Crews Letter #2003 04 Season Cruise Plan Revised
Good
Morning Ladies and Gentlemen:
Yat Marine Marina, Marmaris, Turkey – The pool is clean and nice. The restaurant and bar is good. Harbor is well protected and equipped. It is lively during the day and quiet at
night. Supermarket, chandlery, laundry
and technical services are more than adequate.
We haven’t tried the coiffure or veterinarian. We cut each others hair. Phyllis isn’t into dying yet. The boat gorillas, Go and Went are
healthy. The ride to town by dolmush is always entertaining. Dolmush, meaning
“stuffed”, is a scheduled van for hire.
Up to 14 seated passengers and as many as 10 standing pay less than a
dollar a piece for the half-hour ride into town. The route is fixed. Leaves the marina and the
town center on the hour and half hour 0600 to 0100. The stops are on demand.
One of the few limitations
of this marina is that they do not offer an analog phone line for connecting
our computer to the internet. The 300
ton power cruiser, Duke Town, on the hard less than ten meters to our starboard
is close to one of the other marina limitations. Imagine a travel lift that can only do 330
tons. Not far from here is an inter-island
ferry hydrofoil set up to have her bottoms redone. An interesting concept: different bottoms for
different speeds.
We have now been in the
water for 2 weeks. By this time last
season Perception had logged over 600 miles.
This year she has less than 600 meters including the distance covered while
dangling from the travel lift. The weather is pleasant. Food is good.
Fred’s arm and legs are on the mend.
Life is good.
Our earlier plan for this
season was centered around a desire to spend a more
leisurely cruising time in Croatia, meet a friend and his family from Canada in Slovenia during the first two weeks of August and to have
Elan restore or replace the salon head door.
The finish on that door started deteriorating day one. Elan had said that if we brought the door to
them, they would fix it. As a result of
these goals, not as a cause, Gouvia on Corfu, Greece was a winter 2003-4 target. We wintered there 2001-2.
Now, due to Fred’s lack of
prowess in flying ladders, we are resetting the cruising plans. This marina has been every bit as acceptable
as the one at Gouvia. We could happily
winter in either.
The 2004 season has one
major constraint. Greece will host the Summer Olympics. It is an extremely good reason to either be
there or to NOT be there. For us the NOT option prevails. Having
very little interest in spectator sports, the idea of being where large crowds
congregate is a negative. Croatia, 2004 is a possible alternative.
Last year we found late
July, August and early September uncomfortably hot in Turkey. The
explanation is being south of and near the Turkish mainland in late summer is a
mistake. The prevailing winds are from
the north and mainland is effective for converting the sun’s heat to hot
air. Local knowledge says that not far
to the west of here are the Greek Dodecadese
Islands. They have
the same prevailing north winds but the Aegean Sea is not such a good heat converter.
This information comes from
some Europeans who have the advantage of being able to travel in both Greece and Turkey concurrently.
An illegal privilege that is not available to Americans on an American
boat. Europeans have both identity cards
and passports. With this dual identity
documentation, they can be both in and out of Europe at the same time. Combine that
with a transit log from Greece and another from Turkey, they can sail from country to country without
complication. The only catch is they
must remember which set of documentation to present on demand.
We are acquainted with more
than one English charter skippers who take this scam to the edge offering
Turkish coastal cruises starting and ending in Rhodes, Greece.
For Perception and her crew,
it is not so simple. We must close out
the transit log and stamp out the passport in Turkey or Greece before arriving in the other. Visas for Americans in Turkey are up to $100.00 for 3 months. Transit logs in either country are less than
$50.00 for 12 months, but when the boat leaves and returns, she must have a new
one.
Current Best Guess for the
2003 Season
Perception’s #1 Rule: Never sail by schedule. Sail by weather/whether.
30 May Cast
comes off and the screw is removed from Fred’s left arm.
1-15 June Rehabilitation
and completion of the recommissioning.
Obviously two weeks for rehabilitation is optimistic. The final test for the good left arm is
bending the sails
15
June – 15 July Cruise the Turkish Coast. Our current Visa expires 26 July.
A good ($200) reason to leave Turkey in mid July.
15
July – 15 October Cruise the Dodecadese and other Greek Islands.
15
October Decide where to winter and start that way.
1-15
November Decommission
Perception and set her up for the winter.
There is a routine setting
in here.
2004 – yet
to be decided
The war, the economy and
probably Fred’s bad jokes have resulted in only two guests for the season. If you haven’t planned your vacation, now is
a good time for an Eastern
Mediterranean cruise.
Keep a Tight Luff,
Phyl & Fred
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