Ever wanted to go sailing? The fella’s dad invited us to do just that with him on his boat Star Dance. So whilst onboard, I thought I would do a blog of our sailing in Turkey and a mini trip to Greece:
After an hour’s delay to our flight from London Gatwick due to a thunderstorm as we were going to taxi for takeoff and then as we were due to take off, all topped off by bouts of turbulence during the flight, and a scary taxi ride to the Marina (as in rally car type driving down an off beat road in the dark 😱), we arrived, were greeted by the fella’s dad and welcomed onboard Star Dance.
Day 1-3 : Saw us have a tour of the boat with loads of technical terms and quite a bit to remember along with where to stand and not stand. The sails were attached and Star Dance started to look how she should. We also learnt how to make rope coils – yes there is a way which stops the rope twisting into a figure of eight as you make a coil along with learning how to tie various knots onboard.
Next saw us trying to get the wind vane fixed which proved difficult and failed. This involved the fella’s dad climbing up the main mast to replace the one up there as it was thought to be faulty, the fella even did some wiring.
The day before we set sail saw us going to Marmaris town, doing a little food shop to last 10 days along with a dingey shop. Later we had diesel delivered so Star Dance had a full tank.
Sailing
Day 1 (You are welcome to have Rod Stewart’s I am sailing song stuck in your head when reading this):
So after the skipper received a Certificate to leave harbour yesterday, we were able to set sail but first Star Dance needed prepping. We had to make sure everything was stowed away, the water tanks were full and then she had a little wash down to remove dust.
A radio call was sent so we had someone arrive to be guided out the little mooring space from harbour and away we went. We were taught various things required during a sailing trip such as the log book, which needs to be recorded every hour (no this is not like Star Trek and unfortunately no star date is recorded). We did a practice of the Man Overboard manoeuvre aka M.O.B just in case any of us decided to fall over. We sailed for a few hours and finally anchored at Turunç (it sounds like to lunch hehehe) for the night. This area proved a wee bit choppy for me which was to trigger my nervousness scared cry mechanism for a little bit.
Day 2: The night proved to be okay. Took me a while to fall asleep as swells made Star Dance roll but it was alright once I dozed off. Day two saw all the checks before setting off such as engine, sail prepping and filling in log book. It was also the fella’s 30th birthday.
It was the day of proper sailing with sails up – it was a bit hairy but I found out it was easier to look aft (behind) rather than to the bow (front).
We anchored at Bozuk Buka at 1351, which was quite a busy place. I had taken on the role of lunch maker. Also tried having a solar shower on deck (was a 20litre camping shower bag that heated up when sun was on it, however the hose part kept coming off and 20litres quickly became something like 5 😱.
Day 3: We left Bozuk fairly early and set Sail to Datça so we could check out of Turkey. The sail today was actually quite nice. As we were sailing, the greek rozzers appeared 😱 eek. It’s alright though, they weren’t interested and carried on sailing.
Today I have experienced something interesting or rather challenging – Having a pee whilst sailing on choppy water. It’s not easy and you have to try and brace yourself so you don’t end up crashing through the loo door 😂. This has not happened so far, as I’ve figured out you turn sideways and brace with legs when stood. Standing up from sat down position however is not so easy 😕.
Day 4: We arrived at Datça, where we had to go ashore to the harbour, had our own escort (two dogs followed us around) and checked out of Turkey. We had to have passport checked by the police (they carry guns 😨) and had the transit log checked by a man called erm no idea how spelt but was said as oh f**k (honestly that is how he pronounced it). We then had a little wander round the harbour, one of the dogs had decided to keep following. Seemed almost spaniel like with a little fan (tuft of fur) at the end of its tail. I decided to give it a piece of pastry that I was eating. She seemed to enjoy it and asked for more by standing on her hind legs, little front paws up and did a little whimper. Me being me and a sucker for dogs….gave her a bit more, again she gobbled it down then wandered off into some shade.
We were recommended to try some Turkish coffee by the fella’s dad. I’m not a fan, it was really grainy. No wonder a glass of water is given with it 😂.
Back on board and away we sail again. I then start to feel icky, probably the coffee so I didn’t take many photos. We arrived at Panormitis in Greece which is a lovely peaceful place to anchor. Overnight it got very windy and in the distance over the top of the mountains we could see a lightning storm.
Day 5: Today we go ashore to have a look around as well as get a receipt for something to prove we had gone out of Turkey waters so we could check back in back later.
From Panormitis, you can catch a bus to Symi. We were told it starts at 0800, and so decided we could row ashore for 0830 to catch a slightly later bus. It proved to be a pain waiting. We asked at the little monastery cafe who said it didn’t start until 1030, so we waited a bit longer and the bus actually didn’t start until 1200!!! 😠 anyway, we waited for 1200 and as we were first you would have thought people would let us on right? No, instead they all tried to get on the mini bus before us, and so we used rugby tactics. Luckily there were “normal” seats available, I say normal because once all the bus seats were taken….. The driver went into the little luggage compartment and pulled out plastic stools which were handed down the bus to those standing! There is no way health and safety would allow this in UK and to be honest I can understand why. When the driver ran out of stools, he wandered off and grabbed a wooden chair from the monastery restaurant.
At Symi town we discover it’s a nice little harbour village though there isn’t much to do. We were told by the mini bus driver that we could meet back at drop off point to catch a bus for 1400. However there we were waiting expecting to see the silver bus we arrived in, then suddenly we see the driver drive away in a blue bus and he waved as he drove off, so we ended up getting a Taxi back for €25 – the driver was pretty good and stopped so we could get out at various places to take photos.
Once back to Panormitis we visited the monastery. It was a bit disappointing as all it had were two tiny museums due to the main working part not open to the public. The monument was pretty interesting as we discovered that the monastery aided the allies during WW2 with counterintelligence, but were found out by the Germans and as a consequence the Abbot, his assistance and the radio operator were executed on the 11/02/1944.
Did you know the Greeks have something called “Greek delight”? No neither did I. Now I’ve heard of Turkish delight and the proper stuff is amazing but had no idea that the Greeks did it too, so naturally I brought some.
Day 6: We set sail back to Datça to check into Turkey again. The sail in the morning was a bit choppy but then it sorted itself out and was actually quite enjoyable.
We arrive in Datça and had issues with anchoring as the previous time we arrived. Once ashore we went to the passport police and whilst there we got to see the “police dog” who was a giant Labrador and I mean giant but she was a big softy and rolled over on the floor for a tummy rub.
Day 7: We stayed anchored in Datça due to the weather and winds so this meant we got to go ashore for a day. We strolled around Datça and of course the very annoying thing about Turkey came about for the millionth time : none of the shops seem to have any change, however this was to my advantage as I went to buy a bracelet and because the shop keeper had no change….he let me have the bracelet for free!! Woohoo!!
Day 8: Today was an early start – 0500 wake up in order to get the boat ready for sail at 0600. We actually managed to set sail at 0557 (it’s the small things). It was a lovely sail and managed most of it without engine aid. We made good time and arrived at Turunç at 1530, 9hrs 20 was a far better time than expected.
Day 9: We rolled during the night (as in very choppy side to side) so I didn’t have a good sleep. We ended up having a nice lazy morning and set sail at 1242 for a tour of marmaris bay to Pupa Anchorage.
Day 10: Today was the end of our sailing trip, so we had another lazy morning, with a nice little cooked breakfast onboard, soon after we Sailed for the Marina.
Getting Star Dance scrubbed:
Day 1: Saw us having an early start as it was a working day. Star Dance had to be washed down, scrubbed and polished. All sea water had to be washed off as the salt if left will cause erosion.
Day 2: We travelled to Marmaris town via a free ferry whilst the fella’s dad cleaned below deck. I somehow managed to get burnt feet. It was a very hot day, and so naturally we took stayed out the sun by sitting in bars as they were shaded areas and ended up eating two Kebabs 😆
Conclusion:
Would I do sailing again….. Probably not as I wasn’t keen on the choppy water or the boat going at certain angles but at least I can say I tried it and on the plus side I throughly enjoyed the sights and some of the sailing.
The Weird World Of Dub Mouse 