Super Yacht Central

We were thrilled to have Leo and Tafline join us. Before we could set sail, we needed to complete a final few chores - provisioning and the refilling of a gas bottle. Provisioning can be a lot of fun so Taff, Leo and Kim were let loose in the supermarket. Sometimes choice is not always a good thing…rows and rows of amazing produce to look at and ponder. Taff and Kim went to the wine section to buy the wine for the week. Six litres of white and red wine should do us. Leo came over after looking into the trolley options and had a near heart attack. Leo procured a case of each and even then he was not sure if we had enough. Mmm…bit of denial going on there. The latter job was also more complex than expected; simple tasks in foreign countries take more time and effort. Simon took several trips to the chandlery to confirm a matching thread/gas fittings, the job required the purchase of a new gas bottle. The two large shopping trolleys were loaded on board and we were soon on our way.

Fortunately, Leo was big on photographing everything, especially when it comes to boating. From the many gigabytes of images the select few are published and so this blog is more of a picture book.

These are just a few of our highlights.

Olbia and Isola di Porri

After leaving the marina at Olbia, we motored a massive 2nm out of the channel of Olbia to a lovely bay for a swim and relax after our hectic morning.

 

Porto Cervo

Aura was secured to a mooring and we sat back and enjoyed the show watching the world of the mega wealth go by. We enjoyed drinks by the pool at Yacht Club Costa Smeralda. An Australian favourite for as home of the Sydney to Hobart legend, Wild Oats XI and the club was selected by the Royal Perth Yacht Club as the Challenger of Record for the 87 edition of the America's Cup.

We kept an eye out for Ricky Martin, he was playing the following night. General admission 1800 euro included a buffet dinner but not drinks. The private area, close to the stage was our choice….3,000 euro, drinks still not including… cough..…this is definitely mega yacht territory.

La Maddalena Archipeligo

This region is a marine national park, with numerous islands off the Sardinian coast. We moved to the national park, anchoring or using the park authority moorings. These anchorages may have a handful of yachts overnighting but by mid-morning the beaches are full of day trippers andthe anchorage fills up with a range of motor yachts and super-sized RIBs (super-sized inflatable type dingys).

Isola Caprese – Cala Portse

As we left Porto Cervo, the wind picked up and we had a great sail to the Island of Caprese. The wind was blowing fairly strongly from the north so the bay of Cala Portse had waves breaking over the beach. We decided to go around the corner for lunch and wait for the wind to die down. We anchored next to an old army barracks from the 2WW.

After lunch, the wind died down and we found Cala Portse to be near empty. So we picked up a mooring and enjoyed two nights in this lovely bay.

Unfortunately it rained on day two but did not reduce the fun factor. Check out Leo’s dance moves!!

Isola Caprese - Cala Coticcio (locally known as Tahiti Bay)

This is a gorgeous sandstone bay and by 11am it was just like Thompson Bay (Rottnest) on the Australian Day long weekend. We had boats anchoring on top of us. Plus a local day 100’ tripper boat decided to park itself in the middle of the action. Meanwhile we had to keep an eye on “old mate” with a family of 12 who kept on dragging anchor with his rented 50’ Bavaria….maybe if he put down more than 10m of anchor chain, he wouldn’t have a problem.

Taf, Leo and Kim swam to the beach…turquoise green water….stunning. There was also plenty of sea life around the boat.

La Maddalena - Porto Massimo (Super Yacht only bay)

Our pilot book detailed two bays with national park moorings. This wasn’t the case. At the first bay the moorings were owned by the restaurant and the second bay is now privately owned with access for a fee. You had to dine at the restaurant to be able to pick up a mooring.  Consequently, we indulged by having dinner at the “super yacht restaurant”. They kindly provided a return dingy shuttle service. Great food, view and wine and of course super yacht prices!

 

Back to Isola Caprese(Porto Palma and Cala Portese)

I must say that as beautiful the islands are, they get plenty of wind. We therefore decided to return Isola Caprese for protection. Our first stop was the bay Porto Palma. Here we met an Australian couple, Claire and Andrew from Sydney who had recently purchased their yacht Orison from France. Si took the dingy over to their boat and invited them back to ours for a sundowner.

The next day we decided to finish of the week by going back to our favourite bay, Cala Portese. It did not disappoint with a great snorkel and a visit to the beach.

 

Porto Palau – Farewell Leo and Taff

All good things must come to an end. We sailed to Palau which is a small village on the mainland where Taff and Leo could get a bus back to Olbia. We anchored in the bay and took the dingy into town. After a farewell lunch, we walked them to the bus stop and said our sad farewells. It was a great holiday and sad to see them go.

PASTA, VINO E GELATO

Passage from Zakynthos, Greece to Sardinia, Italy – 890 nautical miles later!!!
New Crew - Karolina Zoltaniecka aka Linka

Great friends Kim and Si were in Zakynthos Town and I discovered we were close by as I was on a neighbouring Island.  So I took a short ferry ride to join Aura and we set sailed for southern Italy. We originally met in WA while studying at the University of Western Australia many years ago and we have remained friends ever since, meeting up at random places around the world. The tradition continues!

Passage to Island of Sicily, Southern Italy

We enjoyed amazing sailing from Greece with winds in our favour most of the journey over 2 days and 2 nights to the “boot” of Italy.   Once we left Greece and lost sight of the shore we settled into the passage with our spirits high by day and enjoying our turns doing night watches under incredible stars and a quarter moon.  Si did his happy dance in excitement of good wind strength and direction.

TAORMINA, Sicily, Italy

Bonjourno Italy!  We arrived at a locals beach, hotel and popular anchorage and spent the first night on anchor jumping off the deck into the clear green water.  Plus a view of Mt Etna and another smoking mountain. While celebrating our successful passage and lazying around the back deck we had a visitor. We were greeted by a swimmer who saw our Australian flat and swam over from the next boat with a surprise G’day.  She was from Perth of all places. 



Passage through the MESSINA STRAIT

It was fun motoring through the Strait.  Si did an awesome job navigating and playing dodgems and battle ships with huge tankers, ferries, cruising ships and other yachts.  The straits are turbulent due to two seas with different tides, temperatures and salinity. We managed to ride a few big waves and avoid the legendary whirlpools.
When we passed through the Strait there were these strange looking fishing boats, with 50 foot towers to sit and watch for sword fish and harpoon them from side long structures.  The poor sleeping sword fish don’t have a chance!

BAGNARA CELABRA, Southern Italy
During the passage there was a technical issue with Aura, well specifically, another blocked toilet pipe so we stopped overnight at a small village marina and Si performed this thankless job of unblocking the pipe. It was so hot! After Si finished his shitty job, we headed to town for a swim and a couple of 1 euro Peronni’s at the local beach bar. The town had a great market full of fresh produce and a much needed Vodafone shop so we could reconnect to the world.  We really enjoyed this friendly rustic local’s holiday village with us being the only foreign tourists around. This is a beach side village for the locals, it was special that we experienced these non-mainstream spots along the way.
 

Coast & Villages

SCARIO, Southern Italy
We spent the first night anchored outside the harbour, swimming and a little party time. Anchoring provides the privacy and space so we could play music at an enjoyable level (with Kim’s approval). We explored the village and negotiated a berth for AURA that we managed in our broken Italian. A lot of fun and we started developing our Australian/Italian diplomatic relations. Once docked we made the assisting mariners coffee. We had a few tunes playing and we had the mariners dancing. The lack of communication didn’t matter.  They were so friendly that one of them wanted to get married to one of us ladies.  We may have been able to get a better price for marina day rate, no such luck though.

The harbour was a picture postcard place with pastel coloured houses and date palms lining the streets.  We enjoyed a long lunch at the best Italian Restaurant so far that served yummo seafood pasta with copious amounts of vino and then delicious melon gelato.  A well deserved siesta was needed after that session.

There were only a few tourist which is what we really liked.  The village was surrounded by national parks so we hiked a huge hill to the Torre (Tower) for some exercise. The last night were treated ourselves to delicious pizza, calzones more wine and lemoncello.  

On Passage to SARDINIA
We waited in Scario for the weather and we soon set sail for Sardina. After seven hours of sailing with unexpected winds that were not in our favour plus rough seas, we aborted the passage and Si found a sheltered mariner called Acciaroli. 

ACCIAROLI, Southern Italy
We had managed to navigate further north into the Amalfi region. The villages are becoming busier and more sophisticated. We docked in the newly renovated harbour, a feature for the village. Si worked his magic and scored a free mooring fee and didn’t need to show any leg or cleavage or accept offers of marriage.

The harbour and village was a gem with old Italian buildings and narrow cobbled laneways with bars and restaurant in the busselling pretty village.  It had a wonderful arty vibe to the place entertaining us with late night music, fireworks and a fun atmosphere.  And great gelato!
The village is apparently famous for Hemmingway visiting (questionable) and having over 300 people that are over 100 years of age.  

On Passage to SARDINIA II

Our second attempt to sail to Sardinia was with reduced winds and seas. The winds may not have been at an ideal angle …… on the nose but we settled into the passage and our watch rotation. We motored, motor sailed and then we had the near perfect 18 knots of wind at 50 degrees. We enjoyed the stars and tranquillity as we glided towards Sardinia. 

OLBIA, Sardinia
Busy, busy, busy. As we approached the coast we could see numerous yachts in the distance. We have arrived in yachting and super/mega yacht heaven.  Another anchorage and then to the city of Olbia. As we negotiated the channel we contested for real estate with ocean liners, ferries and super yachts. Aura was re-fueled, cleaned and Si serviced the engine. 
I headed to the airport, next stop Barcelona and coincidentally AURAs new crew members were arriving on the very same flight from Barcelona.
Welcome on board Taf and Leo for the next adventure!
 

Heads Up and Go West

We arrived in Athens, well actually Alimos. This marina is a major base for numerous charter yacht operators. The facilities were basic however conveniently nearby are rows of marine chandlery shops. It was only a 2 km walk each way from the yacht to the marina office and main road……we hadn’t stayed in a marina this big since Marmaris. Docking without the bow thrusters was a little challenging. We had tried to explain to the marina they were broken, he directed us into a pen only for him to bark new instructions and force us to exit. He was more focused on his telephone call than passing Kim the lazy line for the bow, near tragedy. He then blames our Aussie accent for his lack of understanding of our technical handicap issue with manoeuvring.  Lesson learnt.

We had concerns about being delayed waiting for parts, in particular replacement bow thruster propellers however they were on hand. Our neighbour took a liking to us (the new old mate) and he motivated the resident diver to see us. The result being that the  propellers were fitted same day. Only if the head (toilet) was so easily fixed. After multiple trips to the chandlery for parts and a day’s work in the stifling heat, the head still wasn’t working. It’s really not a complex piece of engineering, a pump, hose, o-ring and a few non-return valves……The morning of day 2, a few blisters, a worn out pair of thongs and it still wasn’t working, sorry Sarah. Old mate sends one of his staff over to assist. He spends the entire day on the head, it ejects the waste to the tank but it leaks like a sieve. At one stage we had an interior water feature spraying across the bathroom! It’s now fixed or so we hope, fingers crossed. Laundry complete, check! Provisioning complete, check! New crew on-board, check! Next stop, Corinth Canal.

The Corinth Canal (Dhiorix Korinthou (insert in Greek especially for Nic) is an amazing feat of engineering, you can’t help but look up. The ancient Greeks and Romans may have contemplated building it, Nero started the job but those who finished it did carve out a serious amount of rock. It’s 3.2 miles long, only 25 meters wide but it is up to 79 meters above sea level at the highest point.

We had motored from Athens and naturally through the canal, so why stop now. Motor Yacht Aura was warmed up and we motored to a secluded bay wedged between 2 uninhabited islands. One previously housed a monastery the other was maybe a fisherman’s home and farm. It was just us and a few colonies of bird life. After a swim to cool off, it was time to relax, drink a bottle of champagne (thanks Sarah) and ponder the stone circles laid out on the hill. Obviously some ancient ruins not yet discovered by the sober enthusiast.

Next morning, fire up that engine we’re heading west. Plus no prizes for guessing the wind direction. Next stop Nisis Trizonia, the wind picked up to 35knts….on the nose. We arrived at the anchorage only to find that it was small and the current occupants had 40-50 meters of chain down in 5 meters of water. Hence making it very difficult for us to find a suitable so we made the call to Mediterranean moor onto the dock. Considering the wind, we did reasonably well accept that I might have an issue with angles and distance. We had a little challenging time with our passerelle (gang plank) but we made it ashore. The village was lovely and we had the best moussaka yet J.

A little trivia, Greece has the longest cable stay bridge in the world……plus it’s protected by ancient fortification. The pilot book stated that we needed to get approval from a control centre to pass under the bridge. Radio call “Rion Traffic, Rion Traffic, Rion Traffic this is sailing yacht AURA, AURA, AURA…over” we repeated this multiple times “Nothing heard, AURA standing by on 14” We took a chance and made the run under the bridge. We did squeeze under, it is only 25 to 45 meters high :-) Maybe the Greek austerity measures have cut the bridge department, maybe they couldn’t understand our Aussie accent? We passed under the bridge as we exited the Gulf of Corinth (Korinthiakos Kolpos).

We arrived (motored) at Mesolongion (Missalonghi). The anchorage is up a long narrow canal surrounded by salt flats with water the colour of green algae….. doesn’t sound so attractive. At the previous village we met a French gentlemen who has been holidaying in this part of the world for many years said it was a must do. Note: Frenchy once had a yacht, he now has a motor boat…..We navigated our way up the channel past the fishing houses, many are now holiday homes. The landscape reminded us of FNQ or rice fields in Vietnam. This place doesn’t look like Greece. Regardless there were many people enjoying their Sunday in the sea. Just bobbing around in the water relaxing and talking. Oh the algae green water has healing or some health properties, mmm….. the water at Heburn Springs (Victoria) looks a lot healthier. Well when in Rome (or should that be Greece) and we cooled off.

Zakynthos has a reputation for vivid blue waters, photos showing the water so crystal clear that the yachts appear to float. Its also a major turtle nesting ground for many of the turtles throughout the Med. The local tourist board also produce a brilliant coffee table magazine, a gift to take home and proudly display your recent holiday and reminisce. Nobody told us about the random oil and tar that floats to the surface, this isn’t in our sailing pilot book (12th ed), nor in the glossy magazine or the sailing web sites. Just as a heads up, the Greeks have known about it for 2,000 or so years, maybe everybody knows except a couple of Aussies who are passing by. Anyway that’s my rant, if you’ve seen the post on FB you’d know our tender was trashed by tar. It has cleaned up OK and with alot of scrubbing. I was also covered in tar as I removed it from the tender. Fortunately Kim was able to clean me up with only a couple of layers of skin removed.  The cover that we had custom made in Gocek is in quarantine and needs a pair of scissors and some work. Moving on, it is special to watch the turtles cruise by, Sarah shared a up-close moment with a turtle while snorkelling. The night of the tar disaster, we celebrated our 11th year anniversary at a restaurant overlooking the village of Keri and Turtle Island. It was a special evening with great food, wines and views (thanks Sarah).

The most expensive charter yacht, the Luna was also part of the scenery and it also became a tourist attraction. A cool $2m per week, I'm not sure if that includes drinks....if you have to ask you just cant afford it.

As we noted in our previous blog update and the photos above, our dear friend Sarah joined us for this passage. She kindly provided a little input for the blog, a few of her thoughts as follows:

I've decided to sum up my sailing experience on board Aura with my two top insights into sailing life:

 1. Keep your eyes open.... you just never know what you'll see.

  •  It's not everyday you're alone with a wild dolphin in the middle of the Aegean sea
  • When returning to the yacht after a refreshing swim in the sea always check for nearby sealife. Thanks to a quick heads up from Capitain Simon I was able to dive back in the water and swim alone with a beautiful turtle for at least 5 minutes.
  • There's no end of opportunities for knocking into things on the boat or getting in the way of a moving halliard or sheet (this observation is really just an opportunity to demonstrate I'm learning the lingo!
  • Who knew it's not at all uncommon for people to sail naked?

 2. It's really all about the people

  • Ensure any invitations for sundowners are accepted and embraced. It's great fun meeting others from the global sailing community and you can get some recommendations for future destinations, as well as compare oil and tar damage to your tender!
  • Reward proactivity in others. After a tense docking into the small fishing village of Trizonia we were greeted by a lady on her bike who'd cycled around the marina to let us know about the homemade fare on offer at her restaurant Osteria. Three moussakas and about the same number of wine carafes later we were certain we'd made the right choice.
  • Accept any help when offered. From fellow sailors helping to catch our lines on the dock to Claudio lending us his extra long hose pipe to fill our water tanks, the friendliness and generosity of the Greek people was second to none.  

I fee l very lucky to have developed a friendship with Kim and Simon over the last 2 years, so much so that I was honoured to become the third Forth for their wedding anniversary dinner at the beautiful Mythos restaurant overlooking the bay of Keri, Zakynthos. A bit too much of the local wine had me chuckling that if only my husband Matt could have joined us he would have become the fourth Forth! On reflection, there's really not that many people you could spend 24/7 with but Kim and Simon's fun-loving and thoughtful nature goes such a long way to ensuring this is possible. Thank you :-)

 To all those lucky enough to join Kim and Simon... yamas and enjoy! To everyone else, do all you can to make sure you're lucky enough to join Kim and Simon!

After arriving at Zakynthos Port, we farewelled Sarah...I sent her off in our tender that was to dirty to be allowed on board. Her mission was to row ashore, much to the concern of Kim who was worried that we might never see her again. Fortunately, she befriended a captain of a super yacht that assisted her in docking the tender close by at the town marina. That evening, we then enjoyed a  final dinner of moussaka, the local Zakynthos wine and maybe a few to many glasses of Metaxa. It was sad to say goodbye.

We started passage planing, next stop Italy. We would have liked to spend more time exploring the Ionian, several months would be required to do it justice.

So who just randomly pops in (and out) of our lives, she’s on the island just next to us. We have a new visiting crew member joining us, number...

Island Hopping in Greece

We arrived at Tilos in record time with Si more than happy to use the iron sail.  We docked with ease, picking up a lazy line at the town marina instead of anchoring and organising the dingy to go ashore. What has changed you might ask? The Rugby of course. We set off to explore the main platia (πλατεία) and find a taverna that might be televising the game. The only televised sport was the Euro2016. After 3 strikes, we headed back to AURA rather disheartened when the local harbourmaster suggested that we try the café next door. The two guys that ran the establishment spend about half an hour trying to locate the channel. In the end, they kindly used the internet to stream the game on the “big screen”. They went to so much trouble to get it working, shame that the outcome was not in our favour.

We both loved Tilos.  The water was an amazing blue with a lovely pebbly beach. After the disappointment of the Rugby, we shouted ourselves a beach chair and enjoyed the gorgeous weather. That evening they had a local festival on with traditional music and dancing. Great atmosphere with the entire village turning out to watch. 

The next day we decided it was time to stretch the legs and see some of the island. Our “old mate” the harbourmaster suggested a nice “sandy” beach about 2.5 km away. The track was literally a goat track that wound its way along the coast, up and around the hill, with amazing views of the bays below. We finally made it to the deserted beach…with peddles. Maybe the word sand did not translate? Enduring the heat and rugged terrain we’d hoped for a little taverna or a shop that sold cool drinks or ice cream……that wasn’t the case. It was just us and the goats. I tried to convince Si to come skinny dipping with me. His response was that someone will turn up….I mean really, who would be mad enough to come to such an isolated spot along a rugged track on such a hot day. Sure enough, five minutes after getting into the water (takes a while with all those stones) a person appeared. As you can imagine, Si could not stop laughing…I just stayed in the water and froze until they wandered further down the beach.

We left Tilos for the island of Astypalea. We motored sailed with a very pleasant 12-20knts most of the way.

As we approached Astypalea, we had mobile 3G coverage and I was able to check the weather. It showed that they were expecting 40knt winds from the SE. We looked at the anchorage that we planned to stay the night however it had very little protection from the south. We read that there was a sheltered bay that we had already passed that might provide us with some added protection so we headed back the way we came. The bay was very narrow with another yacht already anchored in the best position. We anchored and took three lines to shore. Si spent about an hour in the water making sure he was happy with the position of the lines. Once we were secure the wind completely dropped out. At midnight I woke to wind gusts that slowly increased to 50knts. We adjusted the anchor and lines as best we could but were being pushed closer to the shore. I kept my eye on the latitude and longitude readings for the remainder of the night praying that we would not end up on the rocks. By the time the sun came up, we were about a meter from the rocks. The anchor had served us well but we were dragging! It was time to move. We had to motor forward and get the lines in fast so I decided I had to get in the water while Si maneuvered AURA. I managed to release all three shore lines, the last was holding AURA in place. Once released, Si moved AURA forward to the middle of the bay, about 50 meters away. I held the line tight, being dragged along behind. With strong winds and chop, I was taking in water….and I started freaking out. Si managed to pull me in. I climbed on board with legs shaking and retrieve the anchor. Disaster avoided! 

We decided to move to a bay that offered better protection from southerly winds, it was approximately 5 nautical mile trip to the north of the island.  Once we left our bay, we soon realised how protected we were. Choppy seas and 40knt winds resulted in a very turbulent passage that took twice as long as expected….2.5 hrs. I stayed below while Simon did a great job battling the elements to get us to the land locked bay of Vathi. It was very well protected, the entrance was only 25m wide thus almost land locked. It was such a relief to be in tranquil water again. The past 12 hours was not something that I want to repeat anytime soon.

We rested and relaxed overnight and decided to take advantage of the wind direction the following morning and head to the island to overnight in Amorgos before heading to Ios.  Amorgos had all the typical surroundings, rugged hills a few houses dotted the landscape and a few ruins. The island on this bay was a former leper colony…just a little trivia. We had the bay to ourselves before moving onto Ios. 

I have fond memories of Ios from my early back backing days and again in 2000 with Andrew, Flic and Keith and a legendary fig fight. I had resolved that we’d make a stop in Ios so I could show Si around. As we were coming from the south, we made a stop at Manganari bay. According to the pilot book it is meant to be a nudist beach….looking, looking…nope…he must not have updated that section of his book. What it did have was the most beautiful turquoise water and a sandy beach. After being confined to the yacht for the last three days, we lowered the dingy and went exploring. The family run taverna served us a lovely meal before we settling down to another windy night.

The next morning we moved to the main beach in Ios, Milopotamou bay.  I remember it as a quiet beach that allowed you to get away from the madness of the village. Now it is hotels, beach chairs, bars, restaurants and more bars. Oh and lots of 20 something year olds (somethings have not changed). We had fun exploring the port and the village (chora), picking up some much needed provisions. Also we had to find a place that televised the Rugby the following day. The “Far Out” village mentioned that they would televise it as the majority of their clientele are Australian. Happy Simon!!

We arrived early Sunday morning in eager anticipation of watching the game. Not only did they televise the rugby, they had it up on the big screen ready for us. Very sweet of them considering the expected rent a crowd did not show. Fortunately we did not have to fight for front row seats. After a disappointing result, we went back to AURA, had a few more drinks to drown our sorrows before heading back to the pool bar that had opening night with a DJ. It actually reminded me a lot of a Cottesloe Beach Hotel Sunday session (or KM8 Sentosa). Drinks were free pour (great margaritas) and great tunes. Fun night…fortunately we had to head back to AURA before it was completely dark as we didn’t have a torch. In hindsight it was a good thing. No wind that night (finally) so up bright and early to head for Sifnos.


In Sifnos we anchored in a bay of Vathi. Once again, aqua blue water and a small village but this time a sandy beach plus the hills are terraced and not so rugged. For three days we had lovely calm weather. Unfortunately that was short lived as once again we were blasted by the Meltimi wind. This time it blew for 3 days, 35 to 45 knots. We are in charter yacht territory and thus the entertainment begins. The bay would be nearly empty before lunch and late afternoon another flotilla of charter yachts would arrive. We were perplexed with their need to maintain the schedule and head out each morning only to be bashed by wild seas and unforgiving winds. Over several nights we had many yachts drag anchor, most without incident however one night in the early hours we woke to extra strong gusts and to watch a 50’ yacht drag anchor and collide with a 100 plus foot sailing Guillet that then also dragged. Rigging and staunches tangled in the darkness. A miserable episode for these peoples holiday.

We gave names to the new arrivals, the loud yacht was named Chuck (everybody in the bay could hear every word) and the Germans who couldn’t get their anchor to hold (after 10 or more attempts) we named Hans. Si did take the dingy over and asked if they needed any assistance. They thanked him but declined and continued the same flawed anchoring technique….. and so the naming and the evening performances went on. We did have a favourite, a French flagged yacht, they arrived on the same days as us. A Beneteau Sense, the same model as AURA. They anchored a good distance from our stern and it was almost like looking in a mirror. On day three or four, we took a short dingy ride to introduce ourselves. They too were waiting for a weather window. Eventually they moved on, our reference point that we used in the dark was going and we said au revoir. 


We finally decided that the worst of the wind had passed and headed north to Serifos. We got out there and it was still blowing 30-35knts. We did manage to do some sailing and broke our record of 17nm in 7.5hrs. That was with motoring for the last hour. Serifos was another nice bay though a bit more touristy. We did the 2.5km walk to the village up the hill and back. After two nights in Serifos, the wind had swung around to the south so we planned to sail to Kythnos. Great plan but of course the wind was not strong enough so we motor sailed. Did I mention that there is generally too much or too little wind? Before you ask, yes I am obsessed with the weather!!


After a lovely night at the very busy bay of Fikiadha in Kithnos (reminded me of Thompson Bay at Rottnest). At 05:30 we picked up our anchor and motored to Alimos Marina outside of Athens. Here we need to do some repairs such as install a new part for our toilet (“head”) and new propellers for our bow thrusters. We think we might have had a big fish get sucked in when we had to move our anchor when some considerate charter yacht decided to anchor on top of us in Serifos. We will also have Sarah joining us for a week as we joining through the Corinth Canal and across to Zakinthos in the Ionians. 

Symi back to Rhodes and back again

There is something incredibly beautiful about the Greek islands. The barren landscape is the first thing that you notice, especially after spending a couple of months in Turkey. What they lack in greenery they make up for in architecture and a can of paint. Most of the older villages are built precariously on top of a hill, the streets wind in all directions and often finish with a dead end. I am sure it made a lot of sense when the villages were being chased by pirates but not that easy to navigate for the unsuspecting tourist (aka me).

After spending a few days exploring Rhodes with Eddie and Jan, we headed to the island of Symi. We spent a couple of nights in the nearly deserted bay of Ormos Nanou. A very pleasant change after the hustle and bustle of Rhodes. Day three we decided that we were up for some more human interaction so we up anchor and moved around the corner to the bay of Pedi. A lovely bay with a taverna and supermarket. A bus that ran hourly to Symi town. Si and I decided that it was time to stretch the legs and walk the hill to Symi harbour where we ran into Liz and Des Lord on “Abrolhos”. 

After several days in Pedi we decided that we needed to a change of scenery so we headed around the corner to Ay Marina. A bay with crystal clear water, sand plus a beach bar and restaurant. Anchoring in just 3 meters of water, we took a line to shore as there was little room to swing. We had several motor yachts join us during the day and a few sun lovers that are brought in by ferry during the day. By 4pm, everyone departed and we had the bay to ourselves. 


On our last night at Symi, we decided to move back to Pedi as strong winds were forecast. As per the norm, the forecast wasn’t accurate and we had a lovely calm night on anchor. We did go into Symi town for a lovely lunch at the Olive Tree run by a couple of English expats and we discovered a few “Grand Design” potentials with commanding views of the harbor.

 

The next morning we attempted to up anchor, well maybe not as effortlessly as we would have like as we were down and not going anywhere. After some manoeuvring in circles giving the “dock & go” technology a good workout, we finally lifted the anchor and headed back to Rhodes. We had a great sail with the wind finally coming from the right direction and at a reasonable speed. We contacted our agent Nicolos who directed us to our berth. The space did not have lazy lines so we had to drop the anchor and reverse into this tiny space in 25 knts of wind. Mandraki harbour is ancient and is renowned for boats fouling their anchor (getting caught on another anchor). As we came in we had about 30 spectators…no pressure what so ever. We got it first time!! So proud of ourselves though I did have some great instruction from the guys on the boat next to us. So glad to make it in without incident and be greeted by John and Jane (“Catching the Wind”) who we had not seen since leaving Marmaris.



As we only had a few days left with Eddie and Jan, Si went with Eddie to visit the Grand Masters Castle. 



The next day we went to Lindos. It was very busy (not quiet how I remembered it 15 years ago) and Jan and I enjoyed the view of Lindos from a lovely roof top restaurant while the boys climbed the Acropolis. Another lovely lunch before heading back to Rhodes. 


Jan and Eddie took us to dinner where we probably had the best meal thus far in Greece. The following morning we went with Jan and Eddie to bid a sad goodbye as they headed to Rome for their next part of their trip.


We stayed an extra day in Rhodes waiting for the wind to decrease in speed (always too much or too little). Next stop, Tilos with a stopover at Symi in the bay of Panormittis. We had wind however it was coming from the exact direction that we were heading. Si decided that he would make the most of the wind tack, tack, tack, tack. Seven hours later we made the 20nm to Panormittis...not happy Jan! Panormittis has a good sized monastery with the service broadcast with loud speakers across the bay. The next morning the wind had completely dropped out and we set off early to motor to Tilos.
 

Rodos then Symi

We said farewell to Kelly and then welcomed the new crew, Mum & Dad! We spent a few days in Rhodos exploring the fortified city and waiting for the weather. We then sailed to a secluded bay on the island of Symi. Next stop was bay Pedi. While walking to Symi Town we noticed an Australian yacht with a familiar name. It’s Des & Liz from Perth! Friends and former partners of FIGARO. A lovely surprise and an unexpected catch up....small world :-)

New Crew - Turkey

Hello.

I’m Kelly, newest crew member aboard AURA.

I’ve spent the last 10 days on board and as the resident guest blogger for May, I’m going to share a snapshot of my time with Kim and Simon, taking in the sights of Turkey and Greece and refining my sailor speak.

Kim and I met through work about five years ago and after too many camping trips and nights out to count, it’s fair to say that I’m okay with hanging out in confined spaces with these two lovely people.

This trip has taught me a lot about myself. When growing up people would often tell me things like, ‘Kelly swears like a sailor.’ I took it as a term of endearment. As luck would have it, my extensive sailor vocabulary has led me to my true calling in life. I’m pretty sure I was born to be on a boat.

Being an official sailor puts me in the prime position to offer advice for those lucky folk that do have the opportunity to come aboard this gorgeous vessel (ship, yacht, boat)…

Top five tips for boat survival

For the lucky friends and family who do get the opportunity to come aboard, Kim and Si thought it would be a good idea to share a list of my learnings.

Here’s my top five tips for boat survival:

1.      Get to know the lingo.

Fender – noun

The blue bouncy things that hang off the boat for decoration.

“Kelly drop the fender off the side of the boat.”

Fender is not a brand of guitar.

Port Hatch – noun

The windows located in the boats deck above Kim and Simon’s bed. Can be used interchangeably with ‘port light’, as Simon sees fit (normally to confuse Kim), but should be referred to as a ‘hatch’ at all other times.  Oh and they should be closed when it starts to rain.

Head – noun

A porcelain repository. Can be used interchangeably with toilet.

“Kelly, don’t leave water in the head.”

Tip for young players - you must not leave water in the head (toilet) while in transit. Learnt that the hard way.

Chafing – verb

To wear away or irritate by rubbing of friction (not to be confused with chafing of the nether regions).

Chafing is bad. It is enough to send Simon into a tail spin. He has a range of devices that he uses to avoid chafing and gets very irritated when his ropes are chafed :-)

2.      Bring essential survival gear

Onion chopping goggles proved to be a necessity.

3.      Wear appropriate attire at all times

You’re on a boat – enjoy.

4.      Be prepared to use hand sanitiser, often

A rule enforced by Simon if you’re unlucky enough to bring a cold onto the boat (like me for the first 3 days – sorry guys).

5.      Socialise with the locals

Invite the owner to have a drink but beware of the Raki!

Sights and scenes from Turkey

I’m so grateful for the chance to experience life on the water and see some of the most stunning destinations. It’s truly been a pleasure to crew on AURA and spend time with great friends.

Oh and here’s a sum up of the sights we’ve seen this week:

Gocek – this is a cute village about 12nm from Fethiye

Yassica Adasi - great BBQ and beautiful sunset – washing hair off the back of the boat is optional.

Sarsala Bay – Another amazing bay surrounded by steep mountains. Historically significant with tombs located in the hills.

Kapi Creek – you know you’re in a good place when the barman lines up a complimentry tequila shot at 2pm (plus one for himself) … this is a cute fishing island with a relaxed vibe and plenty of goats. We spent two nights here on separate occasions… if anyone gets the chance to see this place – stay for dinner, order the calamari and tell Moammer that I said hi :-)

Karacaoren (aka Crazycat Café) – they have turtles, the best lamb casserole and killer views of the full moon. The pictures don’t do this place justice. At dinner we met a Swiss sailor called Florienne who has been visiting this spot for 25 years. He said it hasn’t changed a bit. Si also pulled out Crystal (aka dive hooker). Not much to see but Si had a smile on his face.

Fethiye – this is the most picturesque city. We moored at the Yacht Classic Hotel and in the spirit of tip 5 (socialise with the locals) we took a ride into town with the restaurant manager (the awesome Ozcan) for a grocery shop. On the way back he took us up through the hills for a birds eye view of Fethiye and a chance to see the ancient king tombs and mosques.

Rhodes – Our departure from Kapi Creek included action man (aka Simon) dive into the water as we were leaving to free our lazy line that was wrapped around our keel. Very Indiana Jones!!! On the trip over we experienced +35 knot winds on the nose but we made it safely to Rhodes.  After a bit of sightseeing, we had my farewell dinner at a great restaurant and got to try some Greek cuisine…which does not appear to be too dissimilar to Turkish cuisine :-)

Thanks guys ;)

Kelly … signing off, over and out...... AURA is standing by on 16

Fun in Turkey

Our Weber BBQ and replacement EPIRB had arrived at the Marmaris Marina. We did a run to the supermarket for provisioning and we were ready to cast off our lines. Well we actually spent an extra day at the marina as it was raining plus we spent another "quite" evening of G&T's and wine with "Catching the Wind". We met John and Jane on the flight from Istanbul and found ourselves at the same marina and same dock, the rest is sundowner history. So we headed off on a cool sunny spring morning towards Ekick Buku.

Rather than heading 10nm offshore we made a slight short cut through a restricted Turkish Navy area. One of the pilot books says it's OK as long as you don't stop. Mmm…the charts tell us it's a firing range! Of course after days of wind the wind has stopped altogether. AURA was comfortably motoring, along being passed by several other yachts that had the pedal to the metal. We were enjoying the sunshine and then looking at the horizon......"Is that an aircraft carrier?", "Does Turkey have a carrier?", "Shall we crank up the speed?", “Can we go faster as I think they are coming straight at us?” Ok, so maybe we shouldn't have cut that corner. Fortunately it was only a small frigate type ship and we out ran them as they made their way to the naval base .

We dropped anchor in the sheltered and picturesque bay of Ekncik and relaxed after our few hours at sea. Oh and it started to rain again.

The next morning it was time to test the dingy. The poor dingy has seen better days, everything about AURA was as new, except for the tender. We had several unsuccessfully attempts at patching the leak with limited success. The tender was already like a patch work quilt. We used the davit arm to lower the outboard, connected the fuel tank and we were heading to shore. We walked past the local resorts, they are empty. It is very sad for the local economy, as most of the hotel and restaurants are empty. We visited the only shop, a supermarket that had nothing that we required. Kim brought some bread even though it was not needed as it would be likely his only sale for the day. After exploring the beach front, we made our way towards a small harbour where the fishermen (and women) were tending to their nets. Direct from a boat we purchased live prawns that would be tonight's dinner.

We completed a few outstanding items on our "to do list", fit the socks for fenders, find and hoist the RPYC burgee (flag) and then enjoyed the opportunity to do very little Then again, there was one other yacht in the bay. Sundowners with Peter & Petra (aka “Flip Flop” a Roberts & Cain 40’ cat.) turned into dinner, a fun night with us both feeling a little dusty in the morning. 

It was time to depart and make our way to Gocek. Of course, there was no wind.....We pleasantly motor sailed and took the opportunity to make water and recharge the house batteries. Looks like the weather is warming up and we are looking forward to our new crew member… 

Aura is off the dock…the learning curve begins

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than the ones you did do….
So throw away the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour.
Explore, Dream, Discover.
Mark Twain

It all seems so easy when you are sitting in a lovely bay with turquoise water lapping against the boat, shadowed by a 100BC castle. The cows are resting on the rock faced shore and there is a gentle breeze rippling across the water (fortunately from the opposite direction of the cows). Times like this it makes it all worth. Other times, you think …..!!

We finally set off on Tuesday morning in cold, rainy weather. Simon had spent two hours the previous day cleaning the decks. It rained overnight and we woke up to all the decks covered in a reddy brown dirt. So the first lesson for the day, in this part of Turkey, when it rains everything gets dirty rather than clean, “rain dust”. So before we could go anywhere, OCD Simon had to clean them all again. 

We departed the marina without incident and headed for the fuel dock across the Marmaris Bay. It was there that we realised that the bow thrusters were not working. After several attempts to get onto the dock in a very confined spaced, we proceeded to fill our fuel tanks. So bring in Marine Engineering Team One, who arrived to give Si a lesson on how the “Dock & Go” works. Si took one of the team out to demonstrate that the “joy stick” spins us in circles instead of moving AURA sideways (yes, AURA has a few special tricks). So bring in Marine Engineering Team Two, new battery bank, fuse and check the recently replaced 12v to 24v converter. Everything is working, I love the efficiency of getting stuff done here (big thanks to Jes Holman).  Delayed by only an hour, we finally got off our second dock for the day leaving Marmaris behind.

The first bay we planned to visit was approx. 12nm south of Marmaris called Gerbekse. Lovely secluded narrow bay with ruins on the beach. The plan was to anchor and take a line to shore. After a lot of discussion as to where to put the anchor and which side we should take the line, the anchor was nice and snug (after two attempts). Si put on his wet suit and swam to shore with a line. When we were told that in many anchorages you have to take a line to shore, we expected that there would be trees strategically located to put your line around. Well the reality was that Simon had to climb up rocks and find a nicely shaped rock to wrap the line around. Si adjusted the line several times but it the line was chafing on the rock and as we all know (or so I do now) chafing is bad. So we pulled up the anchor and went to the next bay, Ciftlik Buku.

As it was getting late and the wind was blowing, we decided to practice our Mediterranean Mooring. This involves going to dock stern to (reversing in) and fishing a line out of the water to hold the bow (front instead of an anchor). Fortunately they were not busy so we picked a dock that was empty, less chance of doing any damage. All went well as we had two locals that were very helpful in securing our stern lines. That night we treated ourselves to some takeaway lamb kebabs that we ate on the boat due to the swell being so bad only one of us could get off at a time. 

The next morning, Simon’s sore throat had developed into full blown man flu which might have something to do with him swimming in freezing water...doh!! A day of rest was in order for both of us. That was until we were told that they were expecting a lot of boats on the dock so rather than move we decided to anchor in the bay. Once again, no one else was around so after a couple of anchor drops, we had secured the perfect spot, or so we thought. As the afternoon progressed more boats started coming into the bay and anchoring near us, probably because the wind had picked up with 40knt gusts into the bay. A couple of the yachts dragged their anchor. As the afternoon wore on, I was on diligent anchor watch whilst Simon rested. When he got up, he took one look at our position and told me that we had to move. I had spent the past several hours trying to convince myself that we were fine but the boat behind us was getting closer. It was getting late so we had to move before dark. After two drops with much discussion around our position, we anchored in 5m of water and dug in nice and snug. The wind kept blowing so it was still a very tense night. I looked up through the hatch during the night and yelled, “Wake up Simon, I can see the top of a mast”. Simon jumps out of bed and checks the stern of the boat. He comes back wanting to know what I am on about. So it was the moon…hardly my fault for causing mass panic.

The following day, the wind had dropped slightly and we prepared to head to Serce Limani. What I mean by preparing, was sending me up the mast to retrieve the flag line that had come free over the past 24 hrs. That went relatively well, just some more entertainment for the surrounding yachts.

Serce Limani was a lovely bay with a very narrow entrance. Just to mix things up, we picked up a mooring buoy. Old Mate from the local restaurant Kaptan Nimo’s was there to assist, he then ferried us to shore and we enjoyed a lovely Meze selection for lunch under the gum trees (with imported Australian flies) before chilling on the boat. So nice not be on anchor watch (trusting Kaptan’s mooring quality & strength). It was another very windy night so still lots of banging noises to jolt you awake. The following morning we decided to check out Bozuk Bay. Only 3nm around the corner. The bay is only accessible by boat and has a 3000 year old Dorian settlement and castle on the top of the hill. The day has gone relatively smoothly. Just a minor issue with releasing a mooring line, we cut the end of it as it wouldn’t run free…..

We arrived at this bay at 10am. Went for a lovely walk exploring the castle ruins, we had homemade burgers for lunch and we are still the only visiting yacht in the bay. It is so incredibly peaceful here. I think it must be time for a tequila.

Maiden Voyage

How hard could it be to get off a dock and go for a sail around Marmaris Bay? Under normal circumstances in light winds with a boat that you are familiar with, not hard at all. When you add 30 knots of wind, boats squashed together like sardines on a dock and three people that have never sailed a 50ft Beneteau Sense…damn near impossible!! Some would ask where is our sense?

Our trip to Marmaris was relatively non eventful with the highlight being our 104kg of luggage falling off the trolley just as we were about to enter the Qantas check in area. Not bad in the event stakes considering we had four flights and three stop overs that took about 48 hrs. We did get to spend a few wonderful hours with our dear friends Kylee and Brett in Adelaide before catching our flight to Dubai.  

Once we finally reached Dalaman airport, we met a lovely couple Jane and John (Catching the Wind) who were also headed to the Marmaris Yacht Marina. We were fortunate to be able to share their lift to the Marina and amazingly, everything arrived in tack. By the time we arrived to the Marina, Simon was like a kid in a toy store, running down the dock to see our boat for the first time, and she did not disappoint. Aura is in great shape, all cleaned, serviced and ready to go…well mostly....(its now 7 days later & almost finished)

Just to give you some background, the previous owners left the boat thinking that they would be returning so everything was onboard including their clothes, shoes, toiletries, a fully stocked kitchen (including the biggest toaster I have ever seen), linen, boat stuff and much, much more. So the first few days have been sorting through what is on the boat, deciding what to keep and where to store everything.  Aura has so much storage, five days on and we are still finding things. Good news is that there are a number of charities in town that are more than happy to take anything that we don’t need.

So after Simon has crawled all over the boat and I had done some provisioning, we hired a training skipper (Paul) to come out with us to give Aura a bit of a “shake down”. Although the winds were strong, we decided it was a good opportunity to put her through her paces. Everything was going smoothly as we dropped our lines and headed off the dock for the first time. That was until our bow got pushed by a strong wind gust resulting in our life buoy getting caught on our neighbours anchor. Once we slowed down to untangle the anchor, we were knocked horizontal onto the anchor of the boat two down. Simon was hanging over the side trying to push us away but the winds were stronger. Fortunately Paul used the “Dock and Go” to move us sideways and out of harm’s way.  It was a close call and fortunately only minor damage was done to our neighbours anchor.

The rest of the sail was not without incident and we now have a list of a few things that need to be fixed…it is a boat after all and maintenance is due. The wind dropped to a comfortable 18 knots and we sailed out of Marmaris Bay to have a look around. The scenery is amazing and can’t wait to explore all the beautiful bays and small coves. We are likely to be at the Marina for another few days. We have met lot of great people and are more than happy to get to know our new home better before we head off. 

Alpha, Unicorn, Rainbow, Aussie (AURA)

Only four more sleeps!! It is only just starting to dawn on us that this time next week we will see Aura for the first time. Scary stuff when you consider it has been seven years to reach our goal. With most big dreams, the fun is in the planning and the anticipation of what will be. What will it feel like when you are standing at the dock about to board your new home that is on the other side of the world?

So …. what planning was involved I hear you ask? Packing up one’s life and tying up all those loose ends might seem simple enough but it is a web out there that required plenty on entanglement. Selling the house, car, furniture and leaving work …all stuff that we tend to have a false sense of attachment that has resulted in a little bit of heart break along the way. After all, it is what we have been led to believe is what defines us.  Not to mention saying goodbye to family and friends. That is a lot of heart break!!

On a brighter note, we have had a great few months catching up with both old and new friends. We had a great trip to Perth after Christmas catching up with our very dear Perth friends.  Our old pals from our first sailing adventure, Geoff and Merel (S/Y Miss Molly), spent Easter with us in Noosa. We caught up with Brendy and Sue from Melbourne. The gorgeous Di flew up from Sydney and Bec and Paul came up from Canberra. Last night was our Brisbane farewell party which saw everyone dressed as pirates. Great fun and plenty of laughs.

I spent some time with my family a couple of weeks ago and saying good bye was really hard. Simon’s parents are meeting us in Rhodes on the 26th May so that was a lot easier.

We already have lots of people joining us over this year in the Mediterranean. We plan to spend the first month and half getting to know AURA and practising out Mediterranean mooring. The whole joy stick thingy will be interesting!! Hopefully there won’t be too many people around to laugh at us. From Turkey we are heading to Greece, Italy and Spain. We are joining the Barbados 50 Rally on the 17th/18th September where we will spend some time in the Canaries and Cape Verde islands before crossing the Atlantic to Barbados to join in the 50 years of independence celebrations in November.

Dare to dream…it is a lot of hard work but well worth the end result. Will touch base once we have arrived in Turkey and we are finally on board

xx