Alibey to Babakle and on to a six hour slamming to Limnos

All our guests have gone home now....

We still have Jarrad, but he's family so he doesn't count as a guest and we, and the kids are very happy to have him aboard. He takes the 'art' classes and keeps them entertained for hours.









It was time to make our push for Limnos so we could officially check out of Greece and then head for the Dardinelles and Istanbul.

The first leg would be a fast one with a howling Meltimi blowing into our starboard quarter. Just the way a catamaran and crew like it. The Meltimi is effected by the land contours here, so it blows easterly through the Ayvalik Gulf but NE when you get out of there. We were headed for a place that feels like it is at the end of the earth, right on the very western most tip of the Turkish coast and the staging point for the hammering across to Limnos. Take a closer look at the map above...

It was a fantastic sail nearly all the way to Babakale. Eyebrows from the other yachtsmen in Alibey were raised when we pulled out but as I said, it doesn't matter how strong it is as long as it's from the right direction. Strangely though it died almost totally when got about three quarters of the way there??

Babakale is remarkable for where it is, it's 1770 Castle and the seemingly magic trawlers that moor there.

Unremarkable in that not much happens in Babakale....




Below are two panorama's. The first was taken the afternoon we arrived. Huge trawlers were rafted two deep on either side of us. There would have been 20 of them and it looked for all the world as if they were there for the long term... End of fishing season we assumed, repairs, no way of getting out, certainly not without us having to move.

That's us right in the middle Med Moored

Here is a closer up of the trawlers all rafted one next to the other and stacked two deep.

We walked up to a nice restaurant with a view of the harbour and out across to Lesvos, Greece, but had a quick look at the castle on the way up.




Built in 1770 to ward off pirates, it is in very good nick and worth a look












A reasonably early night and either they popped some LSD in our Bovril or we were all dog tired, but when we woke the following morning all those huge trawlers had magically disappeared!

How they got out without bashing into us, or at the very least waking us with the din, we have no idea!

I am writing this blog from Athens Airport on route to Sydney for a Board meeting. This meant ensuring we were on Limnos and therefore an airport by the weekend. The wind prediction was not pretty until Saturday at best and if the Meltimi is vicious anywhere in the Med, it is through the crossing to Limnos and at the most undesirable direction for a catamaran. Right on the beam! (from the side)

We had got ourselves set, bicycles off, sunshades up in readiness for a couple of days in this place of 'not much to do', but come lunch time, still no wind. So at 12:00 on Thursday the 23rd we decided to make the crossing, packed up and left within 30 minutes of making that decision.

Well... As soon as we got a couple of miles out into the straight, she decided it was time to hand our butts to us in a basket! Whoooweeee... 6 hours of romping stomping Mediterranean chop as we bounced and rolled until there was no land in sight. Nothing for it but to just keep going until we finally entered Moudros Bay on Limnos.

This is an historic place for Australians. It is where all the ships and troops were assembled before heading off to Gallipoli in 1915, the slaughter of thousands and probably the most ridiculous campaign in human history. Thank you Winston.

Looking at these locals fishing off the quay, it is difficult to imagine now this bay full of the battle ships and troop carriers of the day. A beautiful, serine port, very friendly and welcoming to Australians in particular.

A very well cared for war cemetery a kilometer away is a somber place for Australians, Brits, Canadians, French and ever Russians alike.

Many of these headstones indicating the occupant remains unknown.

A couple of days here was enough to take it all in so on Saturday the 24th we motored on glass like seas around to Myrina, the capital of the island and the place where Customs and Immigration are ready to clear us out when I return from Sydney next Sunday.

Juggling guests and People Smuggling

The sailing around here has been superb. We left our beautiful anchorage at Bademli after a swim and a full cooked breakfast at 11:30 on the 15th July. The sails went up an hour later and after an hour of great sailing, down they came as we turned for Alibey... still in Turkey. We were here because it was the most convenient place to collect Warren and Jenny Green. They flew into Istanbul but it still meant a flight to Izmir and a three hour bus ride to Alibey.

The Greens were to overlap with the Hayman's for one night but thanks to 5 bedrooms on the Cat, we looked forward to way too much fun.

So, on board we had the Wilkinson's, all legal in Turkey. The Hayman's illegal in Turkey and the Greens, legal in Turkey.

Alibey is a dusty little town on an island, linked by a causeway to Ayvalik, a much larger town with a new hospital where we hoped to have Summer's plaster cast removed.


Poor kid has not been able to take a full dunk in the water since the her very first voyage this year...Although she can keep it dry in this tube.




As you can see from the latest X-Ray the bone has not knitted properly so we were devastated to learn that it's another 3 weeks in the cast for Summer and that may not even do it. We think it may have slightly dislodged during one of her soccer or bike stacks...




The next voyage was to take the Hayman's back to Mitilini where they were to fly out and head home. So it was back to the very officious town where Al and I and the Hayman's would be legal, but Sal, the kids and the Greens wouldn't...

They were waiting on the dock as before, and asked if I would report to Port Police.... Paranoia tends to override common sense, but it was all routine stuff... other than the change of undies!

So, back in Mitilini for the third time. Always good to see it through new eyes. It is a nice town and harbour, but we lunched, bid a sad farewell to the Hayman's and set off early the following morning for Molivos. This was the town we'd earmarked with the really cute harbour that climbed through cobbled street to the castle at the peak.

Having set off early we got to the north of the island before lunch and decided to anchor off Skala Skimaneas for another seafood extravaganza before heading to Molivos for the night.

Octopus hung out to tenderize, the Summer Amy at anchor in the background, another sumptuous seafood meal, so the only real change was the resident prancing Trannie who graced us with a whole new outfit...

Does little for the digestion really but you can't help wondering what exactly is going on in that head??

















A great lunch, a swim and after slicing a few large pieces off an already useless refugee dinghy for use as puncture repair patches for our dinghy we motored around to Molivos, only to find it full.

That is the patrol boat to the right.
How much room do they need??

Well, full but for a spot not possible for yachts due to depth, wide enough for the Cat but quite close to the Coast Guard boat. All sorts of arm waving from the shore, Port Policeman included, we persevered and got in nicely.

Too long a walk for the Port Policeman to tell us to move, so all good.....Until the Coast Guard dude arrived and very nicely asked us to move. "It can get very surgy at night. We may have to go out in the night. It is dangerous..." and so on, so we moved out and anchored in the bay.







A leisurely swim and breakfast in the morning saw us weighing anchor at 11:15 on the 19th July headed for Kulukkuyu on the Turkish coast.


The plan needed to get us back to Alibey in two days so that The Greens could bus back to Istanbul on their way home and to pick up Jarrad, our son who was spending a week or so in Istanbul on his way to link up with us.


The trip to Kulukkuyu was directly into the wind and we were expecting a nasty, bumpy ride. It was a three and a half hour voyage and turned out to be as smooth as but for the last half hour or so. The harbour looked to be exposed to the rising wind, but as we entered the wind was cut off stone dead. The harbour designer needs a medal it was that effective.

Kulukkuyu is a neat little place, very rural and quite Muslim in feel..... cool name but.

The harbour is in two parts, one for boats,
the other for swimming. Another medal for the designer. It was sweltering and a swim was an absolute necessity.

Needing to catch up on some sleep both Al and I decided to take a nanna nap for the afternoon. The kids had so much to do, the place is geared toward them. Sal and the Greens sat themselves down on these here chairs and learned about a new refreshment... Vodka and Tonic with a splash of lemon juice. It seems it took quite a few of these to perfect the brew so by the time we joined them, it was a little too late! They did seem to be having a pretty good time though.

There was just no hurry to leave in the morning so a much required sleep in was possible and a tour of the town.

Cobbled streets, festooned in Turkish flags the blokes tried to find a barber that would cut our hair, give us a shave, but most importantly, wax our noses. We wanted Warren to experience this phenomenon before going home. Unfortunately, a shave and a haircut was all that was on the menu... no wax?

So at 3:05pm we mozied out into a perfect wind to sail south to Alibey. When I say perfect, a NE was predicted but instead we got a NW?? Still did the trick.

Back in dusty Alebey we Med Moored and dined. They attempted to rip us off on the wine and when Sally offered half they threatened to call the police. "Go right ahead" said Sal and that ended the argument.

We had a fairly early night. At 9:00am the Greens were to taxi to the bus station for an 11 hour trip to their hotel in Istanbul!

It was just so good that they could include us in their travel plans. There is something really special about sharing this experience with family.

Bye guys, hope you can make it over next year...

Refugees...

Syria is a hell hole. Dictatorship and religion the cause... World War III the solution but who wants that? So if you are a young man in Syria say, 16 -25 you take sides, you take up arms and you fight or, if your parents have money, they get you out.

The route is over the Turkish border. Get yourself to a take off point some 1,300kms away following the 'Blue Route' Once there, find an agent who will supply a 25 man black dingy with motor, brand new high quality life jackets and instructions as to what to do when you arrive on Greek soil.

We suspect the 'agent' is actually the Turkish authorities moving this ever growing problem along. After all these refugees would rather get to the EU where the choices are larger than Turkey alone.

We had come across some refugees before in Kos where we began our voyage this year and there have been some on Leros and Samos. They seemed in good shape, most carrying the latest in communication technology, happy taking selfies and calling 'home' we assume?


But it is the shear number that stunned us on our drive between Molinos and Panayia. a 23 minute drive which took us a couple of hours as we came across hundreds of abandoned high quality Yamaha life jackets and at least 50 dinghies capable of carrying 25 passengers, all sliced open and useless having done their job.

The road follows the coast line occasionally dropping to sea level and as you see on Google Earth above, not a long way from the Turkish mainland.

Why slice the dinghies open? well it's about the law of the sea. If you are 'shipwrecked' on foreign soil, it is the responsibility of that country to take care of you. Once there, you are then able to claim Refugee Status. You are Interpol checked and if all clear, issued with a 6 month visa.
From here, we guess they go through some EU charter for refugees?

A few questions had to be asked... A 25 man dinghy with motor would run at around Aus$25,000. The life jackets are top of the line standard PFD's $250.00 a piece. How are these being supplied, by whom and where. The fact that the refugees themselves, whilst carrying hardly anything at all, do seem to have IPhones and IPads, decent clothing and footwear.

A possible conclusion would be that these are fairly affluent Syrians who were living in fear of their lives. They have no choice but to leave with what they are wearing and can fit into their pockets to start a new life in a culturally different, unwelcoming world. Rich or poor, this scenario would just suck.

As we drove back that evening, there they were in their hundreds. Spread the entire length of the highway, their next step was to walk the 60kms from where they'd abandoned their life jackets to the Port Authority in Mitilini. There they would join the burgeoning throngs of those who got there before them and await processing

Every evening we were moored after that day, the local Coast Guard would venture out at night and return laden with Syrians the next morning.



These people were on this dock when we arrived in Kulukkuyu, Turkey at around 3:00pm. It was 36 degrees in the shade but we could not tell how long they'd been there. We suspected since the early morning....


They were there for at least another hour after we arrived in the blinding heat. An ambulance did turn up, we imagined for a heat stroke victim. The women and crying babies were separated and provided better treatment.

Not sure why the men were made to suffer. Perhaps it is Turkey's way of persuading them that Greece might be a better option?

We sailed to Alibey, Turkey the following day arrived late afternoon and again, another large patrol boat load of Syrians

A feeling of complete helplessness descended, Get them some water, spray them with a hose, something... All cringed with the thought that they were actually fortunate it was Greece and not Australian shores they were arriving on.....

All play and no work makes blogging a dull job!

Too, too much fun to be had, so my apologies for the gap in communications....

Having bid the Duncan's farewell, it was time to spring clean the boat once again and by 8:35 on the 11th July, we were headed on what looked to be a rough ride for the 50nm sail to Mitilini on Lesvos, where we were to meet the Hayman's. They were joining us from Santorini, Greece... Oh, and the Galapagos Islands and various parts of South America. I just can't handle people who do things by halves!

Mitilini is a huge harbour and frighteningly officious. Frightening because we had Sally and the kids on board who we'd picked up in Turkey but had not officially checked into Greece. If they tried to check in it would mean the boat had left Greece without checking out....It gets way more complicated. You see, the Greek Islands and Turkey are so close along this stretch of coast that boats tend to bounce between them. Checking a boat and crew in and out of either country takes hours so we don't bother as long as we have the correct paperwork for the boat in both countries and are flying the correct flag on arrival all should be good...


As we entered the port of Mitilini a Port Policeman was standing on the dock beckoning us toward him and indicating I go to channel 12 on the radio.... "Where have you come from and how many people do you have on board?"... Well I couldn't say Turkey now could I? and so the complex web began.







The Hayman's arrived at 10;30pm so a late dinner at a great little restaurant right on the end of the mole was in order. We'd managed to hire a 9 seater van so we could explore the third largest of the Greek Islands and places we probably would not be sailing to.

We drove to Molinos on the northern tip of the island as recommended by the car hire guy, a really lovely, if a little touristy town which climbs it's way up to an impressive castle at the peak. Narrow, cobbled, ancient creeper covered alleyways with 'hole in the wall' shops selling all manner of poop interspersed with bars and restaurants with views over the cutest little harbour. Stunning!














The harbour was so attractive that we tagged it for possible future mooring. The next recommendation was to eat at a little town called Skala Skamineas for lunch. "The best seafood in Greece" was wheeled out once again, but this time, there was no argument. It was to die for.
,
The drive was to take 23 minutes on dirt according to Google Maps but it took way longer than that because of what we witnessed along the way. It is a story about refugees which will be covered in a separate blog as it deserves to be.

Back to lunch... Skala Skamineas is right out of a post card. The tightest little fishing harbour jammed with fishing boats and rimmed with restaurants all so delightful it made choosing a tough decision.

So good to be with such good mates in such a beautiful place eating the best octopus ever.

Entertainment was provided by the local trannie who paraded, modelesque around the harbour as if nobody else existed.

I put my hand up to drive back to Mitilini so not your usual long lunch for me, but such a comfy spot we could have stayed and certainly planned to return.

Back on the boat and conditions were shaping up for a perfect sail down the coast of Levros and around to Plomarion once more. Although we had already been there, it was worth a second trip for the Hayman's if only for a great sail, but we did want them to sample Maria's restaurant and beach. We had a couple of days before we we needed to head across to Turkey to collect Jenny and Warren Green who were joining us after their European jaunt. They were flying into Istanbul rather than a difficult route via Athens, hence our need to go to Turkey once more..

It was indeed a perfect sail to Plomarion which was as we had left it back on the 3rd of July and Maria's lived up to our hype. Happy to see us again, they poured on the service and the food and we ate and drank, sunbathed and swam and left them with a memento we hope will be there for a while.

The Summer Amy Cap....












Last time we were in Plomarion, Sal had noticed a pool hall tucked away in the back streets and having put the kids in front of a movie, we were persuaded to go and have a game.

Al suggested a great game when you have 5 people playing.

Each player has three balls and their task is to protect theirs and sink everybody else's. If a mistake is made, each player gets to retrieve one sunk ball.


We played three games.... Prizes for guessing who won all three... The bouquet came from the ladies toilet.. A fitting reward I guess?

Next stop Bademli, Turkey, an anchorage in beautiful surroundings touting hot springs that were used by the ancients and bubble away to this day.

After another perfect sail, the anchorage was indeed beautiful, the water so clear and refreshing but after dropping the dingy and motoring around to the hot springs we found them a crushing disappointment. The "natural rock pool about the size of a bath with sunset views across Kalem Adasi" turned out to be filthy, slimy and unusable.

It was a long way from where we anchored though, a glorious evening on the boat meant a long refreshing swim in the morning, something we cannot do in any harbour.

At 11:30 on the 15th we motored up and Med Moored in Alibey, Turkey where we were to rendezvous with the Greens who would be overlapping with the Hayman's by one day... Imagine the shenanigans with that mob!

Izmir to Cesmealti, an escape from a booming Meltimi

8 - 10 Knots and rising. Anxious faces taking refuge in the bowels, sea sickness an option we wanted to avoid so big plan change. Instead of a 6 hour power sail (nice way of putting it) we turned for Iskelesi harbour an hour away. The relief was palpable throughout the boat, we were taking a beating out there.

Iskelesi read well and on arrival looked so good. A beautiful little harbour bounded by attractive hostelries, fishing boats and local Izmirian yachts.... but alas nowhere to moor. Bummer!

Plan C please.

A mile north was an anchorage comprising a double bay. Harbour in one, anchorage in the other. The northern bay very shallow, only suitable for catamarans and shallow draft yachts but "only to be attempted in calm weather!!"

Well, lets take a look.

We did, we entered, we anchored and we swam. Moral soared.

When you have guests, you really want them to have a great time. Plan changes put you into unknown space and anything can happen. Fortunately, the Duncan's are a flexible mob, up for anything and we were all happy to be out of that blustering wind.

We dropped the dingy and motored around to the harbour. Other than the fact that they'd decided to dig up the entire road system, and I mean all of it, it was a welcoming little town with variety.

We ate at a great waterside restaurant, there was a tented market with everything and because the wind was not going to abate for at least another two days we planned a land based itinerary.

I'm not sure why, but wineries always feature highly in these plans.

The entrance from the car park

Some of the best wines we'd tasted came from a winery called Urla. It just so happened that the winery was a 20 minute taxi ride away and a 'must do'.

Sal called, they were open but no meals to be had? We taxied over and (choose your best superlative). This is without doubt the most impressive winery any of us had ever seen.

Tempus Two, Hunter Valley, Vas Felix Margaret River, you name it, nothing comes up to this place.

It is the venue that has been making wine for literally thousands of years.

It declined in the Turkish Republican era but was recently reestablished.

The money spent is impossible to estimate. The return on that investment... questionable but the experience... well, fantastic and thankfully, not on my dime!

At the end of the water feature above are three large underwater windows.The natural light illuminating the cellar below and somehow not effecting the brew.

No lunch, which was a little disappointing given the venue, the quality of the wine and the fact that we'd taxied over, but we were treated to an exclusive wine tasting and the range lived up to its reputation.

Between ourselves and the Duncan's, we bought a bit of wine!

We had been to the Urlice winery when we were in Alacati, covered in an earlier blog. That was such a pleasant, personalised experience that we decided the following windy day to take Sandra and Alan there to illustrate the contrast...

Well, our excuse anyway.

No pizza's this time, but a tasting, a cheese platter with their Rose and a tour of their unique cellar made it worth while.

These photo's always surprise. It is hard to believe how 'well' I'm looking these days! Ah well, it'll just have to wait...

We could not leave the area without a visit to Iskelesi. It looked so quaint when we tried to moor and we thought that if by chance a mooring had become available, we'd move the boat for the final night. Things had not changed on that front, but there was the most beautifully refurbished restaurant beckoning.

A fabulous Turkish meal was had and we were unanimously happy that the Meltimi had blown us into this part of the world.

The following morning it was time to return Alan, Sandra and Keyomi to Izmir to catch their evening flight direct to London.

The road works around our anchorage had made the boat more filthy than we could remember, the fine dust having worked its way into every crevice.

A night or two in Izmir meant we could once again get all the big laundry done and Al and I could give her a good scrub while Sal attended to the insides,

We spent the day in downtown Izmir for a final meal and a mini look around before it was time for a sad farewell. I reckon a couple of weeks would have satisfied our mutual appetites... Maybe next year the Duncan's?

Bye guys.... 'till Sydney!