Summertime Voyage

M. As the end date of our time with Livianda approached we had to decide whether to have a jaunt further north and west, or start heading back towards the east. In the end we decided to pay attention to the weather forecast that predicted high wind and gusty Meltemi conditions settling in over the next week. It seemed to prudent to start a leisurely return, rather than face long downwind stretches in wild seas. Datca dogs,. They don't care. We chose Selimiye as a sheltered base for the evening. Its a pretty town on the south coast of the Gulf of Doris. On our only previous attempt to visit, we had been rather churlishly turfed out of the only remaining berth and found nowhere was safe to anchor in strong winds, with minimum depths of 20 metres and all best spots commandeered. We had retreated in darkness to our ‘ secret bay’ on the north coast. However we thought it worth another shot and set off in hope. On the way we read several accounts of others facing chaotic and unhelpful ma...

After successfully dispatching John and Sharon in Orhaniye, a vague plan was hatched to go sailing where the wind took us and off we set into the breeze. Serendipity took over and we followed the vagaries of the weather Gods and headed West. We ended up in Palamut towards the end of the Datca peninsula. Summertime. Looking good. The sail to Palamut was to be up-wind, a long beat of some 30 miles. Livianda motored into pole position. In sailing terms this is behind the opposition so you have a target to aim for. Up went his sails and we were off. Livianda pointing well. On the first starboard tack I watched behind me with some satisfaction as his dimension diminished, but he was probably pointing a bit higher than me. There was a decent breeze and we were scooting along at 6-7 knots.  When we tacked onto port we were probably a bit ahead, but not by much. However something was not right. On port tack we were 1-2knots slower! I tweaked and adjusted but I could not get the sweet spot ...

We exited Greece on a brisk day and sailed across the straits of Symi into the Gulf of Bozburun and parked up in the familiar town quay. Just to prove she does helm. Our (now) good friend the Marine Agent rapidly and efficiently took our papers, delivered a new Turkish Transit Log and deftly relieved us of the burden of another hundred quid. It is good to know that we are making a significant contribution to the local economy, not just by buying groceries and beer, but by single handedly supporting the administration of the Mediterranean maritime bureaucracy of all maritime nations. Well someone has to be in charge and control the comings and goings, otherwise cruising sailors would just … go where they liked? Anyway we salved our frustrations by finding a rather nice little restaurant. Some guys came round to the boat and handed in a well produced booklet advertising their new wine enterprise. They have been involved in regenerating an area that had previously produced good grapes but...