T and J Sail Away

So, after almost a year in the planning (along with much psychological preparation!) Princesses Trish and Tina were at last to join us on Mossy Joe! I did consider presenting this blog just with photos and letting you lovely readers attribute your own story but I realised that nothing you could imagine could come close to the actual events!!!

Our journey starts back in England. I had popped home for a few days to see family and friends, a visit to Regents Park outdoor theatre to see Fiddler on the Roof (absolutely incredible) with the other two T’s, plus amongst other activities, have my wild sun bleached hair cut !

The most crucial of these activities was to ensure that our prospective new arrivals made in on to the right plane at the right time (this is not always a given) so my role as chaperone and tour guide were in need.

Morning flight from Stansted to Dalaman, all went well including enough time at the airport for breakfast – please note that is tea, coffee and water we are consuming with our meals!

We had fun in Duty Free securing bottles of our favourite drinks that were either not available or just too expensive in Turkey. Sadly, Stansted do not have Ricard to purchase but I knew that we could buy it land side in Dalaman airport and I had also smuggled the bottle that Charlie and his friends bought coming out of Turkey into Trish’s case to take back to Turkey!

Great excitement on arrival in Dalaman when the nice man in the Duty Free there explained that we could have a bottle of spirit each (so that’s three bottles of Ricard) and in addition to that allowance, two bottles of wine each. Yippee! The promise of a week quaffing Provence Rosé instead of the ruby red paint stripper generally on offer in Turkey! I was still sure that we would get stopped coming through customs – we were carrying quite obviously our booze from the UK, PLUS we had also bought three mini bottles of Prosecco to drink in the taxi en-route to the boat! We were very much over a number of limits!!

After a long day of travelling, safely installed and relaxing on Mossy Joe. Both the two T’s and the Booze!

Next morning we were keen to get going but first a trip to the supermarket was required. We walked to the Carrefour and took the ‘small’ trolley as the expectation was that we would get some bread, tomatoes, cereal and a few cokes and tonics…….

I knew that the Supermarket offered a ‘delivery to boat’ service and quickly decided that we would need to take advantage of this. We chatted to a lovely gent in the shop and explained that we were on a boat and what help we needed. Usually this service means that you bag up your own shopping, pay and walk off back to your boat. The supermarket staff then load the bags into a van and meet you back at the quay.

The very nice man who had been helping us was whisking our bags out of the shop as we were leaving and loading them into his vehicle, not really a van more of a funfair ride on wheels! Still, lots of room for our trolley and the overflow bags and as I stood next to it trying to explain where our boat was to be found I was very surprised to see him holding Tina’s hand and helping her clamber in to the back of it! And then Trish hopped in the front seat! Surely not, there must have been a major break down in communication. No way could anyone ride in the back of this elongated, motorised trike! When I was encouraged to ‘jump in’ next to Tina my instinct was to say ‘no thank you, I’ll walk’ but knowing that without me the eventual destination for the girls, and more importantly the shopping, would be a mystery!

My main concern was that it was not even as though the boat was within the same marina as the supermarket, Mossy Joe was in the next marina about a mile away and we would have to go out on the main road with the multitude of cars plus buses and taxis dropping off and picking up from the many hotels along the way!!!

No idea why I’m smiling!!! Terror perhaps?

But the girls had fun!

Somehow we made it back in one piece, the vehicle even managed to navigate the really steep descent into the marina car park without us incurring any major head injuries!

As it took us quite some time to put away the shopping we decided that the best use of the rest of the day would be to go somewhere nearby to have a swim and anchor for the night. We found a small bay that we had never been to before and although there were a few tourist boats it was pretty empty. I swam ashore with the lines, pleased to see that there were bollards installed on the beach so no need to find a rock to tie up to.

Happily secured, I was thrilled to be having a first swim with Trish and Tina off the back of the boat.

Whilst we were swimming we noticed some swift movement in the bushes on the beach as ten or more rabbits arrived to eat something that had been left there for them (although it did look a little like vomit!) It was really sweet to see the rabbits so we didn’t pay much attention when there was a flurry of further activity, something or somethings scurrying in and out of the bushes, that made the rabbits look up and run away! On closer inspection, once back on the boat and able to put on our glasses, it was clear that the ‘somethings’ were a gang of large rats!!!!

Rats love the chance to get onto a boat – a treasure trove of goodies to be had – and given their ability to traverse any kind of terrain our lines ashore would be the perfect invitation for them! The piece of equipment that boats are supposed to have on board are frisby like disks that fix onto the lines that stop rats from making it all the way to the boat – example below although this rodent looks much friendlier than the ones were were looking at!

On the shopping list for next year are these disks but in the meantime Jacques tried to make some out of the clear plastic lids of our storage boxes. This did not work as intended and nobody felt comfortable with the thought of going to bed that night in this bay so we decided to leave!

After that experience we headed out for the peace and tranquility of Bum Sting Bay. Well, for once there were no wasps and there was peace but the tranquility was sporadic!

Tina was keen to try out all the water sport gadgets and the next morning was straight in the water with the sea scooter, it having recuperated from the encounter with Beck’s shorts! Trish was a more cautious participant but soon joined in the fun!

Tina then opted to try out the paddle board and specifically to stand up. I was very impressed as only the brave or foolhardy had tried this before and fewer still had actually managed it. Tina gave it a great effort for her first attempt……

After the fun in the water we had a very relaxed afternoon only disturbed by the squeals of Tina from her cabin which once investigated we found were triggered by the outcome of her self tanning exploits! See below!

And fabulous end to a fabulous day!

The following morning we had a few hours before setting off for Kapi Creek so we were all back in the water. Tina was keen to take on the paddle board challenge again but started the day with a gentle swim. On her return to the boat as she arrived off the swim ladder and back on deck she was patting the top of her head and looking quite concerned asked us if we had noticed the whereabouts of her sunglasses when she had jumped into the sea? Could they possibly have been on her head as she launched herself off of the boat?

Dressed up with a mask, two floats, my gloves and the dinghy anchor I went to have a look!! Not exactly a super hero outfit but yes I did spot the glasses sunk into the sand, a good 10 metres below me. I could not get any traction with the dinghy anchor as the glasses just moved when the anchor touched them. I then tried with the sea magnet in the hope that there might be a element of metal in the glasses that would latch on – but no joy!

Whilst all this drama was unfolding Tina did at last manage to stand up on the board!! Excellent!

It became clear that the sunglasses were lost until to the rescue came Jacques with all the hookah diving gear.

Tina was protesting at this point and telling us not to go to all the bother of setting up the diving equipment, that she could replace the glasses, she had had them for years etc. etc. but to be honest it was only after Jacques was in the water did she mention that they were the £2.50 model from Primark!!!

A video of the rescue was captured along with insightful commentary from the two T’s…….

As we arrived, I was so pleased to be able to share Kapi with Trish and Tina, it is certainly one of my happy places filled with wonderful memories. And this was the first night when could get dressed up to go have dinner and for the two T’s to meet Mehmet!!

Mehmet, true to his word was very pleased to meet my sister and my cousin but, luckily for Trish, he took a shine to Tina. He popped by the next morning with a plate of fruit and cakes and to enquire as to whether Tina would like to join him for a coffee and some other offerings that were not on the restaurant menu! Some further mentions of ‘kissy kissy’ and ‘paradise’ were made…..

Then there was a bold statement made to Tina that she should ‘leave husband and come to Mehmet, I come home from work and have shave so we can do kissy kissy for 3 hours and no need to work when you come to Mehmet!’

We could see Tina considering the potential benefits of this new life!!

Tina played along, taking it in the good spirit that it was intended!

Those of you that know Trish will need no explanation re the photo below ….others might think it is a display of her concern about her cousin and her pondering how she can assist in easing Tina out of this awkward liaison…..

……..but we all know that it is actually her futile attempt to stop herself laughing like a hyena at Tina’s misfortune and the unfolding situation!

Mehmet was dispatched with a vague promise of perhaps soon joining him for coffee – Tina and her two chaperones! Tina then took to her cabin asking Jacques how quickly we could up anchor and bugger off!!

We were all set to get going when the supermarket boat arrived. Desperate for cucumber now that we had Hendricks gin we stepped on board to check out the merchandise.

From the rustic charm of Kapi our next port of call was to be glamorous Tomb Bay – only if they could offer a spot outside the quay given the episode on our last visit with Charlie and co.

A suitable spot was secured and after a swim and the spotting of a wild boar on the beach our thoughts turned to cocktails and dinner in the superb restaurant.

Trish and Tina, emotionally exhausted by Kapi, decided they would not join us for dinner but agreed to come have a pre dinner drink in the gorgeous cocktail bar as long as they didn’t have to get dressed up…..or dressed at all really….they were beautiful just as they were and we enjoyed some exquisitely made drinks sitting in the comfort of the bar sofas.

The T’s took their drinks back to the boat and had a pasta and movie night – Cape Fear just to keep the boat theme going!

Jacques and I had superb food and wine in a very sophisticated ambience….

The following day was to be our last full one at sea and Tina was to be found in her happy place as usual.

On arrival, back once more to Skopea Marina in Gocek, we had our final on board drink and made ready for a farewell dinner at – you guessed it – Kebab Hospital!!!

The ladies were off at silly o’clock the next morning and when they left it was strangely quiet and this was all that was left to remind us that they had ever been with us!! Well that, and an almost empty wine fridge!!

And that was the last of our guests for 2024 and the last of our days in Turkey……and possibly the last visit ever…..our plans for the coming years are taking us west and away from this part of the Med.

Our Goodbye to Turkey was slightly marred by the whole exit procedure and then scary as we went to get fuel.

Having now come and gone a number of times, and always using an agent to deal with the officials and paperwork, I felt I could do this unaided this time and save the 80 Euros that the agent charged!

Heading to the familiar office in Bozborun and with my best smile and ‘Merabah’ handed my documents to the passport control chap. He looked at me quizzically ‘Where is your agent’ he asked. ‘We don’t have one’ I replied. ‘Well you have to have one’ he stated!! Luckily our agent was right there as if by magic! And did I mention that on our arrival we were charged 300 Euros ‘Lighthouse Tax’!!! It really is a racket!

Just after the exit from Bozburun harbour is a small shipyard with a few boats docked and a fuel station. Petrol in Turkey is half the price charged in Greece – some respite for all the other rip off costs!

The previous time we had been there the arrival, and more so the departure, had been hairy. Small space for a big boat, surrounded by other boats and a concrete slipway but with a bow thruster we had made it without too much of an increase in blood pressure.

This time without a bow thruster we managed to squeeze in alongside with a couple of guys on the quay helping us, we filled up, used the last of our Turkish Lira to pay and then pondered how we would leave! It looked impossible…..we would either hit the boat in front of us (we had narrowly missed our anchor crashing into it as we arrived) or hit the end of the quay behind us or the slipway to the side of us. After a few abortive attempts trying different configurations of ropes tied and pulled in various angles a chap turned up and offered to give us a push or a tow with his dinghy! I thought how very kind it was of him, and it was, but his interest in this act of assistance was that the boat we would have smacked into in front of us was his! With his help we managed to move sideways, away from all obstacles and then we were off! Phew!!!

Bye Bye Turkey……..

We now would have our remaining two months in Greece, six weeks of which we would use having more adventures in special places, some for a return visit and some completely new!

More next time, thank you for reading.

Sail safe and be kind.

Tracey xxx

36 hours after we said ‘Goodbye’ to our daughters and with a speedy return back to Turkey we welcomed Charlie (aka The Boy Child) and his friends!!

Charlie and Beck arrived to meet us late at night in Ekincik and a swift change of plans along with the last minute confirmation of the arrival of Jake saw us heading back to Fethiye Bay the following morning.

We had one day and night before we had to be in Gocek to meet Jake so it was an opportunity to head back to Bum Sting! Hooray!

The guys earned their keep by tying up the lines to the shore and then spent hours messing about on the paddle board and playing water keepy uppy!

Fully at one with the Paddle Board, there were reports of fishing taking place but all I know is we had pasta for dinner and no sign of any sea food in any of the courses!

We had a special ‘moment’ when Beck decided to try out the sea scooter and managed to catch the drawstring of his trunks in the spinning fan!! Jacques to the rescue and all ended well but it did put me in mind of the time when my Dad caught a delicate part of his anatomy in his trouser zip!!

Trying to get out of the water with the scooter attached was a very tricky exercise – not helped by the amount of laughter from all in attendance!

Back to Gocek the following day to pick up Jake which of course resulted in dinner at the Kebap Hospital! We now have an official loyalty card! Two more main meals and we get a free set of M&S Autumn Leaves Egg Cups!

Jacques made a new friend and I was surprised not to find a small furry stowaway on board the boat the next morning!

There was even an attempt to soften me up to the proposition!

A few days of general silliness in and out of the water ensued, lots of lounging around, fabulous food, strange cocktails (Ouzo, Limoncello and Disaranno mix anyone?)

We also had the now compulsory trip back to Kapi Creek, where Mehmet was expecting us – again! He was very interested in the relationship status of the guys, who had a girlfriend? who did not? He was keen to dish out advise on how to achieve ‘Kissy, Kissy, Paradise’ along with some supporting hand gestures!! The boys had great fun, laughter and ‘banter’ managing to transverse any language barriers!

Mehmet had his usual question for me ‘Do you have a sister?” and my response as usual would be ‘yes’ but this time I could say “Yes, and she will be here with us next week along with my cousin Tina’. The gleam in his eyes! More on this next time!!

The guys enjoyed some more paddle board exploits in Kapi before we set of for another remote bay for swimming, snorkelling and relaxing.

Except the weather had other ideas!!!

The downpour also highlighted a couple of areas in the boat that were not as waterproof as we had thought…….

But it did allow for some indoor lounging around!

The sun came back to shine on us again the next day which prompted the traditional sport of swinging off the boat from a rope!

Our last port of call was planned to be Tomb Bay, another of the bays where it is free to use the quay but you are expected to eat at the restaurant. We had been there before and found that although the food was expensive, the quality was far superior to any other we had experienced in the area.

I had booked in advance and as we approached we could see that there were many spaces on the quay and got the boat prepared to moor up stern to. We were surprised then when the mooring staff indicated that we should head ‘inside’ the quay and alongside. We understand why this as on the outside quay we take up the space of at least two monohull boats who would not be able to moor up ‘inside’ as it is too shallow for them. Multi hulls either have no keel or need less depth (draft) than mono hulls.

The last time we were here the same thing happened – they asked us to go inside on the left and as we headed around our alarm went off indicating that the water was not deep enough for our keel. The staff helping us to moor understood and gave us a place outside – all was well!

This time they had indicated to head to the right hand side and we thought it was worth a try as perhaps the water was deeper there – but no! The alarm went off and we retreated outside of the quay – waving at the guys on the quay and pointing at the many suitable spaces that were free, we lined ourselves up to reverse into one of them. We were then amazed to be waved away to shouts of ‘no space, no space’. Pretty fed up about this we left! I was in WhatsApp communication with the lady who takes the bookings, her asking if we were still coming and trying to convince me that it was deep enough for us!

I wanted to text her to say ‘up yours’ and that we were off to their closest competitor in Wall Bay but as we really wanted to be able to go there the following week thought best to be civil!

In Wall Bay the guys found the pool table and the beach whilst Jacques and I set off for a wander along the signposted track through the woods. Beautiful!

Wall Bay, like Tomb Bay, has become much more sophisticated since our first visit 14 years ago. This includes comfortable seating areas, very luxurious showers and toilets (except Beck and Jake experienced less than warm water apparently when they went to use the facilities!) and a weird glass library type building which holds a series of semi pornographic books!!

Photos below are not mine but hope they give you some idea of the vibe of the place!

This was the last night we would have with Charlie and his friends so we were happy to have a great meal in the Adaia Gocek restaurant.

After dinner there was DJ ‘spinning some tunes’ at the other end of the restaurant so Jacques and I left the young people to go enjoy themselves. Conscious that this holiday was not a ‘typical’ choice for three 22 year olds I was always pleased when there was some entertainment available. There are only so many games of Uno and Rummy that can be played but I’m sure there were other card games taking place late at night that involved more bizarre alcohol concoctions as forfeits!

We had a few hours before setting off to Fethiye where the guys and I would be heading to the airport early evening.

The ‘last swim’ is always a special moment and for Charlie this involved more jumping and launching himself off the boat in the noisiest way possible. His usual trick is to wait until I get in and then jump close enough to me to send shock waves and actual waves splashing my face which I am never happy about. Not this time though!

There were a couple of dramas during this trip, one being that the anchor got stuck in the bay where we had the rain. It took some manoeuvring and circling to release it from where it was planted – probably a rock that the anchor had moved around during the storm.

The other drama manifested itself when we left Wall Bay when try as we may it seemed we would not be able to leave at all!

In the previous week the bow thruster had been making a terrible noise and on closer inspection (Jacques using the Hookah system again to get under the boat) there was no obvious cause. When we got to Gocek to pick up Jake, an engineer came to take a look and to make a long story short he proposed to have the boat lifted out and a new bow thruster to be installed – all for the bargain price of 15,000 Euros!!!!

We said no thanks!! But that did mean that any mooring up especially in wind would be tricky.

Lo and behold when we set to leave Wall Bay the wind got up and with boats behind us and across from us, without a bow thruster we were going nowhere!

Charlie, Beck and Jake all took up positions (Beck having to go back on shore) with ropes tied in various configurations, fenders being held to stop the boat crashing back on the quay and then other people stopping to help ‘push’ the 20 tons of boat sufficiently away from the quay so that Jacques could reverse the boat out! That was a really scary episode but the whole team stood by their instructions and after 9 or 10 attempts we were off!!

We anchored in Fethiye Bay and took the dinghy to the marina so that the guys could have a wander around the old town which is an experience in itself! Meanwhile, in the knowledge that when I came back in four days time I would have Princesses Trish and Tina with me, I set about cleaning (in some places full disinfection of!) the three cabins and bathrooms that the guys had vacated. Three hours later (!) just had time to pack a few things, shower and go back in the dinghy to have a farewell drink and jump into the taxi to Dalaman airport.

Sad to leave Jacques again but knowing that four days of peace and quiet, after the guys and before the gals, he would probably really appreciate.

Arriving home at 3am (my Turkish body clock on 5am) stupidly went to the kitchen and noticing that the freezer drawer was not shut properly found myself laying on the floor pulling chunks of ice off of the back of the freezer!! As you do!

The next three days were a whirlwind of seeing family, going to the theatre, hair cut and nails painted, packing all the items that needed bringing back to the boat along with the obligatory trip to Home Bargains with my Mum!

The evening before the trip back to the boat the ‘Terrible Two’ T’s came to stay for the night to make the early journey to Stansted in the morning.

The week with the two T’s was a remarkable contrast to the time with Charlie, Beck and Jake, not least because we had to prevent Tina being whisked off by Mr Mehmet! Fun, laughter and in this case, rosé wine, were also had in abundance.

Much, much more to say on all of this next time!

Thank you for reading.

Sail safe, be kind.

Tracey xx

Having said Goodbye to the Knight family we were then thrilled to greet some very unexpected guests that same evening! Back in our previous land based life, Jacques had for many years been part of a Jazz Piano skills group which included face to face and virtual lessons. As a spin off from this, Jacques’ piano teacher, Shan Verma, organised Jazz workshops in London and as a spin off from this, the guys and gals who lived locally would get together and have a day of playing, singing and discussing the finer points of a diminished chord at one of the musician’s homes. It was at these sessions that Jacques and I met Alan.

I remember Jacques swapping Turkey holiday stories with Alan, us sailing there for many years and Alan having a holiday home in Kalkan. Turns out that Alan now lives almost permanently in Kalkan with his wife Yvonne but sadly when we were in Kalkan a few weeks back, they were in the UK!

We had one window of opportunity on the day we dropped off the Knights in Fethiye, so as the Knights left, Alan and Yvonne arrived at the Yacht Classic Hotel Marina and we passed an afternoon and evening catching up on the last seven years! Such a happy coincidence!

We split the ten hour journey into a couple of stages including another overnight stay in Buzukale complete with the donkeys and goats!!

Exiting Turkey was pretty straightforward with the help of an Agent in Bozburun. Gurkan was efficient and took all the worry out of the process. I was especially concerned about any checks the authorities might make on our holding tanks (basically the tanks that hold sewage!) as due to the structure of Neel 51s we were unable to comply with the requirements re pumping out the tanks! Could have attracted a huge fine!! I was also worried that the ‘clock’ would properly stop on our time in Turkey so that we had enough of our allotted 90 days left to have a week back here with my sister and cousin in September!

During the trip from Bozburun for Symi, all of sixteen miles, we had the regulation lowering of the Turkish flag and the raising of the Greek one!

Accompanied by my version of the National Anthem!

A few days spent in Symi town finding a few places we had not visited before including this cocktail bar with a splendid hand drawn menu!

and getting dressed up for dinner..!!

and a couple of beautiful, remote bays. Love, love, love Symi!!

So happy to be re-united with Lily in Rhodes and we moved as quickly as the weather would allow to Halki, another beautiful and relaxed island.

As we moored up in Halki, another re-union which was totally unexpected, took place! Our ‘usual’ place on the floating quay in Halki is at the end moored up alongside rather than stern to. We had just finished the manoeuvre in a moderate wind when a small monohull came up behind us also alongside. A man was bringing the boat in and as he did so, came very close to their anchor, which was dangling at the front, hitting the back of Mossy Joe. I was trying to catch the eye of the skipper to give him my evil look when I saw Jacques jump on to the quay and head towards the incoming boat. ‘Good’ I thought ‘Jacques is going to help stop this idiot banging into us’ and I expected to see him taking lines and adjusting the position of the boat whilst the skipper steered it into place. I was somewhat surprised then when Jacques jumped on the other boat – a complete ‘no, no’ in boating etiquette to just leap on someone else’s boat and then even more surprised to see the two men hugging each other!!!

Turns out the ‘idiot’ bringing in the boat was Bruno, Jacques’ old school friend who he had not seen for over thirty years!!!

A fine celebration between the two men then took place involving a great deal of Ricard whilst Lily, Sophie (Bruno’s friend) and I watched on in amazement! There was so much celebration that the planned dinner together that evening did not go ahead. We did manage dinner together the following evening after a day exploring new aspects of Halki not visited on previous trips!

Knowing that we would be back in Halki the following week with Jeanne we set off the next day to yet another favourite, Tilos. Such a sweet, unhurried place.

Moored behind us in the harbour was a small vessel which clearly was in need of some maintenance. How many sailors does it take to re-inflate a dinghy!!? Every one of the seven men in attendance had a theory!

Winding our way back to Rhodes to await the arrival of Jeanne, we had a couple of nights in Symi, this time just anchoring in the bays.

This was a perfect spot for Mermaid Lily to practice her diving!

Lily cooked us her famous Chicken Pesto Pasta and a very relaxed time was had. That was, until the afternoon of the second day when the anchor slipped and after five attempts to reset it we gave up and sailed to Panormitis at the southern tip of the island. The bay there is large and well protected but the one hour trip was not the most pleasant, a strong wind was blowing directly at us and the rolly waves made conditions very uncomfortable. We were all pleased when the anchor happily set in our new location!

Early next morning we set course back to Rhodes and the beautiful setting of Mandraki Harbour.

A little stroll around the medieval town before Jeanne’s arrival! End of August and still very busy!

That evening, now complete with both daughters, we set out for dinner finding the perfect hostelry for one of the family on our search for a restaurant!!

Lovely dinner with our beautiful daughters on a roof top restaurant with views over the town, mosque and church!

After a big shop the next day for essentials like chocolate, wine and avocados we started on our return trip to Halki!

Everyone quickly found their happy place on Mossy Joe!

There appears (or not!!) to be an invisible woman drinking rosé in the photo below!! Definitely one of my happy places!

The water in Halki is so very clear which is not always the case in Greek harbours. Our Mermaids soon took advantage of the beautiful conditions after the long hot sail! You can spot, if you look closely, that the holiday villas have their own steps down to access the water. Almost as perfect as stepping in off of a boat!

Whilst the girls were swimming Jacques and I had a wander and took some creative photos of Mossy Joe!! And of each other!

Stuffed tomatoes and peppers were requested by the guests so Jacques worked his Greek magic and eh voila!!

Time flies so quickly and the general vote was that we spend our last few days together in a bay, swimming, relaxing and larking about! Back to the superb spots in Symi! Once again we had an anchor slip but this time we just moved from one beautiful bay to the next one, a full ten minutes away!

Back to Symi Town for our last night together ……

And sad goodbyes seeing them off on the morning ferry back to Rhodes…..

After waving the girls off, we had 36 hours to get back to Turkey to meet Charlie and his friends!! More on that next time!

A little PS re Lily and Chicken Gyros Pittas! These (and the pork version) are everyone’s favourite ‘fast food’ and ubiquitous throughout the Greek islands. Long term followers will have seen many photos of the joy on faces of various friends and family eating these and Lily in particular loves them.

Promised on her first night with us in Rhodes, we went to a great place where Gyros Pittas are the staple offering only to find out they had run out of chicken so Lily just had falafel and pitta.

Second night in Halki, we assured Lily that the little place at the end of the quay had supplied us last October with one of the best Gyros Pitta ever and she would be bowled over! Seems that in the height of August they do not offer the fast food version just a plate – not the same at all!

Third chance was our night in Tilos. We had eaten there many times last year and the Grill House would not let us down – this was getting silly and upsetting Lily!! So very, very close!! They had Gyros Pitta on the menu and indeed the chicken version – however, they apologised it would be with chunks of chicken not the traditional shavings!

Although this was an improvement on previous offering, we could not believe that Lily had been with us for four days and still not had the real thing!

The following evening in Tilos, optimistically Lily went back to the Grill House and ordered a take away – new day, new supply of Chicken shavings??

No!!

Back to Rhodes and I was certain that we would have a multitude of options given the many restaurants near the castle. We stopped at place we had been to on our last visit, ordered drinks and of course a Chicken Gyros Pitta for Lily!! Hooray!! This would be it at last!

Except it was not! Everything that was in it was perfect, chicken shavings, tomatoes, tzatziki and onions but NO CHIPS!!!! I really believed then that we were cursed and never to have a real Chicken Gyros Pitta!!!

Next stop was Symi – Jacques and I had eaten many, many Gyros Pittas in the Souvlaki restaurant on the corner of the harbour!! It was an absolute certainty that here at last Lily would get her treat!!

Hey guess what!! They had run out of chicken!! We went for a pizza instead!!!!!

Lily had started to joke after the first week that her best hope would be at Rhodes airport on the way home….

And guess what…..

Thank you for reading, sail safe and be kind.

Tracey

xx

Given the trauma of the previous week we decided to have a few quiet days back in a couple of our favourite places, Bum Sting and Kapi Creek. Our attempt to moor up in Bum Sting had to be aborted as my first experience of swimming with the lines to tie us up to the rocks was a failure! The combination of me not really knowing what I was doing and the increasing wind meant that Jacques was struggling to hold the boat in place whilst I faffed about so we called off the venture and went to Kapi instead!

There is always something going on in harbours, marinas and quays and Kapi gave us a treat that day! It is not uncommon to find families on boats with their pet dogs but it still a delight when you see one trotting around a boat or the jetty.

I had noticed a Dalmatian prancing along the quay who was then joined by a small pug like dog from another boat. They promenaded together, the pug running to keep up, and they seemed happy in each others company.

I watched as they parted company and the Dalmatian launched himself back on to his boat (just behind us) a little overzealously and found himself skidding straight off the boat platform and in to the water!! This is obviously a regular occurrence as he then swam to the swim ladder and climbed back on the boat! Amazing!

It soon became clear that little Puggy was missing her new friend, so close and yet so far! I watched as the pug considered her options for boarding the Dalmatian’s boat and after some tenuous first attempts decided that she would paddle board her way! Or at least use it as a bridge to bring her within a few steps of her landing pad!

Once Puggy realised no one was coming to rescue her from the paddle board she went to seek human help back on the boat and there ensued a Benny Hill type of chase with the two humans chasing her around the boat and the Dalmatian (now on a lead tied up n the cockpit) whining and crying every time Puggy ran past him!! Eventually the humans caught her and lifted her to the safety of the quay!!

The next day the wind had dropped so back we went the three miles to Bum Sting to try again! Just outside the bay was the magnificent Maltese Falcon yacht! Incredibly impressive, 88 meters long and at a cost of $75 Million to buy!

Able to reach top speeds of 18 knots, the Maltese Falcon has more than proved herself out on the water, having won many sailing regattas including The Superyacht Cup 2010 and the Perini Cup several times.

And a snip to rent at $500K per week! This is the shot I took of it and below is a professional one showing her sailing!

On arrival in Bum Sting, I was ready to swim to tie up, swim shoes on, gloves on, possible rocks to tie on to were identified. All good! Just then a nearby gulet boat sent two of its crew in a dinghy to tie their ropes just along from us. I’m not one for batting my eyelids but I did manage to wave and catch their eye – my intention was to just ask for a ‘lift’ to the shore thus overcoming my sloth like swimming pace but what fabulous guys! They took our ropes and tied them on for me! Wonderful!

We had our own ‘swimming pool’ and access to a tiny beach – stunning!

To celebrate, Jacques had his first attempt at making pizza in our new oven. Although the flour was ‘not quite right’ and the oven did not heat to the lava temperatures of the pizza oven at home the outcome was a resounding success!!

Whilst this was happening, we employed our new ‘anti-wasp’ technique of hanging a soaking wet green towel (has to be green!!) on the rails and the little darlings flocked to it and away from us!!

Now we were settled we decided to remain in Bum Sting for a few days until heading back to Gocek to pick up our friends after the weekend.

This gave Jacques a chance to use his super hookah diving system to check out something that had been bothering him!

When the diver in Skopea Marina came up from freeing the line in the prop a few days before, he had said something about ‘there may be a little bit more still there…..’!! Although the prop had been working OK it needed to be sorted so now was a great opportunity. It took Jacques about an hour in total underwater to get all of the remaining rope dislodged and cut away. This included having to use an allen key to undo the anodes completely – not an easy task under water! What Jacques returned to the surface with were two fairly large rings of rope that had fused into a hard rubber type substance from the heat of the prop – I have no doubt it would have caused major issues if left where it was!

And so to Gocek to collect our friends, the Knight family who were joining us after a few days in the steaming heat of Istanbul!

The Knights spent a week with us last year in Greece but due to the weather conditions did not get to see many islands so we were thrilled to be able to show them some of our favourite places as well as couple of new spots for us!

Most evenings found us in glorious bays and having dinner on board. A nice treat for our regular Chef (take a guess who!) to have a break as both Rosario and Gary are great cooks!

The Chefs were allowed some relaxation time too!!

Back in Bum Sting, where in fact Kyle did get stung on his arm despite our new wasp distraction technique, but thankfully that was after he and Jake had used their magnificent swimming skills (they are both part time lifeguards) to take our lines to shore and secure us! Always useful to have a bit of sibling rivalry and no need for kind strangers to help this time!

The video is of the brothers’ first line tie up in the Yassica Islands near Gocek. They did a great job but after two days one of the lines broke having been razored away by the sharp rocks! No damage done and Gary swam out to replace the line around the rock with a super knot! We knew we would have to re-think our materials for future ventures involving lines to shore.

Also whilst in Bum Sting we spotted an enormous turtle and then ensued many attempts to see it again, the boys taking the snorkel gear and heading out around the bay. The turtle was found and then with the use of the GoPro camera underwater, incredible film and photos were taken!

In the next bay the boys also had fun on the paddleboard…….

Now you see them…….

Now you don’t………

This was during our stay in a small bay near Fethiye, a first time for us, where we also had a visit from the Supermarket boat – in fact two of them! Carrefour versus Migros!

The boys were desperate to go visit given the low stocks of soft drinks on Mossy Joe so Jacques launched the dinghy and off they went heading to Migros which was the larger option. However, when they arrived it seemed that every boat in the bay had the same idea and the queue to get on board Migros was like the tussle at the New Year sales but with dinghys!

So the shopping ended up taking place on the smaller and less manic Carrefour.

We had many other firsts during this week including using our BBQ! We had managed to buy superb beef burgers in Gocek which was amazing as they are not a common product in Turkey. Gary did a great job of cooking them to perfection.

More foody firsts included Jacques’ stuffed tomatoes and peppers with wedges of potatoes!

Pancakes for breakfast – please note my contribution to this meal was that I cut up the fruit!

And Rosario made a fantastic Banana Loaf! So Yummy!!

We said a sad farewell to our friends back in Fetihye after a wonderful week full of laughter and adventures.

Life had another surprise for us that same evening in the shape of friends we had not seen for about seven years but who just happened to now be living about 20 miles away!

More on this and the fun fun fun, the 10,000 steps and general nonsense involved in exiting Turkey and entering Greece next time!

Plus Jacques bought me a new dress!! A green one!!

Take Care, Sail safe and Be Kind.

Tracey xx

On my return to Mossy Joe we were keen to get out of Ekincik and back to the beauty and serenity of peaceful bays and to then take few weeks to explore new places further down the coast. For many years when chartering, the splendid area 40 miles south east of Fethiye had been in our sights but we always ran out of time to include it.

Now, with three weeks before our next guests’ arrival we could take a leisurely sail down to the towns of Kalkan and Kas (pronounced ‘Cash’) and with no other commitments the plan was to relax, explore and have some quiet time. Of course that was not to be!!

In the picture below, the red arrow is Ekincik where Mossy Joe was moored, the green X is Fethiye and the end of the pink route line is Kas. Ten hours in total so it seemed sensible to break up the journey in one of our favourite places along the way and certainly no need to go to either of the big towns i.e. Gocek or Fethiye. Of course that was not to be either!

First thing that happened was that on the morning we were leaving Ekincik it became apparent that our satellite dish was not working and we had no internet connection. I have joked in a previous blog that if Elon Musk spotted that we were in Turkey that he would switch us off! Starlink is not supported in Turkey so I had been genuinely surprised (even though we were so close to Greece) that we had maintained full access since our arrival and that there had been no disruption to service especially important when we had the football to watch!

It soon became clear that there had been a software update overnight which had triggered a location review and yes, Elon had found out we were not actually in Greece. A few choice words were used and the inevitable conclusion that we would have to forgo the serene bay for that night and head to town to buy a modem and some data! We walked in the scorching heat looking for a TurkCell shop that would sell us a modem not just a data dongle. The assumption was that we were tourists just there for a couple of weeks and why would we need a massive ‘SuperBox’ which was not at all portable!?

We managed to convince the shop assistant that it was exactly what we needed but then she discovered that the machine that added data on to a SIM card was not working! She advised us of another shop which was 20 minutes walk away but as it happened it was only five minutes taxi ride away! Too, too hot to make that walk along the main road! We asked the taxi driver to wait for us, we were far out of town and unlikely to find an empty taxi just passing. We said we would be ten minutes maximum…….

Nearly an hour later we left the shop (the most wonderful taxi driver still waiting!) with everything we needed but not before we had been embroiled in another long discussion about why we needed such a piece of equipment, proof of ID (of course we did not have our passports with us) completion of many forms, and to top it all when we went to pay with credit card to be told that the shop had been a victim of the global Microsoft incident and only cash would do! The Turkish equivalent of around £200 amounted to the required 8000 Lira, but with the highest note value being 200 Lira you can imagine I had not brought the prerequisite small suitcase needed for that amount of notes with me! Jacques was despatched to the cashpoint with a small sack to carry the wads of cash!

Back on board Jacques set the new system up and we were good to go execpt we were exhausted and it was late so another night at anchor in Fethiye Bay!

First thing next morning we set off on the 35 mile trip to Kalkan, we found a spot in the town harbour and looked forward to investigating a new place! Hooray! Kalkan was small but lively and very touristy with many bars and restaurants surrounding the harbour and beyond.

We had a wander, some drinks and dinner! Jacques had a traditional spicy beef adana and it was all very lovely!

Spot Mossy Joe!!

Next morning after a browse around the quaint shops and the purchasing of the crucial items like tomatoes and ice creams we headed off to what promised to be the jewel of the area, the town of Kas. Whilst preparing to go we were treated to a swim by of an enormous turtle! And when he popped up again on the other side of the boat he was with a friend and they had a little dance together!! Amazing!

I had phoned ahead to check with Kas Marina if they might have space for us for two or three days and what the cost would be. As expected, the cost was incredibly high – you could have a small suite in the Ritz for the cost of a couple of nights in Setur Marina! We decided to give the marina a miss and just anchor outside in the bay, our Navily app had shown that there was a place to dock the dinghy and from there a 20 minute walk into town. Some contributors were also saying that they had experienced robberies on their boats in the bay, which is awful to hear, but we did not let this put us off. Anchoring in the bay it would be! Except that was not to be the case!

We found a great place to anchor, hardly any wind and when Jacques give me the nod I hit the windlass remote control to drop the anchor but after two seconds with the anchor hanging just above the water line everything stopped! The anchor would not go down or come up!!! Jacques checked some of the obvious sources of the issue but nothing was working. We had to give up and go into the marina!! Bugger and bugger!!

We ended up in Kas for two nights, which was less than we had planned to be at anchor but more than we had hoped for in the marina! On our arrival Jacques took the windlass apart to work out what the problem was. Whilst doing this two things happened 1) Jacques worked out what needed replacing and 2) Jacques dropped a small but vital part into the sea!

We then had to organise a diver to go down the 25 meters onto the mud seabed and retrieve the small but vital part! At first he thought it would not be possible – everything of any weight just sinks buried into the mud, however, he spotted a dent in the mud and after thrusting his arm up to his shoulder into the mud he felt the edges of something non organic, he dislodged the small but vital part and with a big smile surfaced and handed it to us! Hooray!

In the meantime, Jacques had found a distributor in Istanbul for the part that needed replacing, a sensor, and they would send it to a retail outlet near to us on the next day. Kas or Kalkan we hoped? No of course not, 50 miles away Gocek here we come (back, again!)

We were sad to leave Kas so soon, our two nights there were fabulous, the layout of the town with winding roads and a small climb to the main area had almost a Greek Hora feel to it.

We had an aperitif at a French restaurant – guess what Jacques is having?? And my cocktail of choice was a Bardot!

We took advantage of the supermarket at the marina the day before setting off back to Gocek and bought the most incredible avocados – none of your ‘ripe and ready’ for them to be rock hard still a week later! Breakfast – yummy!

The bar at the marina had a very cool vibe and so strange to see a poster for Pink Floyd at Knebworth!! Look at the ticket prices!!!

I have often said that part of the beauty of having your own boat and working to your own timetable is that if the weather is bad we just won’t go! The forecast that day was for some wind and waves but nothing terrible and we had to go to Gocek and get the anchor fixed and not spend more nights and money in the marina.

The weather was as predicted and it was not an issue until a terrible moment happened en route.

We left Kas at 8.30 planning to get to Gocek for 16.30 to get the spare part to fix the anchor. The waves became horrid, really choppy so Jacques put up the main sail to help stabilise the boat and then 10 miles from Gocek disaster struck!

The bag which the sail folds into came apart which meant we had to lower the massive and heavy sail onto the deck, with wind and waves rocking the boat and us, and then lash the sail to the boom.

I had to crawl under the sail, catch the rope that Jacques threw over to me and then pass it back without being able to see him! It was so scary but we had no choice.

After we finished this, land was in sight and when I had stopped shaking I went to get a drink and wash my hands. That was a fail so I checked a few possible causes but decided now was not the right time to tell Jacques we had no water!

On arrival in Skopea Marina, the marina guys pointed out our berth and they were on the quay to take our lines and hand me the two mooring lines to attach at the front of the outside hulls. When I got back to the stern of the boat to help with the other lines I noticed another mooring line just behind our middle hull, just behind the engine, just behind the propeller and I noticed it getting tighter and tighter and before I had the chance to shout to Jacques the line went bang and that could only mean one thing – it was caught in the propeller which renders it completely useless! Thankfully we were in place and safe otherwise we would have been stuck not being able to move forward or backward!!! So that called for another diver……..

When at last I broke the news to Jacques about the lack of water his investigation found that one of the toilets was leaking and all 600 litres of water had found its way back into the sea!!

Gocek is awash with restaurants and bars but we only had the energy to go get take away pide (Turkish boat shaped pizza) from the Kebap Hospital restaurant and after eating collapsing with fatigue into our bed!

The next few days were full of more drama trying to fix the windlass which involved Jacques, the nice man at the shop where we picked up the part , his daughter who translated for us, a chap to fit the part when Jacques gave up and then the electrician when we worked out it had been fitted incorrectly…..

That is all I have to say about this episode!

The following week was calm and relaxing at last and included Jacques’ home made bread, Jacques’ home made pizza and a close sighting of the magnificent Maltese Falcon yacht!!

More soon once I’ve recovered from the emotional turmoil!!

Take care, sail safe and be kind

Tracey xx

After the excitement of the England win and the arrival of the Jones family the night before, the first full day in Ekincik Harbour was spent resting which for the Jones’ meant taking the paddle boards for a spin!!

Ekincik is an unusual place for us in that the harbour is not the main source of tourism. There is room for only a few boats and generally it is a destination for local Turkish holiday makers. Around from the harbour is a long beach which you can see in the photos above and below. It has a few ramshackle cafes on the beach serving the people who are camping there. Behind the bars are what appear to be about fifty semi permanent tents, with families cooking up on their BBQs and kids squealing with delight as they run across the burning hot black sand! Despite all of this energy, the place has a strange downtrodden feel to it but it was clean and the harbour master, Aladdin, was a great help with everything we needed.

This included arranging a day trip for the Jones’ to see the sights that we have enjoyed so many times in this part of the world. The small boat would take Joe, Jo, Maddie and Ella down the Dalyan River to see turtles close to Turtle Beach, the tombs in the rocks on the approach to Dalaman where they would have a splendid lunch in a Pasha Restaurant and also the ruins of Ancient Kaunos. A trip to the mud baths was aborted due to the soaring heat!

Off they go!! Have a great day! Yes, of course we’ll still be here when you get back!!!

As the day trip had ended earlier than expected, we took the opportunity to get going. We were longing for some solitude and to be able to swim off of the boat and after an hour we came across a small bay that we had not visited before. We were all pleased, after the excitement and heat of the day, to be somewhere beautiful and to have dinner on board. The Jones’ rustled up one of their family favourites involving a mountain of tomatoes and it was gorgeous!

The bay we had opted for was called Blue Grotto – very secluded and the Jones’ first experience to swim off the boat. It was also Joe’s first experience of helping with the mooring by swimming to shore with the mooring lines and tying us up to a suitable rock! This procedure emulates the one we have in harbours or marinas where we have fixed mooring lines that we attach to. Joe did a great job!

Next on the agenda was to move further east towards the Bay of Fethiye and the many stunning anchorages and small bays in the area.

One of my all time favourites (up there almost with Sailors Paradise!) is Kapi Creek. An inlet within a bay, offering a small pontoon and a restaurant. The way the pontoon is positioned means that if you are on the right side of it you effectively have your own sheltered swimming pool! This is where, many years ago, Jacques taught Charlie how to row the dinghy but that success was only achieved after a few false starts along with some frustration and bad temper from Charlie which resulted in him being thrown overboard off of the dinghy!! He is now a fabulous rower and chief of trips ashore when needed!

Our Kapi swimming pool!

Back at home on the following day, July 4th, was the General Election. Those of us on board that were eligible to vote had done so in advance and like most of the UK we were all hoping for change! To mark this momentous occasion our stopover would be another favourite – the anchorage at Bum Sting Bay!

Bum Sting is not the bay’s official title, I’ll leave to your imagination to guess why we have named it so! Some of you may have heard over the years my tale of how I nearly floated off to Greece in a dinghy from this very bay! Long story but with Jacques and other competent sailors having gone on land for a walk, when trouble in the form of higher winds pushing us onto the rocks was perceived, the task of taking the dinghy to the beach to alert them and bring them back was left to me. A couple of issues with this plan of action:

1. Instructions were given to me in a panic by a co crew member, a French friend who spoke no English and with my French being extremely limited, trying to convey that I was not Steve Redgrave was somewhat lost and most importantly
2. I had never rowed a dinghy before or in fact any floating vessel actually!

Once in the dinghy I quickly realised that rowing was not a skill I possessed and decided to try and style it out like Pocahontas paddle boarding! This was not at all successful as by now the wind had turned and was pushing me away from the beach and out to sea!

Despite my frantic ‘paddling’ I had no influence at all over the direction of travel and my progress was only halted as I bumped in to a small fishing boat tied up to the rocks. The sleeping fisherman looked quite shocked to have been woken up by a crazy woman standing up in a dinghy and in true British fashion I blustered ‘sorry’ and ‘thank you’ and ‘can you help me??’ as I tried to push the dinghy off of his boat each time it whacked against it!!!

Just about then two things happened! A man from another boat moored in the bay, having seen the disaster unfolding, got into his dinghy (with a motor) and started to head towards me and secondly Jacques and Bernard arrived on the beach, looked at the situation and remarked ‘ What the f**k is going on’ followed by Jacques’ instruction to Bernard ‘You get the boat, I’ll get Tracey!’ Hence they both stripped off and swam out to rescue their allotted target!!! A short video of the scene I took whilst back in the bay this time!

Being two hours ahead of UK time, it was a challenge to stay up to see the start of the election results but we managed to keep awake for the first flurry and then set our alarms for 5am UK time to be able to watch the majority of the later declarations. Yippee!

Two nights in Bum Sting were fabulous but the time had come to go to town for food shopping, a visit to a Pharmacist and to see a different aspect of the Turkish coast. Short hop of two hours and we were in the marina at Gocek.

Who knows if it has the best food of the many restaurants in town but we always head to the Gocek Kebap Hospital!!

After our one night in the busy metropolis, next stop was to a nearby and beautiful anchorage, the Yasica islands. Once the day boats had gone is was literally a sea of tranquility – until of course England v Switzerland quarter final that night!

There had been a great deal of media, pundit and fan speculation re Southgate’s selection, formation and match tactics. The 90 minutes were, as ever, nail biting and heart racing/stopping but it was Gareth’s genius in making sure we had all of our best penalty takers on at the end of extra time that saw us through to the semis – and Trent scored the winner!

Penalties and then champagne!! Not a combination I ever thought I would experience!!

Enjoying the location so much we stayed for a second day to enjoy the opportunity of more messing about on the water and the added bonus of the floating ice cream van!! Take that Mr Whippy!!!

Weekend aperitifs on foredeck!! Fab selfie courtesy of Ella!

The clock was sadly ticking to the end of the Jones’ time with us and we had to plan our last few days so that we would be back in Ekincik ready for their departure. A MUST for a trip to this part of Turkey is Fethiye and we treated ourselves to the luxury of the marina attached to the Yacht Classic Hotel. It is very difficult to swim in most marinas so the use of the hotel’s pool, including its swim up bar, was very welcome!!

And whilst in Fethiye, the theatre of the night time Fish Market is a sight to behold! The market is circular with many vendors touting their prawns, sea bass, octopus etc. You roam around the various stalls and choose the guy you want to do business with and buy your fish. On the outer circle, surrounding the market, are at least ten restaurants and they all have their own ‘runner’ trying to lure you and your newly acquired fish to their place!

You choose your mezes, starters and drinks whilst they cook your fish – fabulous entertainment.

It is always a very bustling, vibrant experience complete with roaming musicians and wonder at how it all works as well as it does.

After our meal we spent some time wandering the streets of the town, more colour and energy at every turn. We stopped for a Chapeau Nuit at a small cocktail bar – young lovers and old friends were everywhere!!

Next stop on our return tour was to another old haunt that had definitely had a makeover!! On our first visit here 15 years ago, the restaurant was a small shack, quality of food was dodgy and the showers and toilets were wooden cubicles inhabited by a plague of wasps! In fact, much to my parenting regret I remember insisting that Charlie would be fine in the shower cubicle – I would ward off the wasps and all would be well. Except it was not! Charlie got stung on his hand and the swelling was of epic proportions. Thoughts of anaphylactic shock and EpiPens ran wild in my mind but thankfully ice and rest did the trick!

Beautiful though the new Tomb Bay restaurant was we only had time for an aperitif and to take part in the slightly confusing process for ordering food to take away! Tonight was the Euros semi-final, England v Netherlands and we had to be back on board to watch it!

During the day whilst swimming we (or rather I) had a made a new friend, Mike from California. Mike informed me that he loved watching the ‘soccer’ and could he possible watch the game tonight with us on Mossy Joe. Of course I said ‘Yes, the more the merrier’ and then faced an interrogation from the rest of the MJ crew re the mental state of our potential guest and had I just invited a deranged axe murderer to join us!!

Once back on the boat with our luxury takeaways, we prepared ourselves for the game and no sign of Mike so far! We were ‘double VPN’d’ so that we could watch UK TV in Turkey and this added a slight delay to the transmission – this was not an issue we thought as no one else was watching or listening. We were wrong! Somehow, still in the restaurant, our new friend Mike was tuned in and when England scored he jumped up, pumped the air and gave out an almighty cheer. We were only confused for about 15 seconds as we then watched Kane put away a most excellently taken (albeit dubiously awarded) penalty to equalise Netherlands’ early goal.

And then of course we won!!! Just like buses, you wait 55 years for England to be in a final and then two come along in three years!! No champagne this time just pure elation!

We set off early the next morning to get a few steps closer to the end destination but not before we had time to see the, not uncommon, sight of man, dinghy and dog!!

Out at sea the morning mist gave an eerie appearance to the incredible landscape.

Our one but last overnight stay was another new find for us, the small cove of Baba Adassi – goats and rabbits on shore and the chance to try out one of Jacques’ new toys, the hookah! The hookah allows underwater swimming – a cross between snorkelling and full deep sea diving. It will support breathing up to 10 metres depth without having to use an oxygen tank. We all had a chance to try, Joe being the most enthusiastic having been a few years since he had scuba dived. Sadly, I don’t seem to have any photos of this event, just stills and video of the goats!!

We felt that to spend the last night together back in Ekincik Harbour would not be satisfactory so we bit the bullet and headed to My Marina just opposite the harbour. The food and the cost might be painful but it would be worth it for the superb swimming area.

As it turned out the food standards had returned to their original best. Hooray! Our last dinner together was in a stunning setting with cocktails and food to match.

The Jones’ and I headed the following day to Dalaman for flights back to the UK. I had some engagements to fulfil – with Lily for her Graduation at Winchester Cathedral – this is the evening before reconnaissance.

and with Charlie for the Euro Final. Well we all know how that turned out!!

Whilst I was alway Jacques busied himself with a variety of boat jobs, not least removing the old solar panels which were still underneath the new ones and were causing leaking of water and gunk! Everything had to come off, be cleaned and replaced – all in 40 degrees sun! Well done Jacques!

Five days later I was back on board ready to set sail for new destinations, I had no idea of the drama that was about to unfold! More on this next time and meanwhile here is a super picture of Tilly Turtle having a swim around the boat in Kalkan!

Sail Safe, Be Kind.

Tracey xxx

On 15th June, despite the best efforts of a number of Greek agencies to thwart our progress and after just shy of a year, we left Greece!!!!

We had spent our last night in a part of Kos Town we had not seen before, much more atmospheric than the sprawling bars and restaurants circling the harbour.

We had drinks and dinner at the Jazz Rock cafe (which turned out not to be playing either Jazz or Rock) but did host for a few minutes a local accordion and bouzouki duo!

We set off early next morning for the ten mile trip to Bodrum, Turkey. It felt strange yet exciting to be leaving one country for another.

Goodbye Kos!

Hello Bodrum!

It has been seven years since we were last in Bodrum and of all the major ports along this stretch of Turkish coast, Bodrum was always the most upmarket and expensive, if a little soulless. It is well accepted that since the start of the Ukraine war, Turkey is now one of the few places in the world that Russian oligarchs can keep and sail their yachts. This means that prices that were high last time we were here are now astronomical!!

Mossy Joe, which is often amongst the larger yachts in most harbours, was dwarfed by the mega mega yachts in Bodrum! And the price tag for our one night stay was also off the scale!!

Spot Mossy Joe!!

Keen to get going and out of the confines of a marina, first stop out of Bodrum was ten miles away to the small bay of Pabuc, a beautiful quiet anchorage where we had been before many years ago.

The most important feature of Pabuc was that it had sufficient satellite coverage to ensure that we (well mostly I) could watch England’s opening game in Euro 2024! We had bought a projector and Jacques worked hard to set up a screen for me so that the thrills and spills of the game versus Serbia would be seen in glorious technicolour almost like watching at home or in the pub!

The following day we set off for another of our favourite places, one that we had been to many times in the last fifteen years with the kids and friends. Knidos is a special place in that as well as a natural harbour it is the site of the ruins of an Ancient Greek city.

The ruins of Knidos (kuh-nee-dos), a once-prosperous Dorian port city dating to 400 BC, lies scattered across the western tip of the Datça Peninsula. Steep terraced hillsides, planted with olive, almond and fruit trees, rise above two idyllic bays where yachts drop anchor and a lighthouse perches dramatically on a headland. You may even see Mediterranean monk seals swimming offshore here.

The peninsula’s unpredictable winds meant that ships often had to wait for favourable winds at Knidos (also known by the Latinised name, Cnidus); this boosted the boat repair business, hospitality and general trade. St Paul, en route to Rome for trial in AD 50 or 60, was one of many maritime passengers forced to wait out the storm here.

Although few of the ancient buildings are easily recognisable, the city paths are well-preserved. Don’t miss the round temple of Aphrodite Euploia, which once contained the world’s first free-standing statue of a woman. The 8000-seat Hellenistic lower theatre and the sundial from the 4th century BC comprise other ancient attractions, as do the remnants of a Doric stoa with a cross-stone balancing precariously on top and some fine carvings in what was once a Byzantine church.

We were pleased to see the familiar restaurant had not changed and watched the sun go down and the stars appear.

In need of supplies and the promise of watching the next England game in a bar we headed to the town of Datca, which for a town, is pleasant and whilst touristy it is not a boom boom disco all night place! I called ahead on the VHF and asked for a berth for the night and we motored in as directed, heading towards a very tight place between two much bigger boats. We were relieved twenty minutes later when we were safely in place, it had been quite a job but Jacques had managed to squeeze us in and we had help on shore to attach the many lines securing us. You can imagine then our anger when the Harbour Master said we could stay for two hours and then we would have to leave as this place was reserved for the tourist day boats!!! Fuming!!!

There were no other options for us to moor so we undid all the lines, started the engine and set off to anchor in the bay, hot and bothered and fed up! I had specifically asked for a berth overnight not a two hour pit stop!

Once in place in the bay, the dinghy was deployed and we took off in it for town, a pre match Raki and a to find a bar showing the game! Hooray! I have been abroad for most of the last twenty years when England have been in a tournament but have always managed to find a bar where there are other English fans or at least football fans from some or other nation. Datca is the exception! Although the game was showing on the screen, the sound was off and the bar was more or less empty. I was the only England fan and sitting next to me were a couple of older Turkish Gents who at least showed some interest. The staff did kindly turn the sound on for me, and you don’t need to be fluent in Turkish to get the gist of what’s going on, which was not much as it happened!

The bar was much busier and vibrant when we walked back past it after dinner two hours later!

The next morning after a quick food shopping trip we set off. I was so, so excited. We would be going back to what is probably my favourite place ever!

We have been to more exclusive places, places with fabulous restaurants and facilities, places with more wildlife and scenery but Sailors Paradise has my heart. Probably because the first time we were sailing with the kids we spent our free weekend there and the memories of their happiness and wonderment are etched on my memory.

Sailors is run by Tarek and his family, we have seen his children as babies and now as teenagers, his wife pregnant and then running the kitchen as well as tending the small vegetable garden behind the restaurant along with Grandma who makes the bread in the kiln every morning.

The space between the stern of the boat and the beach becomes our own private pool where you can swim and look at the sea bed whilst being completely safe and secure. We have many stories to tell of our time here over the years, including the kids hiking up the hardy thistle covered mountain, Lily falling in the sea off the gangplank in a storm, everyone jumping off their boats to help push away an enormous yacht as the wind blew it crashing on to the quay plus many nights of song and fun!

Very precious memories and I love it!

We spent two night in Sailors happy in the knowledge that we will be back again this summer, with friends or perhaps the ‘kids’ who are now adults. to make new memories.

A short hop around the point to Sogut Bay and the quay at Octopus Restaurant, another of our favourite places. The restaurant here has always served food of a much higher standard than most of the ‘restaurant on the pontoon’ establishments. Their fish dishes particularly are superb and the swordfish is legendary!

With access to free water on the quay we took the opportunity to clean the boat. With the recent southern winds, Mossy Joe had a deep covering of red desert sands which we were evident on every surface, nook and cranny! The shades that covered the windows were also due a hose down!

We had decided not to use any cleaning products to preserve the clarity of the water but this meant a great deal more manual scrubbing. Armed with my various tools I asked Jacques if I could be considered the boat cleaning version of Lara Croft!!! Well perhaps not!

After scrubbing the boat, which is always hot and exhausting, we scrubbed ourselves up and took to our table by the water as the day cooled to an almost manageable 29 degrees!!

Back on the boat, after a superb dinner, I attempted to watch the last England group game. If the game was not up to par the same could also be said for our satellite connection! I ended up listening to the match on good old BBC Radio 5 with the occasional burst of live footage on my computer. I was starting to worry that Elon Musk knew we were in Turkey (a country Starlink does not service) even though we were only a few miles from Greece and that the satellites were taking a swift about turn as they got close to us!!

With friends due to arrive in a few days, the following morning saw us in the tiny shop buying a few essential e.g. wine and crisps! On our return walk we passed a house which I had remembered from previous visits had always looked abandoned but now was derelict. This house is one of the many that I have pondered on during our travels, thinking it would be a bargain to buy and then fun to restore and update. Perhaps this one might be more of a challenge!

We took the next couple of days to head east to be closer to Dalaman airport to meet our next guests. Our destination was Ekincik Harbour, opposite the once plush My Marina, that we had visited many times before. On our first stay at My Marina some fourteen years ago it was an oasis of calm, beautifully maintained and offering cuisine that would not have been out of place in a 5 star hotel. The walls of the restaurant were adorned with newspaper clippings showing the celebrities who had dined there including Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman. Sadly, our last two trips there had been a hugely underwhelming. The marina and restaurant had changed hands, standards had dropped markedly and costs had increased significantly.

It is still very beautiful though!

Hence, we decided to stay in the harbour opposite, which although did not have the beauty of the scenery of My Marina it did have a choice of restaurants and a low daily mooring fee. Crucially, it also had good Starlink connection!

As the Jones family were touching down in Dalaman, the whistle blew on another excruciating England performance as they fought their way through to the Quarter Finals. Phew!!

The result and the arrival of our friends were good enough reasons to open some bubbles and toast our good fortune! The coming days would be full of new adventures and laughter. And some kissing cooks!!

More soon, take care, sail safe and be kind.

And pray for England to win the Euros!!

Tracey xx

Our new guests, and late honeymooners, Bun and Falco only had a week with us so we quit Kos as soon as possible to head back to some of our favourite neighbouring islands.

We decided our first stop would be a return to Nisyros, the volcanic island we had so much fun on last year. We set off early, excited to be sailing but disappointed that the weather was overcast and misty. As often happens in under par weather we were treated to another fabulous display by the local dolphin community!

The following day, with the weather much cheered up we hired a Beach Buggy (the yellow one this time!) and had a chat with the very kind lady who runs the car hire place. We said we were heading out for lunch and did she know if everything was open it being a Sunday and still low season? Turned out that some places would not be open as they was a Music & Dance Festival taking place on the island and normally we would have missed it but is was postponed from the previous weekend due to another post Easter bash!

We followed the instructions on how to get to the festival, it was on the way to our destination (most places are on the way as it is a very small island!) and we were thrilled to see and hear the sights of the locals celebrating.

I felt as though we were imposing, we were definitely the only tourists there, but everyone was so welcoming. Whilst we stood by the kitchen watching the amazing technique of the cook in blistering heat, one of the servers offered us food, salad and a type of casserole, and to find somewhere for us to sit (where I do not know the place was rammed!!)

We declined, we were happy just to be there and watch. It was such a joyful event, families and friends of all ages. Wonderful!

We left the celebrations behind, more people were still arriving and it promised to go on well in to the evening! The sight of the delicious food had us hungry so we hit the road and had a short stop at the viewing point for the volcano at the site of the church up on the hill just outside the village of Nikia.

Then is was full speed (well as fast as a yellow beach buggy can go!) back to another favourite haunt for lunch in Nikia and the splendid Porta Cafe, where Bun and I sampled the local Ouzo and the food was fantastic!

This was now my third trip to this restaurant, part of the appeal is its setting in a small plaza overlooked by an orthodox church. I realised I had never seen the church up close or ventured in so whilst the others waited on the food to arrive I took up the steps, found the door open and voila! What an incredible interior!

Post lunch we walked to another volcano viewing point and made an impulse decision to go visit it!! But only once we had finished on the swings!!!

Jacques and I had been to visit the volcano years ago when the kids were young but were happy to revisit it given the interest of Bun and Falco. We arrived just before the ticket office closed and we were the only people there – excellent!

The smell of sulphur was not as strong as I remembered it from before and this time the area where the surface was bubbling was ringed off. On our visit in 2016 we had merely been asked ‘not to get too close’ to the literally boiling hot springs! The new safety features were welcomed but not sure they would pass close inspection of a full Health and Safety review!!

Dinner on board that night after watching the sad farewell game with Klopp as Liverpool Manager. I won’t go on about this but those who are close to me will know how emotional this moment was for me!

Next morning bright and early off to Tilos, another of our favs! We were pleased to see that the funky bar that was about to close for the winter when we were last here, had opened for the season. I know it looks like we were there all night but really the sun sets very quickly and mostly we were drinking water (!!!)

And so, at the end of a fabulous few days, back to Kos and a final treat of a night in a bay and a swim!!! We knew we needed to be within a short sail distance to get to Kos harbour in good time for Bun and Falco’s afternoon ferry so we opted for a night at anchor in Kardamena where we knew it was safe and the water clear – we could not vouch for what the June sea temperature might be! I can tell you not it is not warm!! Not at all!! Bun and I were brave and lasted about three minutes swimming to keep from hyperthermia setting in!

Dinner, and our final evening together, was spent in the same Albanian run restaurant that we had frequented with Sara and Jo back in October. We were welcomed (perhaps they hadn’t remembered how bad our drunken dancing was!!) and ouzo and fine food were had!

Continuing the trend set by Sara last year, Bun also made a good stab at being dressed to match the crockery!

We had had such a fabulous week with our dear friends and in saying goodbye to them, we knew it would soon be time to say ‘Goodbye’ to Greece and move on. But not before another episode in the ongoing saga of ‘let’s meet all the Greek sailing bureaucracy requirements even though the rules are open to the interpretation and mood of the bureaucrat involved!!’

Did we make it out of Greece without fine or imprisonment? Did I manage to keep calm whilst having to fill in the same form by hand for the 57th time?Could I be English and Irish at the same time?? Would I have to go back to the UK so that I could come back to Greece on a different passport thereby demonstrating that I had not been in Europe for more than 90 days?? Shall I stop screaming now!!!!

All will be revealed next time!!!

Here’s a clue! Me and my sister enjoying a drink in a pub garden and it’s not raining !!

I have included lots of video in this blog – please let me know what you think and if they all worked or clogged up the download!

Sail safe, be kind, more soon! xx

After the relatively peaceful, albeit damp, experience in Leros, we headed to the bright lights of Kalymnos. A small island serviced by two ferries a day from Kos, it still has a a low key feel despite the main street of restaurants and bars – certainly no sign or sound of the all night clubs and music we had encountered in Kos harbour!

The sail across to Kalymnos was a gentle two hours, and despite the sunshine the fab wind in the sails meant that the three Stevenage mermaids had to don sweatshirts for the chill and hats for the shade!!

A few weeks on (yes I’m very late catching up!) it is really strange to look back at us with jackets and long trousers – today in Turkey it is 34 degrees and the evenings are just about bearable heading out in shorts and T shirts!

Kalymnos is definitely one of my favourite places – it is not as picturesque as Santorini or a hidden gem like Folegandros but it is lively and the back streets are full of quaint family run restaurants.

I had spotted this restaurant the previous time we were in Kalymnos, and took this picture on our way to have a pre dinner cocktail. It struck me as very quirky, and with no sign of tourists so we thought this might be an option for dinner.

As we approached on our return, we could see that the restaurant tables were all full and the delightful sounds of traditional Greek music were being played. Two men were seated in the tiny space inside the restaurant building playing some familiar and not so familiar tunes on Bouzoukis and we listened whilst waiting for a table.

Ouzo and white wine were served with some small meze dishes and then some more meze dishes and then you realise there is no real menu to speak of they just bring you what they have! It was wonderful! We have had this kind of experience a two or three times before and I love the fact that you get to try food that possibly would never make it to your plate normally. The food, music, ambience and the very busy waitress were all fantastic.

The following day we hired a car and took Claire and Hayley on the tour of Kalymnos. The ground covered was not vast but the two other main coastal areas of Vathy and Emporio we were pleased to see again and show our guests the quieter side of the island.

After an incredibly tasty and very filling lunch we headed back to the boat and spent the evening on board, people watching, chatting and enjoying the calm of the evening. We were all feeling very mellow so you can imagine how we all jumped out of our skins when the most incredible noise ricocheted around the harbour reverberating off of the mountains surrounding us! I knew it was not an Earthquake (you may remember we had one on our last visit here!) and it seemed too loud to be gun fire (although this region is known for boar hunting). Looking around there was no indication of where the noises were coming from. We were absolutely baffled. And then another explosive sound quickly followed by a third and just when we all had our blood pressure and heart rate back to normal it happened again another four times!

I knew that there were still post Easter celebrations taking place but could not fathom how these explosive noises were relevant to it! Claire spoke to the lady on the next boat and found out that yes they were part of Easter celebrations and in fact, if we looked up to the top of the mountain, where the old cannons were placed, we would see actual people lighting and then throwing actual sticks of dynamite!! WTF!!!!

And so, the following day it was time to say an emotional ‘Goodbye’ to our friends, seeing them off on the ferry to Kos to catch their flight back to the UK.

We then had just a few days before the arrival of our next visiting friends, Bun and Falco who would be turning up in Kos. What we had not foreseen was the crashing waves, rain and wind that would greet them! Getting on the boat for the first time in these conditions was like something out of ‘It’s A Knockout’! We all felt a little seasick without even going anywhere!!

More on this next time!

Sail safe and be kind.

Love Tracey xxx

With a clean bottom, beautifully painted crisp line of black anti foul paint and the shiny mirror like reflection on the hulls, we were at last ready to go back into the water! Well almost!

To get Mossy Joe back in the sea we had the reverse process of hauling out which I thought would be less stressful but that was not the case. Firstly, once the first few ‘stilts’ had been removed from under the boat and all 15 tons of it were dangling from the slightly worn straps, a final task had to be completed. This comprised Jacques walking under the boat with a brush, painting the sections that were not visible when the supports had been in place.

The next pre-launch activity was the loading of the new fridge using a slightly unorthodox delivery method.

And an even more unorthodox installation method!

With the new fridge successfully installed we had finished the internal fixes and updates. There still remained a couple of jobs externally that could only be done once the boat was back in the water. Unfortunately, they both involved ‘someone’ going to the top of the mast, all 25 metres (that’s 82 feet in old money!) of it!

The first job up the mast was to put something through something else (official nautical terms) so that the main sail could be raised. The second job was an essential part of the process to ensure the mooring light would work. You may remember from blogs last year that the light was very temperamental. This is a real problem as when the boat is anchored at night the only clue for other vessels that we exist is the constant white light at the top of the mast.

Jacques and I discussed him going up with me winching him albeit with the use of electric winch not with me sweating and swearing whilst manually winching him up! The problem with this approach is that any hoisting, manually or with the aid of electricity, requires experienced hand to eye co-ordination, especially on the way down so as not to drop too quickly or risk swinging in to the rigging and getting stuck.

This, we decided, was no go as an option and of course, before you ask, me going up was not even a consideration! I had asked the marina if they had a technician who could go up for us but the best they could offer was the use of a ‘cherry picker’ crane (see blog from Nisyros situation last October!) for Jacques to use to lift him to the top. Despite the huge cost of this we would have taken up the option but we would have to wait a week which we could not do.

One of the good things about having such an unusual boat is that people stop to talk to you about it! One such person was the lovely Mark, an engineer and a scouser (a Red thank heavens!!) in semi retirement having a few weeks on his boat, Mea Cara, away from the British ‘spring’!

I mentioned our predicament to Mark and asked if he would feel confident winching Jacques up (and down) and he said more than that he would go up for us!

After putting the thing through the other thing, Mark’s next task was to capture information about the offending mooring light, complete with any reference codes so that we could order a replacement. Mark took a number of photos and videos whilst swaying at the the top, what an incredible job he did. Not at all scary looking down!

Huge thanks to Mark, the ouzos we shared that evening were (I’m not going to say a drop in the Ocean!!!!) a small token of our appreciation for this help.

So with the boat beautiful and safe, inside and out we were ready to leave but not before the arrival of our darling friends Claire and Hayley!

We had a wonderful long weekend together, starting with a sail from the marina around the coast of Leros to the beautiful bay of Panteli where we had previously had dinner with the Let’s Go crew. Such a charming and authentic spot, I was very keen to share it with the ladies, anchoring in the bay rather than another night in a harbour.

The sail around to Pantelli was a short eight mile, one hour long trip so we were incredibly lucky that we happened upon a couple of dolphins that just wanted to play under and around the boat! What a dream start for the weekend!

Having arrived in the clear water bay and with the sun shining, our guests took to the (not very warm) water for a swim! Brave ladies!

We then prepared for dinner at one of the splendid small tavernas on the beach and that meant the inaugural launch of the newly serviced dinghy! Despite the skies now being full of thunderous storm clouds and fork lightening in the distance we were excited to go ashore and with only slight trepidation got into the dinghy. Our safe landings into, followed by us being happily seated on, the dinghy was a great relief and I told myself I needn’t have worried that I had forgotten to round up everyone’s valuables and put them in the dry bag. It was a five minute journey to the shore and what could happen……….?? Look at our happy smiling faces……….!

Fifteen minutes later in almost pitch darkness, both Jacques and Hayley were fallen off the dinghy and into the sea!!!!

After a few attempts, which was not unusual, Jacques had managed to get the outboard motor working and we had cast off from Mossy Joe heading across the stern of the boat to take our course to the dinghy dock. Except the motor had other ideas and would only function in reverse! This was funny at the time but as the minutes passed and Jacques attempts to correct the fault were unsuccessful, the dinghy either floating away or going around in circles and the lightening and rain approaching we gave up and reversed back to Mossy Joe. We were laughing at this point.

I jumped out first to secure the dinghy’s line to the boat and helped Claire out by way of climbing from the dinghy using the swim ladder – so far so good. The dinghy was now bobbing about and when Hayley stood up to make her controlled dinghy exit she grabbed the handles of the swim ladder which would have been fine had the dinghy not then moved away from the boat meaning that Hayley became a human ‘bridge’ with legs in the dinghy and hands on the boat, the gap between boat and dinghy becoming ever greater despite me pulling the line to bring the dinghy and Hayley closer to safety.

Jacques was also still in the dinghy, his arms around Hayley’s legs trying to bring her whole body onto just one floating option, which meant when one went, they both went!! Oh No!!!!!

As ever at times like this, I do not have any photo evidence which is a shame because the lightening flashes in the sky would have made it a masterpiece I’m sure! Good news is that nothing was lost as sea except some dignity and pride. And we did all laugh a great deal over Greek salad, pasta and wine on board later that night!

The next morning, having experienced Leros to its full, we set off for Kalymnos which you may remember as the earthquake island last year. More on this next time.

Before leaving Leros physically, spiritually and in blog format I would like to tell you about the fascinating role the island played within WWII. For such a tiny island, it has secured a place in both Greek and British history although sadly it is for tragic reasons as HMS Intrepid was bombed by German aircraft in Lakki harbour in 1943.

Starting on 26 September, after days of dropping threatening leaflets, the Luftwaffe unleashed continuous attacks on Leros, enjoying complete air superiority. On that day, bombers sank the Greek destroyer Vasilissa Olga, the British destroyer Intrepid, and the Italian MAS 534 inside the harbour of Lakki. The submarine base, the barracks of the naval base, the workshops, and four of the five fuel depots (but not the one which actually contained fuel) were destroyed; seven German bombers were shot down.

Intrepid had a busy war. She rescued troops trapped on the Dunkirk beaches; laid mines off the German coast; escorted shiploads of tanks up to Murmansk for the Red Army; searched for the mighty German battleship Bismarck; sank a U-boat; participated in the deadly supply convoys to starving Malta; covered the Allied landings in Italy; escorted the surrendered Italian fleet from Taranto to Malta before heading up to her grave in Leros. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Leros

So, farewell to Leros, a special place and many happy (and now very funny!) memories!

And a happy hello again to Kalymnos!

Back soon with more adventures of the Stevenage Mermaids!!

Sail safe, be kind

Tracey xx