Latest and Greatest from Italia Dec 19 2011

Hello everyone.

Well, last time I wrote I mentioned I had been seriously remiss in thrilling you with our exploits, and now I find I'm even more behind, not having corresponded since August.  Lots has happened, but, as always, I will try to be brief.  Of course, this is all terribly interesting.

Things, except for selling the boat, have been going well, and the marina and Italia are exceeding our expectations.  First the boat.  The Ukrainian is now out of the picture.  Gone, gonzo, kaput.  Last we heard he was going back to the Black Sea to get a visa and was planning to fly in to see the boat.  Seemed he wanted our specific type of boat and, rumor has it, was wanting to pay with a suitcase of cash!!  Russian mafia, anyone?  Anyway, for whatever reason--I suspect the broker screwed it up somehow--he's no longer interested.  Unfortunately, it seems no one else is either!!  That's not so bad, except for being a huge loose end, as the price of the slip at the marina is far cheaper than we could rent a place for.

Speaking of the marina, when we told them we wanted to come in a month early, they said sure, but, of course it would be an extra grand as it was the cusp of the high season.  That was okay because even that was a 20% discount from the published rate.  Imagine our surprise and delight when we got here and the rate was €400!!  We'll get that same rate for May and a further discount for the other three months of the year, if, God forbid, we are still here on the boat.  That figures out to about €250/month for nine months plus water and electric.  All good, especially since their meters are a bit messed up and recharging for free when we get low on credit.  The people here could not be nicer and work prices are somewhat negotiable.  In addition, they are giving us a FREE storage locker--a vacant storefront--until at least the Spring.  Of course this was more important when we were trying to get the boat sorted out for the Ukrainian's viewing.

Repairs have been fairly minimal.  Needed new steering in the dinghy and we lost about 1/3 of the boards form the back deck crossing the Ionian.  Teak was prohibitively expensive, but we got a guy to put Oroko in which is sort of teak.  Blew a hot water heater as well, but all this is now behind us, we hope!!!  Really hoping anything else will be the next guy's problem.

We've also acquired a small, and old, Toyota Yaris which has been great for getting around and has an amazing amount of space, rides well at speed and also get 60 MPG on the road!!  Feeling European already, but really do need something like this as fuel is about $10/gallon.  All you Yanks have no idea how spoiled you are.  Other breaking news is the sale of Freebird by our friends, Dave and Judy.  They just did a free internet thing, but some word of mouth passed to a buyer and the deal was done in less than a month--really unheard of timing.  WE ARE JEALOUS.

As for daily life here, we have some really nice neighbors as well as a few people we would choose to associate with from Marmaris.  There are also some real jerks from there, and elsewhere, plaguing our lives with too much organization and complete bullshit, but some of us have formed an underground insurgency and are making some progress in regaining control of our lives.  We're having fun with the revolution and the secret society.  The marina staff is just excellent--totally helpful with all manner of problems in and out of the marina--and very nice and friendly with good English skills.  In fact, one of the summer temps who is now unemployed is a certified language teacher and is giving us Italiano lessons at a very reasonable cost.  Bravissimo!!

We haven't done too much touring about yet as our schedule has been faily full.  First, I had to go to the Questura (provincial police station) quite a few times to get the last bit of stuff done for my residency application--fingerprints and passport photos.  Now it's just a waiting game, I think.  Second, we had Rose's friend Kathy visit for almost a week, and then, on October 18, off we went to the UK for 3 weeks for Rose's son's wedding--about time since he been with his partner for 14 years--as well as the usual rounds of visits to Rose's daughter in the Channel islands and various friends and relatives all over the place.  The wedding was nice, especially the part where we all started on adult beverages before the ceremony!!  That's a keeper tradition.  Extremely amusing watching Rose try to decide on one of the 4 or 5 outfits she had with one daughter, then the other trying to convince her which was best.  Lovely venue and all around nice affair.  My "free" air tickets cost something like $800 and then we learned the most expensive part could have been had for £49 on a much more direct flight.  Damn airlines.

We returned the week before Thanksgiving, managed to get a turkey and invited 8 for dinner, half of whom were English so they got a nice taste of a real American Thanksgiving Holiday.  AKA conspicuous consumption.  The undesirables had their own affair at some restaurant which was not well attended, expensive, and not nearly as good as ours.  Even managed to keep the turkey right side up.  Yes, Paul, I will never let you forget.  Speaking of my brother, he does a huge family deal at one of his many homes, this one in Sedona, Arizona, and my nieces and nephews managed to post a few pictures of the old goat on Facebook.  I was highly amused!!!  But, he looks pretty good for an old guy.  Speaking of family,   The missing Tammy has turned up in Tennessee.  That's a whole other story, but, at least for the time being, she is apparently ok, and Rose's fears that she was stalking me have proved unfounded.  Right after T'giving, we also took a drive over to Noto to meet up with Robin, Jim and Diane--friends from the BVI.  J & D rent a house in Taormina every year.  Robin's retired to the UK.

The marina cafe here has been very accomodating to us cruisers.  Twice a week they put on a cheap eats for €5 or 6, and happy hour from 6 to 8 every night with €2 beers and wine.  I have befriended Ricardi, the bartender, who is now making me a proper Jack Daniels and water for a reasonable price.  "I'd like the usual" is "Vorrei il solito" in Italiano.  Speaking of eats, one Sunday a few weeks ago, we took a drive with some friends--Ted and Pam off Rahda--to Vittoria, a town not too far from us that has a fabulous Saturday market.  We wanted to check it out prior to hitting the market the next week.  Got there fine, parked and started to look for a place for lunch.  Not having much luck, we resigned ourselves to cafe food and stopped at one for a coffee and to check it out.  Not only did they NOT have any food, but they were closing down to get themselves some lunch.  Using my best new-found Italiano, I asked about a restaurant and he referred us to a place a few blocks away--Opera was the name.  So we found the place, walked in and asked about a meal.  They told us it was seafood only but that was okay with us.

So, in we go--it was about 12:30.  No menus; asked if we wanted wine--yes--water--yes--and then they just started bringing stuff.  We must have have about 10 courses and were there for another bottle of wine, after dinner Amaro and about 3 hours.  Food was awesome, some sashimi--mainly shrimp--steamed mussels, cooked fish and then pasta finishing off with a couple of desserts.   Lots of locals, and the table next to us was a very nice Italian family with a six year old the mother was teaching to parla Inglese.  So, we're thinking this is going to be expensive--10 courses, dessert, wine, coffee and after dinner drinks.  While we weren't disappointed, they didn't kill us.  I don't know how much more food or wine we could have had, but it was a flat rate €45/person price and that included the bulk of the tip.  We left a little extra just because we had such a wonderful surprise getting a great meal instead of reheated pizza at a cafe.  Delightful.

The next Sunday we had been invited to help out our Italian teacher's fiance's family at their farm picking olives.  Rose almost died having to get up at 6:30 to get underway, but the place was 1 1/2 hours away.  About eight of us went.  This was also very cool.  We arrived at the farm about 10 and had a 1/2 hour walk out to the groves.  Paolo's dad looks like a small version of Marlon Brando's Don Corleone, and, to pick the olives, you just strip them off the branches and let them fall onto the tarp beneath the tree.  We picked about 240 kilos that way before heading back to the house for a traditional Sicilian Sunday dinner with their own home made wine.  I have to admit I was a bit dissapointed in the meal  hoping for lasagna and ossa buca or something, but we got pasta with lentils--very good by the way--cheese, home made bread, sausage and their own olive oil.  Following that up was coffee, oranges and cactus fruit (like watermelon).  Each couple got a  bottle (660 cl Heinekin) of their oil, and we all took off for the pressing plant to see how it was made. Home about 8PM.

So life here has been very cool with lots of pleasant surprises.  We are very happy in spite of the control freaks trying, and failing, to run our lives.

Doubtful we'll get back to you before the holidays, so Rose and I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  If you want, I wouldn't mind a prayer or two in our favor to get the boat sold, so keep that in mind when you're in church these holidays.  We need all the help we can get.  so for now

Caio.  A dopo
Rose & Tim

Greece and Italy Updates Aug 25 2011

Hi everyone.

I notice we are seriously remiss in keeping you up to date, although it would be nice if anyone actually inquired after such a lengthy sabattical from our letters.

Now, before I continue, I have received several unsympathetic replies to my last letter which, you will recall, explained all of our problems. A little compassion, please. This stuff is not funny!!!

So, in spite of the long hiatus, I will be brief. The news on the generator repair in Levkas wasn't all bad. We were able to avoid the use of the yard's crane and I negotiated a seriously reduced rate for the dockage due to no power or water. The repair, itself, while expensive, was done expeditiously and seemed to be okay. The repair guys even helped us avoid a bureaucratic nightmare regarding getting a boat repaired in Greece. Unfortunately, in Syracuse, where we are now, it developed a serious fuel leak on the side onto which it fell. Will be fixed on arrival in Ragusa as we have a Ukrainian hot to look at the boat and specifically wants a Voyage 500. Wish us luck. We've been cleaning like mad and also need to replace about 25 boards on the back deck which we lost crossing to Italy. B ring O ut A nother T housand!!!

Departing Levkas, we stopped about 20 miles short of Corfu at a small island called Paxos after a one night stay at Preveza since we didn't get out of Levkas 'til late. Paxos is a big charter boat stop and has a charming little town in the north called Lakka. It was like being in the BVI again with all the boats arriving about 4 and really jamming into the anchorage. Spent a couple of nights there and hopped north to Corfu.

Corfu is one of the big holiday destinations, and we were blessed with a reasonably sheltered and uncrowded anchorage almost under the old fort at the center of town. To make a long story short, we hung out for about 2 weeks there and our friends on Katanne arrived as well waiting to pick up a grandson. Had a nice birthday celebration, rented a car and drove around one day and generally laid back. Originally the Ukrainian was to meet us there so there was a frenzy of cleaning and fix ups long overdue. It was a nightmare to check out of Greece as the cabs were on strike and it involved a 10 km hike to the offices.

On the way to Italy, we stopped at some small islands just northwest of Corfu for the night and made a fairly rough--lost those boards--passage across to Italy--Santa Maria Di Leuca. This was a very small resort town at the tip of the heel, and we didn't stay long. We're not checking in to Italy until we reach Ragusa as once we're officially here we have 8 days to activate my visa and start the residency process. Technically since we're coming from another EU country it's not really necessary anyway. The Ukrainian was going to meet us somewhere around there, but has now changed his mind about sailing here to see the boat and then sailing back to the Black Sea, hence the current plan to meet in Ragusa. This works better for us as it gives us more time to prepare the boat and, most important, to get a storage locker to get all the extra crap off the boat, which will make it appear all the larger.

After a short stay in Leuca, we crossed the Gulf of Taranto (the instep) to Crotone, a real hole, but we were able to get internet and phones sorted out, although we had been given some bad advice and will switch from TIM (right, they've named the national telephone company after me!!!) to Vodaphone which is megabucks cheaper.

Further down was an almost free marina on the toe called Rocella Ionica where we died and went to heaven. REAL pizza. Turned out the marina in the middle of nowhere had the best resautant for miles around and every night had about 800 patrons. The town was a bit of a walk or an expensive cab ride, but there was a nicer town to the east and we discovered the marina or some service there had free bikes. Rose took the plung. After not having biked for half a century due to balance problems, she got a three wheeler and rode the 6 km there and 6 km back. She took a while to get used to it and didn't want to put her feet up on the pedals as she was sure she would fall off--difficult to do on a three wheel vehicle. The roadside workman cheered her on, and your intrepid captain fixed the thing when the chain came off. Rose strutted around like Rocky the rest of our stay there.

The weather being favorable, we headed across the Straits of Messina to Taormina Sicily. This is an historical and resort area and the town is nestled into the mountainside several hundred feet above the bay. Fortunately there are regular shuttle busses up to the town. Mount etna is also nearby and was somewhat active while we were there. I don't think my insurance covers volcanic eruptions!!! Food, once again, excellent. Unfortunately, the steering on the dinghy broke and I can't fix it--cable snapped inside the sleeve somewhere so I've rigged up one of the paddles as a steering arm--tenuous at best. In the meantime--you surely didn't think you'd escape any whynging in the letter, did you--Rose's head (her toilet) broke. No problem, I've got spare electric pumps. Of course, the screws to remove the thing are inaccessable. After a full day the master uncovered a means to remove the screws and replaced the pump. Same problem. Damn. Off with that one and another spare on. Same problem. Duh, I had reversed the wires after meticulously labelling them. So that worked for about a day and then (the original problem was no fresh water coming in to flush it) the opposite occurred, and the bowl wouldn't empty. I won't gross you out further but Hein knows what I'm talking about. Suffice it to say I had to pull the hose from the head to the Y valve as it was stopped up with calcium deposits. That worked for about a day and clogged again. Must have loosened up the stuff between the Y valve and overboard outlet as that clogged. Nasty, nasty nasty, but like new again now, AND,it didn't cost anything but the captain's blood, sweat and tears. Yippee.

We stayed in Taomina several days and headed 50 miles down the east coast of Sicily to Syracuse, once the most powerful city state in ancient Greece, and here we are until around the first when we'll move over to Ragusa. Freebird (also applying for residency) got the forms we need and today we tried to see the Patronata, a guy who helps people like us for free, but he's out 'til Monday. All the forms are in Italian and they're very picky so we want professional help. For instance, if you seal the envelop yourself, they won't accept it and you have to start all over again. While here, we ran into Sonrisa, one of the boats from our Pirate Alley convoy and Jimmy and Caroline from Blue Moon who we first met in Balck Wattle Bay, Sydney eons ago.

We are really enjoying Italy. The food is just incredible after Greece and Turkey, the people are friendly and it's not so expensive. Think we'll like it here. Just hoping the Ukranian comes through. What a relief that would be.

Cheers

Tim & Rose

At Last Aug 3 2011

Well folks, Rendezvous Cay has done it. After almost thirteen years, around 40,000 miles, the Panama and Suez canals, six continents, dozens of countries, three hurricanes, and Pirate Alley, we crossed our outbound line of longitude of degrees 25 minutes East just before we pulled into Santa Maria Di Leuca in the heel of Italy. Starting in October 1998 from the Cape Grace in Capetown, South Africa, we crossed the Atlantic, arriving in the Caribbean in early December. After spending 6 1/2 years there, beginning in May, 2005 and into 2008, we started the grand tour with the Panama Canal and the Pacific. In 2010, January to March, we crossed the Indian Ocean, braved Pirate Alley and went on through the Red Sea and the Suez. In the Med, we are now pretty much at the end of our journey.

We'll winter, or maybe more, in Ragusa, Sicily, remaining there until the boat sells.

Cheers
Tim and Rose
P.S.special thanks to Joey, able bodied seaman for three of the last six years. He's now some big shot captain!

Troubles in Greece July 13 2011

Hello everyone.

Well the excitement just continues, but first things first. Many of you know my ex, and it seems she’s gone missing, much to the chagrin of her family. Took off without a word from her apartment in Atlanta about 4 or 5 weeks ago. If she happens to contact any of you, please get in touch with her sister Kris at pixmill@aol.com or her son, Joe at josephTierney@hotmail.com.

In the meantime, we’ve had our own troubles, and, if there was any doubt in my mind that it was time to hang up my foul weather gear and get rid of the boat, this last month has cinched the deal. In truth, we’re finding Greece very nice with friendly people and not too expensive, but the boat @$#^&*#@#!!!

Starting at the beginning, we left Epidavros for Korfos, just a few miles north but enough closer to the canal for us to get there early and move on west. We were only there one night, but it was quite nice, and we took off about 7 for the 15 miles to the canal. Basically, you side tie, go do the paperwork and pay (it is claimed to be the most expensive 3 miles in yachting and cost over 200€ in tolls), then wait for the okay to go. They actually lower a bridge underwater to allow passage. We had a bit of excitement while processing the formalities. Rose tied off the bow, and, to be fair, asked me if it was okay. Looked good for the ½ hour wait so I went to the office only to hear a faint “Tim, Tim” coming from the boat. The bow line had come loose and the boat was perpendicular to the channel. Rose had gone below to do her nails or something and didn’t notice until it was too late. Anyway, making record time back to the boat, I was able to jump on the sugar scoop and save the day. What a captain!!!!

The canal was pretty cool with sheer rock sides 70 feet high in the 100 meter wide channel. It only took about a ½ hour to transit, and a hawk followed along. After going through, we had about 30 miles to go to our anchorage and noticed the bilge alarm in the starboard engine room was going off with great regularity. A quick look didn’t show any overt leaks but the gasket between the outside and inside of the boat had water on it. We were tired on arrival and decided to check it out in the morning, and you could have kept time by the alarm every 10 minutes. Next morning, after checking out every alternative, I finally pulled a sensor from the base and sure enough, the seals were bad, and water was coming in from the hole in the hull the sail drive sits in. That means, for you neophytes, if the seals go altogether, the engine room will flood and ruin my newly rebuilt engine.

So we took off on a short hop to Itea where we could get decent internet and I poured over the books—Heikell”s guide stinks—and the internet to find a place that could haul my size boat. That is required to repair the seals. Fortunately, there is a new marina in Messolonghi which was only about 25 miles away.

Since their crane wasn’t scheduled until Tuesday and it was the weekend, we stuck around in Itea on the dock for almost free and took a bus up to Delphi—you know, where the famous Greek oracle used to reside. Lots of walking, let me tell you. The bus stops about 2 miles from the site, and then there is still a lot of uphill walking to see the place which was very interesting and huge, built on the side of a mountain. There was a really good museum with artifacts going all the way back to the time of the Trojan War in 1300 BC, and Rose found a charioteer’s statue with weird toes just like hers. Must be some Greek heritage there. The town of Itea was also quite nice with a waterfront promenade so our time was well spent. Monday we took the short trip to Messolonghi, coordinated the haulout for the next day and tied up for the night.

Tuesday was a real event. The marina uses a big crane for haulouts, in our case a 120 ton monster. So the first problem was they claimed my boat weighed 18 tons instead of the 14 I’d told them. Now the spec on the boat is 11 tons empty and I don’t think my stuff, even including sails, water and fuel could add 14,000 pounds but they swore the scale on the crane said 18 tons. Because of the angles involved that is getting to the limit of their lifting capacity. So they started to actually lift, and there was a big crack, a really big crack, bang, whatever. Seems they’d placed the straps too far forward—forward of where I’d told them—and broke about a foot off the back of the starboard keel. Back in the water. Now they claimed the boat miraculously had gained another 2 tons and were worried about hauling with that crane so we spent another hour getting the dinghy off and pumping out my water tanks. They, of course blamed me for the bad strap placement but we negotiated a split of the cost to repair. So, five days and $4,000 later we were back in the water planning to leave, but a couple of fittings on other stuff were leaking so we spent another night—this time for free!!! All in all they took great care of us and on short notice got an emergency repair done in a very short period of time so I can’t complain too much. Boat means “Bring Out Another Thousand”, after all. But, like they do on the infomercials—“Wait. There’s more!” Unfortunately, lots more. Piqued your interest yet?

So we finally left Messolonghi, which, by the way, was a very nice little town, if a long walk from the marina. There was a Marmaris boat or two that we knew and there were cocktails involved. Our next destination was about 30 miles away—Ithaca, home of Odysseus. It has inspired me to reread the Odyssey. On the way, the freezer compressor threw it’s engine belt, and try as I might, I was unable to muscle the bolts loose to install the spare I already had on hand. No problem for the time being as I have electric back up. We spent a nice couple of days there—not much touring to be done and the captain is “ruined out”. Of course, while there, my Blackberry died. Needs to go to Athens for repairs which is not a viable alternative. Are you feeling sorry for me yet?? Fortunately, Vodaphone actually sells a 10€ Nokia. Nothing smart about it; no camera or internet although it does work as a flashlight. New blackberry should catch up with me in Corfu and then I can get the other repaired and give it to Rose. Too many accessories to change brands, and I really like the phone.

The next stop was a short hop to the north to Levkas. We opted to pull into the south end which has a very large protected bay, but hundreds of charter boats. Judging from what we’ve seen in what is supposed to be the peak of the season, the Greeks are having a tough time tourism-wise as most were on the dock. Way down in the south end was a boatyard and good old Heikell had no number, and Noonsite had the wrong number so I dinghied in to get someone to fix the freezer belt. This was probably a highlight as the owner’s son took me over to this old barge to talk to his father, the master mechanic. As we arrived, I was offered, and accepted, a beer. No charge. You don’t see that too often. Anyway, the guy dinghied out and fixed it within a few minutes. Pays to have the right tools!!! So that was good, and we found the Vlahki Yacht club which caters to pommies. Great menu, cheap beer. We were feeling good. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much else to do there and we are running out of time on my visa, so we headed north again to Lefkada on the same island which is at the north end of a canal they dredged out of the salt marshes to make Levkas a true island. It’s about 3 or 4 kilometers long and narrow. Some yahoo trying to show off for his girlfriend was sailing down and for the first time since another yahoo cut me off racing in the BVI, I had to sound the danger signal with the air horn.

The town of Lefkada has a marina and a town quay, but we elected to anchor between the two. Guess what? Lost the gear shift on the port engine. Now this is a place you are technically not supposed to anchor, but the guy already there said he’d been there three days with no problems, so we finally got the hook down and set. I had feared the gear problem might be the cone clutch which is notoriously bad and very expensive to replace, but Dave from Freebird came over, and we discovered it was just a loose bracket holding the cable so the wire couldn’t move inside the sleeve. Of course, it was almost totally inaccessible, but good old Dave had the right tools!!! Next day we rented a car and toured the island with Freebird which I paid for as a stipend for helping me out. It was a beautiful drive around the island and we had a good lunch. Hit the larger chain grocery stores,too. Unfortunately, as I was putting two tables together at lunch, the plate glass covers hit and one shattered. They were nice about it as if that happens all the time.

In the meantime, the dinghy engine has been giving us all sorts of problems. Sometimes it has power to start and others, the battery is dead. The final straw was yesterday when Rose and I had to charge it to go the 100 feet to the dock to hit town for a wander and lunch. It is hot as hell here, and I didn’t appreciate paddling back when, once again, the battery appeared dead. In Ashkelon, as I’m sure you’ll recall, the guy finally discovered a bad cable and replaced it, solving, we thought, our problems. But, he did warn us that the battery switch was pretty bad and to just leave it on all the time. Aha!!! This, I thought, must be the problem and proceeded to bypass it. Nope. Finally, I pulled the battery all the way out of its most inconvenient location in a box too wide for the opening, and discovered a loose cable—just barely loose but enough to cause a voltage drop. Problem solved, and we’re feeling pretty good with all the shit finally sorted out.

Freebird had left that morning—yesterday--for Paxos, just south of Corfu, and we were meant to follow today, Wednesday. You need to go through a bascule bridge which opens on the hour and it’s about 6 hours to Paxos. You need to leave early as it really is crowded there. So, last night we’re all ready with the dinghy up, and I started the generator to top off the batteries. Huge crash. All four mounts on the generator had broken and it was laying on its side on top of the engine. For once Heikell had a phone number for a repair service, but they were already closed. About that time, the Port police pulled up and said I had to move as we were anchored in a restricted area. When I informed them I had a breakdown, they asked for our boat docs, and I found out today this is worst thing to do in Greece, and they may require a surveyor—not free-- to recertify that we are seaworthy. The repair guys returned my panic stricken message first thing this morning which was really nice, and they’re working on the thing right now. Definitely needs new mounts and they are checking to see if anything broke when it fell. Unfortunately, they wanted me to pull alongside in the marina to do the work. What a rip off. We need to use their crane to lift the generator—at 100€ per half hour—and the charge overnight is about 140€. If we don’t they said to go elsewhere to get the work done. We’re not even on a regular dock but across one of their haulout wells.

I’m on valium and Prozac. As for the Rose report, she is doing great. We have actually been pleasantly surprised by the friendliness of the people and really good food. Will keep you in suspense on the generator, as I am right now, until next time.

Cheers

Tim & Rose

Marmaris Finale, Haul out and Greece May 15 2011

Hi everyone.

Yes, it’s been a while and I know you are all on pins and needles to hear of our latest adventures, but, first: Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. A fiery woman with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty Hi Yo Rose, the Lone Arranger. Yes folks, overcoming overwhelming odds, the opposition of the female dock Nazi, the off again on again cooperation of the marina and no tables and chairs right before the start time, Rose pulled off a charity afternoon tea for the benefit of a local handicapped children’s school, raising over $1,500. Her fame was far reaching with Turkish TV covering the presentation, and, while she will modestly assert that she had lotsof help, it wouldn’t have happened without her persistence, management and a lot of hard work. It was so well received that the returning yachties are going to carry on the tradition. And, yes folks, Rose will live in immortality as they all voted to dub the event the Rose Charity. Who was that masked woman?

Now for the rest of the letter, as the preceding announcement deserved the lead position. Well, we haven’t written in two months, and neither Rose nor I can remember anything else much of consequence at the marina since we both returned in early March, except the tea, that is. So you are probably thinking, Thank god, it will be a short one. Nope, you are just not that lucky as a lot of other stuff has happened. The downside of the tea was they had a nurse doing blood pressure tests for 1 lira. Mine was way high—it’s been 120 over 70 my whole life—which I attributed to the nurse’s massive cleavage. But, I figured I better get it checked for real at the free clinic. Oh, oh, 150 over 105. A little googling indicated this is not something to mess around with so $1,000 of cardiologist and test fees later, I have to take blood pressure pills until further notice, probably ‘til I die. The good news is they are about half price in Turkey so I loaded up enough until I get on Italy’s national health program when they’ll be free or pretty close to it. I figure just owning the boat is worth several points so maybe when we sell it, it will come down!!!

We had the boat hauled in May, first time ever actually all the way out as we are too wide for most travel lifts and have come up on a marine railway. Of course, the same chick in the office who ripped me off on my 5% discount on the winter contract also tried to deny me the 10% I was told I would get on the haulout as a result of being there for the winter. After a too long conversation and some harsh words, I gave up and came back the next day to see the nice girl who didn’t even question it and knocked off 150€ from the bill.

We had hoped to only be out of the water for a few days, like it used to be in the Caribbean, but Turkish time is worse than island time and they didn’t even start work for the first week. Lots did get done ultimately, however, including genset repairs, bottom paint, special prop coating, buff and wax the hull and decktops and a million other little jobs. The old tub looks and works (see later comments) pretty good.

While we were out, Rose refused to go up and down the ladder so we stayed at a hotel in town. The marina has rooms to let for this purpose but rip you for 50€ a day and half the time there isn’t hot water. I bowled with a couple who own a small hotel and just happened to remember our last day and asked what their rates were—40TL/day or about 20€ and you get a full English breakfast with that. One of the owners is the chef and makes his own sausage—almost as good as Jones--and knows how to make a proper burger in addition to all the other really good normal stuff. Homemade marmalade too. The Turks seem to think jams and the like are simply chunks of fruits in a sicky sweet thick sugar syrup—YUK. We kicked ourselves for not finding the restaurant sooner and had a great time there, eating, karaoking and having drinks competition. Paul, one of the owners, won the bloody mary contest only because he had local knowledge and knew the celery salt wasn’t salty enough, but I totally trumped him with mud slides which no one had even heard of before. We had a controversial tie on the pina coladas but I was working with inferior local ingredients.

So finally, the boat was ready to launch, and they dropped us in but there was a nice but impaired French boat in front of us that took an hour and a half to figure out he needed to go to the office to pay for his water fill up. At last off at about 6:30 and getting dark, we only went about ¼ mile to anchor for the night. Oops. Windlass ain’t workin’!! Just release the clutch to get it down you say. I say the #@&*### clutch wouldn’t release either. So, at great personal risk to my fingers, I lifted the chain off the gypsy and let it run, figuring it would slow down or stop when on the bottom. Nope, the chain was hurtling out of the locker so I ran up and wrapped a rope around it at the bow—again at great personal peril—and got it stopped with about 6 feet left. Called the guys at the marina who promised to come out the next day and fix it. I called it right, another wiring problem. But wait, there’s more. The next day we had to wait until the afternoon as there was torrential rain. When it stopped, I dropped the dinghy to go in and pick the guys up. Right, can’t prime the fuel as it isn’t sucking a vacuum. You may recall we changed the tankage in Finike, and those yahoos put on quick release fittings that didn’t seal properly. Only took about an hour to figure that out and, finally, I had to directly connect the hose to the tank. Fortunately, the King of Spares had a proper sized threaded nipple to do the job.

Oh, I almost forgot, we replaced our countertops, mainly to help appearances to sell the boat and they look great. Big problem getting anyone to do it and our yard guys finally found someone in Bodrum, two hours away. Great job, looks great and worth every penny, but they somehow screwed up the stovetop when they temporarily removed it. The allegedly stove guy, who was also our A/C guy—did I mention I had to replace the forward condenser AGAIN—sort of fixed it, for about a nanosecond and then was impossible to get hold of. Well, he actually showed up with the windlass guy and again supposedly fixed it. This time it took about 10 minutes to fail again. The damn thing would light but wouldn’t stay lit. Captain to the rescue. How is Rose meant to boil water for her tea without working burners. I figured if I took off the knob and stuck something in to hold it in the light position, that would work. Better than we dreamed of. Must have been some gunk down in there and just poking around without leaving anything in there worked!!!

So now we’re sorted,right? Wrong. Needed to commission the watermaker. Against my better judgement and on a friend’s advice, I decided not to replace the membranes while in the marina. The water was marginal at best, but good enough for bathing, washing dishes, etc. just not for drinking. We didn’t want to wait around to do the replacement in Turkey and decided to wait for Greece—more on this later.

In the meantime, we hung around for good weather to depart and, of course, to see the royal wedding. Went back to our hotel for a large screen TV viewing. Did I mention the owners are all English which is why they had decent food. While all of this was going on, I was trying to get my last care package from Lizzie. I had had at least 7 shipments, some of which with quite expensive parts included, but had been advised that if the manifest showed under $150, it would sail through customs which they all did thanks to lizzie’s fake invoices, except, of course, for the legitimate low value—maybe $70-- last package. Turned out FedEx wanted about $100 extra for doing nothing; then I would have to hire an agent for about $200 and, oh yeah, there was duty and taxes of $13!!! FedEx wanted $330 to return it even though it only cost $100 to ship it. It went the way of Joey’s stuff in Australia—abandoned. Bastards!!!

Okay, so now we get to the good stuff. We finally got out of Marmaris about 2 weeks ago and just took a short trip—35 miles—to our first Greek island, Symi. Based on the advice of poor Freebird who are having an awful time of it wherever they go, we went into a bay with a big monastery which is very well protected. Just as well. One night my wind indicator couldn’t even register the top speed!!! You need to understand that, starting in about a month, the “Meltemi”, gale force winds, sometimes for days, start kicking in in the Aegean. They can still be quite strong even now so we are very conscious of where and how we anchor, and it is the reason we are heading west for the Corinth canal to get into the Ionian where the effect is much less.

So we got checked into Greece in the main town, a ½ hour bus ride away. The only problem was the bus had broken down but the operators did come with a compact 5 seater car. Unfortunately, there were four other people who beat us to the punch, but we finally got in and did our paperwork. Coincidentally, in our anchorage was the guy Rose strong armed into playing some mood music guitar at the tea. Had drinks with them and got the lay of the land as they had been there before. Symi,due to the meltemi, was the only island we got to when I visited Norman and Rose in Rhodos about 10 years ago. Either we went into a different town or it has grown to be unrecognizable in that time. Still charming friendly people, 2€ really good gyros and it was interesting to watch the boats come and go. The grocer even threw in a really nice bottle of white Greek wine free with our purchases. Rose found a hand made silver Greek cross to restart her collection after her old stuff got ripped off in Cyprus. We stayed about 5 or 6 days and got phones but not internet sorted out. I need to digress for a minute to talk about my Kindle. I was convinced to get one after I checked out a friend’s. Lizzie is pissed off at me because I stupidly refused one for Christmas from her. Anyway, as you all know, you download books wirelessly with no extra charge. BUT, the really great thing is, Amazon has put some experimental stuff on the latest generation, one of which is internet access through the same mechanism by which they send books. It amounts to a totally free and mobile 3G internet connection, so while we didn’t get broadband until Kos, neither did we need to hassle with the netbook into town or internet cafes. It’s not quite as good as using a computer but it was a life and hassle saver for us!!! Thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in Symi, but we had some nice weather to head to Kos, north and west of Symi. We actually sailed for part of the 45 mile passage.

We are trying to plan our stops where it is sheltered and anchoring is possible. The stern to, Med moor is a real pain in the ass so the first stop in Kos was a bit shorter trip than going all the way north to Kos Town, and we had a nice little bay all to ourselves. Of course, the best laid plans…so on arrival we scoped out the anchorage outside the marina, found it wanting and got a place alongside—no Med moor—in the marina. Well, all we can say is so far so good. We’ve also planned to avoid marinas as we keep hearing horror stories of $150/night for our size boat, but the prices here, while not cheap, are comparable to what I was paying in Tortola. The people and the marina—a major charter base—couldn’t have been nicer. Even though they are packed over the weekend with returning charter boats they are letting us stay. The reason we need to stay is we’re trying to get these membranes for the watermaker replaced. Price--$1,500--and availability—days or weeks—made it unattractive to buy them here, so I’m saving half the cost with 2 day FedEx bringing them in. Fingers crossed Greek customs doesn’t hassle me!!!

We’ve done some sightseeing here and there is an ancient agora (Greek market) and medieval fort right in town. Saw Hippocrates tree where he used to teach and yesterday took the tourist “train” 15 min. out of town to Asklipieion, a huge ancient site in pretty good repair, that was an ancient version of a hospital. Tomorrow, we’re renting a dune buggy to go exploring.

So not too long.

Cheers for now

Tim and Rose

Marmaris III and Istanbul March 13 2011

Hi everybody.

No doubt your lives are totally boring since you have not received one of our witty travel notes in almost 2 months. Well, contain your excitement!!! Entertainment is at hand.

A quick check of my last letter revealed we have not yet reported on the camel wrestling outing. Actually, this was a pretty cool deal. It cost us about $180/person and included transportation, tickets to the various events, a professional Turkish tour guide and lunch and dinner the first day, breakfast the second as well as a really, really nice hotel. So they picked us up at about 7 AM in a minibus. The woman who puts these tours together lives on her boat in the other marina across the bay, and makes her living this way. Besides talking way too much on the morning radio net selling her stuff, I think she takes a little advantage. For instance, she crammed 17 people on a 16 person bus for this tour. That being said, everything else was very good--even the weather cooperated.

Our first stop was Ephesus, about 2 hours or 3 away. This is a very cool archeological site going back to pre-Roman times which was an important seaport before sea levels dropped--it's now 5 kilometers from the coast. During Roman times it grew to the third largest city in the ancient world with a population of up to 350,000. Had villas for the rich on the hills overlooking the sea, only a fraction of which have been excavated, with running water. There are even public toilets that sort of self-flush along with baths and broad avenues with many temples. It's still a huge site and we spent almost all day there.

Following Ephesus, we had a late lunch and then we hit the local museum and a famous mosque--I forget why it's famous--senior moment. Our last stop was one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world--the Temple of Aphrodite. Unfortunately, most of the 60 or so columns had been dismantled long ago and used in other construction so there's just one remaining. Obviously, this was not a long stop. After, it was on to the hotel overlooking the sea which had great rooms and a terrific dinner buffet. It was just too bad, due to the timing of everything, that we'd eaten lunch so late as the food was great but appetites were small.

The main event, camel wrestling (hereafter called CW, not conventional wisdom), was the next day. After convening following breakfast and checkout, we were supposed to tour the little resort town, but one of our party got wind of a Starbucks so we scrapped plan A for a trip to get some decent coffee. We were due at CW at about 10, and it was a hoot. The event is held in a natural coliseum without seats. We knew this from talking to people who had done it before and took our own folding canvas chairs. The hillside was packed with 5-10,000 Turks enjoying their version of an American tailgate party complete with BBQs. Dave and I decided "when in Rome..." and bought a bottle of Rake, the local firewater that is like ouzo or anisette. The guys next to us watched us have a couple before handing over some BBQed chicken with an admonition that one does not drink rake on an empty stomach. Then, people from all around started offering us oranges, nuts and assorted other goodies. The CW itself took a backseat to the festivities, but just to be complete, they fight with their necks (and teeth if they hadn't been muzzled) and the idea is to put the other camel down. These are bulls, only, but they keep a couple of females in season around to stir up the hormones. They slobber all over the place and are riderless, but in full regalia with decorations, saddles, etc. We had been making fun of the whole thing beforehand, but it was one of those events that turned out to be something that shouldn't be missed.

After the wrestling, we grabbed some lunch and went to a specialty wine making village for a tasting which really wasn't necessary after all the rake. Touristy place, but quite interesting and fun. Hopped on the bus and were home by the evening, laughing about the day all the way home.

Back to the real world, I finally got the nerve to see if the new transformer--yes, more new stuff getting the boat ready to sell--would run the AC/Heating. I think it will, but the forward unit--the one we'd really use, wouldn't work. A visit from the AC guy gave us the bad news that we needed a new compressor. Just try getting one that uses 110 volts here in the Med. Fortunately, the manufacturer felt bad about it as I'd replaced both about 3 years ago and gave me a deal. Sent it to Lizzie who will work some magic on the invoice to put the price below Turkish customs' radar, and it will be on the way shortly. Could have used it the last few days when spring turned back into winter and 70's have made way for a freezing cold snap (it's warmed back up now, thank God). Our portable heaters seem to be keeping up, thank goodness. The other major expense we're now facing is redoing the counter tops. Had a hell of a time getting anyone to look--they're Corian--but finally someone from 2 hours away gave us a quote. Lots of money, but considering the labor involved getting the old ones off--21 tubes of Sikaflex that's like iron were used to glue it down--I think we getting a good deal. We thought it was important as first impressions can make or break a sale. The old counters just couldn't cope with all the flexing in some of the bad weather we've had and had cracked in several places. The new counters will be 50% thicker and we shouldn't be in those conditions anymore so I think they'll hold up just fine.

I just realized--it's now a few days later--what I thought would be a short letter may turn out to be a large volume. SO--you are forewarned. If you don't want to hear anymore about our recent adventures, delete this now.

After our return from all the excitement of the CW, life continued at a leisurely pace with our next outing on Feb. 10 to Istanbul for the boat show and sightseeing. The marina pays to bus us all up there and walk around wearing marina jackets to promote themselves. More on this later, but, first, it was necessary to do a visa run to Rhodes. I wasn't going to make another mistake and have a 200€ fine. Since my visa would have run out while in Istanbul, we could have ridden over to the Bulgarian border, but figured that had to be time consuming and expensive. Also, due to poor planning on our part, Rose was departing for the UK for a doctor's visit, one miserable day beyond her visa. That was a costly miscalculation as they raised the ferry rate to 45€, and we had cabs, lunch, etc. The trip was complicated by the fact that the USS Enterprise was in port and security was up, so we got the rust bucket, slow ferry instead of the fast cat. This meant we had about an hour and a half to get to the store to buy pork products. Freebird came, too, with similar circumstances. Actually, that part was good since they brought their Kindles--Amazon's e-book reader--and it was so cool, I just got one myself. Just as an aside, the new ones are free 3G connections, and they've added a browser so you can even surf and check your email. Not as good as using a computer, but it saves toting along the heavy laptop or netbook for short trips. The trip turned out to be a bit humorous as someone said they spot check bags when returning to Turkey and won't allow pork--or any fresh products--in. So we, of course, were ignoring the restriction craving some good salami and ham, and we bought loads of the stuff plus some sausages--real polish and good hotdogs--not that chicken stuff you get here. The problem was to smuggle it back in so we stuffed Rose's loose top and around her waist with the flat packages and Istuffed the salami and other stuff in my inside jacket pocket. I was going to put the salami in my pants but there wasn't any room. As it turned out, Turkish officialdom didn't check anyone or even give us a second look. So we are now legal into early May and will be departing around then for Greece so we needn't suffer through that ordeal again. Next stop Istanbul. Unfortunately, all four of us picked up a bad cold with varying gestation periods and severity on the damn ferry which took the edge off the Istanbul trip. I was the first to be cursed.

As a result of my cold, I can't say I enjoyed the 16 hour bus ride north, the discomfort of which was compounded by a few unauthorized BS stops so someone could show off their knowledge of local conditions. In fact, the next day, I booked a return flight rather than facing another marathon bus ride to get home. We finally got to our room, which was quite pleasant, about midnight after an 8AM start. There were 60 or 70 of us and most everyone stayed in the one hotel right in the center of the old district. Next morning, it was a leisurely, if somewhat skimpy Turkish breakfast which consists of a hardboiled egg, olives, cheese, tomato and cucumber with fresh bread. At 10, we reboarded our busses for transport to a tour boat--again all at the marina's expense--for a 5 hour cruise up the Bosporus. This was a first class deal with a lovely ship, and tons of free food and booze as well as a live band and belly dancers, all in addition to the sights. Our friends from another marina farther east came up to visit us, and we managed to smuggle them in to all the events which added to the fun. I consumed mass quantities of vitamin C in the form of red wine, purely for medicinal purposes which actually seemed to work.

The next day was the boat show all day and, if you wanted, they would ply you with more free wine at their large display area. I decided not to push my luck. The owner of the marina was there who is allegedly a Turkish mafia guy, and it was kind of like watching the wedding scene in the Godfather's den with various people coming over to pay homage. The show itself was quite large, but mainly smaller power boats and really not too much gear. Well, that was it--Saturday--for the marina deal, and they were leaving early Sunday on the bus for the marina. We were staying 'til Wednesday with Rose flying out early to the UK and me in the evening back to Dalaman and Marmaris. Freebird by this time was in full flower with colds, but they stayed until Friday. Our other friends, on Katanne, left Tuesday, so we did some stuff together and cruised by ourselves part of the time.

As I said, the hotel was in a great location, within close walking distance of all the things you've read about in the city. In fact, we were only about 100 yards from the Blue Mosque. I actually downloaded the movie, Topkapi, which we watched before departing Marmaris, and it is truly amazing with all the stuff including the dagger they stole in the movie. It's huge but we got most of it in. We also went into the oldunderground Roman cisterns nearby which are an ancient engineering marvel. Tombs, mosques, basilicas--we did it all. Over the next few days we also went to the Grand Bazaar which was a big disappointment. We expected excellent, after negotiation of course, prices and all sorts of cool stuff in the 5-7,000 shop complex. What we found were blasé merchants unwilling to negotiate and prices higher than Marmaris. They wanted $60 for knock off Levis, and they were all 34 inch inseam requiring more money for tailoring. I needed a new cheap digital watch, and they were trying to get $40 for the local cheap brand which I ultimately bought here for $20. Big bummer as you always hear about the Istanbul bazaar. Not a disappointment was the much smaller spice bazaar where some good deals were to be had.

The weather was getting pretty cold by then. Early on the trip for the cruise, etc. it had been sunny and 50's. Changed to cloudy, drizzly and 32 late Sunday until departure. Overall, it was something we just had todo, but neither of us have much interest in returning. So, we got Rose off around 10 on Wed. and I had the rest of the morning and much of the afternoon to kill. I opted for a Turkish bath and massage to knock out the remnants of my cold. While it was a bit expensive, I went for a famous historical old bath near the bazaar which was built in 1300 or something, maybe earlier. About quadruple the $25 cost of the same deal in Alanya but includes the steam room (sort of--you really have to do it to understand), body scrub, soapy massage, shampoo and oil massage--about 2 hours for the whole deal. Finished that, had lunch, fruitlessly wandered the bazaar, and then it was the bus to the airport. The only glitch was the transport service to Marmaris at Dalaman was waiting at the International terminal. Panic stricken with no ride at 9PM and no phone number for them, I lucked out as one of the other drivers at domestic knew my guy and called him. Back on the boat, alone again, not even Charlie to greet me, by 10:30.

Now, as I think I've mentioned--we're on the home stretch, folks--I need to get some kind of EU residency. In their infinite wisdom, the Europeans limit many nationalities' stays, including Americans who bailed their asses out of 2 wars, to three months out of six ( I don’t think so !! from me, Rose. ). This makes staying in a marina for the entire winter illegal, and I am not comfortable staying with our friends for three months. Besides, most of them live in colder places than where we'll be‼! While many countries sort of ignore this rule, since I want to stay in Europe, I thought it best to be totally legal. Research has led us to Italy as a choice for several reasons. We both think we could live there; we're heading west this season and there is an exceedingly cheap deal for the winter at a new marina in Sicily, and Italy seems to be pretty receptive to granting residency. Hell, who knows, maybe I could supplement my income with some Mafia jobs. Anyway, I've been trying for 4 months to get somewhere on this only to be totally jerked around. Theembassy in DC says talk to Istanbul or the consulate of my permanent residence. Philly, which is the latter, said, sure they'd help. Just come on in. Istanbul referred me back to the states. The states referred me back to Istanbul. My plan had been to combine the boat show trip with getting the visa, but 25 emails later, nothing was happening. UNTIL, of course, I was already in Istanbul with no paperwork and got a call. So I, at least, discovered while there what is necessary. First, I need a long term visa prior to arrival which will allow me to apply for residency. To get the visa, I needed to present to the consulate certified financial docs showing I can support myself, proof of medical insurance and the boat papers proving I have a place to stay. Basically the same procedure is repeated on arrival in Italy to get a residence permit. Easy, peasy, Japanesy.

So the person who finally called was the head of the visa department in the Italian Istanbul consulate, and she was very helpful and cooperative. Unfortunately, this was going to require another trip to Istanbul. So I gathered the papers and back I went. The process only took about 2 1/2 hours from start to finish, so I now have a one year multiple entry visa for Italy. The only glitch was getting there. The same yahoos who went to international on my last trip were meant to pick me up at the marina at 6:30 AM. Timing was critical as Turkish Air had some BS problem and wanted me at the service desk early--this turned out to be nothing at all, but I didn't know that at the time and had to make this flight as the Italian visa person was leaving on vacation. Well, the ride never did show up. The difference in cost between them and a cab is 9€ versus 60€--$12 versus $80+‼ Fortunately, at about 20 to the hour, a German guy drove through the gate and asked if I wanted a lift--turned out he was on the way to the airport, himself. Phew, this visa was expensive enough already what with fees, airfare, Istanbul cabs, etc. The transport company claimed they had a guy at the gate from 6:20 to 6:40 and refused me a refund which I wanted on principle. Damn liars‼‼ Big win there--when negotiations failed, and I finally called Citibank to bounce the charge, they just said okay, no problem. No affidavit, no letter, no nothing--just OK.

Since Rose returned 10 days ago, not much has been going on. We've hooked up with a nice crowd, and there've been a few parties; my bowling continues to improve and we're going to the other marina today for a lambroast lunch. Later today is rugby in the bar here with cheap eats--England v Scotland so it will be crowded with many fans on both sides. Really good sport to watch once you figure it out which is not rocket science like Cricket. Our departure is getting closer and we're both ready to go--pretty well sick of the marina cliques and politics--and anxious to move ahead.

The Rose report is good. She continues to be in fine form and got a 3 month cortisone shot in England. Very little pain now. The doc she had this time is pretty cooperative so she needn't return until the fall when, by the way, both of us will be in the UK for her son Nathan's longggggggggg overdue nuptials at the end of October.

Too long a letter I know. Cheers for now. Let us know how you are doing.

Tim & Rose

P.S. Joey continues to parlay his job into a love fest in Singapore, but work is beckoning as the boat is finally ready, and he departs Singapore and his love for Hong Kong later this week. Safe Sailing.