Wednesday Oct 19

I am anchored in exactly the same spot as the night before I arrived in Marmaris, exactly 2 weeks ago. I left this morning as soon as I could fill my fuel tank at 8.30 a.m. The Poseidon weather site showed the winds diminishing today, nothing over 15 knots after mid day. But my friend Juergen of  s/y “Colonia” warned me last night that www.wetter.de showed still winds between force 6 and 8. And it was rough in places, I practically surfed into the anchorage entrance here.  I hugged the leeward high coast line but the wind just came right down from it in heavy gusts. The water was smoother so I made decent progress under power. I tried motor sailing with a double reefed main but when I went down to check the GPS the auto pilot got overpowered by a gust and jibed the main sail accidentally. So from then on I just used the motor. The fixed prop and the new engine are an enormous improvement on the old engine and the folding prop.  The fixed prop probably slows my sail speed down by half a knot but it has a lot more push in those bumpy waters.

One of the first time in an anchorage that I met cruisers I am not particular fond of. A New Zealand boat “Slam Dunk” with a Canadian-Kiwi aboard and a San Francisco boat by the name of something like “Windsloupe”. They ignored my greeting and the San Franciscan visiting the Kiwi boat told me that: “We may have to ask you to move your boat”. Apparently they considered me too close. It is a small bay and there was not a lot of room but I had a rock solid set and there was no way in the world that our swings could cross. He proceeded by hanging 5 large fenders from the side that was, at that time, exposed to my boat. Totally ridiculous. This morning when I pulled the anchor I could see the bottom and the anchor was completely dug under the sand. I needed to use the engine to break the set. Just as a contrast, I was in the same spot on the way to Marmaris and I was a lot closer to my neighbor, a bunch of Brits. I mentioned to the Brit that I had underestimated my scope but that I had a good solid set. He did not care and we had a good talk across the short distance. They were my neighbors once again in the same dock in Marmaris. Different strokes for different blokes…

Thursday 20 October.

I am retracing my route in I am in  Gumustuk again. This time I blew up the dinghy and rowed ashore and am sitting in a bay side restaurant, Mimoza. I had a little of every wind direction. Quite strong in places. But it turned into  a very nice warm day, in shorts and bare chested, at times.  Tomorrow should be on Samos.

 

 

 

 

 

Last night was Happy Hour and buffet dinner for the Marmaris
cruisers again. I met several new people, a few Americans, Dutchmen, even a
(nother) charming Honk Kong Chinese cruiser married to a German.  I had to pull on my training pants in the
middle of the night. I started using a blanket
a week ago but that is not keeping me warm at the current temperature.
It dropped to around 10 Centigrade during the night. I just dug the sleeping
bag out and exchanged it for the mosquito net.