cruel date: March 18, 1915. History, and again history. You feel it all around the Sea of Marmara, when you leave the Dardanelles. But let us start from the beginning. We left Kusadasi for the second time with our lady friend Liliana on June 10, after a splendid visit of Ephesus and Selcuk. Liliana and Kaptan Christine had spent several "rounds" in the Kusadasi Souk. Liliana needed some days to come out of the business life (she is a banker) and plunge into the incredibly convenient, say cheap offers of the Turkish Souk. I had to remember her that the OTARIE cupboards in her wide cabin had some limit, and she was very much worried how to transport everything home. We solved the question keeping part of her equipment on the boat, as she will join us again towards the end of August for another trip in the Eastern Sporades in Greece. After 3 years cruising in Turkey, Rudolf and myself decided to buy a Turkish carpet. It was of course hard life to get oriented, to know about what we wanted and how much it should cost. Who has been in Turkey, knows what this means. Infinite "cay-sessions" (drinking tea in the nicely airconditioned shops). At the end, we decided for a beautiful silk Kelim, the famous animals in square patterns. We really could not resist. Liliana bought also a very beautiful wool Kelim. The shop keeper was very clever: He delivered the carpets in a solid bag, to stop the buyer's answer: we have no room for the carpet.... We left our beautiful Kelim at Manfred and Sukran's home in Kusadasi (our friendly OTARIE looking-afters of the Kusadasi Marina), as we will get back to that harbour towards the end of September. We sailed up to Cesme through Sigacik and Foca, 2 very beautiful old fashioned places. We wondered how few foreign boats we met. It was clear: after Kusadasi, the big sailor's route is over. Why? As more you get to the North, as more interesting places become. Cesme and the Ildir Körfezi were very beautiful. Unfortunately, we had so strong winds. Liliana - although not an experienced crew - was very brave, even in hard weather. She enjoyed riding the high waves and was not at all afraid. But our sailing adventure was stopped by a damage: our Cutter furler broke in strong winds. Back in the harbour, I went on top of the mast, taking down the upper part. The engineer Rudolf repaired it. But it would not last long, (see later...) We had some sailing towards Karaada Island (Donkey Island) and saw the peaceful animals approaching the shore. It was as in times of the Bible...When we sailed up towards Ayvalik, we had again very hard weather under the Karaburun Peninsula: short, steep waves, suddenly strong winds. Within a few minutes, we all had taken our salt water shower. (And this in the mostly repaired cockpit of OTARIE.) Suddenly, our Cutter sail came down for the second time. We took the sail down and fixed it whatever was possible. We then motored to Ayvalik, agains wind and waves. It would have been ridiculous using the very much reefed Genoa. The Ayvalik Archipelago is something unique. You enter the inner lagoon through a channel, between smooth islands, decorated with old Church ruins, cows, sheep, etc. The marina people are real professionals: They jump out with their dinghies to help incoming yachts. We have never seen such professionals. Later, we understood why they were so good: the winds seem to blow there continuously in summer. Indeed, it was hard to go on with our "repair". We managed to have a new piece built in Istanbul, as the French Plastimo Company was not able to deliver before one month. The Turks were very reliable. After 3 days, we had our piece in Ayvalik. But... the Kaptan had to go on top of the mast, to take down the broken piece. It was the 3rd time I had to do this in the 2002 season. We fixed everything, but for one entire week, we were not able to put on the sail. We had between 22 and 34 kn of wind around the clock! The people in the marina said, this could also last 2 weeks....  Anyhow, we had much fun in Ayvalik. Liliana and myself made a lot of bycicle excursions, went shopping. Liliana left OTARIE with regret, on the other side looking already forward to her August trip in Greece when she will join us again.
Our friends Regula and Frederik - experienced sailors and Africa travellers - joined us in Ayvalik. Frederik was for the first time in Turkey, whereas Regula had been in Turkey at the end of her Australia - Europe sailing trip many years ago.
Regula noticed that not so many things had changed since those years: the Turks were still as friendly and helpful as always.
We headed North, together with the fellow-crew of Andrin (a Zurich engineer, sailing his beautiful and fast Baltic 47 "CENGALO".) Andrin is a real "habitué" of the Sea of Marmara. He gave us a lot of interesting places to go. We also met our friends Gusti and Silvia with crew who came down from Istanbul. We were full of good advice from everybody. But this did not help to bring us the desired winds: the weather was as it was usually: N NE. Cengalo enjoyed it mostly, he had a regatta crew and did cross under sail even the Dardanelles. We on our side would have preferred a little bit different winds. Anyhow, we did a lot of motoring, motor-sailing, and many times it was not so pleasant. In some Dardanelles Straights, we made good only 2 kn.... When we arrived in the Sea of Marmara, we sailed to the "Moules Island", Andrins special place South of Koyun Adasi, where you can find as many moules as you like. Frederik and Regula made dinghi trips to shore and came back with kilos of moules... The Kaptan was cleaning and cooking moules for hours, and it was a real deluxe-dinner. Thank you Andrin! Of course we made a toast on you... Frederik and Regula left us in Erdek, where they continued to Istanbul by ferry. We stayed in Erdek 3 days. Such a beautiful, green, clean place. Good shopping. Friendly people. We met an elderly Turkish couple who had been many years in Germany, and now retired in Erdek. As we did not find a laundry shop, the lady offered us privatly this service. Again, the friendliness and hospitality of the Turks charmed us very much. The next harbour was Cakilköy: huge fishing boats, no streets, poor people, poor houses. No alcohol. No restaurant. We feeled to be back in Taliban places... The whole village stared at us as if we were just coming down from another planet... Then, we followd again Andrin's path: Zeytinbagi (former Trylie), an old Greek fisher village. Very characteristic houses. Very quiet and beautiful. We were surrounded in the small harbour by 20 Turkish yachts from Ataköy Marina Istanbul. They made a common Round-Marmara-Sea-Trip. We did not want to go out early and disturb our "satellite" boat (being alongside OTARIE). We made a trip to Bursa. What a wonderful place. Yesil Bursa it is called. Green Bursa. In ancient times it was main residence and capital of Ottoman Empire. Astonishing and again clean. Mosques, Palaces, parks. And incredible shopping. Sailing NE to Esenköy, (another "fundamental place"), we saw lots of dolphins, and also a huge torpedo boat of the Turkish Marine. It was something frightening seeing it and then it just disappeared... In Esenköy, we got wunderful fresh Crevettes from a fisherman. For 2 Million Turkish Lira (actually 2 CHF) and one package of cigarettes we got about 1.5 kg. We had dinner and lunch of the next day, and who knows when we will get such fresh crevettes again? If you buy them, they already have made some trip. We sailed by the Princes Islands South of Istanbul, but the desire to arrive on our own keel in Istanbul was too strong. We did not want to make another stop. The skyline of Istanbul was already exciting. The town itself the maximum. We went to the Setur Kalamis Marina and were very lucky about the weather. In SW winds, the harbour is smelly. We stayed there 8 days and only 2 - 3 short times it was smelly. On the other hand, the marina is central, surrounded by beautiful restaurants and bars. The first 3 days in Istanbul were again "service days". Rudolf was again busy in fixing the cutter-trim which still was not satisfactory. I was busy in getting material, shopping, washing and cleaning and reparing my Nokia modem software. Again great hospitality: a very friendly shop-owner of a ship chandler, where we had bought some Lewmar material, accompanied me to a distant Nokia Technical Assitance Center by his car. I had new software loaded in the handy phone. Everything o.k.. But all this took about 2 hours. Who would do such a thing in busy Northern Europe? Come to the South East, and you will learn what is hospitality! We passed 2 delicious evenings with our fellow sailor Alp and his wife from Istanbul. We were dining on a green grass under huge old trees, with excellent food and music, of course. Then, Alp and his wife joined us on OTARIE where Rudolf prepared his speciality: Spaghetti al pesto. Our marvellous basil which is one of the living ornaments of OTARIE had to suffer somewhat, but beeing so big it will last for another 3 - 4 pesto dinners. Sight Seeing in Istanbul was - of course - great. The Mosques, the Topkapi and Dolmabahce Palace are only one of few highlights. Then, the Bosporus was even more exciting. It is a paradise of green landscape, blue sea - sometimes like a lake. The houses and palaces are just to see yourself. No words could describe this rich part of Turkey. History, history all the time. A lot to remember, to regard with reverence. I am not in a position to explain about Istanbul. There have written too many good books about this fascinating town, much better than my poor words could describe. We found Istanbul just fascinating. And of course a place to return. Let us hope that - once a Cyprus solution will be found - we will be able to fly quickly and cheap from Cyprus to Istanbul, to continue our visit into the past centuries.... We left Istanbul 3 days ago, heading SE for 140 NM. Regarding the winds, we were not very lucky. In summer, the 99 % existing NE wind situation did not take place. No wind at all, or if so, S SW. Again against us. It seems to be our fate this year. At least so far. Inshallah... What will the future nautical miles of our 2002 trip bring? Let's hope for happy sailing in good weather conditions. Tomorrow, we will be heading towards Greece. From July 21, you will be able to reach us under our Greek telephone number: 003097 327 16 29. Chlorakas/Paphos (Cyprus) Is "it" really over? "It", the OTARIE - trip 2002, from the weather side, could go on in a fantastic meteorological environment: Westerlies 3 - 4 Bf., pleasant temperatures, sea water of 26 degrees Celsius here in Cyprus. But I am sitting on the terrace of our Cyprus home, overlooking the blue Mediterranean, and watching a sailor directed to Turkey. Some nostalgic thoughts are on the way, to OTARIE which we left back in Kusadasi (Turkey) for her wintering. October means that the winter is not too far! But here in the South Eastern part of the Med, we are enjoying the best weeks of the year. Quite far away from what we heard through "Deutsche Welle", the only connection with the Northern European world: traffic crash and lots of injured people due to heavy fog in Germany. Thrilling temperatures and snow on the mountains in Switzerland. And the Hurricane season already fully going on in the U.S. In the pleasant environment of Kusadasi Marina (with water and electricity "a gogo"), it was easy to prepare OTARIE for wintering. Although working more or less hard for more than one week, we did not feel any stress. Even the still catastrophic stock exchange all over the world could not really anger us, as we are not in a position to change anything for the better. Why all these "easy going" feelings? It must be the result of an interesting, happy, sometimes adventurous but still safe sailing which we had the privilege to live during the past almost 5 months. For the sailor, the world and its obsessions are no longer a priority, there is nothing clamouring for your attention beyond the confines of the boat and its demands. And then, there is total acceptance of yourself as the epicentre of a universe which comprises "a lump of equipped plastic" (=your boat) and a huge expanse of sea. The alone-ness may not be confused with loneliness, it is the most elemental of circumstances to find yourself. But let us now go back to the Straights of Canakkale - Gelibolu where our last information Bulletin nr. 2 came to an end, as we sailed in quiet waters southwards on July 20. As there was not heavy traffic, we could really enjoy to look at the beautiful landscape specially on the European side. Carefully cultivated fields all around, little villages, no industries worsening the quality of the air. Arriving at the point where the Gallipoli Peninsula encounters the Aegean waters, all the war memorials could easily be identified from the sea. It was difficult for us to understand how such a cruel battle could have taken place at the beginning of World War I in 1915 in this peaceful landscape, involving soldiers from as far away as Australia, producing heavy losses on all sides involved. On the Asiatic side of the Straights, Troya was not too far. We were amidst historical places of interest, and thus so few private boats. On all our trip up the Dardanelles, through the Sea of Marmara to Istanbul and down again to the Aegean, we only had met 4 foreign yachts: 2 of them were our Swiss colleagues Gustav and Silvia with "HERMES" and Andrin with "CENGALO", besides one Dutch and one French sailing vessel. It must be the not always easy navigation (currents, wind almost always against you, etc.) as well as the sometimes considerable distances between acceptable bays or harbours for the night which stop the "normal sailor" from sailing into the Sea of Marmara or even the Black Sea. For us, the next stop was Gökceada / Imbroz, one of the very few Turkish isles at the Northern Sea border of Turkey. The pilot warned from anchoring there, as it was a military island. But we entered the harbour without problems and even moored under the continuous patrolling of "Sahil Güvenlik" (TR Coast Guard). As it was rather windy and we still had to head for the North West, we passed another day visiting the beautiful island by taxi. We were drinking tea under "the tree of idleness" - like in Henry Durells "Bitter Lemons" of Northern Cyprus - speaking in Greek language to the Turks, the language still widely spoken by the elder people. We went around without any problem, although we were no longer existing for Turkey, as we had cleared out in Canakkale. Nobody was interested in such "bona fide" sailors as we always are. Samothraki, on our way to Thassos and Kavala (the next port of entry for clearing in) were green and pleasant. The new harbour of Thassos (although without water and electricity, as usual in Greece) was a good surprise. Thassos was full of tourists, the first time we felt to be back "in the normal world" after so many weeks of lonely sailing in "the wilderness". We already were missing the good food of the Turkish restaurants at very low prices. Here, Europe and the EURO were dictating every day's life. We were happy that so far no Harbour officer had bothered us, as we had no cleared papers for Greece. To tranquillise our conscience, we sailed to Kavala, the official Greek port of entry. At the harbour entrance, the long announced thunderstorms developed into a heavy rain with gusts. Kavala did not give us a friendly welcome. Fortunately, motor yacht colleagues with which we had met already several times entered the harbour just before us. They were travelling with 2 big motor yachts: one around 55 feet and the other - a fishing motor yacht of around 40 feet (RAFAEL and RAFAEL II) with professional captains each and crew. Thanks to them, we managed to fix OTARIE anchoring in front of a very high harbour mole. It would have been extremely difficult for the very small crew of OTARIE (just captain and engineer) to fix a rope on the high wall. But in difficult situations, we always have been lucky, thanks to God. Kavala was an interesting town, especially for shopping, but at the same time tricky in any respect: after 2 p.m., almost everything was closed. And if you found some supermarket open, there was no meat at all. The butcheries were closed. This seemed to come from an ancient law: the sun was too hot in the afternoon for meat... in the times without refrigerators. The Harbour authorities in this official port of entry also did not make life easy for us: they did not know about Transit Log (the paper necessary for boats out of E.U. countries). I paid the harbour fee (they asked me to pay for 3 days, as on Saturday or Sunday it was not possible to pay and therefore to leave the harbour if the fee was not paid). Furthermore, they asked me to get a "departure number" when leaving the harbour. (Like the aeroplanes in airports...) With difficulty, I could arrange a man who opened "the electricity" and put our plug inside the "miraculous cupboard". For obtaining water, they gave me a telephone number to call the man responsible for water. After 2 days of calling without success, we went to a shop on Monday morning to buy another 20 m of hose, enabling us to connect to a fountain near the harbour. Not 3 (three) minutes passed, as a man came furiously gesticulating and telling us that this water was not for us. There was a special responsible for water of the harbour..... When I told him that I had tried very hard for 2 days to get hold of this man, without success, reluctantly he connected our hose again to the fountain and made "an exception". Water in Kavala did not only come from the fountain. No, in big quantity from the sky. We suffered a heavy thunderstorm. In no time, the wind direction changed completely. Big waves entered the harbour from South, we had to start the engine to make sure that OTARIE did not touch the mole with the stern. Fortunately, our anchor held firmly, but the swell was so bad that for security, we fixed OTARIE at the neighbours mooring, fixing the two boats practically together. It was the first time in 4 seasons cruising with OTARIE that we had to suffer such thunderstorms. The weather was extremely bad for the season, and in Northern Greece (Chalkidiki) there was heavy damage. Indeed, when we were in Chalkidiki some days later, we still had to take care of lots of wood floating in the sea. When the rain stopped and the storm calmed down, we were eager to leave this not very friendly harbour. I went to the Authorities for payment of the electricity. Again, they had to call the responsible man. He came and asked me how long we had stayd in the harbour. Then he told me that I had to pay 138 Euro!!! (2 days plug-in the "miraculours cupboard"). I politely asked how much one kilowatt would cost, and how much was our consumption, as it was impossible to use so much electricity in 2 days. His answer was that there was no meter and no price of kilowatt. We had to pay for the hours as our cable was plugged in!!!, and it was 5.35 Euro per hour. I tried all my diplomacy, combined with angry expressions, etc. etc. all of course in Greek language. My speech was successful until getting a price of 30 Euro instead of 138. I was so furious that I gave him the 30 Euro (which was still too much) and hoped to be finally able to leave the Harbour office. "No" he said. "You must get an official computerised receipt. Come with me to the other department". Another half an hour or so passed until I finally got the "computerised receipt". When I finally came back to OTARIE, I did not find any words any more. I just told Rudolf that I needed an "ouzo" to calm my nerves. I was eager to leave this harbour, even without a transit log and without cleared papers. The next "port of entry" would be on our way Chios, but this was in fact our "clear out port" before going again to Turkey. I was so much upset with the Harbour authorities, that I said: sail and see. If they ask you anything, show them the receipt of harbour fees and electricity of Kavala, at least to prove that we have entered Greece in Kavala. On July 29, the weather turned fine. We sailed to Thassos and enjoyed this green beautiful island. We anchored one night under a steep cliff where a lonely monastery was overlooking the sea, like the famous Aios Oros monasteries (Mount Athos) which we would soon see. Cruising Chalkidiki was very pleasant: marvellous landscapes, lots of pine woods touching the beaches. Beautiful anchorages, bays. Rounding Athos (landing on this holy state of monasteries is forbidden for women, and for men only with special visa) was certainly exciting: huge monasteries of different origin (Tibet, Russia, etc. etc.) situated in the rich green vegetation of the Athos slopes. Little houses of eremites, sometimes only accessible from the sea. As we heard that there were good fishing grounds, we put out our line with the 5 plastic octopus. After a short lapse of time, Rudolf checked the line: there must have been a huge fish eating our plastic octopus, but so heavy that Rudolf could not hold the fishing roller and everything was strapped out of his hands.... We tried to get at least the red roll back, but we did not find it any more. The big fish must have been very quick in devouring all together. We sailed in the Chalkidiki area with great pleasure. Smooth winds, good anchorages, beautiful islands (Amouliani), all decorated with lush vegetation. Not many yachts, mainly Greek tourists , few foreigners, friendly people and normal prices in the restaurants. This was Greece as it was some years ago. This was Greece as we liked it. But unfortunately, in today's Europe, these places were rare, as we had to learn later in the Northern Sporades. We met Greek sailor colleagues who told us to be very sorry for the unfriendly behaviour of the Harbour Authorities - mainly in Kavala - with the foreign yachties. Greece is facing problems in the tourist industry. This is the result not only of high prices for low quality services, but also for the lack of friendliness. Near Turkey, sometimes only few nautical miles away from the Greek isles, was a severe competitor: friendly people, good services, low prices, not to speak about the beautiful marinas and good harbours all along the coast: the sailor's paradise. Let's hope that competition will help the Greek to come back to a better way of behaviour with the tourists. Before leaving Chalkidiki, we had some spare parts to pick up in a place where we could give a reliable address for forwarding the parts. The only marina in the area is Porto Carras. The late Mr. Carras had built this marina in the early 70ies, according to the pattern of the French marinas. The French architect had developed in this big natural bay a very generous project with hotels, houses, shops all around the marina, even a golf course behind the resort, all in the middle of a beautiful green pine forest. After the death of Mr. Carras, his sons have not invested anything, the area is now in a "pitoyable" state, but hopefully there is a new company upgrading the area under the slogan "revival of Porto Carras". As I wrote before, the place is today far away from being "chic". But nevertheless, the price for the marina berth is "chic". 87 Euros (!). The harbour chef told me that according to a law of 1973 (!!!) the minimum fee in any harbour in Greece to be paid by berth holders is for 3 days. He even showed me a merely legible photo copy. We picked up our parcel of spare parts and staid the "obligatory three days" in Porto Carras. It was very hot, but the nearby beach offered cristal clear waters. In addition to that pleasure, we had electricity and water, a very rare comfort in Greek harbours... Our next stop was in Porto Kouphos, the southernmost bay of Chalkidiki. The barometer showed suspicious 999 mb. The winds were blowing hard outside, but Porto Kouphos was a good place to wait another day until everything changed for more settled weather. We wondered about the many restaurants in this little place, and we even wondered more about the many people eating all the time. This place again was a friendly one. We relaxed well before heading for the "wash machine leg" down to Pelagos, the first island of the Northern Sporades. Indeed, the passage was nothing for people suffering from sea sickness: between 2 - 3 BF Northerlies in confused seas, high waves, all even worse with streams. The depth of the sea varies on that passage between 60 and 1400 m. As to pass with a small aeroplane on the Swiss Alps, coming from the flat plane of Kt. Aargau. We mostly enjoyed the quiet bay of Pelagos - Kyra Panaya, in company of 3 - 4 other yachts. Our further trip to Alonissos, Skopelos and Skiathos plunged us back into civilisation. Not only we had to cope with inexperienced charter crews "attacking" OTARIE and her anchor, but also with untenable harbours and bays, mostly overcrowded by charter boats. At Skiathos where we were waiting for more settled weather - it was now full season, August 12 - 14, we had to fight for everything: for a berth, for water, for electricity, for a good holding anchor, etc. etc. We were treated as "second class people", as we were neither a big motor yacht nor a charter client. We were just "the others", the owners of a sailing yacht, for which they do not like to give away the rare places.... We passed a bad night as our anchor was touched by an inexperienced charter crew and then did not held again. At 4 a.m., we had to leave in a "very-quick-start" from the pontoon, and only at the 4th anchor manoeuvre we had to do in heavy gusts we found out (with the first daylight at about 6 a.m.) that a huge bone (probably from a horse or from a cow) had blocked our anchor. Rudolf said that there was a "Dinosaurier" bone in our anchor. I thought probably he was not fully awake... After this "megabone" finally fell out of our anchor, OTARIE was firmly anchored in the still heavy winds. The busy days of August in the Northern Sporades pushed us towards more quiet bays: we sailed into the gulf of Volos, where we had good pleasant sailing and nice quiet bays. We mostly enjoyed Milina, a landscape more or less like the lake of Zug (CH). But again the problem with non existing services for "non-charter-crews". They generously let us moor at a Moorings Charter pontoon, generously gave us water, but no electricity, although we were just near the plug. After 3 days of lying in the bay, our fridge needed some "surplus help" by ice. (We always had bought ice cubes in the hot days, putting them into the fridge to help cooling down.) As no ice was available at the sea side, I took a taxi and went 10 km up the hill, where there was a bigger village with an ice selling shop. Unfortunately, this was the beginning of our worst week of the cruise 2002: Rudolf took a "ouzo on the rocks", with the ice cubes I had brought down from the village. And the same evening he suffered from bad pains in his stomach. We staid in Milina (no pharmacy available), tried to do our best with our board pharmacy. But Rudolf did not feel any better. We so sailed to Volos, and first had to fight again for a more or less safe harbour berth. The harbour of Volos - very big - offered bad places for passaging boats (electricity plugs, with no electricity, no water, all over the place half sunken boys, impossible to drop an anchor.) As Rudolf felt very ill, I imagined that Volos would become a more days stop. I arranged a place amidst the local boats with electricity and water, but landing was again difficult. We had to pick up a sunken boy, impossible to take it from board. I had to jump in the extremely dirty harbour waters, picking up the boy by swimming nearby, whereas Rudolf - in his state of high fever - fixed the rope to OTARIE. After all that manoeuvre, I went to the harbour office to pay the berth. They told me to leave this place again, as it was "occupied"..... We had learnt during our trip to believe more to local sailor fellows than to harbour authorities, and as they assured us the berth to be free for some days (the owner was in Skiathos), we stayed where we finally had found a more or less safe place. The health of Rudolf worsened, he suffered from high fever. As he did not believe in our digital thermometer, showing 40.6 C., I rushed to a pharmacy to buy a convenient analog one. Unfortunately, the result was not much better: 39.8 degrees Celsius. This was definitely the point to consult a doctor. He thoroughly visited him, and the diagnosis was: a "rather common" virus infection, due to bad quality of water or ice. After 2 days with strong antibiotics, Rudolf started to feel better. But he still was very tired, as he had lost around 5 kilos in one week. Besides the sorrows I had due to his state of health, I had to work hard as a "wash machine". I changed the blankets 2 - 3 times day and night, and unfortunately, in whole Volos there was no "wash saloon" with machines. The sun was shining, the wind was blowing. Fortunately, everything dried again in due time. As Rudolf finally felt better, on August 24 we headed for Amalioupolis, a beautiful and sheltered bay in the South Western gulf of Volos. I was sailing, he was sleeping, but at least he was ok to help for the anchor manoeuvre. We sailed on to Skiathos again, as our friend Liliane joined us on August 26 for her second trip with OTARIE this year. This time again, we had some problems in the harbour of Skiathos. The harbour, again "reserved" for motor yachts and charter boats, offered us a place just "out of the official marina". We wanted to plug in to electricity. "No". If you move your boat to the place next to you (anchoring twice to move the boat 5 m to the left...), we can give you electricity. (Our cable was more than long enough to join the plug). The other choice was to stay, to pay the harbour fee although we were not in the harbour (!!!) and this enabled us to plug in.... We started to be disgusted how the harbour authorities or marina owners treated us in Greece. Besides this, in Skiathos, full of foreign tourists, everything was extremely expensive. In the supermarket, a little can of beer cost Euro 1.40. Every time you paid, they tried to cheat you (not giving you the rest of little money, etc.). In the restaurant, they charged our credit card ticket with 10 Euro more than the amount of the bill. As we contested it, they brought another ticket with the right amount, which we signed. And you would not believe it: I see on my Visa card account both amounts of the restaurant charged, the right one and the wrong one. (This means I have to protest, writing e-mails, etc. etc.) Poor Greek islands. How the people ruin their reputation. Will it change one day? We still hope. Anyhow, we had the strong desire to leave those touristic areas, crossing the Aegean as quickly as possible and go back to Turkey. We anchored one night in the sheltered bay of Ormos Vasilikos of Alonissos, and the winds blew with 20 - 25 NW. In those conditions, we sailed the other day to Skyros (around 46 nm) and the other day to Psara. Liliana enjoyed very much the "real sailing" with 5 - 7 Bf. Wind and high (2 - 3.50 m) waves. We were in the safe cockpit of OTARIE, with our life jackets and life lines. But nevertheless, we got some salt water shower. Once even part of a wave entered the saloon (we would not have expected that and therefore had not closed the door.) Later on, I was navigating at the chart table, and a big wave made OTARIE jump like a young horse. With the result that the captain was instead of sitting in the navigation seat, on the saloon's floor.... This was the Aegean. Open waters, high waves. Good to have a solid boat and a cutter sail. Let me make some comment on the sailing season 2002 in general. The weather has been unusual all over. Storms in the Balearics, in the Ionian (many times they had 7 - 8 Bf. In July and August, whereas those islands are rather known as "the beginners place"). Meltemi in May and June (when we headed North to Istanbul). Not much Meltemi in July and August - usually the months with the strongest winds. But heavy thunderstorms and rain in summer. A long period of cloudy, rainy and cooler weather in the Aegean after mid August until mid September. The advantage of this "unusual weather" was for OTARIE: we never really had to suffer from great heat, whereas in the SE Med (South Coast of TR and CY), they had burning temperatures. The result is: never rely on anything. Never rely on "usual weather patterns" as written in the book. Just watch the sky and barometer, consult your Navtex weather report and your internet weather on the relative web pages of the area you are sailing in. On August 30, the forecast was still 5 - 7 Bf. We motored and sailed to a Southern anchorage of Chios, and we had only 8 - 12 kn... On August 31st, we were back in Cesme (TR). We first went shopping, specially fresh fruit and vegetables which we had so badly missed on the Greek isles. As Liliana had her flight back from Chios (Greece) on September 7, we had all the time to sail in the beautiful area of Ildir Körfezi, with good harbours and bays. We had now "holidays": no great passages, sailing where the wind was favourable. Liliana badly needed a break from her stressing job as a specialist in private banking. We had a good time together, as usual. We enjoyed the excellent Turkish restaurants of Cesme, as well as the gourmet kitchen of OTARIE. As we had to bring back Liliana to GR, we could not clear in in TR (they make a stamp in your passport when giving you a new Transit Log). But as we were "habitués" of the area, we knew the people of harbours and marinas, just flew the Turkish courtesy flag without the yellow quarantine flag. This meant that our papers were cleared. No problem. We were in TR without ever having officially entered the country.... Clandestines.... As we read in the pilot how severe and full of "chicanes" the harbour authority of Chios was, we motored to Chios early in the morning of September 7 (no wind at all in the so fearerd Chios straight), flew the GR courtesy flag (without the yellow quarantine) dropped Liliana to a taxi and left the mole, before any "white" (an elegantly dressed Greek harbour officer) could even approach OTARIE. When out in the straight, we changed again the flag and headed down to Sigacik, anchoring near the new harbour marina in the very beautiful, sheltered bay. The winds had calmed down - unfortunately too much - so that we had to motor great part of our passage to Kusadasi. It was a beautiful September day. The reflection of the sun produced a sparkling sea. I was fishing (unfortunately without success), but for the rest, everything was perfect for us. Approaching Cam Liman, we see something very strange: a sailing vessel with part of the roller genoa out, sailing slowly in a restricted area of about half mile. Near the TR coast, the Sahil Güvenlik, on the other side, towards Samos (GR), the Greek Coast Guard. As we came nearer to this unusual scenario, we assist to a very sad story: on the sailing vessel - about 39 feet, there is a huge crowd of people. (We read later in the newspaper that there were about 50 clandestines). Make the example how crowded the boat was: we have a 43 feet, are 2 people. Charter crews on 43 feet boats are around 6, maximum 8. I took a picture of this sad situation, every time I see it, I am shocked. It is quite different to assist "life" to such a situation, instead of reading it in the newspaper or watching TV. Only after 4 days, the boat was tied to Kusadasi Marina. It had taken so long between the Greek and the Turks to decide, who had to take over the case, as it happened exactly on the sea boarder between the two countries. The people were then sitting on the quay, day and night, for another 3 days until everybody was identified. The Greek sailing vessel was stolen, and it flew the Trans Ocean flag (as OTARIE does). You know how these stories end: the clandestines are sent back to their country of origin (they were dark people from Iran, Afganistan, etc.), and mostly this means the end of their lives. Kusadasi marina made us a warm welcome. We highly appreciated the good service and safe harbour. We made a service stop of some days, before we started for the last leg of our 2002 trip down to the Güllük Körfezi. These days brought us lots of relaxing sailing, good anchorages, a big Palamut fish, but also heavy thunderstorms. One of them could have finished badly. We were at anchorage in Güvercinlik, the sky was grey yellow. The winds from changing directions. Lightning far away. As we had passed the last 3 days in bays, we really were eager to go to a restaurant. The food was not excellent, the lights went out. No electricity in the whole village (consequently for more than 24 hours ....) We rushed for almost 1 km to the dinghy in the light of the sky lightning. Then we took our tender and reached OTARIE just in time. Would we have been later, my God.... The only choice would have been to swim in our clothes, because the wind was too strong to reach the boat by tender. Before we were able to start the engine, OTARIE approached dangerously the shore (we were anchored in a very small bay and had not too much room). Then motor quite ahead. The rain came down as if you are under the shower although our Bimini and Sprayhood were up. I did not see anything. Just go ahead, out of the bay, in case the anchor does not held. We did not even see the wind speed, as you could not read anything on the instruments under the flooding water. But it must have been in gusts approaching 8 Bf. This inferno continued for about 20 minutes, when suddenly the rain stopped, the winds calmed down to a nice 20 kn. What a stressy situation it had been! But fortunately without too much damage. (We had overdriven our anchor chain several times, and there was little damage on the keel what we would see later when hauling out OTARIE in Kusadasi on October 3.) The other day, the weather still was not settled. We changed anchor place (a local boat owner had told us that this was not a safe place), dropped anchor just in front of the village, and immediately, heavy wind, rain, thunderstorm again. This situation lasted another half an hour, after what the sunshine came back. In the following days, we had beautiful sailing in Güllük, Asin, Kuruerik (TR), where we caught a delicious 53 cm long green palamut fish, and at last Gaidaros North bay (GR), where we met our sailor fellow Andrin with his crew. CENGALO (Baltic 47) and OTARIE (Dufour 43 Center Cockpit) were peacefully tied together, with 2 anchors, 2 shore lines to wind direction. Our 2 boats did not move, sheltered under a hill, whereas our wind meters further up showed a sound 22 - 27 kn all night long. Our last night was therefore as "clandestines" in GR, having already cleared in in Kusadasi (TR). Fortunately, instead of Harbour authorities, there were donkeys and fish farms. On September 21, just with the beginning of autumn, we came back to Kusadasi Marina. Around 1900 happy, sometimes adventurous, but always safe nautical miles had led us through most interesting and beautiful places of the Central and North Aegean, as well as the Dardanelles and the Sea of Marmara. We are grateful to be back at home in Cyprus, in good health, remembering with pleasure the season 2002, and dreaming already of the OTARIE 2003 trip, which hopefully will lead us to Aegean, Ionian, Sicily, Tunisia. Very cordially, The OTARIES Christine and Rudolf Sidler |
