Arrival at Netsel Marina - 282 miles from Aegina

We’ve done it.  Greece to Turkey passage complete.  Richard kindly offered to drive us into Marmaris to look at Netsel Marina before we sailed there but we decided this would just prolong the agony so we set off in a strong southerly wind and rocketed across the bay to Marmaris.  There we filled up with fuel on the town quay – 150 litres – not bad for 5 months  though we had spent some of this time on the hard, then we radioed the marina to tell them we were ready to come in and set off round the corner.  Hell it was tight!  We had heard people asking for help with getting in and out of berths and we could see why – very little room to manoeuvre and a really strong wind blowing across the pontoons.  We were almost at our berth when the marineroes noticed that there was a diver working off one of the boats so we had to reverse out and hang around for 10 minutes which we could have done without.  But we made it into the allotted space without a problem.  We tied up and, despite the fact that it was only 11 am we celebrated with a beer each, then went to book in. Nice friendly spotlessly clean place, super organised, in the centre of Marmaris.  What a good choice for the winter. Supermarket on the front about 5 mins walk, cafes and shops the same distance away, buzzing with life.  Great.  We found an agent in the shopping precinct and he did the official booking in paperwork for us whilst we had a coffee. Once we had our transit log and had taken it to the marina office for them to process Richard took us for a tour of Marmaris in his car – we are unlikely to remember everything he said but at least we have seen most of the useful places.  Glad to be here.  Seems like we made the right decision.


Safe and sound for the winter at Netsel Marina





Simi to anchorage outside Yat Marine, Marmaris

Up early for our last day of passage making after a bad night’s sleep. Strong gusts of wind kept funnelling into the bay and we knew from the pilot that the holding was poor. We were OK but 3 of the anchored boats in the bay had to re-anchor in the night. The sky was overcast and it was gusty as we motored out and turned south east towards Turkey. We had hoped that we would have a final glorious sail into Turkey but as we moved along the coast the wind followed us round and was on the nose all the time so we put the motor on and resigned ourselves to bashing into the waves. At 8.50am we lowered the Greek flag for the last time and raised the red Turkish flag – we were in Turkey!

Once we turned east we were able to put 3 of the sails up and beat along the coast, motoring occasionally when the wind dropped. John saw 2 flying fish – why do I never seem to see them? Then we were becalmed, put the engine on and motored round the corner into Marmaris Bay. Wow – spectacular or what. Numerous gullets – large wooden Turkish tourist boats, hundreds of yachts, the odd small cruise ship, big power boats – it was like a different world. We carefully motored through the small gap at the mouth of the bay, praying we wouldn’t meet a cruise ship coming the other way and scuttled round the corner, east towards Yat Marine, the other big Marmaris marina, looking for a place to anchor for the night. Finally arrived at the anchorage outside the marina and made hard work of anchoring in 12 metres. Had to pull up the anchor and move because we were indecisive and parked too close to another boat – we were tired and it’s hard to make the right decision when the anchorage is not clear in the pilot book so you are not sure of the depths. We were just making tea when the bloke from the next boat arrived for a chat and a G & T – a marine surveyor called Richard who turned out to be a mine of useful information. Then early bed – our last night at anchor – not peaceful as gusts of wind kept howling down from the bay and rocking us around, and the nightclubs from Marmaris and the nearby shore seemed to be vying with each other to make the most noise. Great!



Leaving Pethi with Turkey in the distance




Yellow Q Flag to show entry into Turkey

Kos to Simi (via Turkey!)

Up at 7.15am to flat calm and a beautiful sunrise over Turkey – hey, nearly there now. As we left the bay the wind blew up from the north – perfect direction, so we put 3 sails up and George the autopilot on and really enjoyed bowling along at 5.5 knots. At the Turkish border – a line on the chart – we lowered our Greek flag and raised the Turkish one for the first time, and put the staysail up. Our course took us parallel to the Datca peninsular and suddenly there were boats everywhere – having hardly seen anyone for the past week it seemed odd to be sailing with more than 20 in sight. The sailing was perfect – lovely flat blue seas. After lunch the wind died and we put the motor on just before we re-entered Greece – more flag lowering and raising but worth doing because we kept seeing Turkish patrol boats. Then a hairy passage between Simi and the small island to the north – narrow, only 4 metres deep and the sea so clear you can see every detail of the bottom. And of course we met a motorboat half way through!

Finally motored into Pethi bay and dropped anchor just outside the beach bar, then watched as the other boats arrived and had some difficulties getting their anchors to hold. Launched the dinghy and went for a not brilliant meal in a taverna. Can’t wait to get to Turkey – really had enough of Greek food.

On Monday we took the bus over the hill and into Simi. Beautiful old town built round the port with steep hills all around. We did the rounds of the harbourmasters offices, getting our exit permit from one, the stamp on our passports from another and the stamp on our transit log from a third. But all done with great jollity – a nice friendly place. We met a couple – Tony and Gill - on Nimbus – one of the boats that had left Pethi that morning and had a coffee with them and they told us where to find things in Simi. Then we went to the duty free shop and showing our exit permit bought a couple of bottles of gin and some brandy at duty free prices. We had 45 minutes to wait before we caught the bus back to Pethi so we had a coffee in a harbourside bar and watched the comings and goings in the bay – and were we glad we had not tried to enter Simi. It is the port of crossed anchors - as people tried to leave they took the next boat’s anchor with them and long and heated discussions were taking place as they tried to get their anchors free of their neighbours. In the afternoon we rowed to the beach bar and had a drink and read our books in the warm sun and really enjoyed not doing jobs for once! A nice bay for our last night in Greece.

Sponges still for sale in Simi

Beautiful Simi Town (and Greek exit papers)

Your anchor or mine?



Lower the Greek Flag...

 

...and Raise the Turkish Flag

Nisos Levitha to Nisos Kos

All night the wind howled down into the anchorage and it was still blowing strongly when we slipped the mooring line in Ormos Levitha at 9.50am and motored out into the bay.   We knew the wind was forecast to drop but would be Force 5 or above all day and were not sure whether to go or not. So we decided to put a couple of sails up and venture out, just for 5 minutes then decide whether to turn around and go back again or keep going.  As we looked through the binocs from the flat of the bay it looked like the horizon was covered with palm trees moving fast – hell, they were waves! And big ones too. But we decided to go a little further and suddenly we were miles away from Levitha rocketing along in the sun through the waves in a good force 7 near gale and it was fun! Petronella just flew along at over 7 knots and I now hold the record of 9.7 knots as we surfed off a particularly large wave. We were reminded of Bernard Moitessier’s saying of his Joshua “Give me the wind and I’ll show you the miles” And it’s true, Petronella loved the speed – you can tell when she is really happy.  No-one else around other than one huge cruise ship which passed rather too close to us.  Kos, which had seemed so far away this morning, took only 5 hours to get to and we crept down the western side as the wind came further and further from behind and got stronger, trying hard not to gybe.  Then round the southern end of Kos and straight into the force 6 wind – we bashed our way north for what seemed like an interminable length time but was actually only 2 hours and we finally anchored in Kamares at 6pm.  Made a cock-up of anchoring as the depths on the chart were nothing like we found when we were there. Good views of Turkey across the straight.

Speeding along with following seas

Approaching Kos

Nisos Dhenoussa to Nisos Levitha

Had a wild night with wind rocketing down the mountains and into the bay. Don’t like this place much. We planned to get to Levitha as quickly as we could and hole up there for a day or two so were off at first light in a murky cloudy day. The forecast for the day was north easterly 4 rising to 8 in the afternoon. As we left the bay the waves were over 2 metres high and very lumpy, and the first wave of the trip joined us in the cockpit! Great! Fairly undecided as to whether this is a sensible idea but we only had 30 miles to sail to Levitha so thought we would go for it. And it was fine – romped along at around 5½ knots with the wind behind the beam, first of all Levitha and then the Dodecanese islands coming into view. The wind dropped briefly then swung round to the north and the seas got really lumpy and confused and quite unpleasant. We put the engine on and motorsailed as we threaded our way through the islands to the west of Levitha, then into the flat calm along the southern edge of Levitha. We arrived at the anchorage just before 3pm and picked up a mooring buoy. Fantastic place. A T-shaped bay like a fjord cut into the steep sided hills and with good anchorages in both ends of the T. The island has only one family living on it and they have installed moorings in the eastern arm of the T next to the jetty. Really picturesque and sheltered.

We launched the dingy and rowed the 20 metres or so to the jetty and tied up. Then we followed a rocky path which led up to the houses on the skyline and soon we were talking to the lady and her son that lived there. It is 6 euros a night for the mooring. Would we like a meal in their taverna? Yes please. Goats liver followed by goat stew? Sounds pretty good to us. Feel free to roam all over the island – just close any gates you go through. Fine by us. So that night we stumbled up the track in the dark to the taverna where there was just one table laid for 2 people in the doorway of a barn - sort of out of the wind. The food was just delicious – could she cook! It was a cold night but we were wrapped up and had a great meal. Then back along the rocky track under clear skies in pitch black. Another boat had tied up near to us so we were not alone that night.

All that night we were blasted by wind funnelling down into the bay. It was forecast force 8 all day so we decided it would be a good idea to stay put for the day – and it was such a good place to stay we did not really need an excuse. The French boat left early but we had a lie in then climbed up to the old fort on the top of the highest hill on the island and sat in the sun for a couple of hours watching the white horses race across the sea and texting friends and speaking to Ali – it’s the only place on the island that there is any phone signal. We could see Petronella being buffeted by the winds far below us in the anchorage and on the horizon were Kalamos and Kos with the mountains of Turkey in the background for the first time. Not far to go now. Then that night we had another of the family’s delicious meals – John had fish and I had a mutton stew – again just delicious, this time in the living room with the family as it was just too cold and windy outside. Had a long chat with them – only 4 people live on the island now and it gets pretty lonely at times. A fantastic place and I’m sure that we will come back.

Petronella at anchor at Levitha

Rough sea from the summit of Levitha

Praying to the god of mobile phones

Nisos Paros to Nisos Dhenoussa

Left the lovely anchorage at 7.30 am – on our own for the first time in weeks.  Crossed the busy strait between Nisos Paros and Nisos Naxos then motored along the north shore of Nisos Naxos.  Spent most of the time doing a crossword with George, the autohelm, doing all the work. At 11.30am the wind got up and we put up the sails and sailed at 5 knots on a nearly flat sea out away from the islands and into the more remote part of the Aegean sea, with the Dodecanese Islands approaching in the haze.  A pretty uneventful trip altogether.  Anchored in Ormos Dhendra – nice anchorage but very gusty with blasts rolling down between the mountains into the bay we were anchored in.  For a change it was quite cool and as soon as the sun went down it became chilly. Early night as we need to be up and off early tomorrow.

Nisos Siros to Nisos Paros

After going ashore in Finikas to get some provisions we came back to the boat to find that Rob and Sam had decided that there was not a lot going on, on this island, so they would like to come along with us. Fine by us, so we set off into a pretty flat sea with a force 4 north easterly wind in just the right direction, and we whizzed south towards Nisos Siros, Rob or Sam at the helm for most of the way. Really pretty sailing – islands dotted all around us disappearing into the distance. Rob wanted to put all the sails up on his own - again fine by us! As we neared Nisos Paros the wind really picked up and funnelled into the bay we were aiming for, pushing waves and us along with it. We shot round the corner into a spectacularly beautiful anchorage – Ormos Naousa has turquoise water with low hills surrounding a lovely sheltered cove. Rob put the anchor down and then he and Sam went for a swim to the shore.

Next morning we decided to stay in the anchorage for the day so we took Rob and Sam ashore and they said goodbye and set off with their big backpacks to find somewhere to camp and a more lively place to stay. It was great to have them on board – just a shame that their first 3 days of holiday were spent in a pretty awful boatyard. But that’s sailing. We went for an explore of the surrounding land – really pretty scrubby vegetation with an old hill fort overlooking the bay. A glance into the entrance of the bay made us pleased we had not ventured further –there were breaking waves coming into the mouth of the bay and a strong northerly wind. Nice place to stay though.