2001

Gone Troppo Newsletter#7 Jan-Nov 2001

Hi Everyone,

Hope all are well and happy. Last newsletter finished with us wintering in Kemer Marina , Turkey . This year was very busy, too much for a newsletter, so this will be like a précis.

January to April was spent in Kemer Marina, continuing walks, concerts, parties, and generally having a GOOD time. Did a couple of trips to Greece to renew our Turkish visas. We were accepted for the KAYRA Rally ( Black Sea), and Chris & Karen from Magic Carpet asked if they could crew for us, to which we agreed to. Later we found out that Chris's daughter was also coming. We started to get itchy feet in March, and were keen to get underway again. It was very emotional saying goodbye to our friends, as we would not be returning to Kemer for next winter. We hoped to meet up with them in other anchorages. As we slipped our berth on 12/4/01, with a large crowd to make sure we left, we had a low fly past by two fighter jets to add to the cacophony of horns and farewells. Everyone was very impressed with our planning, and people were still asking us months later how we organized the jets. It was a beautiful spring day but no wind so we motored to Cinavis, where we met up with the gang from the yacht Delos, mum, dad and three kids. A very full on active American family, the kids got us involved in all sorts of games. We kept meeting up with them over the next few weeks, as we slowly got used to being on our own again.

Making our way slowly up the Turkish coast, from Cinavis we sailed to Ucagiz, Kas and then to Gocek, where we spent a few days enjoying all the wonderful anchorages. Then to Marmaris where we had organized to have a jib furler fitted. After fitting and sail re-cut we went to Rhodos so Gail could do a little shopping, gin and rum mainly. From here we traveled every day that the weather let us, as we had to get to Istanbul by the 18/06/01. Stopped in the Dardanelle's and visited ANZAC Cove and all the battle spots and memorials. A very moving experience.

From there we visited some non-tourist spots in the Sea of Marmera (Marble), including one town where they have been quarrying marble for over 3 thousand years.

Went to Fenerbache Marina to buy boat stuff, as that is one of the areas in Istanbul where the chandlers are. Met a couple who the week before pulled up a body in a plastic bag on their anchor, it fell apart as they tried to remove it, welcome back to civilization!! The water in this marina was nearly 100% sewerage, what a smell.

Arrived at Atakoy Marina in time for the first skippers meeting and cocktail party for the KAYRA. The last slow thing we did for the next ten weeks. We left Atakoy Marina on the 24 Jun and motored up the Bosphorus, an amazing sight amid 50 other yachts. Spent the night at the top of the Bosphorus on the Asian side. The next day we sailed to Igneada (European Turkey) our last port in Turkey for a while. The following day we arrived in Bulgaria at Nesebar, a very attractive tourist town, and entertained by traditional dancers. These were very good and a taste of what was to come.

At most ports visited during the rally we were entertained by dancers and treated to cocktail parties/dinners, so even though I won't mention them again you can be sure that we had our fill of both (over 60 cocktail parties). There were also tours to local spots of interest, (Churches) again I won't mention them unless they were extra good. Also the weather was very hot and humid, a surprise to us.

Had two days there then sailed to Varna , saw a good museum and dancing bears in the streets. Bulgaria was an interesting country trying hard to westernize, and seemingly doing quite well. Nice wines and good Jamaican rum for $4/bottle.

Our next stop was Mangalia, Romania . We took a bus from here to Bucharest , the Romanian capital. The road followed the Danube for awhile then crossed a massive plain, crops and pastures as far as the eye could see, and not a fence in sight. Saw many gypsies and their horse drawn carts on this road. Bucharest must have been a sight in its heyday, but it is a very depressing city now. Most of the beautiful buildings/houses were knocked down for Russian type blocks of flats and also for the so-called Peoples Palace . This is the second largest building in the world, (after the Pentagon) an amazing structure to visit. Had lunch in a hotel dining room that was a wonderful example of Art Noveau, according to Gail. I thought it was a place full of intrigue and could imagine some of the plots hatched here over dinners. Also saw some old churches and where the last revolution was fought and where Ceausescu was ousted from power.

Our next port was Sulina, which is one of the entrances into the Danube Delta. From here we motored up the Danube to Tulcea, the 50 yachts made a wonderful sight for the people living on the riverside towns. While at Tulcea we took a delta boat trip and saw some back swamp huts and many birds. Very easy to get lost in this vast wetland.

Romania appeared to be struggling with its freedom and is very poor. The people seemed to have the attitude that it was up to someone else to find them a job, house etc. They have a long hard road ahead of them I think.

Next port was Izmail in The Ukraine, still on the Danube. Here we visited an old Mosque that had been turned into a museum complete with a diorama of a Russian – Ottoman battle. Dioramas are popular in the Ukraine we found.

From here we motored down the Danube and back into the Black Sea and on to Odessa . Odessa is still a pretty city, wide shady streets and great old buildings; it is about the same age as Adelaide . Visited their Opera House where they put on a Ballet for us. A wonderful building and an entrancing performance, this was one of the highlights of the rally. We caught the night train to Kiev and hopped onto a cruise ship for a cruise down the Dnepr River back to Odessa , this took 7 days. The ship mostly sailed over night and stopped at a city during the day, this gave us a good insight into Ukrainian life. Most city shops were virtually empty and everyone shopped at open markets. The meat and dairy halls were a shock to the senses. The sight of mink coats and hats reminded us that this river froze during winter. Unfortunately Gail had a dose of the KAYRA disease for most of this river trip, at least she had a cool comfortable cabin to recover in. Once off the cruise ship we found it hard to spend much money, as things were so cheap. We visited a Cossack museum and also saw a show of horsemanship put on by some Cossacks. Chris's daughter left us once we returned to Odessa and flew back to Oz.

After arriving back in Odessa we set sail for the port of Mikolayev on the river Bug. This city is a shipbuilding center and is where most of the Soviet fleet was built, and has only recently been open to tourists. We arrived to a huge welcome and party at the local yacht club. Each yacht was allocated an English speaking guide to help in anyway. These guides were young students/teachers from the local universities, and were all very beautiful and sleek, stunners every one of them. We met some great kids here that were keen sailors, including Ukraine 's #1 Cadet sailor and their #2 Laser sailor. Also met the first Russian/Ukrainian to circumnavigate, and saw his yacht. We visited their local zoo, a very sad depressing place, and donated a computer and accessories to them. A very poor zoo, most of the workers were volunteers.

We sailed next to the small port of Ochakov , Ukraine 's only privately operated port. Although I say sailed, in actual fact nearly the entire rally was motored or motor-sailed. Next stop was an anchorage at Cape Tendrov , a wild life park. We then sailed to the port of Skadovsk , where we were warned about the liquid hospitality of the locals. This town was one of the first beach resort towns we visited, it was full of Russians on holidays. On our next sail we never started our motors, I sailed off from the pier at Skadovsk and had cleared the harbour before the crew woke up, and sailed all the way to Chornomorskoye where we anchored.

Yevpatoria was our next port, the coast here was low and flat and dotted with huge radio telescopes, also many ground to air missile defence sites. This was another resort town, full of friendly scantily clad bathers. Our neighbor on one side here was a local fisherman, who was very friendly and let us climb over his boat, bypassing the security fence, saving us a 500m walk to the gate. I gave him some yacht club flags as he seemed interested in them. At 0700hrs on the morning we were leaving I took the rubbish out and seeing me, he invited me aboard. He produced a bottle of cognac, opened it and started pouring. One hour later after drinking the bottle we had Russian coffee, and he then gave me his wristwatch (Red Army Issue). He then came aboard Gone Troppo where I gave him some more flags and a chart. As everyone else had left, we departed and I went to bed.

I recovered in time for our entry into Sevastopol, a huge Navy town. Here we witnessed Navy Day, the pride of the Ukraine and Russian Navy on display. Both Presidents were there to see the fireworks. Many many ships took part and all weapons were using live ammunition. We saw small guns and large guns fired, depth charges and torpedoes launched, marines in amphibs (firing heavy machine guns) disembarked, helicopters dropping and recovering divers, jet fighters and aerobatic planes. The ships would disappear in huge smoke screens as they left harbour, and the jets would pop missile decoys after making an attack pass. We also saw a short-range missile (huge splash on horizon) and a long-range missile fired (cloud over the horizon), all this took place just inside the harbour, totally amazing.

Next port was Balaklava , a nice short downwind sail, past many missile defence sites. At last I felt that I was really in the Crimea , Charge of the Light Brigade area. Balaklava is a small landlocked harbour and small town. It has a huge submarine repair facility (closed) under the hills on one side. A very pretty spot. We went with some friends who were not on the rally to visit an old Tartar Palace and an old underground city.

Yalta was the next port, a bustling tourist town complete with loud discos etc. Also the home of many a palace, all quite fairytale like.

Next port Feodosia, a dirty run down port, and our last stop in the Ukraine . Ukraine appears to be divided about where its futures lies, trouble ahead maybe.

After clearing out of the Ukraine we headed for Novorossiysk in Russia , strong headwinds and a rough night. At daylight we were called on the VHF by a yacht that was not far behind requesting help as they were taking on water faster than they could pump. They wanted one of us to go aboard to help, so after a brief discussion, Chris volunteered. We then informed rally officials and changed course to affect the transfer. This was done by putting Chris in the inflatable on a 50-metre line and having him hang downwind ahead of the troubled yacht. The transfer went smoothly and the cause for the leak was soon found and bought under control. The crew then collapsed in their bunk and left Chris to continue pumping and on watch, we kept company until happy that all was OK. We affected temporary repairs and recovered Chris once they caught up with us at anchor near Novorossiysk . This harbour was closed due to the strong winds, so after a short rest we headed for Sochi .

The coast on this leg was full of holidaying Russians, and because of our shallow draft we were able to sail within metres of the beaches, had swimmers out to sea of us. As they saw us coming they would grab cameras and line up on the beach to take photos with us in the background, not many yachts here. Trains full of tourists went passed us frequently and the drivers blew their horns at us and the people in the carriages hung out and waved. Very pretty coast but the beaches were not much. The shops in Sochi were much better than the ones in The Ukraine, the shelves were full, but we think this was because it is a tourist town. Met and had a few beers with a Russian round the world race sailor.

Next stop Poti in Georgia , a very busy commercial port, busiest in winter when most Russian ports are frozen. This is where Jason found the Golden Fleece. The Georgian President waved the visa requirement for us, saving us quite a few dollars, and lots of paper work.

Batumi was the next port, a real surprise as it is subtropical, humid and hot. Tropical plants in the Botanical Garden reminded us of home, the humidity was like Darwin 's as well. We experienced a typical tropical thunderstorm here, although not nearly as much lightning as in Darwin . We left Georgia on a stormy day that turned into a minor political storm as well. Shortly after sailing, the Batumi harbor control were telling us we had to return, they were then followed by the Coast Guard requesting same. This changed to pleading and the dispatch of a Coast Guard ship to turn us around. The pleading grew more desperate (near hysteria) as it became obvious that none of the yachts were returning. In the end the last yacht returned to find out what the problem was, and was given boxes of videotapes and food to distribute to other yachts. It was discovered later that the President wanted to present each yacht with a video and was very upset that we sailed before he had the chance. He was in his car on the dock while all this was happening. A few people lost their jobs over this incident and the Rally Commodore and Turkish Consul had to smooth things with appropriate letters.

Next port was Hopa in Turkey , a quiet small town where tea is grown on the mountain sides. This little town has around 500 hotels, mainly for the "Natasha" trade, Russian prostitutes. We purchased a very nice Kilim here from the local government tourist agency, and enjoyed a trip up the mountains to a trout farm/restaurant.

Trabzon was our next port of call where we visited a thirteenth century church, Ayasofya, used for centuries as a mosque but now a museum.

Our next port was Fatsa, a small holiday town in this Hazelnut growing area.

From Fatsa we sailed to Samsun where we arrived in time for their annual Yacht Club Formal dinner, The Social Event of the Year. This was the area where the Amazons lived in about 1200 BC. We did two day trips from here to see old ruins and the old city of Amasya.

Sinop was the next stopping place. It is a very pretty little town that is dominated by a castle in the town center. We had a Pirate Ball on top of the battlements of this castle one night, a beautiful place to dine and view the town. We did a day trip to see some waterfalls in the nearby mountains. This turned into an adventure when it started to rain when we were at waterfall number 4 of 24 in a narrow ravine. It turned into a wet, cold, slippery and dangerous climb that only five of us, plus guides, completed. We finally reached the top where the water was pouring out of the mountain side, and followed an easier although more slippery route back down to the car park that was now under water.

Caylioglu, a very small fishing town was our next stop where we had a mussel bbq. The next stop was another small fishing town called Cide.

We then sailed to Amasra a very pretty town with lots of old ruins from Roman times. From here we did a day trip inland, to see the old houses in Safranbolu. Safranbolu was a major stop on the old caravan route (silk road) and has a great caravanasi. You guessed it, Saffron was one of the items grown here.

Eregli was our next port and our last stop of the rally. The seventeenth largest ship in the world left harbour while we were moored here, and as a result of its wake we sustained a smashed a rudder and holed our stbd hull. Very traumatic standing on the wharf watching Gone Troppo being thrown around. Along with another yacht we arranged to be hauled out the following morning after the rally fleet had sailed. We carried out repairs and were back in the water a day later. We sailed over night and at dawn we entered the Bosphorus and made our way back to Atakoy marina in time for the presentation dinner.

After a couple of days in Istanbul we sailed to Marmera Island , where we spent a week relaxing and tidying up the boat. We then sailed to Lapseki and onto Cannakale where we cleared out of Turkey on September 11, a few hours before the terrorist strike in the US . We cleared into Greece two days later on the Island of Limnos . Our next stop was at Kalkidiki on the mainland after sailing past Mt Athos and all the monasteries. From here we sailed slowly down the Northern Sporades to Athens . After a few days here we then headed for the Corinth Canal . This canal is about three miles long and took us about two hours to transit, as we were behind a cruise ship that was very slow. It actually bumped the sides of the canal because it was so wide. The next day we sailed to the island of Trizonia where we tied up the boat in a marina that is not completed yet. The berth is very protected and free of charge, so we felt happy enough to leave Gone Troppo there for winter all on her own.

After a couple of weeks getting to know the locals and preparing the boat we caught a bus to Athens and spent some time seeing the sights. We then caught a flight to Adelaide via Singapore. We are now staying with Gails dad and hope to catch up with as many people as we can. We hope to travel to Darwin sometime during our stay as well as other places. We plan to return to Greece in March or April, our boat transit log expires March 13 so we should be there before that!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

And a Happy New Year

Gone Troppo