Back to gone Troppo June 2009
Stephen's Story
Well the boat was hauled at Marmaris using the 330t travel lift, easiest lift Gone Troppo has had. The lift driver could not gives us her fully loaded weight as she did not weigh enough to register on the lift scales. After getting the boat ready to be left on her own for 6 months I flew to Brisbane. I stayed a few days with Gail at Colin & Kays' place at Manly, then went to house sit Greg & Lyn Chamber's house at Kawana, as they were in Darwin for the birth of a grandchild. Drove up to Bugara to visit Steve and Gwen Wise and see their new house. When Greg & Lyn returned I went back to Colin & Kays' for awhile.
I got to meet the nurses who were looking after Gail at the Mater Hospital, they are a really nice group of people who do a fantastic job. I then went to Sydney to see my son Tony and his family. Saw where Tony worked and where the grandsons went to school, watched them play sport and generally had a great time.
I then went to Adelaide and stayed with my little sister Julie and her hubby, Lyall. Arrived in time to help them prepare to move back to Alice Springs. Caught up with brother Trevor, his wife Nicole and their boys, also with Lyall's brother, Leigh and his wife, and had some fun times with them. Also managed to catch up with an old army buddy, John and his new wife and kids, also his ex-wife Peggy and their daughter, really enjoyed my times with them. Went and saw both my daughters, Amanda and Angela and their boys, although Amandas' eldest, Thomas is really a young man now. Also caught up with my big sister Lee and her hubby Bruce and my cousin Jenny whom I hadn't seen for decades.
Flew back to Brisbane for 2 weeks then to Melbourne for Christmas with Gail to meet her aunty Nancy and cousins. Then back to Brissy for New Year. Enjoyed walks around Manly and watching the old guys sail their remote contolled yachts in the marina, with a stop at the Manly pub for a beer on the way home. Had lunch with the Walkers when they passed thru on their way to meet their daughter who was returning from a stint patrolling in the Persian Gulf. Before I knew it, it was time to return to the boat.
It was wet and cold as expected, perfect weather for working inside the boat. Unfortunately the second day back I damaged my left elbow and wrist, this really slowed down the work, as the elbow was still bad months later. The time dragged until Gail came home. Two weeks after she arrived we launched the boat and started sailing West. . Life is much better now Gail is back on board with me.
Gail's Story
The past year and a bit has been the most topsy turvey of my life. After receiving treatment for Breast cancer in Turkey , the Turkish doctors recommended that I receive further immunotherapy treatment, but the cost was going to be prohibitive and it would have to be administered every three weeks for a year. So I made the decision to go back to Australia. I contacted some friends, Colin and Kay, in Brisbane and asked them to set up appointments to start the process. They proved to be amazing both in their response and their ongoing support. I hopped on the plane back to Australia, not knowing if I would ever be returning to the boat. It was pretty daunting. Stephen had chosen not to return with me to Australia and after what I had put him through over the previous 9 months I couldn't really blame him. He needed a break and to return to some semblance of normality. My return to Australia and treatment all got going pretty smoothly and I can only say that I am very impressed with the public health system in Australia. I was given the best of treatment with virtually no delays. I started in April 2008 and had my last treatment in March 2009.
Colin and Kay made me very welcome and I was able to spend my week days at their place in Brisbane and my weekends with some other dear friends, Lyn and Greg, on the Sunshine coast two hours north of Brisbane. In addition, Colin was just setting up a new bold venture and he asked me to help him. So I learned to use a new computer program he was developing and he was very patient with me and so I had a wonderful distraction to fill in my time between visits to the hospital. And so I passed the year, throughly enjoying the company of my friends, receiving treatment and doing a bit of work. It is funny how things work out. I always become teary when I think of the thoughtfulness and caring and compassion I received during my time in Australia. It is strange how it needs a time of adversity to make you take stock and think about the important things in life.
I made contact with former niehgbours and good friends Jacqui and Jim MacKenzie, but Jim was very ill and died during my time in Australia. Jacqui is regrouping slowly and getting on with her life surrounded and supported by her family.
Stephen returned to Australia in July and stayed with me for a short time before heading off to visit his children and sister in Sydney and Adelaide. He returned in time for us to visit my aunty and two cousins in Melbourne for Xmas and then, in February, he returned to Turkey.
After I finished my treatment, I travelled to Darwin to stay with my daughters for a bit. I had a wonderful time, as I stayed with one daughter and could go around and visit the other (mostly to babysit) as they only live 5 minutes apart. I am very proud of how they are getting on with their lives. They throughly spoilt me and made me feel special. I caught up with some sailing friends, Jack and Ilse off Warna Carina, and Wally Fuller. I was determined to get fit for sailing again and, of course, I overdid it by straining my back, but with daily walks sometimes with Jack and Ilse, visits to the gym with Gazza, playing in the pool with my grandsons, and aquarobics sessions especially designed for women who have breast cancer, I improved my fitness level. I enjoyed a weekly dinner after gym sessions with Gazza and his wife Marika, who just happens to be an excellent cook.
The flight back to the boat in May 2009 was long and exhausting, but Stephen was waiting for me at the airport and after a big feed of Turkish cooking I slept like a baby.
It is hard to describe the extreme range of emotions that I have experienced over the past year, suffice to say that one residual feeling remains is the absolute belief that there is a wonderful goodness inherent in people.
The re-introduction to on-board life, was as I thought it might be, a bit like hard work. The mountain of daily tasks to be tackled together with living on a boat which was "on the hard" is a bit of an uphill struggle at any time but in this instance it was even more so. I would do a task one day and the next day my muscles would scream at me, so I would not be keen on repeating the task. This together with the fact that to go to the toilet was almost a marathon did not make for the happy working conditions or night time comfort, and of course I couldn't cook on the boat so tuna or chicken and salad started to look a bit unappetising after a while.
We caught up with Hale and Alan, s/v Alice, and Cindy and Bob, s/v Godspeed, Bill and Bunny, s/v Onset and met a heap of other new people. The boats between us and the water were gradually launched until two days ahead of schedule we were very gently lifted by a massive 330T travel lift and lowered back into the clear waters of the Mediterranean. After a quick check for leaks, we were away and as we motored around to our first night's anchorage I stood at the front of the boat watching the water glisten and chortle past the the bows and I let the tears roll down my cheeks as a I waved to other boats we knew and circled to find a suitable spot to anchor. We had a few leaks by the way, but none serious.
Greece May 2009
Well, so much for easing back into the sailing life. We launched one day and the next we are sailing to Simi in Greece. I had hoped to provision at the markets in Marmaris but this was not to be as Stephen seemed to be busting a boiler to get to Simi. As we left the harbour entrance the Turkish Navy called and asked us to stay along the coast as they were holding live firing exercises in the area! We did as requested but were glad to be out of the area as quickly as possible. Crossing the passage to Simi Island proved to be a bit more difficult than first hoped with wind on the nose and building into the afternoon as it tends to do in the Aegan Sea in the summer. Stephen seemed very keen to anchor in a little harbour called Pedi. It looked as cute as sixpence as we entered the long narrow inlet and dropped anchor in 6 metres close to the shore. The wind continued to build and because of the formation of the hills and valley at the head of the bay bullets of wind would blast down on the anchorage at regular intervals. The holding was not good as there was a thick mat of weed and roots on a sandy bottom which would not allow our anchor to set. After a short time a particularly strong bullet of wind meant that our anchor dragged and we had to pull it up, clear it of the root ball it had collected and then motor around to find another spot to try to anchor. We did this a couple of times and just when we thought it safe to relax - its now 5 o'clock in the afternoon, the boat next to us starts to drag out of the harbour with no-one on board. So off Steve goes to try to bring it back with the help of Wolfy off s/v Protea. They were setting up a second anchor when the owners arrived back - just in the nick of time! Our anchor was still holding although the bullets had increased to 40 Knots. A little local Greek fishing boat then decided to affect an escape from the harbour and this time Stephen had to dive in with a rope which he fixed to the boat and I pulled the boat along side. We didn't want the fishing boat attached to us for longer than was necessary but as our tender outboard didn't work yet we couldn't get it back to the shore. We called up s/v Bali Hai to assist us in finding the owner or to tow the boat back to shore. It wasn't too long before a rescue boat arrived to pick up the errant fishing boat and we breathed a sigh of relief. We didn't sleep that well that night. So much for the gentle re-introduction into the sailing life again. I was exhausted and only one day out.
Next day a quick motor around to Simi Town in the next bay saw us safely and securely anchored stern to in the little town harbour. Steve took me to his favorite supermarket where the beer was cheap at 12 Euros a carton for 24x500ml cans and the food was so expensive that I felt that I needed to take out a mortgage to buy anything! But Simi Town is a lovely little Greek town nestled around the harbour and once I had time to suss out the rest of the shops it wasn't too bad although I limited the restocking until a better location. We stayed only one night and the next day with 18 to 25 Knots from the north we scooted across to the next island westwards - Tilos. We made good time and the sail was exhilerating using our new No2 jib which worked a treat. It is good to feel the boat working comfortably under sail. Tilos is a small island with only one wharf which we wanted to tie to as we had had previous experience with the poor holding in the bay. With the wind wrapping around into the bay we had to reverse across the wind to pick up the mooring line and of course it was a few tries before we got it right. Shortly after we got organised a charter yacht came in and managed to squeeze between us and the next boat. I didn't think it would be possible but they did it although the fenders were squashed flat on all sides.We stayed a couple of days in Tilos doing boat tasks and going for walks in the evening while we waited for a bit of weather to pass.
The next stretch was to be across to Astapalia, an island nearly in the middle of the Aegan Sea and as is usual in the Med we had too little and too much wind but by night fall we safely dropped anchor in a bay near the middle of the island and ate and crashed. Next day we were off again - where to we were not sure as it depended on the wind direction. Well, we ended up in Thyra or Santorini (the town). It is an old volcano which has been active in fairly recent times. It is very spectacular with its nearly vertical sides made of ash and basalt and its partially formed core which you can sail into. In the centre of the crater is a newly formed ( and still growing) basalt island which is vicious looking. There are often Navtex warnings which indicate that charts may have incorrect depths due to recent upheavals. The marina facilities in the south of the island were good and we spent time doing washing and getting fuel and deciding where to go from there.
Once again the wind decided for us and we had a delightful sail and then motorsail to Crete's central town of Iraklion by the nightfall, and after spending the first night at anchor we tied up at the old Venetian harbour and spent the day sightseeing and shopping. We hired a motor scooter and must have been a comical sight - mom and pop on two wheels complete with goofy looking helmets. The main attraction near Iraklion is the ancient Minoan Knossos Palace set above the city on a spur between two valleys. It is as old as the pyramids and had a water supply, sewerage and storm water system. It was multistorey and beautifully built. It is thought that one of the massive eruptions of Thyra caused a tsumani which wiped out Crete or weakened the civilization so that it was vulnerable to attack.
Our next stop and last official one in Greece was Rethymno. We arrived just as the wind arrived and although there was a marina we couldn't manage to berth so we anchored as the winds blasted off the land and covered us with dust and grit. The stainless steel bits of the boat were sticky with salt spray and now they were beautifully coated with dust as well. Rethymno nevertheless was a pretty little town with an ancient harbour and fort on the hill. The next weather window saw us sailing to the most westerly anchorage on Crete. It was so beautiful with crystal clear waters on a sandy bottom, complete with the mandatory fort at the top of the cliff and a large population of black, white and black and white goats and rabbits. The goats and rabbits were so similarly coloured we thought they must have cross-bred We wanted to stay and enjoy it but it looked like the weather was suitable for the passage to Malta and so after a good sleep we set off.
Undertaking a passage of 442 Nm is not normally much of a big deal, but of course in this case we were still getting set up and back into cruising mode. Cruising mode means that everything is in its right and easily accessible place, the boat is well provisioned and the crew are sail fit. I can honestly say that this time pretty much none of the previously mentioned applied. The first night we were so excited that we hardly slept and but by the second night we started to get into the swing of it. There was a full moon and mild weather so night watches were a delight. Mind you, the boat still managed to zig when it should have zagged and we stubbed toes and bruised legs and arms, but it wasn't long before fresh bread and fruit cake were being produced by the galley, a sure sign that all is right in the world. It was a bit of an extra test of my sea legs making a Maltese courtesy flag while under passage.
We are now at Malta and will report on the delights of Malta in our next installment.
