03 July 2006 - We just can't get away! – postcard from Mags

Now that we have decided to cross the Atlantic life seems to have conspired to keep us in this part of the world. I'm not complaining!

After leaving the Fethiye/Gocek area we headed west and decided to call in at Marmaris Netsel marina, a place we know well as our previous boat, Sovereign Liege, was berthed there for several years. We wanted to sort out two major problems: firstly the log was not working and then the mainsail was an utter pain and we couldn't get it in or out (it furls up into the mast). Having tied up two electric pumps promptly failed and we discovered the bottom was falling out of the dinghy. Such is the cruising life. Neither Barry nor I like Marmaris very much as it is a biggish holiday town, full of large Brits with, apparently, little going for it. However, the technical facilities round the marina are excellent and include a Raymarine rep (log) and also a good sailmaker. The sailmaker is a rather awesome German lady who pushed and pulled the sail and wasn't much impressed. She seemed to know her job. Her husband, also German, is a rigger so... since we were obviously going to be here a little while for the two repairs we asked for a quote for renewing the standing rigging i.e. shrouds, forestay etc. This was one of the jobs to be done in Barcelona as it was overdue and Barry was pretty certain that the insurers would demand it before crossing the Atlantic. The quote for the rigging was very reasonable (still of course more than we could afford but everything for a boat always is!). The boss and his operatives seemed competent, the materials quoted for were of high quality so we gave the go ahead. The sail is painful to talk about as it is only a year old and after several adjustments last year we thought we had finally sorted it out. So the problems this year were very disappointing. The sailmaker thought she could fix it with new vertical battens and a stiffening tape on the leach to stop it creasing as it enters the mast. She reckoned that these changes along with some adjustments to the haul-out mechanism should resolve our problems.

The log was tested and it was confirmed that we needed a new one BUT unfortunately that would involve a new tube in the hull and a haul-out for approximately two hours; an expense we hadn't reckoned on but for which we were obliged to cough up. There is usually a good side to every problem and now with the new log impeller we can also read the water temperature!

Now we know why we have a winged keel.

Installing the new impeller.

In some ways the stay in Marmaris wasn't as bad as might have been expected. We took the dolmus round to the other large marina where we met friends on three other boats. That's one of the nice things about staying around in this part of the world, we keep bumping into people we already know. The other marina is very smart whereas Netsel is going through a rather low period. New management has just taken over so we expect it to re-find itself. We also discovered different parts of Marmaris which has shown us a better side to the town. It was cooler than normal which made the stay more tolerable. Towards the end of our stay it did begin to warm up and Barry even came with me to the pool in the afternoon as the best means of surviving the afternoon heat. On some evenings we could watch England's stuttering progress in the World Cup. We sat on the upper level of the nice Sea Club restaurant where the waiters were most attentive in serving us, their only customers, with cold beer while we monopolised the large screen. Better than at home!

We were very pleased with the work on the standing rigging and the mainsail came back and was hoisted and furled on the date given. We shall only be able to assess the work over the next few months so we will keep you posted.

When we eventually escaped from Marmaris we called first at Palamut, a small harbour which we have come to enjoy over the last few years. There is an excellent harbourmaster and several pleasant tavernas. And that's about it but we find that many of our friends have also been seduced by Palamut. We stayed just one night and then moved on to Bodrum. As we came into the straits between Kos and Bodrum it was almost a dead calm, just 2 knots registering on the instruments but we could see ahead a line beyond which the sea was full of white horses and sure enough the instrument jumped from 2 to 22 knots. We have come across this before in these straits. Barry decided to try out our rebuilt mainsail. This would have been a good idea if we hadn't just put a saucepan, rather too full, of chicken casserole on the stove to heat up for lunch. I leave you to imagine the turmoil below decks and between mate and skipper.

We signed out of Turkey in Bodrum and scooted across to Kos in the morning hoping to beat the wind. Kos marina had no standard place for us! They offered to put us alongside the marina wall for 80% more cost! We accepted. We re-met our friends Jan and John from La Gabriella and on a suggestion from John went off and hired bikes for 2 days. We have avoided bikes for many years and now wonder why. I suppose we didn't know if we remembered how to cycle even though as children bikes were our standard means of transport. I was taken by a pink mountain bike and Barry was given a blue one to match. (Most of the bikes for hire were "sit up and beg" models.) We learnt several lessons from this adventure. 1. Yes, we can still cycle. 2. Why had we not hired bikes before as it really made our journeys to town more pleasant? 3. Were saddles always that hard? 4. Perhaps "sit up and beg" bikes with a basket are more appropriate for the town and shopping.

On your bike Big B

We checked into Greece and are now ready to leap across the Aegean heading towards Barcelona via the Corinth Canal. However, the winds look pretty strong. One of retirement boating's strong points is that we don't need to go until the winds are comfortable but we are beginning to squeeze ourselves to get to Barcelona. I have even booked a flight to Geneva on 2 August. So we have sailed from Kos to Leros and are in a small marina on the west side of the island, another place we have grown fond of since first coming here two years ago. We are checking the weather on the Greek weather forecasting web page Poseiden and hope for it to be blues and greens (gentle to moderate winds) but see that the next two days show an awful lot of orange to red, strong north-westerlies and forward of the beam. We are planning a 36 hour trip and so for the moment, snug in Leros, we are postponing our departure hoping for better things to come.

Not a forecast to relax with