2007 Summer Cruise - Israel, Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus and Return

Before Departure

Bob Paynton, a good friend from Cove Haven Marina in RI came in to accompany us for the crossing and some of the summer cruising. We were able to take him for a quick tour of Israel before we left. Here are photos of his arrival, the Dead Sea, and Masada. We were invited aboard Mevoot Yam for the celebration sail in honor of the 60th Year of Independence of Israel.

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26 Apr

Herzliya to Finike

 

We departed Herzliya marina and cruised directly to Finike, Turkey. The weather was good, a maximum of 1 meter waves and 10 knots of wind. We made the crossing in about 36 hours and arrived in Finike Marina at 1930 on 27 Apr. Our friend John (ex-captain of Miss Dana) and Bob accompanied us on the crossing.  We went out for dinner on our arrival and John and Bob stayed for awhile longer. On the way back they ignored the presence of a gate and jumped over the fence. Bob twisted his ankle but didn't remember doing it in the morning. John returned to Israel on 28 Apr and Bob will stay with us for a while. Here is a photo of the sunset and marina.

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1 May

Finike to Kerkova

We cruised along the coast to Kerkova and anchored off of the restaurants in Ugaciz. We took a walk around the tombs above Ugaciz and then climbed to the top of Kale Koy, the Ottoman castle at the entrance to the bay. Bob used my cleaning brush handle as a staff to help with his ankle.

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2 May

Kerkova to Kastellorizo

We cruised to Kastellorizo, a small Greek island off the coast. It is one of our favorite places, a prototypical Greek village. We initially moored off of one of the restaurants but after an atypical Greek reception by the owner we moved over to the ferry dock. We took these photos while we toured the town and then climbed the hill behind the town. Bob is still using the walking stick.

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3 - 6 May

Kastellorizo to Gocek

We cruised to Gocek and anchored in a small bay opposite the town. We had our first swim of the season. 

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6 - 9 May

Gocek to Sarsala

We traveled up the bay to Sarsala, one of our favorite anchorages. Bob tied us ashore using the dinghy. We stayed for several days, swimming and walking along the shore.

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10 - 13 May

Sarsala to Gocek

We came back to Gocek and stayed in Skopea marina. We rented a car and took Bob to Marmaris to visit our friends Bev and Dave on Cloverleaf. Their boat is out of the water while they finish repainting it. We took a land tour to Saklikent, Tlos, and our favorite trout farm the next day.

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13 - 16 May

Gocek to Tomb Bay and back

We cruised out to try a new anchorage called Tomb Bay. It is usually crowded with large boats but is open this time of the season. We climbed into the hills, replaced the generator impellor, and had a beer in the restaurant. We returned to anchor off Gocek on the 15th.
16 - 19 May

Gocek to Fethiye to Sarsala

We traveled over to Fethiye to get duty free fuel. There were three Turkish missile boats on the quay but they allowed us to tie alongside for fuel. We left Fethiye and went back to Sarsala.

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19 - 20 May

Sarsala to Gocek and back

We sailed back to Gocek to meet our friends Don and Janet (from the Bahamas). They were making a bare boat charter for a few weeks. We were able to met them for a quick drink but it was a bad mistake since a summer storm came with 70 knots of wind. We held okay but anchors were dragging all around us. It was a sleepless night and we returned to Sarsala for some rest. We met an American couple (John and Carol) here on a gullet charter. We left early the next day.

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21 May - 10 Jun

Sarsala to Marmaris

We cruised the ~50 miles to Marmaris. Weather was good even with the cloud cover. We saw two F-16s practicing along the way. We are staying here a bit for some work. Anchor repaired the mufflers, Bob and I wrapped the heat risers, added solar panels, and finished varnish work on the hand rails. We met lots of new friends, John and Delwin on Colvale, Alex and Brigite on Mary Anne, Ilan and Judy on Noa, and Mimi and Charles. We had a special treat when Yardena and Sami and four of their friends came to Marmaris on a cruise boat. They were able to come and visit for a hour or so. Bob took a bus tour of Ephesus before he flew home. We really enjoyed his visit and Odelia loved his attention since he put 12 coats of varnish on the handrails.

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10 Jun

Marmaris to Bozburun

In the company of Cloverleaf, we cruised around the end of the Marmaris peninsula to Bozburun. We anchored between two islands outside of the town. We had a drink with Paul and Wendy of Emerald Lady and then went into town for dinner. It is a lovely little town with a small harbor.

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11 - 21 Jun

Bozburun to Kargi and Orhaniye

We left Bozburun with Cloverleaf planning to go around the Datca peninsula to Bodrum. We stopped for breakfast at a small bay (Karuda) and then continued on. The weather continued to get worse and we stopped in Kargi (a small bay south of Datca) for the night. We decided to head back to Orhaniye where the water would be calm and warmer. We anchored off Marti Marina. We met Jahit, the retired chief naval architect for the Turkish Navy on a lovely 50 year old Scottish trawler. We met Bill and Bunny with their friend Judith, Dan and Nili with their friend Pnina and Adi, and John and Delwin from Marmaris. 

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21 - 26 Jun

Orhaniye to Selimniye and back

We cruised over to Selimniye with Cloverleaf. We anchored off of a hotel near Jahit. We had dinner in a nice restaurant for my birthday. We returned to Orhaniye for shopping and we took a bus tour to Aphrodesius with Bev and Dave and their guests.

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26 -27 Jun

Orhaniye to Palamut and Bodrum

We departed Orhaniye with Cloverleaf enroute to Bodrum. We spent first night at anchor off the beach at Palamut. We were greeted by a Turkish woman and her son that swam out to welcome us since we had an American flag. The anchorage was pretty exposed and we rolled all night. We left the next morning for Bodrum and anchored off the town. We took the dinghies in for a tour and dinner. The music from the disco (over a mile away) was so loud that it kept us awake all night.
28 Jun - 3 Jul Bodrum to  Turgetreis We left early the next morning for D-Marin, a new marina at Turgetreis. It was a nice cruise along a new area of the coast. We enjoyed our stay in the marina, it has a nice pool and shopping area.
3 Jul         Turgetreis to Bozburun We left early in the morning headed for Bozburun. Cloverleaf continued north along the coast but we will meet them again later. We spent the night anchored off the harbor and met some Israelis on a chartered catamaran. They invited us to dinner on board.
4 - 12 Jul  Bozburun to Marmaris We left Bozburun and returned to Marmaris Yat Marin. We met Steve and Jan on Sugilite from Seattle and had a lovely dinner and evening with Judy, Ilan and them. I finalized the installation of the solar panels and connected the controller. It proves about 15A during the day and allows me to run the refrigerator during the day without the generator. 

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12 Jul

Marmaris to Tersane Creek

 We traveled to the Gocek area and anchored a new bay Tersane Creek. We met Rami and Linda and their daughter and family there. Cloverleaf joined us in the afternoon. Spike the wonder dog uses a boogie board to go ashore.

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13 - 16 Jul 

Tersane to Sarsala

We moved to Sarsala and met Tololea, Soliel sans Fin, and Triumph. We had parties and dominoes on Cloverleaf and Odelia. We saw the twelve meter America's cup boat sailing in the bay. It is Spirit of America, now owned by a Turkish publisher.

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16 - 29 July

Sarsala to Gocek

We traveled to Gocek and remained at anchor in a small opposite of the city. We had several guest aboard Odelia and Cloverleaf; including Estee and Gerry, Mandy and Shelley and others.
29 Jul - 17 Aug Gocek to Marmaris We traveled back to Marmaris so Anchor could try repairing our mufflers again. They removed them and re-welded the seams.
17 - 19 Aug Marmaris to Fethiye We traveled back to Fethiye and met Utz. He was able to arrange to have our recliner recovered. He stayed for Shabbat dinner. Later we met Idit and Nir and had them aboard for a drink before going ashore for dinner. 
20 - 28 Aug

Fethiye to Gocek and Sarsala

We all traveled to Gocek and were met by Noa with Judy and Ilan, their son Erez, his wife Anat and their children. They fell in love with Tsipy (as usual). We then went to Sarsala where we were joined by Cloverleaf, Noa, Nirvana, My Mermaid and Tololea. Judy and Ilan's daughter arrived with her kids. We ate aboard a different boat each night and even tried to learn Mah Jong. Nir entertained us with singing and playing his accordion one night. One afternoon, Dave and I went over to another bay to rescue My Mermaid. Mandy and Shelley wrapped their anchor around an obstacle but I was able to dive down and remove it.
28 Aug - 1 Sep Sarsala to Kastellorizo and Finike We picked up Gerry and Estee for the return trip to Israel. We left early and traveled to Kastellorizo for the night. We had a lovely meal at Lazarakis restaurant. We tied up at the ferry dock and had a bit of a 'fire drill' when we had to move out quickly to allow the ferry to dock. We left the next morning for Finike.
1 - 10 Sep

Finike to Limassol

We had a nice overnight crossing to Cyprus. We even had a school of 10 dolphins playing in our bow wave for a while. A nice anniversary present for us! We celebrated our anniversary on the first night at a nice restaurant in Limassol. We were joined by Mevoot Yam on a trip for the school. Yehuda and about 20 kids were stuck here by the bad weather. Since the weather was not nice; we rented a car and took a tour of the Troodos mountain range. We had Shabbat dinner on board Mevoot Yam with Yehuda and the kids.
11 - 12 Sep LImassol to Herzliya Last leg of the return voyage. It was uneventful with good weather and calm seas. We sailed most of the day with Mevoot Yam in sight but arrived before them in the morning. Our thanks to Gerry and Estee for a smooth trip. We enjoyed their company and help with the crossing.