Telltales 72: A new season starting with more wooden boats.
The 2005 winter has come its end and there is NO spring in this part of the world, and this is nice. Temperatures jump to 25 plus almost instantly in April.
january, February and March saw Marit working in Nigeria, for the polio campaign and Roland holed-up in the boat and sometimes in the house on Symi, leaving the boat behind in Turkey, as the island of Symi does not offer a safe marina in winter times. And having a house available turned out to be a good reason for some people to come and visit again (not everybody likes boats, apparently). So Roland's mother and sister came to enjoy the house and the island of Symi in very early spring. And although the weather did not completely cooperate, we managed to get the garden under control. Roland and Marjon had planned to work on Heliodora (see earlier Telltales) - Marits Symi fishing boat- but the weather certainly did not allow that, so that had to wait. And when the weather did clear in the beginning of April, it was time to go back to Turkey and work on Sylphe.
And this year's work on Sylphe incorporated a new topside paintjob, executed to perfection by Turkish craftsmanship and a lot of patience and sanding. Unfortunately Sylphe had received some damage on the topside in the winter marina, due to storms that rage around. Even worse was the fact that the staff of the marina did nothing to prevent it (in our absence). All in all, not a good experience and a definite negative advice for people who want to winter in Marti marina. There are other and a lot better marinas in the Marmaris area for next winter.
Other works included some ever returning electrical jobs and the anchor winch and arrangement was attacked. 100 meters of new galvanized chain, the motor serviced, the outer casing repaired and welded and finally painted. It looks like new.
When Sylphe was on the hard, Marit came back for almost a month long break from her work in Nigeria. So we tried to finish Sylphe as quick as possible and get her back in the water so that we could go over to Symi. In the mean time Marits father and his wife had flown in for a holiday with us as well and we were happily reunited on Symi, where more work was done on the garden, by Marit and her father. More plants were stolen from other gardens (!!) or just picked on the side of the road and planted in our little paradise. A complete irrigation system is installed to make sure that those new and fragile plants will not die in our absence. After all it gets very hot and no rain for a month or 5........ Problem successfully resolved.
Marit's father left, Margot came ( study friend of Roland) and unfortunately Marit had to leave for Nigeria again. We sailed over to Turkey and Marit took several planes to get back to Nigeria. Margot's husband and the kids arrived a few days later, so we went back to Symi to pick them up. And over the course of several days we went back and forth between Symi, Greece and Turkey. Since we were not pleased with the marina, we decided (with help of Turkish friends) to tie up to a private jetty of a restaurant in the same bay of the marina. It is the closest point to living in paradise, the view of the bay is just spectacular and no houses around. And you walk of the jetty and sit down for diner or lunch. And Marmaris town with its chandler facilities is only a 30 minute ride away. Thanks to Ibrahim, Halil, Ahmet and others, Turkey remains that charming great country, where we do feel so at home as well.
Now time started to run out. Roland first charter would start mid May. Varnish on Sylphe was in full swing, but Heliodora still had to be done completely. And the state that she was in, was reason for plenty of fisherman, to just smile melancholically when they saw me starting on her. Nodding their heads in complete disapproval and stating the boat would never float again. I must say the planks had opened up seriously, due to her prolonged stay out of the water and in the very hot Greek sun. But I was determined and had the beautiful range of DURATEK products at hand. Duratek is a Turkish product line of materials for wooden boats (paints, flexible fillers, etc), that I discovered 7 years and applied on Sylphe. TO MY UTTER SATISFACTION. So the same materials were applied to Heliodora, after having scraped all the paint off. Thank god I had help from Ake (our Swedish friends from Free Flight) and a week later the boat had received the complete system of anti -woodrot treatments, primers, fillers and more primers and finally antifouling system. And on a glorious Sunday afternoon we launched HELIODORA ....... and she floated. We rowed her around the harbor and attached her to the bow of Sylphe. Compliments and applause went around the harbor from the locals, who did not believe their eyes. I might consider opening a Duratek franchise in Greece..............
Two days before the first charter would start in Symi, which would take us from Symi all the way to Naples, Italy, I sailed over to Turkey for the last time, towing two little boats behind Sylphe: our normal dinghy "Lady Sylphe" AND "Heliodora". The reason being that I simply could not finish the paintwork on the inside of the boat, nor the topside final coat. She will be done in the same colors as Sylphe: beige with grey-bleu-ish waterline and antifouling. So, I brought her to my painter who did Sylphe and he will finish it in the coming days to the same standard of perfection as for Sylphe.
Remained ONE problem: an engine. Since Marit wants to use Heliodora to go around the island to have access to the more remote beaches, we need to install an engine. Finding an inboard engine, for such a small boat (4.75 meter) turned out to be more difficult. Furthermore, the vibration of the engine could cause problems for the very small frames, that are holding the boat together. So, my surprise and enthusiasm was enormous when I heard for the first time in my life about the existence of a diesel outboard engine. And no...it is not a modern invention, it has been around for longer. When I saw the engine, I was sold...ad so was the engine. It is a little bit bigger than the average Yamaha or Johnson four stroke, does not look as sleek as them either but it is completely fitting to a classic wooden fishing boat. So, Marit will be able to enjoy sailing around Symi harbor and the beaches in style as she is used to.
Maynard, Adrian and Glenn arrived on a sunny thursday morning with the ferry from Rhodes to undertake the delivery of Sylphe from Symi all the way to the Aeolian Islands, just north east of Sicily. Sylphe will spend the whole summer with a busy charter season in the Italian and French waters and will at the end of the season participate again in the races.
We had about 11 days to make this trip and depending on the weather we would easily make it....or not. We would first have to negotiate the crossing back to the Greek mainland, going through the feared Cyclades. Although the Meltemi wind normally does not yet blow in this season it remains a treacherous piece of water.
However with long day trips and only three stops on the islands of Astipalia, Paros and Serifos, we were back in the island of HYDRA (just off Athens), one of the most spectacular harbors in the Mediterranean, and an all time favorite for Roland. By this time we had taken the decision to go through the Corinth Channel, in stead of sailing around the Peloponnesus mainland. And this meant that we would have a last stop before entering the Golf of Corinth, the island of Aegina with the best restaurant in Greece, Hippocampus. We all enjoyed the meal, the setting and seeing old friends.
Adrian even had the pleasure of finding his old boat Inamorata II, an Oyster 48, which he sold some 5 years ago....a memorable moment for him to see his "old" boat still going strong.
The trip through Corinth and onward to the Ionian Greek islands was done under engine and autopilot and we sailed under the new Patras suspension bridge in the middle of the night.....and even than it is a great sight. We arrived on the island of Cephalonia and decided to of course go to Fiskardo. A picturesque harbor and in this time of the year NOT YET fully overrun with boats, charter fleets and more.
Still we managed to pick up 7 anchors when we decided to leave. The fun simply never ends.
On a windy evening at 22.00h we set sail for Sicily, a trip of 280 miles non stop which would take us some 2 days/nights under favorable conditions. Well, they were not when we turned around the north end of Cephalonia, as we were being thrown from left to right in very lumpy seas with no winds to stabilize the boat. Some ten miles out the wind finaly became stable and we were finally well under way, reaching 8,5 knots with a reefed down main and only the small staysail up. The first 12 hours of the trip were not comfortable, but still we all managed to enjoy this experience. Later the wind died down, the sea came to rest and we motor sailed along. Conditions in the Med never last long enough to enjoy and plan long passages only under sail.
We turned into the Strait of Messina around 1 PM and enjoyed the view of snow covered Mount Etna. The current can run strongly in the Straits, but once again we were lucky. We were thrown out of the Straits and into the Tyrrhenian Sea with 10 knots, so a nice 4 knot current helped us to get to a new sea and we experienced what wind against current does, as the sea looked like boiling water in a pot. Tuna fishing was in full swing in the Straits, as this is the season. It is a strange sight to see the special fishing boats with huge metal towers built on them (60 feet high) for the look-out AND a metal bow sprit construction of the same length for the harpoon guy.....and all this on a 50 foot fishing boat. We docked the boat in Milazzo at the north-eastern tip of Sicily, where we enjoyed the fresh tuna later........
Three seas -Aegean, Ionian and Tyrrhenian- were done in ten days of glorious sailing and in great company. Three countries in two weeks, i.e. Turkey, Greece and now Italy. All different in every aspect and all enjoyed for what they offered: Turkish hospitality, the Greek isolation and simplicity and finally the sophisticated food in Italy.
We will survive........
Roland