Most outstanding boat name so far: Protect Me From The Things I Want.
Aren’t
mobile phones wonderful? Eavesdropping
can be fun, too.
One side of
a phone conversation overheard in an open air bar at the Bodrum Marina:
“Yes, you
are in the right place.”
“Stop
walking.”
“No. Stop walking.”
“Stop
walking.”
“No you
haven’t. Stop!”
“OK. Now, look left. No, the other left. No, don’t walk. Look left.
I am waving.”
Four blonds
waved back. They were still walking past
the bar.
Hard to believe they need a drink to relax their minds.
Keçi Buku, Orhaniye at the East end of the Datça
Promontory (
For lack of a better idea
and for the pleasant experience of their company, we have chosen to sail with
them for a few weeks. In return, they are teaching us a calmer, less hurried
way to cruise. We have been in this same
bay now for four nights and plan to stay a couple of more. We came here directly from Knidos to fill the
water tank, check out the water system and the bilge pump. For that we checked into Marti Marina. Once every thing was in order, we moved over
to the South side of the bay and anchored along side Different Drum. After three days at anchor we motored over to
a restaurant dock. There we took a laid
line forward and moored stern-to. At
this dock there is water, electricity, a swimming pool, laundry and market. The only obligation is we are expected to
patronize the restaurant.
Quiet days, few chores and
pleasant evenings with either dinner on one of the two yachts or ashore makes
for a change.
Different Drum and her crew
will winter again this year at the Kemer Marina. This marina has built a clientele of over the
winter liveaboard sailors by providing an active social program.
An American couple explained
that they went to their home in
Activities include bus trips
to the movies, symphony, ballet, opera, and Istanbul Boat Show. Classes are
organized in navigation, Turkish, French, German, English, computer and
cruising.
To keep the blood moving there is aerobics,
diving, dance and tennis. Among the
events that are celebrated: Halloween, Guy Fawlkes Day, Thanksgiving, Santa
Lucia Day, Christmas, New Years, Burns Day, Valentines, Easter and many other
national holidays of the liveaboards’ homelands. In
past years there has been Hawaiian night, pirate's night, French food night,
Spanish omelet night,
The only complaint we have
heard about this marina is there is no time to work on your boat.
A visit to their web site is
worth its salt in surf: www.kemermarina.com
Maybe
some year we will stay the winter at Kemer and avoid the long flight to
The red rock
landscape, mostly covered in pine, is quite unusual. At the head of Bençik Limani, not far from here, the Dorian peninsula
is at its narrowest, with Buyuk Cati on the other side in Gokova Korfezi. Herodotus tells us that when the Knidians
were threatened by the Persians they set to work to dig a canal across here as
a defensive measure. The red rock was
evidently hard going, and on consulting the oracle at
-
Turkish Waters
& Cyprus Pilot, Rod Heikell
5th
century BC
Kiz Kuma Plage
Here in Keçi
Buku there is a sand bar that reaches about ¾ths across
the bay. Keçi Buku sounds like kechie
boo koo. This
sand bar is 3 to 4 metres (10 to 13 feet) wide, 350 metres (1135 feet) long and
ankle deep. The water on either side is
8 to 10 metres (26 to 33 feet) deep.
The legend goes that in ancient times Kiz Kuma, a girl of common birth, and the prince fell deeply in
love. She was not allowed near the
prince. One night in despair she started
on the North shore to cross the bay by emptying sand from her pocket to build a
path. But alas, the going was slow, dawn
came and the soldiers spotted her before she reached the other side. They were charged with protecting the Prince.
They killed her with arrows. The prince
died of a broken heart. The path does
not reach the South shore.
Geologists
have no better explanation for how or why it is here.
A very special case of “deep pocket.” “Sometimes
the people who would protect us, kill us.”
Help wanted: Can you help Fred with a Calculus
problem? If yes, please email your
willingness and he will send you a description of the problem. It is simple enough that any first year
student could do it. A background in
structural analysis will help.
Someone finally asked. What is a tight luff? First, what is a luff? In fore and aft sailing rigs, the leading edge
of each sail is attached to either a mast or stay. The mast or stay is along the fore and aft
center line of the boat. The leading
edge is the luff. The other option is a
square rig where the sails are attached at the top to horizontal booms centered
on the masts. These booms extend across
the center line of the boat. The
disadvantage of a square rig is that it can only sail with the wind.
The distinct advantage of a
fore and aft rig is that it can propel the boat to windward. That is to say, if the wind is from the
north, the boat can sail from south to north.
Not directly, it is first to the northeast and then the northwest or
vice versa. But upwind progress can be
made. Sailing to windward is called
beating. Fore and aft rigs can also sail
to the other directions where the wind is abaft the beam.
The principle that allows
sailing to windward is that the luff is curved and when it cuts through the
wind a low pressure area is created on the back, off wind, side of the
sail. This low pressure area pulls the
boat along. To sail upwind, the curve of
the luff works best when it is tight.
Metaphorically, we must all
“beat to windward” much of the time. “To
go with the flow” is the antithesis of moral and constructive behavior. A tight luff is needed to avoid being blown
down wind by the world we live in.
In cruising parlance it is
often said, “Gentlemen do not beat to windward.” Nice thought if you are willing to allow
outside forces determine your destiny.
Phyl & Fred
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