Several days ago another Nordhavn came into the bay we were anchored in – the first time in over three years of cruising. This was a Russian-owned, three year-old, 85-footer, with five full-time crew, and powered by twin Detroit diesels. Cruising at 11 knots she only uses 35 litres/hour of fuel, but we can only imagine the costs of running a vessel of that size, and paying five salaries.
Nordhavns were originally conceived as Passagemakers, but now Nordhavn seem to be also diversifying into the category of super-yachts or expedition yachts. There is no finite definition of “Passagemakers”, but they are generally considered to be ocean-capable vessels in the range of 40-70ft, able to be operated by a cruising couple. In most cases vessels above about 60-70ft are beyond the typical cruising couple to manage and maintain without crew. Here in Turkey we even see boats of about 50ft with professional crew.
We arrived in one of the beautiful anchorages near Bozburun, with only two other boats there, and a boatman rowed up to us in a small dinghy offering fresh produce and home-made clothing for sale. We bought some honey, nuts and apricots but passed on the Turkish-style clothes. This is always a process rather than a transaction, and we spent half an hour talking with the boatman about the qualities of his produce, his life and family, and our life and family. I can’t imagine doing this ashore, when things always seem to be hurried, but it comes naturally in the cruising life when there is plenty of time to talk, and to really listen. We always try to buy something to help the local people support their families.
This Turkish boatman sells produce and clothing to visiting cruisers
We’ve now cleared-out of Turkey and anchored at Pedhi, on the Greek island of Simi.
With the help of the Greek yachting agency – A1 (who’ve always been very helpful on a whole variety of issues) we managed to clear-in as Captain & Crew in transit, which means we have up to six months in Greece, rather than three, and the Schengen Treaty does not apply. From here we’ll leisurely cruise through various Greek islands towards Santorini, where we meet our daughter, Amy, on 2 June.
Di has been reading the autobiography of an Australian who fought at Gallipoli in WW1.
Sometimes the off-duty soldiers were allowed to have a swim, and mysteriously the occasional soldier didn’t come back out of the water. One day the author was enjoying a swim, when he suddenly heard another soldier shout a warning to him. He turned around and saw a very large eye looking up at him from under the water. He was a strong swimmer and quickly managed to reach the safety of a nearby jetty, then seeing that the eye belonged to a huge squid, with a body about a metre wide and long tentacles trailing behind. That was the last time they went swimming at Gallipoli. Checking this out on Google, there have been two findings of giant squid in the Med, but many more than that in New Zealand, so we feel quite safe in the water.
Laurie hard at work testing out the BBQ
TECHNICAL
We’ve installed our two new Deka AGM batteries for the 24 volt bow thruster bank, although it was quite a mission to maneuver batteries weighing 59kg each into the confines of the anchor chain locker.
With Envoy’s large fuel tanks and low consumption, we only refuel about three times a year, but we need to do so shortly so we’ve been thinking where to do this. Sometimes Turkey is dearer than Greece, but currently they’re similar in price. Here in Turkey it’s Lira 4.20 (NZ$3.00) per litre which is US$9.12 per gallon. It’s not only the price to consider though, but the quality. Nowadays most of the diesel sold for on-road use contains bio-diesel, and this is definitely not recommended for marine engines (although an exception is commercial vessels using high fuel volumes and modified for use with bio-diesel.) Bio-diesel has a far shorter storage life, and has high solvent properties, which reduces the life of seals and hoses. We’ve been advised that marine diesel sold on the Greek island of Simi is bio-diesel free, so we’ll refuel here.
LOG
Will update in next posting.
Nordhavns were originally conceived as Passagemakers, but now Nordhavn seem to be also diversifying into the category of super-yachts or expedition yachts. There is no finite definition of “Passagemakers”, but they are generally considered to be ocean-capable vessels in the range of 40-70ft, able to be operated by a cruising couple. In most cases vessels above about 60-70ft are beyond the typical cruising couple to manage and maintain without crew. Here in Turkey we even see boats of about 50ft with professional crew.
We arrived in one of the beautiful anchorages near Bozburun, with only two other boats there, and a boatman rowed up to us in a small dinghy offering fresh produce and home-made clothing for sale. We bought some honey, nuts and apricots but passed on the Turkish-style clothes. This is always a process rather than a transaction, and we spent half an hour talking with the boatman about the qualities of his produce, his life and family, and our life and family. I can’t imagine doing this ashore, when things always seem to be hurried, but it comes naturally in the cruising life when there is plenty of time to talk, and to really listen. We always try to buy something to help the local people support their families.
This Turkish boatman sells produce and clothing to visiting cruisers
We’ve now cleared-out of Turkey and anchored at Pedhi, on the Greek island of Simi.
With the help of the Greek yachting agency – A1 (who’ve always been very helpful on a whole variety of issues) we managed to clear-in as Captain & Crew in transit, which means we have up to six months in Greece, rather than three, and the Schengen Treaty does not apply. From here we’ll leisurely cruise through various Greek islands towards Santorini, where we meet our daughter, Amy, on 2 June.
Di has been reading the autobiography of an Australian who fought at Gallipoli in WW1.
Sometimes the off-duty soldiers were allowed to have a swim, and mysteriously the occasional soldier didn’t come back out of the water. One day the author was enjoying a swim, when he suddenly heard another soldier shout a warning to him. He turned around and saw a very large eye looking up at him from under the water. He was a strong swimmer and quickly managed to reach the safety of a nearby jetty, then seeing that the eye belonged to a huge squid, with a body about a metre wide and long tentacles trailing behind. That was the last time they went swimming at Gallipoli. Checking this out on Google, there have been two findings of giant squid in the Med, but many more than that in New Zealand, so we feel quite safe in the water.
Laurie hard at work testing out the BBQ
TECHNICAL
We’ve installed our two new Deka AGM batteries for the 24 volt bow thruster bank, although it was quite a mission to maneuver batteries weighing 59kg each into the confines of the anchor chain locker.
With Envoy’s large fuel tanks and low consumption, we only refuel about three times a year, but we need to do so shortly so we’ve been thinking where to do this. Sometimes Turkey is dearer than Greece, but currently they’re similar in price. Here in Turkey it’s Lira 4.20 (NZ$3.00) per litre which is US$9.12 per gallon. It’s not only the price to consider though, but the quality. Nowadays most of the diesel sold for on-road use contains bio-diesel, and this is definitely not recommended for marine engines (although an exception is commercial vessels using high fuel volumes and modified for use with bio-diesel.) Bio-diesel has a far shorter storage life, and has high solvent properties, which reduces the life of seals and hoses. We’ve been advised that marine diesel sold on the Greek island of Simi is bio-diesel free, so we’ll refuel here.
LOG
Will update in next posting.
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