We are now in the Greek island of Lesvos with Morris & Gail. All is going well, and I’ll advise more on this in a few days.
Since we posted an article on our blog in early April about the costs of cruising , I’ve had a few off-line requests to advise our views on the actual dollar costs of cruising – so here goes.
In general we find that actual living costs such as food, beverages, household supplies and personal spending are about the same when cruising as when at home, and the cost of owning a boat in the Med in terms of maintenance and insurance is also similar to New Zealand. What bumps up the cost is the travel to and from your boat, meeting regulatory requirements when moving between countries, sightseeing and associated costs ashore – particularly rental cars and accommodation, and the fuel cost resulting from cruising longer distances.
A recent Seven Seas Cruising Association newsletter advised of an American couple cruising on a modern 53ft sailing yacht, who originally estimated they could cruise on a budget of US$35,000 (approx. NZ$44,000) per year. They describe themselves as frugal by nature, and rarely ate ashore or went into marinas. They kept detailed day-by-day records of spending, and their reality was an average cost of US$43,000 (approx. NZ$54,000) per year over a period of four years up to April 2010, cruising the Caribbean, the Pacific, New Zealand and South East Asia. But that was over a period which ended over a year ago, and everywhere costs have significantly increased since then. The Med is no longer a cheap place to cruise, and most people are not frugal, so our advice to any intending cruiser would be to budget to spend not less than NZ$90,000 (approx. US$72,000) per year, not including any costs incurred back home.
I can imagine some readers thinking “that’s far too high an estimate”, so let me elaborate. That includes allowances of NZ$10,000 for diesel, lpg and petrol for your outboard, NZ$20,000 for repairs and maintenance, NZ$15,000 for all insurances, winter berthage and meeting regulatory requirements, and NZ$7,000 for return travel for two. That’s a total of NZ$52,000 (US$42,000) before you tour your first castle, eat a kebab or drink your first Efes (Turkish beer). Bear in mind too that a major technical problem could blow the $20,000 r & m figure out the window.
TECHNICAL
Most importantly we’ve used our water maker five times now for a total of about 17 hours, and all is good. As an example of costs, this was about NZ$5,000 to repair. No other issues to report.
LOG: 38 days aboard since leaving Marmaris, 437NM cruised for 95 engine hours.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Sunday, June 05, 2011
ENVOY ARRIVES AT FOCA, GULF OF IZMIR
We arrived at Foca, about 320 NM from our departure point of Marmaris on 1/6. This is really great, as firstly it’s here that we meet Morris & Gail, and secondly everywhere from here on is new territory for us.
We’ve been cruising loosely in company with NZers Bruce & Lesley Tebbutt from Kawakawa, who have a beautiful sailing catamaran called Midi. Like us they enjoy playing 500, and we’ve had some good contests with the boys winning of course. We’ll cruise further north together to Ayvalik, then we head west to the Greek island of Lesvos, and they head up the Dardanelles. It seems that we have similar plans next year of heading towards the Adriatic.
We went into the marina at Alacati for a couple of days to allow easy access for the engineers fixing our water maker. The cost there is Euro 80 per night including power and water. On Saturday night we went into the very pretty town of Alacati for dinner, and while waiting for a bus, some guys stopped and gave us a lift. This happens quite regularly, including a couple of days later when an old sewage pumping truck stopped, and Diane & I jumped up into the cab for a ride to Cesme. I doubt that I’d be getting lifts if Diane wasn’t with me! Alacati has probably got a bit too trendy and expensive now, and I noticed a bottle of NZ Sauvignon Blanc on the wine list for TLK120 (about NZ$100). I’m not going to go into details re Alicati & Cesme as they’re well covered in last year’s blogs.
TECHNICAL
While we were in Alacati three engineers drove up from Marmaris with our watermaker. It’s quite a distance and the drive took them six hours. To recap, last year we had to cruise without our water maker, because it needed new high pressure membranes, and the delivery time was very long. The service agent then ordered them to arrive in Marmaris early this year, but they ordered the wrong size. So finally we have the right size.
Two of the engineers installed our unit, while the third one watched, until tiring of that he had a sleep in their car. The installation seemed to go OK, and we made fresh water for two hours. We said our thanks and goodbyes, and the guys left to drive back. Then about 30 minutes later, I noticed water starting to leak from the water flow control housing. I phoned the engineers, and they came back. They stripped the leaking housing and checked the seals, finding that four of them were defective – two were old and flattened, while two had physical damage. As the engineers couldn’t speak English I didn’t find out how this happened, but think it happened during re-assembly of our unit in Marmaris. Then we ran it for a further two hours and all was OK with the guys finally leaving about 7pm for the long drive back. Since then we’ve used the unit twice for a total of six hours, and so far so good. This is absolutely great for us, as it’s quite a pain finding and getting water, most of which is not drinkable.
LOG: 28 days aboard since leaving Marmaris, 320NM cruised for 71 engine hours.
We’ve been cruising loosely in company with NZers Bruce & Lesley Tebbutt from Kawakawa, who have a beautiful sailing catamaran called Midi. Like us they enjoy playing 500, and we’ve had some good contests with the boys winning of course. We’ll cruise further north together to Ayvalik, then we head west to the Greek island of Lesvos, and they head up the Dardanelles. It seems that we have similar plans next year of heading towards the Adriatic.
We went into the marina at Alacati for a couple of days to allow easy access for the engineers fixing our water maker. The cost there is Euro 80 per night including power and water. On Saturday night we went into the very pretty town of Alacati for dinner, and while waiting for a bus, some guys stopped and gave us a lift. This happens quite regularly, including a couple of days later when an old sewage pumping truck stopped, and Diane & I jumped up into the cab for a ride to Cesme. I doubt that I’d be getting lifts if Diane wasn’t with me! Alacati has probably got a bit too trendy and expensive now, and I noticed a bottle of NZ Sauvignon Blanc on the wine list for TLK120 (about NZ$100). I’m not going to go into details re Alicati & Cesme as they’re well covered in last year’s blogs.
TECHNICAL
While we were in Alacati three engineers drove up from Marmaris with our watermaker. It’s quite a distance and the drive took them six hours. To recap, last year we had to cruise without our water maker, because it needed new high pressure membranes, and the delivery time was very long. The service agent then ordered them to arrive in Marmaris early this year, but they ordered the wrong size. So finally we have the right size.
Two of the engineers installed our unit, while the third one watched, until tiring of that he had a sleep in their car. The installation seemed to go OK, and we made fresh water for two hours. We said our thanks and goodbyes, and the guys left to drive back. Then about 30 minutes later, I noticed water starting to leak from the water flow control housing. I phoned the engineers, and they came back. They stripped the leaking housing and checked the seals, finding that four of them were defective – two were old and flattened, while two had physical damage. As the engineers couldn’t speak English I didn’t find out how this happened, but think it happened during re-assembly of our unit in Marmaris. Then we ran it for a further two hours and all was OK with the guys finally leaving about 7pm for the long drive back. Since then we’ve used the unit twice for a total of six hours, and so far so good. This is absolutely great for us, as it’s quite a pain finding and getting water, most of which is not drinkable.
LOG: 28 days aboard since leaving Marmaris, 320NM cruised for 71 engine hours.
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
ENVOY CRUISES TO ALACATI
As I write this we’re cruising 50NM from the Samos Strait to Alicati, near Cesme. 50 miles in one day is a bit longer than our usual routine, and takes us about nine hours, but with Envoy on autopilot there’s nothing we need to do except keep a lookout, and do hourly engine-room checks. This will put us in the right area to meet our first guests, Morris and Gail on 2 June.
The Samos Strait is under a mile wide, and separates the Greek island of Samos from the Turkish mainland making it the closest point Turkey and Greece come together except for their land border near the Black Sea.
We started our journey this morning in still and misty conditions. The normally sparkling turquoise sea was as grey as the mist, making the horizon difficult to detect. So far since leaving Marmaris we’ve not used our paravane stabilisers at all, and again today the sea is glassy calm with the wind under two knots. A cruise ship – the Star Princess has just passed close by (photo to be posted shortly), and it’s wake provided a change from the flat sea. There are very few boats around, and the only other boats we’ve seen in three hours are two Greek fishing boats. All day yesterday, when we cruised 33NM we saw only Coastguard and Navy patrol boats. One of the Coastguard boats called us on VHF to check our name and destination.
The weather has still not settled into summer, and yesterday we even had a brief shower, but the temperature is now in the mid 20s and sea water 21d.
TECHNICAL
Our parts for the water maker have finally arrived in Marmaris, and the engineer is re-assembling our unit in the workshop today, and driving to Alicati tomorrow to meet us and install it. This will be very welcome, as it’s a bit tough on the body obtaining water using jerry cans, although to make it easier we’ve only been filling the 30L containers to 25L. If the water maker works OK we’ll definitely be celebrating!
Our Naiad stabiliser control system has now been tested by Naiad in Holland, and an engineer from Holland is going to meet us in Greece mid-July to get our Naiads operational again.
While anchored off Altinkum’s Didim Marina we got three problems rectified.
All last year we had occasional problems starting our Northern Lights generator. I assumed this was battery-related (as it was with our main Lugger engine), but this proved not to be the case, and this year the starting issue became more common. I checked all the obvious (to me) things like connections to the battery isolating switch and starter motor, but with no improvement, so got a diesel engineer to have a look. Within five minutes he went into the electrics inside a protective box, and found a relay had loose wiring, probably shaken loose with constant vibration. So this was an easy fix.
Our guest head – a Vacuuflush has been playing up again. The bowl did not always hold water, causing the vacuum pump to hunt, and the pump that sends waste into the holding tank had a failed piston and seal. This was all fixed OK too, mostly using spare parts we had on board.
The other job was simply a replacement of the faucet in the main head sink, as the hot water flow had reduced to a dribble.
A couple of weeks ago I noticed our hot water tank had signs of a very minor water leak. The water is heated either by the Lugger engine’s heat exchanger, or electrically using the generator or wing engine. I noticed the leak only occurred when running the Lugger. We belong to the Nordhavn Owners Group, where members exchange information about technical and other matters relating to Nordhavns. I put out an enquiry regarding our leak, and got a reply advising that the coolant level in the Lugger engine may be too low. I topped it up, and after about a week so far so good – the slight leak has gone. I don’t quite understand how this fixed the problem, but it did.
Log: 23 days aboard since leaving Marmaris, 203NM cruised for 50 engine hours.
The Samos Strait is under a mile wide, and separates the Greek island of Samos from the Turkish mainland making it the closest point Turkey and Greece come together except for their land border near the Black Sea.
We started our journey this morning in still and misty conditions. The normally sparkling turquoise sea was as grey as the mist, making the horizon difficult to detect. So far since leaving Marmaris we’ve not used our paravane stabilisers at all, and again today the sea is glassy calm with the wind under two knots. A cruise ship – the Star Princess has just passed close by (photo to be posted shortly), and it’s wake provided a change from the flat sea. There are very few boats around, and the only other boats we’ve seen in three hours are two Greek fishing boats. All day yesterday, when we cruised 33NM we saw only Coastguard and Navy patrol boats. One of the Coastguard boats called us on VHF to check our name and destination.
The weather has still not settled into summer, and yesterday we even had a brief shower, but the temperature is now in the mid 20s and sea water 21d.
TECHNICAL
Our parts for the water maker have finally arrived in Marmaris, and the engineer is re-assembling our unit in the workshop today, and driving to Alicati tomorrow to meet us and install it. This will be very welcome, as it’s a bit tough on the body obtaining water using jerry cans, although to make it easier we’ve only been filling the 30L containers to 25L. If the water maker works OK we’ll definitely be celebrating!
Our Naiad stabiliser control system has now been tested by Naiad in Holland, and an engineer from Holland is going to meet us in Greece mid-July to get our Naiads operational again.
While anchored off Altinkum’s Didim Marina we got three problems rectified.
All last year we had occasional problems starting our Northern Lights generator. I assumed this was battery-related (as it was with our main Lugger engine), but this proved not to be the case, and this year the starting issue became more common. I checked all the obvious (to me) things like connections to the battery isolating switch and starter motor, but with no improvement, so got a diesel engineer to have a look. Within five minutes he went into the electrics inside a protective box, and found a relay had loose wiring, probably shaken loose with constant vibration. So this was an easy fix.
Our guest head – a Vacuuflush has been playing up again. The bowl did not always hold water, causing the vacuum pump to hunt, and the pump that sends waste into the holding tank had a failed piston and seal. This was all fixed OK too, mostly using spare parts we had on board.
The other job was simply a replacement of the faucet in the main head sink, as the hot water flow had reduced to a dribble.
A couple of weeks ago I noticed our hot water tank had signs of a very minor water leak. The water is heated either by the Lugger engine’s heat exchanger, or electrically using the generator or wing engine. I noticed the leak only occurred when running the Lugger. We belong to the Nordhavn Owners Group, where members exchange information about technical and other matters relating to Nordhavns. I put out an enquiry regarding our leak, and got a reply advising that the coolant level in the Lugger engine may be too low. I topped it up, and after about a week so far so good – the slight leak has gone. I don’t quite understand how this fixed the problem, but it did.
Log: 23 days aboard since leaving Marmaris, 203NM cruised for 50 engine hours.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Relaxing ashore at Turk Buku
Checking our navigation on the MaxSea system. Envoy's position is the red blip on-screen
Diane doing her lifejacket drill
Envoy anchored in a quiet bay at Pirensun Koyu - note resorts in background
Camels coralled in a disused tennis court
Camels resting, awaiting riders at Camel Beach
Checking our navigation on the MaxSea system. Envoy's position is the red blip on-screen
Diane doing her lifejacket drill
Envoy anchored in a quiet bay at Pirensun Koyu - note resorts in background
Camels coralled in a disused tennis court
Camels resting, awaiting riders at Camel Beach
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Envoy arrives at Didim
When starting cruising again we always make sure we do the basics like testing bilge pumps, man overboard drill and lifejacket drill. Everybody must know where to find their lifejacket, how to put it on and how to inflate it. It’s all too easy to think “we’ll never need these”, but I’ve seen too many unlikely situations happen to believe that.
I recall an incident one fine Saturday morning where a brand-new forty foot motor vessel was on her maiden voyage. Only about a mile from Auckland’s Half Moon Bay Marina she hit a well-marked rock, and was quickly awash to her gunwales. When we arrived on-scene the occupants were waist deep in water drinking beer, as if in some macabre celebration of their own incompetence, and without a lifejacket to be seen.
It’s warmed up during the last week to mid 20s, with sea water at 20 making swimming conditions pleasant. No more need for parkas and jeans.
We went ashore for a walk at Camel beach, near Bodrum, and like a lot of Turkish resort areas it’s pretty scruffy with poor quality, pot-holed roads, few footpaths, and badly maintained properties. Although they provide plenty of rubbish bins here, nobody seems to use them as the roadsides, grassy areas and beaches are strewn with litter.
In some areas the Turks have over-provided facilities in expectation of tourist numbers that haven’t materialised, and some resorts have been mothballed. Here at Camel Beach is one of those, complete with a large fenced-off area that originally was four tennis courts. Now the bar and dressing rooms are locked up, and the courts are overgrown and now used for corralling the camels! I’m sure this is not what the original architects had in mind!
We spent a few days cruising around the north side of the Bodrum peninsula and today we’re heading further north to Didim. Still no news of our water maker parts arriving.
We mostly cruise at about 1400-1500 rpm on our Lugger, 6 cylinder, 143hp, 6.8L, normally aspirated (i.e, non turbo’d) diesel engine, and this gives us about 6 knots with a fuel economy of about 8L/hr. If our paravane stabilisers are in use our speed decreases about 10%. This rpm range (although commonly also used by other owners to achieve good fuel economy) is a bit low, as the engine is under-loaded and doesn’t reach full operating temperature. It’s recommended (in Passagemaker) that diesel engines be run at about 75% of max rpm for 75% of the time. Failing this it is recommended that the engine be run at about 75% of max rpm for at least half an hour after reaching normal temperature, and again for at least half an hour one hour before switching the engine off. Running for periods at higher rpm, and consequent higher temperatures, reduces soot & carbon build-up, keeps the injectors cleaner and reduces condensation within the engine. Incidentally for this reason it’s not a good idea to run your engine for a few minutes when going down to your boat on the marina during periods of non use. It’s no problem for a diesel engine to be left unused for several months at a time with clean oil.
So why am I saying all this? Because on our cruise towards Bodrum we increased the rpm to 1800rpm, and above 1700rpm felt some heavy vibration – everything on board was rattling. At the same time the autopilot went a bit haywire, and we started going off course about 20d from side to side, leaving an “S”-shaped wake. As mentioned in a previous post we checked the engine vibration levels before leaving Marmaris and they were great - I mean virtually no vibration at any rpm setting. When we reduced rpm to about 1500 again all was OK. After a couple of days at anchor near Bodrum sitting out a gale warning we motored to anchor off Bodrum, and this time there was no vibration at higher rpm at all, and the autopilot was fine too. I can only guess that when we encountered the vibration there was something like a plastic bag or piece of fishing net on the propeller or rudder, and when we anchored it dropped off. Another one of life’s unsolved mysteries.
I recall an incident one fine Saturday morning where a brand-new forty foot motor vessel was on her maiden voyage. Only about a mile from Auckland’s Half Moon Bay Marina she hit a well-marked rock, and was quickly awash to her gunwales. When we arrived on-scene the occupants were waist deep in water drinking beer, as if in some macabre celebration of their own incompetence, and without a lifejacket to be seen.
It’s warmed up during the last week to mid 20s, with sea water at 20 making swimming conditions pleasant. No more need for parkas and jeans.
We went ashore for a walk at Camel beach, near Bodrum, and like a lot of Turkish resort areas it’s pretty scruffy with poor quality, pot-holed roads, few footpaths, and badly maintained properties. Although they provide plenty of rubbish bins here, nobody seems to use them as the roadsides, grassy areas and beaches are strewn with litter.
In some areas the Turks have over-provided facilities in expectation of tourist numbers that haven’t materialised, and some resorts have been mothballed. Here at Camel Beach is one of those, complete with a large fenced-off area that originally was four tennis courts. Now the bar and dressing rooms are locked up, and the courts are overgrown and now used for corralling the camels! I’m sure this is not what the original architects had in mind!
We spent a few days cruising around the north side of the Bodrum peninsula and today we’re heading further north to Didim. Still no news of our water maker parts arriving.
We mostly cruise at about 1400-1500 rpm on our Lugger, 6 cylinder, 143hp, 6.8L, normally aspirated (i.e, non turbo’d) diesel engine, and this gives us about 6 knots with a fuel economy of about 8L/hr. If our paravane stabilisers are in use our speed decreases about 10%. This rpm range (although commonly also used by other owners to achieve good fuel economy) is a bit low, as the engine is under-loaded and doesn’t reach full operating temperature. It’s recommended (in Passagemaker) that diesel engines be run at about 75% of max rpm for 75% of the time. Failing this it is recommended that the engine be run at about 75% of max rpm for at least half an hour after reaching normal temperature, and again for at least half an hour one hour before switching the engine off. Running for periods at higher rpm, and consequent higher temperatures, reduces soot & carbon build-up, keeps the injectors cleaner and reduces condensation within the engine. Incidentally for this reason it’s not a good idea to run your engine for a few minutes when going down to your boat on the marina during periods of non use. It’s no problem for a diesel engine to be left unused for several months at a time with clean oil.
So why am I saying all this? Because on our cruise towards Bodrum we increased the rpm to 1800rpm, and above 1700rpm felt some heavy vibration – everything on board was rattling. At the same time the autopilot went a bit haywire, and we started going off course about 20d from side to side, leaving an “S”-shaped wake. As mentioned in a previous post we checked the engine vibration levels before leaving Marmaris and they were great - I mean virtually no vibration at any rpm setting. When we reduced rpm to about 1500 again all was OK. After a couple of days at anchor near Bodrum sitting out a gale warning we motored to anchor off Bodrum, and this time there was no vibration at higher rpm at all, and the autopilot was fine too. I can only guess that when we encountered the vibration there was something like a plastic bag or piece of fishing net on the propeller or rudder, and when we anchored it dropped off. Another one of life’s unsolved mysteries.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
FOLLOW BY EMAIL added to Blog
We’ve added this blogger feature, so now by entering your email address you can receive all future blog updates by email, without the need to look up the blog.
Cool eh!
Cool eh!
ENVOY HEADS NORTH-WEST UP THE COAST OF TURKEY
We left Marmaris on 4 May and headed to Bozburun for a few days, where the village is pleasant, and there’s good shelter – needed as there was a Gale Warning of Force 6-8 winds. In our location the wind didn’t get above about 23 knots, and we spent some time cleaning up Envoy from the marina dust, and moving into cruising mode.
The weather still hasn’t settled yet, currently low 20s, cloudy and with cool winds. We’ve started daily swimming, but in a chilly 19d.
Nearby is the Greek island of Simi. Cruising boats have been known to call there without checking out of Turkey to buy bacon, pork, ham, nice cheeses & yoghurts - all of which hard to get in Turkey, plus spirits and wines where there is a larger and cheaper selection.
We met Alan & Jean Ward from the NZ yacht Tuatara. They are a retired couple from Hamilton living their dream and doing a westward circumnavigation. They plan to return to NZ end of 2013, and then circumnavigate NZ.
We also met some Australian friends, Simon & Bronwn, who are visiting friends Rob & Kerry on their yacht Pablo Nuruda. Rob & Kerry have spent nearly 10 years cruising the Med, and are now on their way back to Australia via the Atlantic. We first met them in Melbourne through Simon & Bronwyn before we bought Envoy, and they provided a lot of useful information about the cruising life. Up to now we haven’t carried charts for navigation, relying solely on our electronics, but we came to a good arrangement with Kerry to buy her charts of Turkey, Greece, Croatia, Italy & France. It’s always a good back-up to have a paper chart in front of you (see Technical).
Yesterday we did a nine hour cruise, and anchored off Baglar Koyu, otherwise known as Camel Beach – and yes there are two camels on the beach. This is about five miles west of Bodrum. From here we just keep heading NW.
TECHNICAL
There’s “never a dull moment” on this subject.
Naiad have been in touch re the stabilisers, suggesting they may send an experienced Naiad engineer from Holland to meet us in Greece in July to install the new control box and calibrate the system, so this sounds promising.
I’m going to need to replace the pump that supplies sea water to cool the Naiad hydraulics as the current one is leaking. Fortunately we can fit our spare, and can then get the replaced one rebuilt.
We’ve had a little fresh water in the bilges and seem to have a slow water leak in our aft fresh water tank. Last year we replaced our two forward tanks, but not this one, which is located under the cabin sole in our sleeping cabin. I’m not greatly concerned, as the leak is slow so we can still use the tank, but next winter we’re probably going to need to repair or replace it. Envoy is 21 years old, and now we’ve had problems with all three water tanks, and one of the four diesel tanks.
We’re expecting to hear about water maker parts any day.
On leaving Marmaris I noticed our Northstar GPS wasn’t working properly. This is one of three GPS units that can supply data to our MaxSea laptop-based navigation system. I think the problem is antenna-related, and checking this with Northstar.
A couple of days ago I had problems with our Raystar GPS – it would not provide position information to the MaxSea. After thinking on this for a couple of days I found that a toggle switch that should be in the DOWN position had been accidentally flicked to the UP position, and when this was corrected all was OK.
Our current thinking is that we’d like to fix the Northstar, but also buy a separate GPS/Plotter, so that we have a totally separate system to the MaxSea. Ideally we’d like to find a portable GPS/Plotter that plugs into a 12V power supply, and interfaces with a laptop (to give us a larger screen size) - if anyone can recommend one please do so. Now we have the charts too if all else fails, and can use one of our three still-working GPS units to give us a lat/long to plot on the chart.
The weather still hasn’t settled yet, currently low 20s, cloudy and with cool winds. We’ve started daily swimming, but in a chilly 19d.
Nearby is the Greek island of Simi. Cruising boats have been known to call there without checking out of Turkey to buy bacon, pork, ham, nice cheeses & yoghurts - all of which hard to get in Turkey, plus spirits and wines where there is a larger and cheaper selection.
We met Alan & Jean Ward from the NZ yacht Tuatara. They are a retired couple from Hamilton living their dream and doing a westward circumnavigation. They plan to return to NZ end of 2013, and then circumnavigate NZ.
We also met some Australian friends, Simon & Bronwn, who are visiting friends Rob & Kerry on their yacht Pablo Nuruda. Rob & Kerry have spent nearly 10 years cruising the Med, and are now on their way back to Australia via the Atlantic. We first met them in Melbourne through Simon & Bronwyn before we bought Envoy, and they provided a lot of useful information about the cruising life. Up to now we haven’t carried charts for navigation, relying solely on our electronics, but we came to a good arrangement with Kerry to buy her charts of Turkey, Greece, Croatia, Italy & France. It’s always a good back-up to have a paper chart in front of you (see Technical).
Yesterday we did a nine hour cruise, and anchored off Baglar Koyu, otherwise known as Camel Beach – and yes there are two camels on the beach. This is about five miles west of Bodrum. From here we just keep heading NW.
TECHNICAL
There’s “never a dull moment” on this subject.
Naiad have been in touch re the stabilisers, suggesting they may send an experienced Naiad engineer from Holland to meet us in Greece in July to install the new control box and calibrate the system, so this sounds promising.
I’m going to need to replace the pump that supplies sea water to cool the Naiad hydraulics as the current one is leaking. Fortunately we can fit our spare, and can then get the replaced one rebuilt.
We’ve had a little fresh water in the bilges and seem to have a slow water leak in our aft fresh water tank. Last year we replaced our two forward tanks, but not this one, which is located under the cabin sole in our sleeping cabin. I’m not greatly concerned, as the leak is slow so we can still use the tank, but next winter we’re probably going to need to repair or replace it. Envoy is 21 years old, and now we’ve had problems with all three water tanks, and one of the four diesel tanks.
We’re expecting to hear about water maker parts any day.
On leaving Marmaris I noticed our Northstar GPS wasn’t working properly. This is one of three GPS units that can supply data to our MaxSea laptop-based navigation system. I think the problem is antenna-related, and checking this with Northstar.
A couple of days ago I had problems with our Raystar GPS – it would not provide position information to the MaxSea. After thinking on this for a couple of days I found that a toggle switch that should be in the DOWN position had been accidentally flicked to the UP position, and when this was corrected all was OK.
Our current thinking is that we’d like to fix the Northstar, but also buy a separate GPS/Plotter, so that we have a totally separate system to the MaxSea. Ideally we’d like to find a portable GPS/Plotter that plugs into a 12V power supply, and interfaces with a laptop (to give us a larger screen size) - if anyone can recommend one please do so. Now we have the charts too if all else fails, and can use one of our three still-working GPS units to give us a lat/long to plot on the chart.
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
ENVOY LEAVES MARMARIS MARINA
We’ve just had a great three days with our daughter Amy, who flew in from London to be with us for my birthday (I’m counting backwards now!). Amy will join us again in August for a week. While Amy was here we got a rental car, and used the opportunity to stock Envoy up with groceries etc. The car was cheap at L50 per day (about NZ$42), but petrol is so expensive here that the 1300cc car cost L190 (about NZ$158) to fill up with 45L of petrol.
It’s getting a little warmer – now in the low 20s, but the weather hasn’t settled, and lots of boats have delayed their departure because of that. This has led to a shortage of berths in the marina, and the travel lift is now only launching boats that have an imminent departure date – making quite a few people p’d off.
Tomorrow we do some final shopping, and leave the marina on the start of our 2011 cruise – heading north to meet our first guests Morris & Gail somewhere near Izmir.
TECHNICAL
Today we had a sea trial with a couple of engineers aboard from Demir Marine. This is the very first time we’ve had engineers aboard Envoy under way. The objective was to ensure they were happy with the alignment of the prop shaft with the gearbox – we don’t want a repeat of last year’s gearbox problems. Anyhow Yulmaz is a competent engineer, and he said there was very little vibration, and all is good – so here’s hoping he’s right!
We’ve had no progress with the Naiad stabilisers. The new electronic control system was installed, but the hydraulic system would not centre the fins, and after several hours of experimentation I said “enough is enough”. I spoke with Naiad USA, and they said they would never get this kind of work done except by a factory-trained electrician. We had a competent, and well meaning electrician who’d never worked on Naiads before, and had little information supplied to him. This is not a major issue as last year we cruised safely and comfortably relying on our simple paravane stabilization system, and we’ll do the same this year. The new control system was going to cost over US$4,000 so I just said disconnect it, take it out, and when we can get a factory-trained electronics person to install it, and then if it works, we’ll pay for it.
The relay for the inverter I mentioned in the last post didn’t work – it couldn’t take the high current the inverter puts out. Actually all I wanted was the present isolator switch to be moved from under our bed, where it is obviously hard to access, to the outside of the bed, where I could access it. The electrician recommended the relay – who am I to disagree? Anyway his idea didn’t work so we’re back to my idea which is now working fine.
It’s getting a little warmer – now in the low 20s, but the weather hasn’t settled, and lots of boats have delayed their departure because of that. This has led to a shortage of berths in the marina, and the travel lift is now only launching boats that have an imminent departure date – making quite a few people p’d off.
Tomorrow we do some final shopping, and leave the marina on the start of our 2011 cruise – heading north to meet our first guests Morris & Gail somewhere near Izmir.
TECHNICAL
Today we had a sea trial with a couple of engineers aboard from Demir Marine. This is the very first time we’ve had engineers aboard Envoy under way. The objective was to ensure they were happy with the alignment of the prop shaft with the gearbox – we don’t want a repeat of last year’s gearbox problems. Anyhow Yulmaz is a competent engineer, and he said there was very little vibration, and all is good – so here’s hoping he’s right!
We’ve had no progress with the Naiad stabilisers. The new electronic control system was installed, but the hydraulic system would not centre the fins, and after several hours of experimentation I said “enough is enough”. I spoke with Naiad USA, and they said they would never get this kind of work done except by a factory-trained electrician. We had a competent, and well meaning electrician who’d never worked on Naiads before, and had little information supplied to him. This is not a major issue as last year we cruised safely and comfortably relying on our simple paravane stabilization system, and we’ll do the same this year. The new control system was going to cost over US$4,000 so I just said disconnect it, take it out, and when we can get a factory-trained electronics person to install it, and then if it works, we’ll pay for it.
The relay for the inverter I mentioned in the last post didn’t work – it couldn’t take the high current the inverter puts out. Actually all I wanted was the present isolator switch to be moved from under our bed, where it is obviously hard to access, to the outside of the bed, where I could access it. The electrician recommended the relay – who am I to disagree? Anyway his idea didn’t work so we’re back to my idea which is now working fine.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
ENVOY BACK IN THE WATER AT MARMARIS
Envoy went back into the water on the 20th, just nine days after our return.
The marina is very busy at this time of year, and that day about 30 boats were launched. Ours was at 2200hrs, and it was dark, chilly and drizzling. After Envoy had been hoisted in the slings, and the wooden supports removed we had to apply two coats of antifoul in the areas where blocks had supported the hull. In the water the trusty Lugger engine started in a second, and then we followed a guide boat to our marina berth.
It’s great to be floating again as we can use our own shower, washing machine etc: life on a boat on the hardstand is not much fun at all.
Di has made several trips in to Marmaris town using the Dolmus (bus) to replenish our supplies from the supermarket, as the shop here at the marina has limited availability, and is expensive.
It’s not “summery” here yet – one day will be sunny and low 20s, while the next is overcast, blustery and 16, but we’re happy knowing that we’re moving into summer.
Berthed on the same pier is a 1989 Nordhavn 46 called “Frog Kiss”, and this is hull number one - the first Nordhavn passagemaker ever made. It was great to meet Christine & Patrick, to look over their boat, and compare layouts, storage systems etc. I have already implemented one of their ideas – having a forestay to support the mast during heavy weather. Frog Kiss is the boat that started the Nordhavn domination of the passagemaker market, cemented in place by the fact that of 10 production power boats that have circumnavigated, 8 are Nordhavns (and most of those are 46s). Although we are coastal cruising not passage making, it’s great to know we have a boat that came across the Atlantic and is capable of going anywhere in the world.
TECHNICAL
We’ve ticked off many jobs now, and getting close to being ready to leave – probably in about a week. Everything that was working when we left Envoy is still working.
Before we arrived back here Demir Marine installed two new start batteries – these are Deka brand from USA, AGM Start batteries. These are not Deep Cycle (DC) as DC are recommended only for House Batteries, not for Start. Our electrician friend and battery expert Doug Gooch says that Deka are among the best batteries you can buy, so here’s hoping our occasional engine starting problems last year were battery-related and over now.
The antifouling went well and this time we got two coats rolled on instead of one coat sprayed on, hoping it will give us more thickness and last better. Next year we’ll do this ourselves as it’s nothing very complicated, and we’ll have more time.
We got the above-waterline areas of the hull polished and it came up beautifully. This is a tough job, working on scaffolding and we’ll continue to get Demir to do it, however we’re going to do all of the topsides (watch out guests!).
We removed the gearbox of our Maxwell windlass for a 3-yearly oil change, and that’s all working well – very important to have a reliable windlass.
That brings us to the HRO water maker and Naid stabilisers.
The new high pressure membranes for the water maker were here, but just before installation the engineer, Muradhan, found they’re the wrong size – too big. He phoned me and said, “Laurence we have a problem, you’d better come up to the workshop”. Membranes have to be kept moist until they’re installed, and then the water maker needs to be used straight away. That’s why they couldn’t do the installation until Envoy was in the water. We looked at trying to adapt the unit to accept larger membranes, but without success. The membranes go into a tubular manifold made of Kevlar to resist the high pressures, and there’s no way to duplicate that here. So the correct tubes have been ordered ex USA, and supposedly will be here in two weeks. We’re not going to wait here - Muradhan will meet us somewhere further north to install the membranes. In the meantime we’ll get water from harbours, both directly into Envoy’s tanks, and using our 30L containers if necessary, just like last year.
The new electronic control box for the Naiad stabilisers was also here waiting, and yesterday the electrician, Ozan, installed it. There was progress as the system powered up OK, the hydraulics worked, the cooling system worked – none of which happened before. But the control system still isn’t giving commands to the hydraulics. Ozan has emailed a US Naiad engineer with an outline, and hopefully we’ll make progress in the next few days. Otherwise, like last year we’ll just use our simple, bullet-proof, and effective paravane stabilisers, and save quite a few dollars in the process, as we haven’t paid for the new control box so far.
In the next few days I’m going to change the primary and secondary fuel filters on all three engines, check the fan belts, and replace the Genset impellor (with help).
I’m also getting a Demir electrician to fit a relay ON/OFF isolating switch to our inverter, because when we turn the inverter OFF at it’s control panel, it occasionally somehow switches itself back on. This is not desirable as it could deplete the house batteries, depending on what equipment is ON.
The marina is very busy at this time of year, and that day about 30 boats were launched. Ours was at 2200hrs, and it was dark, chilly and drizzling. After Envoy had been hoisted in the slings, and the wooden supports removed we had to apply two coats of antifoul in the areas where blocks had supported the hull. In the water the trusty Lugger engine started in a second, and then we followed a guide boat to our marina berth.
It’s great to be floating again as we can use our own shower, washing machine etc: life on a boat on the hardstand is not much fun at all.
Di has made several trips in to Marmaris town using the Dolmus (bus) to replenish our supplies from the supermarket, as the shop here at the marina has limited availability, and is expensive.
It’s not “summery” here yet – one day will be sunny and low 20s, while the next is overcast, blustery and 16, but we’re happy knowing that we’re moving into summer.
Berthed on the same pier is a 1989 Nordhavn 46 called “Frog Kiss”, and this is hull number one - the first Nordhavn passagemaker ever made. It was great to meet Christine & Patrick, to look over their boat, and compare layouts, storage systems etc. I have already implemented one of their ideas – having a forestay to support the mast during heavy weather. Frog Kiss is the boat that started the Nordhavn domination of the passagemaker market, cemented in place by the fact that of 10 production power boats that have circumnavigated, 8 are Nordhavns (and most of those are 46s). Although we are coastal cruising not passage making, it’s great to know we have a boat that came across the Atlantic and is capable of going anywhere in the world.
TECHNICAL
We’ve ticked off many jobs now, and getting close to being ready to leave – probably in about a week. Everything that was working when we left Envoy is still working.
Before we arrived back here Demir Marine installed two new start batteries – these are Deka brand from USA, AGM Start batteries. These are not Deep Cycle (DC) as DC are recommended only for House Batteries, not for Start. Our electrician friend and battery expert Doug Gooch says that Deka are among the best batteries you can buy, so here’s hoping our occasional engine starting problems last year were battery-related and over now.
The antifouling went well and this time we got two coats rolled on instead of one coat sprayed on, hoping it will give us more thickness and last better. Next year we’ll do this ourselves as it’s nothing very complicated, and we’ll have more time.
We got the above-waterline areas of the hull polished and it came up beautifully. This is a tough job, working on scaffolding and we’ll continue to get Demir to do it, however we’re going to do all of the topsides (watch out guests!).
We removed the gearbox of our Maxwell windlass for a 3-yearly oil change, and that’s all working well – very important to have a reliable windlass.
That brings us to the HRO water maker and Naid stabilisers.
The new high pressure membranes for the water maker were here, but just before installation the engineer, Muradhan, found they’re the wrong size – too big. He phoned me and said, “Laurence we have a problem, you’d better come up to the workshop”. Membranes have to be kept moist until they’re installed, and then the water maker needs to be used straight away. That’s why they couldn’t do the installation until Envoy was in the water. We looked at trying to adapt the unit to accept larger membranes, but without success. The membranes go into a tubular manifold made of Kevlar to resist the high pressures, and there’s no way to duplicate that here. So the correct tubes have been ordered ex USA, and supposedly will be here in two weeks. We’re not going to wait here - Muradhan will meet us somewhere further north to install the membranes. In the meantime we’ll get water from harbours, both directly into Envoy’s tanks, and using our 30L containers if necessary, just like last year.
The new electronic control box for the Naiad stabilisers was also here waiting, and yesterday the electrician, Ozan, installed it. There was progress as the system powered up OK, the hydraulics worked, the cooling system worked – none of which happened before. But the control system still isn’t giving commands to the hydraulics. Ozan has emailed a US Naiad engineer with an outline, and hopefully we’ll make progress in the next few days. Otherwise, like last year we’ll just use our simple, bullet-proof, and effective paravane stabilisers, and save quite a few dollars in the process, as we haven’t paid for the new control box so far.
In the next few days I’m going to change the primary and secondary fuel filters on all three engines, check the fan belts, and replace the Genset impellor (with help).
I’m also getting a Demir electrician to fit a relay ON/OFF isolating switch to our inverter, because when we turn the inverter OFF at it’s control panel, it occasionally somehow switches itself back on. This is not desirable as it could deplete the house batteries, depending on what equipment is ON.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
INDEX TO ENVOY’S BLOG TO END OF 2010
As our blog has now been running for over four years we decided to provide an Index of major cruising destinations and interesting subjects or events, cross-referenced to the blog dates for the period up to end of 2010. This will make it easier for newer readers to find content of the blog which most interests them.
The Index is in chronological order with most recent posts at the top, and does not include all posts. Generally there are photos related to the post close to it.
2010
- 25 November: Back in Marmaris for the winter, Marmaris marina
- 14 November: Cruising south, Torba, MacGyver, Bozburun
- 28 October: We drag anchor during a gale, Ephesus
- 24 October: Monitoring weather, Eskifoca, Ildir, bilge management
- 7 October: Eskifoca
- 29 September: Cruising north up Turkey’s west coast, Sigacek, Dalyankoy, Cesme,
Chios
- 13 September: Clearing out of Greece and into Turkey, repairs to our Yanmar
- 1 September: Santorini, Astipaelia, Kalimnos, the Schengen Treaty
- 25 August: Rethimno, cruising north to Santorini, improvements to Envoy’s charging
system
-16 August: Chania, German war graves
- 5 August: Gramvousa Is
- 28 July: Ormos Milati, Soudha Bay, NZ war graves
- 20 July: Cruising west along Crete’s north coast
- 11 July: Impressions of Crete
- 3 July: Agios Nikolaos, resolution of gearbox problem
- 27 June: Crete, Sitia, Spinalonga, gearbox problem
- 17 June: Rhodos, Greek cruising tax, Lindos, Karpathos
- 26 May: Vodafone internet connection, unexpected problems with water maker and
hydraulic stabilisers
- 14 May: Envoy finally back in water after 28 months on the hard
- 4 May: Fresh water tanks removed
- 27 April: Problem with leaking fresh water tanks
- 25 April: Life living aboard on the hardstand, about Marmaris Yat marina,
progress on re-commissioning work
- 18 April: Diane’s impressions of Marmaris and current Turkish prices, dentists,
progress on re-commissioning work
- 11 April: Envoy slowly comes to life as jobs get ticked off the list
- 8 April: Impressions of Envoy after our 27 months absence and work needed to start
cruising again
- 31 March: Link to a map showing Envoy’s cruising using Click2Map
- 25 January: Summary of Envoy’s cruising to date and plans for 2010
2009 – Envoy not used so no blog activity
2008
- 25 January: Turkish cruising regulatory requirements, summary of 2007’s cruise
- 6 January: Technical details of leaving Envoy on the hard at Marmaris for a
long period
2007
- 24 November: Guest blogger Frank Curulli’s impressions of turkey, Envoy & Simi
- 10 November: our 2007 cruise ends in Marmaris, Gemiler Buku and visit to ruined
Greek village of Kaya Koy, Envoy accidentally discharges sewerage in Ekincek
- 28 October: Coastguard accuse us of scuba diving in restricted area at Knidos
- 14 October: Gerbeske, Arap Adasi, prices in Turkey, Simi
- 9 October: Gemler Adasi, Fethiye, we catch our first Med fish, Ruin Bay,
first rain in five months, the Endless Summer ends, Ekincek, Dalyan & Caunos
- 1 October: Finike, Kekova Roads, origins of Santa Claus, Kastellorizon,
Kalkan, repairs to our water maker
- 21 September: Antalya, Tekirova, routine engine room checks
- 10 September: Origins of the Turkish flag, Symi, Kokova Roads
- 2 September: Guest blogger – our daughter Amy re the Gulf of Gorgova
- 30 August: The Gulf of Gokova
- 16 August: The Gulf of Gokova, Snake & Castle Island, Cleopatra’s Beach, English
Harbour, getting LPG bottles filled in Greece & Turkey
- 8 August: Cruising in Turkey, Knidos, Datca, Keci Bucu, Bozburun, Bozuk Buku,
Ali Baba’s restaurant, we meet Turkish cruising couple – Ilkay & Meta and make
comparisons with displacement v planing vessels
- 29 July: Poros (Greece) to Bodrum (Turkey), Amorgos, the Monastieri of the Panayia,
Kos, Med weather, bureaucracy of clearing out of Greece and into Turkey
- 16 July: Serifos, sitting out a gale in Paros
- 9 July: Sounion, the Western Cyclades – Kithnos, repair of our
hydraulic stabilisers
- 1 July: Poros and the Gulf of Hydra, a near collision with a ferry, Piraeus
- 18 June: Piraeus, daily routines when cruising, Med marine life, repairing
our gearbox oil leak, planning repairs to our hydraulic stabilisers
- 10 June: Gulf of Corinth – Itea, visit to Delphi, Porto Germano, the Corinth Canal
Aigina
- 31 May: Levkas Canal to Cephalonia – Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and Paxos
- 23 May: Santa Maria di Leuca to Corfu – smoke in the engine room and our hydraulic
stabilisers fail
- 5 May: Aeolians to Calabria
- 27 April: Cefalu - Sicily
- 15 April: Description of Palermo, Sicily
- 9 April: Return trip from Palermo to Ustica
- 5 April: Cruise planning and our overnight cruise to Palermo
- 1 April: Problems berthing in Capri and further problems sheltering from a gale
in Cetraro
- 28 March: Our first cruise from Ostia to Capri
- 20 March: A gale in Ostia marina
- 8, 12 & 17 March: Joining Envoy for the first time in Ostia, our familiarisation
process and preparations for cruising
2006
- December 5: Full description of Envoy
The Index is in chronological order with most recent posts at the top, and does not include all posts. Generally there are photos related to the post close to it.
2010
- 25 November: Back in Marmaris for the winter, Marmaris marina
- 14 November: Cruising south, Torba, MacGyver, Bozburun
- 28 October: We drag anchor during a gale, Ephesus
- 24 October: Monitoring weather, Eskifoca, Ildir, bilge management
- 7 October: Eskifoca
- 29 September: Cruising north up Turkey’s west coast, Sigacek, Dalyankoy, Cesme,
Chios
- 13 September: Clearing out of Greece and into Turkey, repairs to our Yanmar
- 1 September: Santorini, Astipaelia, Kalimnos, the Schengen Treaty
- 25 August: Rethimno, cruising north to Santorini, improvements to Envoy’s charging
system
-16 August: Chania, German war graves
- 5 August: Gramvousa Is
- 28 July: Ormos Milati, Soudha Bay, NZ war graves
- 20 July: Cruising west along Crete’s north coast
- 11 July: Impressions of Crete
- 3 July: Agios Nikolaos, resolution of gearbox problem
- 27 June: Crete, Sitia, Spinalonga, gearbox problem
- 17 June: Rhodos, Greek cruising tax, Lindos, Karpathos
- 26 May: Vodafone internet connection, unexpected problems with water maker and
hydraulic stabilisers
- 14 May: Envoy finally back in water after 28 months on the hard
- 4 May: Fresh water tanks removed
- 27 April: Problem with leaking fresh water tanks
- 25 April: Life living aboard on the hardstand, about Marmaris Yat marina,
progress on re-commissioning work
- 18 April: Diane’s impressions of Marmaris and current Turkish prices, dentists,
progress on re-commissioning work
- 11 April: Envoy slowly comes to life as jobs get ticked off the list
- 8 April: Impressions of Envoy after our 27 months absence and work needed to start
cruising again
- 31 March: Link to a map showing Envoy’s cruising using Click2Map
- 25 January: Summary of Envoy’s cruising to date and plans for 2010
2009 – Envoy not used so no blog activity
2008
- 25 January: Turkish cruising regulatory requirements, summary of 2007’s cruise
- 6 January: Technical details of leaving Envoy on the hard at Marmaris for a
long period
2007
- 24 November: Guest blogger Frank Curulli’s impressions of turkey, Envoy & Simi
- 10 November: our 2007 cruise ends in Marmaris, Gemiler Buku and visit to ruined
Greek village of Kaya Koy, Envoy accidentally discharges sewerage in Ekincek
- 28 October: Coastguard accuse us of scuba diving in restricted area at Knidos
- 14 October: Gerbeske, Arap Adasi, prices in Turkey, Simi
- 9 October: Gemler Adasi, Fethiye, we catch our first Med fish, Ruin Bay,
first rain in five months, the Endless Summer ends, Ekincek, Dalyan & Caunos
- 1 October: Finike, Kekova Roads, origins of Santa Claus, Kastellorizon,
Kalkan, repairs to our water maker
- 21 September: Antalya, Tekirova, routine engine room checks
- 10 September: Origins of the Turkish flag, Symi, Kokova Roads
- 2 September: Guest blogger – our daughter Amy re the Gulf of Gorgova
- 30 August: The Gulf of Gokova
- 16 August: The Gulf of Gokova, Snake & Castle Island, Cleopatra’s Beach, English
Harbour, getting LPG bottles filled in Greece & Turkey
- 8 August: Cruising in Turkey, Knidos, Datca, Keci Bucu, Bozburun, Bozuk Buku,
Ali Baba’s restaurant, we meet Turkish cruising couple – Ilkay & Meta and make
comparisons with displacement v planing vessels
- 29 July: Poros (Greece) to Bodrum (Turkey), Amorgos, the Monastieri of the Panayia,
Kos, Med weather, bureaucracy of clearing out of Greece and into Turkey
- 16 July: Serifos, sitting out a gale in Paros
- 9 July: Sounion, the Western Cyclades – Kithnos, repair of our
hydraulic stabilisers
- 1 July: Poros and the Gulf of Hydra, a near collision with a ferry, Piraeus
- 18 June: Piraeus, daily routines when cruising, Med marine life, repairing
our gearbox oil leak, planning repairs to our hydraulic stabilisers
- 10 June: Gulf of Corinth – Itea, visit to Delphi, Porto Germano, the Corinth Canal
Aigina
- 31 May: Levkas Canal to Cephalonia – Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and Paxos
- 23 May: Santa Maria di Leuca to Corfu – smoke in the engine room and our hydraulic
stabilisers fail
- 5 May: Aeolians to Calabria
- 27 April: Cefalu - Sicily
- 15 April: Description of Palermo, Sicily
- 9 April: Return trip from Palermo to Ustica
- 5 April: Cruise planning and our overnight cruise to Palermo
- 1 April: Problems berthing in Capri and further problems sheltering from a gale
in Cetraro
- 28 March: Our first cruise from Ostia to Capri
- 20 March: A gale in Ostia marina
- 8, 12 & 17 March: Joining Envoy for the first time in Ostia, our familiarisation
process and preparations for cruising
2006
- December 5: Full description of Envoy
Saturday, April 16, 2011
BACK ABOARD ENVOY IN MARMARIS, TURKEY
We arrived back in Marmaris on Tues 12th after spending a great weekend with our daughter Amy in London in beautiful sunny weather.
TRAVEL
We flew to London using Emirates and were impressed - food and service great, roomy economy class seats, and a generous 30kg per person luggage allowance. This trip we wanted to break our journey rather than go the whole distance non-stop. We had in mind that flying to Dubai was something like halfway, however it’s actually 19hours from Auckland - making for a long flight. Stopping over in Singapore or Seoul might be a better half way option in future. We had a day and night in Dubai – probably enough in our humble opinion. We saw the world’s tallest building – the Burj Khalifa tower at 828m and 160 stories high, and enjoyed looking around the museum in an early 19th century fort. We also had an interesting trip on a ferry down the creek and saw a lot of quite primitive looking dhows – still a major means of importing and exporting goods. Then we went to the Spice Souk (market) and the Gold Souk – where they have the world’s largest gold ring weighing a cool 64 kg. The Gold Souk has over 300 shops, and has been operational since the 1940s – no security in sight, and not even bars on the shop windows. The really amazing thing about Dubai – like it or not - is that 17 years ago there was nothing much there but desert. While you can certainly marvel at the amazing development, there is very little to see of historical interest. However, people based in Dubai are well located to travel elsewhere.
The current population of 1.5m is expected to double by 2025. In Dubai they mostly have immigrant workers on 3 year visas, not only for manual work, but in tourism & hospitality and right across the spectrum. In most cases they cannot get Dubai citizenship. Construction workers earn about US$200 per month and live in huts housing about eight or ten to a room. There’s quite a bit of discontent about the way that low-paid manual workers are treated.
There are no taxes in Dubai, and very few Dubai citizens actually work (because they are so rich and don’t need to – they traded in their camels on Porsches & Ferraris). The government is trying to encourage them to work, and pays them double wages if they agree to take a job. Very sensibly Dubai does not sell any land to foreigners but leases it for 99 years.
Di wanted to make a cup of tea in our hotel room but the kettle didn’t work. She found a saucepan but it was full of rice – not only rice but weevils as well. Put us off our tea (we didn’t need the protein)!
We were going on an afternoon city tour , and being a bit jet-lagged had a lie down for a couple of hours. We awoke to the phone ringing and the concierge saying “your bus is waiting down here”, jumped up from the bed and made it downstairs in three minutes flat.
We flew from London to Dalaman on Thomas Cook airline. This is very much a budget holiday airline with cramped seating, and you have to pay extra for checked luggage, meals and drinks. The cabin baggage allowance is ridiculously small at 1 bag of strictly 5kg, with bag measurements much smaller than other airlines. Also you are only allowed one cabin bag whereas most other airlines allow one bag of 7 kg plus a laptop, plus a ladies handbag.
MARMARIS AND ENVOY
Arriving back aboard Envoy we found everything basically OK except the bilges awash with diesel. I traced the leak to the starboard forward fuel tank, and transferred the remaining diesel from that tank to another using our fuel filtration pump. Then I removed the inspection cover on top of the leaking tank to remove fuel left below the level of the transfer pump inlet. After the tank was dry the drip stopped confirming that this tank was indeed the source of our problem. We borrowed a pump to clean about 60 litres of diesel out of the bilges, and then I had to clean up the residue firstly with a sponge, then with paper towels – quite a long, messy, smelly job. After Envoy is back in the water, and we have changed the fuel filters (which normally results in a bit of diesel in the bilge after bleeding the engines) I’ll need to give the engine room a good clean out with detergent. We plan to leave Marmaris in a couple of weeks, so for now we’ll just not use this leaking tank, but I need to plan for getting the tank repaired during the Turkish winter.
There’s no way this tank can be removed so we’ll either have to get it repaired in-situ, or get a flexible bag to put inside it.
Yesterday our steering system was re-assembled after the bearings had been reconditioned, and the stuffing box cleaned up – all OK there. We also had to get our boom winch control repaired, as that wasn’t working. Our 130 Amp inverter, which provides 110V power from the house battery bank keeps turning itself on - whether we want it or not. It does have an isolating switch located in the storage area under our bed, but that’s obviously difficult to access, so Demir suggested installing a power switch with a relay in an easily accessible location.
Today we expect to start antifouling, and need to get a move on as we only have three working days before launching. After launching we hope to get our Naiad stabilisers and HRO water maker working again – all parts here.
Diane & I are well, and at this stage very busy ticking things of our lists.
TRAVEL
We flew to London using Emirates and were impressed - food and service great, roomy economy class seats, and a generous 30kg per person luggage allowance. This trip we wanted to break our journey rather than go the whole distance non-stop. We had in mind that flying to Dubai was something like halfway, however it’s actually 19hours from Auckland - making for a long flight. Stopping over in Singapore or Seoul might be a better half way option in future. We had a day and night in Dubai – probably enough in our humble opinion. We saw the world’s tallest building – the Burj Khalifa tower at 828m and 160 stories high, and enjoyed looking around the museum in an early 19th century fort. We also had an interesting trip on a ferry down the creek and saw a lot of quite primitive looking dhows – still a major means of importing and exporting goods. Then we went to the Spice Souk (market) and the Gold Souk – where they have the world’s largest gold ring weighing a cool 64 kg. The Gold Souk has over 300 shops, and has been operational since the 1940s – no security in sight, and not even bars on the shop windows. The really amazing thing about Dubai – like it or not - is that 17 years ago there was nothing much there but desert. While you can certainly marvel at the amazing development, there is very little to see of historical interest. However, people based in Dubai are well located to travel elsewhere.
The current population of 1.5m is expected to double by 2025. In Dubai they mostly have immigrant workers on 3 year visas, not only for manual work, but in tourism & hospitality and right across the spectrum. In most cases they cannot get Dubai citizenship. Construction workers earn about US$200 per month and live in huts housing about eight or ten to a room. There’s quite a bit of discontent about the way that low-paid manual workers are treated.
There are no taxes in Dubai, and very few Dubai citizens actually work (because they are so rich and don’t need to – they traded in their camels on Porsches & Ferraris). The government is trying to encourage them to work, and pays them double wages if they agree to take a job. Very sensibly Dubai does not sell any land to foreigners but leases it for 99 years.
Di wanted to make a cup of tea in our hotel room but the kettle didn’t work. She found a saucepan but it was full of rice – not only rice but weevils as well. Put us off our tea (we didn’t need the protein)!
We were going on an afternoon city tour , and being a bit jet-lagged had a lie down for a couple of hours. We awoke to the phone ringing and the concierge saying “your bus is waiting down here”, jumped up from the bed and made it downstairs in three minutes flat.
We flew from London to Dalaman on Thomas Cook airline. This is very much a budget holiday airline with cramped seating, and you have to pay extra for checked luggage, meals and drinks. The cabin baggage allowance is ridiculously small at 1 bag of strictly 5kg, with bag measurements much smaller than other airlines. Also you are only allowed one cabin bag whereas most other airlines allow one bag of 7 kg plus a laptop, plus a ladies handbag.
MARMARIS AND ENVOY
Arriving back aboard Envoy we found everything basically OK except the bilges awash with diesel. I traced the leak to the starboard forward fuel tank, and transferred the remaining diesel from that tank to another using our fuel filtration pump. Then I removed the inspection cover on top of the leaking tank to remove fuel left below the level of the transfer pump inlet. After the tank was dry the drip stopped confirming that this tank was indeed the source of our problem. We borrowed a pump to clean about 60 litres of diesel out of the bilges, and then I had to clean up the residue firstly with a sponge, then with paper towels – quite a long, messy, smelly job. After Envoy is back in the water, and we have changed the fuel filters (which normally results in a bit of diesel in the bilge after bleeding the engines) I’ll need to give the engine room a good clean out with detergent. We plan to leave Marmaris in a couple of weeks, so for now we’ll just not use this leaking tank, but I need to plan for getting the tank repaired during the Turkish winter.
There’s no way this tank can be removed so we’ll either have to get it repaired in-situ, or get a flexible bag to put inside it.
Yesterday our steering system was re-assembled after the bearings had been reconditioned, and the stuffing box cleaned up – all OK there. We also had to get our boom winch control repaired, as that wasn’t working. Our 130 Amp inverter, which provides 110V power from the house battery bank keeps turning itself on - whether we want it or not. It does have an isolating switch located in the storage area under our bed, but that’s obviously difficult to access, so Demir suggested installing a power switch with a relay in an easily accessible location.
Today we expect to start antifouling, and need to get a move on as we only have three working days before launching. After launching we hope to get our Naiad stabilisers and HRO water maker working again – all parts here.
Diane & I are well, and at this stage very busy ticking things of our lists.
Saturday, April 09, 2011
NEW FEATURE ON ENVOY BLOG
Thanks to our friend Drew Davies we have an exciting new feature on our blog - now you can get all blog updates via RSS avoiding the need to check the blog for updates. Go to the right side of the blog and click on the chicklet, "Subscribe in a reader". From there you can select your preferred means to receive Envoy blog updates to your RSS reader, and of course this is no cost. Try it & thank you Drew!
Sunday, April 03, 2011
REGULAR ENVOY BLOGGING STARTS FOR 2011
Diane & I will arrive back in Marmaris on Tuesday 12 April. Envoy goes back into the water on 20 April, and we hope to start our cruising by 1 May. We have confirmation that the parts to (hopefully) fix our HRO water maker and Naiad stabilisers are waiting for us.
A reminder that by clicking the Link on the lower right of our blog “Map of Envoy’s Travels” you can see where we’ve been and where we are. When you get to the map you can use the zoom function on the left side, and the navigating arrows above the zoom.
COSTS OF CRUISING
Diane & I kept an accurate record of our costs during 2010 to assist our writing projects with Pacific Motor Yacht magazine. Different folks have different philosophies about their cruising lifestyles and associated costs, so what we are saying is not what’s “right”, but simply our own experience. Our 2010 costs are listed below in order of magnitude, expressed as a percentage of total costs, and with some comments. We only included cash costs, and not depreciation.
As a general statement actual living costs such as food, beverages, household supplies and personal spending are about the same when cruising as when at home, although spending on clothing is less when cruising. The cost of owning your boat in terms of maintenance and insurance is also similar. What bumps up the cost is the travel to and from your boat, meeting regulatory requirements moving between countries, plus sightseeing and associated costs ashore – particularly rental cars and accommodation.
Maintenance (42%): A commonly mentioned “rule of thumb” about annual maintenance costs is they will be about 10% of the value of your boat. We have always found our costs much less than that on average. During 2010 our costs were very high representing 42% of our total, but there was little maintenance done in 2008 & 2009 –we only had Envoy’s below waterline gelcoat stripped, the hull thoroughly dried using the Hotvac process, and a new epoxy gelcoat laid on. We decided to do this because Envoy was 20 years old, showed signs of minor osmosis, and was not being used so the timing was good. If Envoy had been used during 2008 and 2009 I very much doubt the maintenance cost would have increased, in fact it may have decreased. The cost includes replacement of spare parts used, and keeping Envoy in tip-top condition. If we take the whole period 2008-2010 the total maintenance cost was about 6% of the estimated capital value.
Food, Beverages, Household (13%): This includes all consumables, galley and head cleaning supplies. Food is generally about the same price or slightly cheaper than in NZ while alcoholic beverages are dearer in Turkey.
Going ashore (10%): Includes refreshments, meals, buses, rental cars, petrol for rental cars, accommodation and entry fees. Some tips here are to have drinks ashore to soak up some atmosphere, but eat back aboard. Select restaurants that locals use, back from the expensive water-side ones. Always select from the menu and never allow the waiter to “organise a nice meal for you” without knowing the cost. Shop around for cheap rental cars, or better still use the many bus services available.
Insurance, Marinas, Regulatory (10%): Includes the cost of storing Envoy on the hard for four winter months. Also here are marina costs, cruising permits, immigration fees and vaccinations.
Travel (7%): Travel always costs more than you expect – why?
- the very special fare deals are generally not obtainable for return dates more than 6 months from departure dates
- we got penalised for changing our return date
- we had excess luggage which is both an expense and a major inconvenience
- we stayed overnight on the way there and back, incurring additional hotel, food and transportation charges (as well as more general spending)
Fuel (6%): This included diesel for the three engines, petrol for two outboards and lpg for cooking. We could have reduced this a little by purchasing more diesel in Greece where diesel is cheaper than Turkey – we’ll do that this year.
Misc (5%): Comprised costs such as boat medical supplies, phone & internet, some laundry (in marinas we cannot always use our washing machine), and postage.
Personal (4%): Included buying clothing, cosmetics, medical, dentistry, gifts and similar. This is a cost that would vary enormously depending on the individual.
On-Board Improvements (2%): Making improvements to Envoy as opposed to maintaining existing equipment. Replacing equipment is categorised as maintenance.
NZ Costs (1%): These comprised bills such as house & car insurance, alarm monitoring fees and similar.
Looking ahead this year we expect our maintenance cost (and therefore our total costs) to significantly reduce.
Our next blog will be around 16 April with first impressions after our return.
A reminder that by clicking the Link on the lower right of our blog “Map of Envoy’s Travels” you can see where we’ve been and where we are. When you get to the map you can use the zoom function on the left side, and the navigating arrows above the zoom.
COSTS OF CRUISING
Diane & I kept an accurate record of our costs during 2010 to assist our writing projects with Pacific Motor Yacht magazine. Different folks have different philosophies about their cruising lifestyles and associated costs, so what we are saying is not what’s “right”, but simply our own experience. Our 2010 costs are listed below in order of magnitude, expressed as a percentage of total costs, and with some comments. We only included cash costs, and not depreciation.
As a general statement actual living costs such as food, beverages, household supplies and personal spending are about the same when cruising as when at home, although spending on clothing is less when cruising. The cost of owning your boat in terms of maintenance and insurance is also similar. What bumps up the cost is the travel to and from your boat, meeting regulatory requirements moving between countries, plus sightseeing and associated costs ashore – particularly rental cars and accommodation.
Maintenance (42%): A commonly mentioned “rule of thumb” about annual maintenance costs is they will be about 10% of the value of your boat. We have always found our costs much less than that on average. During 2010 our costs were very high representing 42% of our total, but there was little maintenance done in 2008 & 2009 –we only had Envoy’s below waterline gelcoat stripped, the hull thoroughly dried using the Hotvac process, and a new epoxy gelcoat laid on. We decided to do this because Envoy was 20 years old, showed signs of minor osmosis, and was not being used so the timing was good. If Envoy had been used during 2008 and 2009 I very much doubt the maintenance cost would have increased, in fact it may have decreased. The cost includes replacement of spare parts used, and keeping Envoy in tip-top condition. If we take the whole period 2008-2010 the total maintenance cost was about 6% of the estimated capital value.
Food, Beverages, Household (13%): This includes all consumables, galley and head cleaning supplies. Food is generally about the same price or slightly cheaper than in NZ while alcoholic beverages are dearer in Turkey.
Going ashore (10%): Includes refreshments, meals, buses, rental cars, petrol for rental cars, accommodation and entry fees. Some tips here are to have drinks ashore to soak up some atmosphere, but eat back aboard. Select restaurants that locals use, back from the expensive water-side ones. Always select from the menu and never allow the waiter to “organise a nice meal for you” without knowing the cost. Shop around for cheap rental cars, or better still use the many bus services available.
Insurance, Marinas, Regulatory (10%): Includes the cost of storing Envoy on the hard for four winter months. Also here are marina costs, cruising permits, immigration fees and vaccinations.
Travel (7%): Travel always costs more than you expect – why?
- the very special fare deals are generally not obtainable for return dates more than 6 months from departure dates
- we got penalised for changing our return date
- we had excess luggage which is both an expense and a major inconvenience
- we stayed overnight on the way there and back, incurring additional hotel, food and transportation charges (as well as more general spending)
Fuel (6%): This included diesel for the three engines, petrol for two outboards and lpg for cooking. We could have reduced this a little by purchasing more diesel in Greece where diesel is cheaper than Turkey – we’ll do that this year.
Misc (5%): Comprised costs such as boat medical supplies, phone & internet, some laundry (in marinas we cannot always use our washing machine), and postage.
Personal (4%): Included buying clothing, cosmetics, medical, dentistry, gifts and similar. This is a cost that would vary enormously depending on the individual.
On-Board Improvements (2%): Making improvements to Envoy as opposed to maintaining existing equipment. Replacing equipment is categorised as maintenance.
NZ Costs (1%): These comprised bills such as house & car insurance, alarm monitoring fees and similar.
Looking ahead this year we expect our maintenance cost (and therefore our total costs) to significantly reduce.
Our next blog will be around 16 April with first impressions after our return.
Monday, February 07, 2011
Envoy’s plans for 2011.
SUMMARY OF 2010 AND THOUGHTS ON ANCHORING
We had a great 252 days aboard Envoy in 2010 and cruised about 1,800NM.
After we left Marmaris the only major technical problem we had was the failure of the main gearbox in Crete. This was repaired in about two weeks, involving sending the gearbox to Piraeus by ferry. The cause of this turned out to be improper alignment of the drive train following the installation of a new propeller shaft before we departed.
The only real emergency we had was dragging the anchor in Ildir during a stormy night with thunder, lightning, hail and over 50 knots of wind. After starting the engine I found that our navigation computer was showing our lat / long, but the chart was not coming up on screen to show our position, so we had to wait for the radar to warm up to find our way back to a safe anchorage in the poor visibility.
Since then I’ve done some more research on ground tackle and Envoy’s chain diameter at 3/8 inch is a little light for a 14m vessel weighing over 30mt. Next time the chain needs re-galvanizing we will in fact replace it with ½ inch chain.
I’ve also thought about some of the “rules of thumb” concerning anchoring. The common rule of thumb is to put out chain equivalent to 5-7 times the depth from the bow roller at high water (bear in mind in the Med there is no tide to worry about). In my opinion this rule provides insufficient chain in winds above 25 knots, and I will be laying out 7-10 times the depth, although this is not possible above about 14m depth due to the length of chain carried. I think it’s important to have a significant weight of chain (about 40m length) laying on the bottom regardless of depth.
Research has shown that using an all-warp rode, the anchor efficiency at 4:1 is 54%, 7:1 is 75% and 10:1 is 85%. These figures significantly increase using all-chain.
I’m not in favour of deploying 2 anchors due to the difficulty in retrieving them quickly in an emergency; many times we have had winds shift significantly during gales, turning Envoy completely around – which would surely tangle 2 anchor chains and make them difficult to retrieve in adverse conditions and darkness.
On our return I plan to experiment with shackling a free length of chain weighing about 15kg to the main chain, about 30m from the anchor to act as an “anchor buddy”. I will use a light shackle that can be cut with bolt cutters in emergency.
RETURN TO MARMARIS
We are now in New Zealand enjoying some sun during the northern winter. Most people who “live aboard” typically choose to return home to their own country once a year for a few weeks - it’s not only about seeing family and friends, but also attending to medical needs, replenishing hard-to-get spare parts, sorting out business matters and a mountain of mail etc.
We will arrive back in Marmaris 12 April, and launch Envoy 20 April. We expect to leave Marmaris about 1 May heading west to Bodrum, and then north along Turkey’s west coast to meet our first guests Morris & Gail early June somewhere north of Izmir. From there we’ll be going further north to the Ayvalik Archipeligo, then to the Greek Islands of Lesvos, Limnos and Thasos. Near here we'll meet Kevin & Diane, and cruise east along Greece's coastline to the "Three Fingers" and later down to Evia Island. In August we'll meet Sharon & Doug at Skiathos and explore the Northern Sporades continuing north-west back to Limnos, then through the Dardanelles into the Sea of Marmara. We hope to have time to see a little of the Black Sea before returning by mid November back to Marmaris.
As we’ll only have been away from Envoy for under 4 months, we’re not expecting a lot will need doing and main jobs are:
- installing the new high pressure membranes on the watermaker, and getting this unit working
- repairing the Naiad hydraulic stabilisers by installing the new main electronic control card
- installing 2 new start batteries
- rolling on 2 coats of antifoul
- changing primary and secondary fuel filters on all three engines
- fitting new shaft sealings onto the main propeller shaft
- having Envoy’s hull, deck and topsides professionally polished (we decided to get this done annually)
Next blog update I plan to comment about the costs of the cruising lifestyle.
We had a great 252 days aboard Envoy in 2010 and cruised about 1,800NM.
After we left Marmaris the only major technical problem we had was the failure of the main gearbox in Crete. This was repaired in about two weeks, involving sending the gearbox to Piraeus by ferry. The cause of this turned out to be improper alignment of the drive train following the installation of a new propeller shaft before we departed.
The only real emergency we had was dragging the anchor in Ildir during a stormy night with thunder, lightning, hail and over 50 knots of wind. After starting the engine I found that our navigation computer was showing our lat / long, but the chart was not coming up on screen to show our position, so we had to wait for the radar to warm up to find our way back to a safe anchorage in the poor visibility.
Since then I’ve done some more research on ground tackle and Envoy’s chain diameter at 3/8 inch is a little light for a 14m vessel weighing over 30mt. Next time the chain needs re-galvanizing we will in fact replace it with ½ inch chain.
I’ve also thought about some of the “rules of thumb” concerning anchoring. The common rule of thumb is to put out chain equivalent to 5-7 times the depth from the bow roller at high water (bear in mind in the Med there is no tide to worry about). In my opinion this rule provides insufficient chain in winds above 25 knots, and I will be laying out 7-10 times the depth, although this is not possible above about 14m depth due to the length of chain carried. I think it’s important to have a significant weight of chain (about 40m length) laying on the bottom regardless of depth.
Research has shown that using an all-warp rode, the anchor efficiency at 4:1 is 54%, 7:1 is 75% and 10:1 is 85%. These figures significantly increase using all-chain.
I’m not in favour of deploying 2 anchors due to the difficulty in retrieving them quickly in an emergency; many times we have had winds shift significantly during gales, turning Envoy completely around – which would surely tangle 2 anchor chains and make them difficult to retrieve in adverse conditions and darkness.
On our return I plan to experiment with shackling a free length of chain weighing about 15kg to the main chain, about 30m from the anchor to act as an “anchor buddy”. I will use a light shackle that can be cut with bolt cutters in emergency.
RETURN TO MARMARIS
We are now in New Zealand enjoying some sun during the northern winter. Most people who “live aboard” typically choose to return home to their own country once a year for a few weeks - it’s not only about seeing family and friends, but also attending to medical needs, replenishing hard-to-get spare parts, sorting out business matters and a mountain of mail etc.
We will arrive back in Marmaris 12 April, and launch Envoy 20 April. We expect to leave Marmaris about 1 May heading west to Bodrum, and then north along Turkey’s west coast to meet our first guests Morris & Gail early June somewhere north of Izmir. From there we’ll be going further north to the Ayvalik Archipeligo, then to the Greek Islands of Lesvos, Limnos and Thasos. Near here we'll meet Kevin & Diane, and cruise east along Greece's coastline to the "Three Fingers" and later down to Evia Island. In August we'll meet Sharon & Doug at Skiathos and explore the Northern Sporades continuing north-west back to Limnos, then through the Dardanelles into the Sea of Marmara. We hope to have time to see a little of the Black Sea before returning by mid November back to Marmaris.
As we’ll only have been away from Envoy for under 4 months, we’re not expecting a lot will need doing and main jobs are:
- installing the new high pressure membranes on the watermaker, and getting this unit working
- repairing the Naiad hydraulic stabilisers by installing the new main electronic control card
- installing 2 new start batteries
- rolling on 2 coats of antifoul
- changing primary and secondary fuel filters on all three engines
- fitting new shaft sealings onto the main propeller shaft
- having Envoy’s hull, deck and topsides professionally polished (we decided to get this done annually)
Next blog update I plan to comment about the costs of the cruising lifestyle.
Saturday, January 01, 2011
Happy New Year 2011
Envoy came safely out of the water in Marmaris, and is now under cover on the hard.
We’ve heard that the regulation about discharging water containing detergent into the sea has been canned, and it’s great to see common sense prevail.
This relates to water used for washing down boats, dishes and showers – known as “grey water”. Most cruisers are very environmentally aware, use eco-friendly soaps, and don’t need that kind of bureaucracy – especially when most of the pollution comes from shoreside. Originally boats were going to need grey water tanks of 100 litres capacity for each berth. The problems with this idea were:
- most boats don’t have the space to fit tanks of this size – i.e. a minimum of 400 litres (as there are few boats with less than four berths).
- it would be expensive and take a long time to get such tanks built and installed with the necessary plumbing, as in most cases they would need to be of custom design and construction to fit an available space
- there are not enough pump-out stations to cater for even a fraction of the cruising boats, even if they did have tanks (boats were going to be required to pump-out at shore stations and not at sea)
Shortly I’ll be mentioning our cruising plans for 2011, and some thoughts about anchoring.
Technical
When Envoy came out onto the hard everything below the waterline was looking good. The rudder movement was inspected, without any excess play in the bearings. We got the Yanmar wing engine’s propeller shaft seal replaced with the Volvo system as mentioned in the last posting. As the Yanmar gearbox had to be removed to do this job we got that checked over, and replaced the gearbox seals to eliminate a very minor oil leak.
While we’re away Demir Marine will be doing some work for us:
- the batteries will be charged and the dehumidifier run once a month.
- the rudder stock’s top bearings will be removed, cleaned and greased, and a new rubber sleeve fitted
- scratches on the hull from our encounter with a large iron mooring buoy in Santorini will be repaired
- an unused seacock which leaked slightly will be removed, and the hole filled
- the support lines for the paravane stabilisers will be replaced
We’ve heard that the regulation about discharging water containing detergent into the sea has been canned, and it’s great to see common sense prevail.
This relates to water used for washing down boats, dishes and showers – known as “grey water”. Most cruisers are very environmentally aware, use eco-friendly soaps, and don’t need that kind of bureaucracy – especially when most of the pollution comes from shoreside. Originally boats were going to need grey water tanks of 100 litres capacity for each berth. The problems with this idea were:
- most boats don’t have the space to fit tanks of this size – i.e. a minimum of 400 litres (as there are few boats with less than four berths).
- it would be expensive and take a long time to get such tanks built and installed with the necessary plumbing, as in most cases they would need to be of custom design and construction to fit an available space
- there are not enough pump-out stations to cater for even a fraction of the cruising boats, even if they did have tanks (boats were going to be required to pump-out at shore stations and not at sea)
Shortly I’ll be mentioning our cruising plans for 2011, and some thoughts about anchoring.
Technical
When Envoy came out onto the hard everything below the waterline was looking good. The rudder movement was inspected, without any excess play in the bearings. We got the Yanmar wing engine’s propeller shaft seal replaced with the Volvo system as mentioned in the last posting. As the Yanmar gearbox had to be removed to do this job we got that checked over, and replaced the gearbox seals to eliminate a very minor oil leak.
While we’re away Demir Marine will be doing some work for us:
- the batteries will be charged and the dehumidifier run once a month.
- the rudder stock’s top bearings will be removed, cleaned and greased, and a new rubber sleeve fitted
- scratches on the hull from our encounter with a large iron mooring buoy in Santorini will be repaired
- an unused seacock which leaked slightly will be removed, and the hole filled
- the support lines for the paravane stabilisers will be replaced
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Marina life and Merry Christmas
The weather here stayed surprisingly warm and fine, and only this week has started to be wintry with temperatures under 20dC. We haven't turned a heater on yet, and the sea water is still 21dC.
All is well with us at the marina, which is said to be the largest in the Med, and one of the largest single marinas in the world having 650 berths, and 1,000 hardstand spaces. They are still expanding and will next year install a new 1,000 tonne travel lift.
There are lots of facilities here, and activities organised – both by the occupants, and the management. Di and I partake in some of them, but not many – we just prefer to do our own thing. Every day there is a vhf radio net advising everybody what’s happening in and around the marina. Most technical services are resident here, and they have to pay the marina operators 15% of their labour charge – of course this means the boat owner pays in the end. Contractors coming into the marina have to pay Lire 30 per person per day, even if only coming in for half an hour. This is a real bone of contention among the cruisers.
There’s not a great deal more to do on Envoy until we come out of the water on Friday. Then our storage cover gets put back on to protect Envoy during the winter months. It’s such a large cover it will take 2 guys most of a day to fit it.
As we’ll only be off Envoy for about 4 months there is nothing like the work involved compared to last time when we left her for an expected 2-3 years.
This will be our last post for 2010: we hope you enjoyed the blog this year and wish you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Next posting will be 1st week of 2011.
Technical
The parts for the watermaker have not arrived yet – so we’ll have to wait until April. Same situation with the stabilisers. In both cases I know the parts are now coming – they weren’t organised before we arrived back, despite the promises and our regular checking to ensure they were organised.
When Envoy comes out of the water we’re also going to check the rudder movement to see if that’s OK. In any case the rudder stock’s top bearing needs to be removed and checked, and the rubber sleeve replaced, as it has a tear.
Our Yanmar “wing” engine has a PSS dripless shaft seal for which the bellows needs to be replaced every six years or so, and now due. The local engineers suggest to change this system to the Volvo shaft seal system, which they say is more reliable, and for which parts are readily available here, so we’re going to do that. The PSS system has always worried me a bit, because it seems over-complicated, and if the rubber bellows should rip or fail, a considerable amount of sea water can enter the boat in an area which is very difficult to access.
All is well with us at the marina, which is said to be the largest in the Med, and one of the largest single marinas in the world having 650 berths, and 1,000 hardstand spaces. They are still expanding and will next year install a new 1,000 tonne travel lift.
There are lots of facilities here, and activities organised – both by the occupants, and the management. Di and I partake in some of them, but not many – we just prefer to do our own thing. Every day there is a vhf radio net advising everybody what’s happening in and around the marina. Most technical services are resident here, and they have to pay the marina operators 15% of their labour charge – of course this means the boat owner pays in the end. Contractors coming into the marina have to pay Lire 30 per person per day, even if only coming in for half an hour. This is a real bone of contention among the cruisers.
There’s not a great deal more to do on Envoy until we come out of the water on Friday. Then our storage cover gets put back on to protect Envoy during the winter months. It’s such a large cover it will take 2 guys most of a day to fit it.
As we’ll only be off Envoy for about 4 months there is nothing like the work involved compared to last time when we left her for an expected 2-3 years.
This will be our last post for 2010: we hope you enjoyed the blog this year and wish you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Next posting will be 1st week of 2011.
Technical
The parts for the watermaker have not arrived yet – so we’ll have to wait until April. Same situation with the stabilisers. In both cases I know the parts are now coming – they weren’t organised before we arrived back, despite the promises and our regular checking to ensure they were organised.
When Envoy comes out of the water we’re also going to check the rudder movement to see if that’s OK. In any case the rudder stock’s top bearing needs to be removed and checked, and the rubber sleeve replaced, as it has a tear.
Our Yanmar “wing” engine has a PSS dripless shaft seal for which the bellows needs to be replaced every six years or so, and now due. The local engineers suggest to change this system to the Volvo shaft seal system, which they say is more reliable, and for which parts are readily available here, so we’re going to do that. The PSS system has always worried me a bit, because it seems over-complicated, and if the rubber bellows should rip or fail, a considerable amount of sea water can enter the boat in an area which is very difficult to access.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Safely back in Marmaris marina
Di and I are really well, and on Monday 15 we berthed in Marmaris marina for the winter, ending our 2010 cruise of 168 days and 1,782 nautical miles. It’s a great feeling to have returned safely without any major dramas - the only serious technical problem encountered with Envoy during this time was our gearbox failure, which held us up at Agios Nikolaos marina for two weeks. There’s no sadness about our cruise ending; we’ve had a great time, we’ve got lots to look forward to during December to March, and then we’ll be returning in April.
The marina fees are still quite reasonable for long term occupants – Euro 1,969 for five and a half months including lift in/out, and pressure washing. Power is charged at Euro 0.32/kw (we use 11kw/day), and water at Euro 2.50/tonne.
We had a farewell dinner with Chris and he departed for Istanbul on Tuesday 16 – we know that he enjoyed himself and, like our other guests he was a pleasure to have on board.
Here at the marina there are only about 8 kiwis, although a number of other NZ boats where the crews have returned to NZ for the winter.
On our marina finger is also the very first Nordhavn 46 built – “Frog Kiss”.
Since our arrival here the weather has been near perfect up to a couple of days ago when we got some overcast weather and strong winds. Certainly it’s no problem to cruise up to mid November in this area.
One development here is that it’s now totally banned to put any detergents into the sea – not only in the marina (understandable) but in all coastal areas (ridiculous). A Euro 250 fine applies if any bubbles are found eminating from your vessel.
We have a delightful English couple next to us, David & Jill who have lived aboard their English Daaglas design, 19m overall length, 40 year old motor yacht for 24 years cruising the Med. David is a retired boatbuilder / engineer / diver / captain, and a mine of interesting information
Last Saturday we went with a group to a local restaurant to watch the All Blacks play Ireland, and this week will watch the Wales game – Go Blacks.
Log
Days aboard Envoy this trip: 168 - Marmaris to Marmaris, 234 - total
Engine hours and distance this trip: 361hrs, 1,782NM
Technical: We’ve had two major disappointments as neither the HRO watermaker spare parts nor the Naiad stabiliser spare parts are here as promised. The watermaker parts are due in January, so will be ready for our return in April. The Naiad parts are supposed to arrive next week – but we’ll see. In both cases the agents initially promised the parts would be here, had nearly five months to arrange them, and reassured me in subsequent phone conversations that they would be here.
Since arriving back we’ve got both aircon units working again. This will be useful as they are also reverse cycle heaters. Aircon is a bit of a waste of time at sea, because you have to run a Genset to use it, but it is useful when on shorepower. The aft unit just required an air bleed valve fitted to the cooling water pump outlet. The forward unit needed a new cooling water pump fitted from our inventory of spares. We now have 3 failed 110v water pumps on board, and as they cost about NZ$1,000 each I’m seeing if they can be repaired – anybody know about this?
We’ve also stripped, cleaned and greased our Maxwell windlass, and it’s all good for the next season.
The brightwork on the teak has been given another couple of coats, and looks great.
We’ve had intermittent starting problems on the main Lugger engine during the year, so just had the batteries tested under load. The Start Bank is on the way out, and will need to be replaced next year, while the House Bank will probably need replacing the following year. Both Banks date from 2004, and leaving them for 27 months would not have helped them.
Apart from that we’ve been quietly sorting Envoy out for haul out on 10 December, however as we’re only leaving Envoy unattended for four months, and she will be fully covered again there’s no major work to do – unlike 2008.
The marina fees are still quite reasonable for long term occupants – Euro 1,969 for five and a half months including lift in/out, and pressure washing. Power is charged at Euro 0.32/kw (we use 11kw/day), and water at Euro 2.50/tonne.
We had a farewell dinner with Chris and he departed for Istanbul on Tuesday 16 – we know that he enjoyed himself and, like our other guests he was a pleasure to have on board.
Here at the marina there are only about 8 kiwis, although a number of other NZ boats where the crews have returned to NZ for the winter.
On our marina finger is also the very first Nordhavn 46 built – “Frog Kiss”.
Since our arrival here the weather has been near perfect up to a couple of days ago when we got some overcast weather and strong winds. Certainly it’s no problem to cruise up to mid November in this area.
One development here is that it’s now totally banned to put any detergents into the sea – not only in the marina (understandable) but in all coastal areas (ridiculous). A Euro 250 fine applies if any bubbles are found eminating from your vessel.
We have a delightful English couple next to us, David & Jill who have lived aboard their English Daaglas design, 19m overall length, 40 year old motor yacht for 24 years cruising the Med. David is a retired boatbuilder / engineer / diver / captain, and a mine of interesting information
Last Saturday we went with a group to a local restaurant to watch the All Blacks play Ireland, and this week will watch the Wales game – Go Blacks.
Log
Days aboard Envoy this trip: 168 - Marmaris to Marmaris, 234 - total
Engine hours and distance this trip: 361hrs, 1,782NM
Technical: We’ve had two major disappointments as neither the HRO watermaker spare parts nor the Naiad stabiliser spare parts are here as promised. The watermaker parts are due in January, so will be ready for our return in April. The Naiad parts are supposed to arrive next week – but we’ll see. In both cases the agents initially promised the parts would be here, had nearly five months to arrange them, and reassured me in subsequent phone conversations that they would be here.
Since arriving back we’ve got both aircon units working again. This will be useful as they are also reverse cycle heaters. Aircon is a bit of a waste of time at sea, because you have to run a Genset to use it, but it is useful when on shorepower. The aft unit just required an air bleed valve fitted to the cooling water pump outlet. The forward unit needed a new cooling water pump fitted from our inventory of spares. We now have 3 failed 110v water pumps on board, and as they cost about NZ$1,000 each I’m seeing if they can be repaired – anybody know about this?
We’ve also stripped, cleaned and greased our Maxwell windlass, and it’s all good for the next season.
The brightwork on the teak has been given another couple of coats, and looks great.
We’ve had intermittent starting problems on the main Lugger engine during the year, so just had the batteries tested under load. The Start Bank is on the way out, and will need to be replaced next year, while the House Bank will probably need replacing the following year. Both Banks date from 2004, and leaving them for 27 months would not have helped them.
Apart from that we’ve been quietly sorting Envoy out for haul out on 10 December, however as we’re only leaving Envoy unattended for four months, and she will be fully covered again there’s no major work to do – unlike 2008.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Photos on blog
Photos on the blog are quite small to see, but you can enlarge them to full screen size by left clicking on the photo. The "Charles Atlas" photo was a bit of fun from Chris using his photo edit skills.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Turkish “Indian summer”
We’ve been steadily heading south, and two weeks ago we anchored off the quaint village of Torba in perfect conditions – blue skies, no wind and temperature in low 20s, and here Chris O’Brien joined us. The weather went this way following a couple of weeks of overcast skies and strong winds, and has remained since. Funny how quickly you forget the strong winds and rain - we’ve been back to swimming every day, BBQs at night, and the sea has been so calm we haven’t needed to use our stabilizers. This seems to confirm that our decision to cruise until mid November was the right one.
From Torba we cruised around the Bodrum Peninsula to Bodrum, and anchored off the spectacular St Peter’s Castle. It’s now very quiet; the holiday season is long over, many shops and restaurants are boarded up for the winter, and fresh supplies are harder to get.
Chris is a self-confessed “Geek”, and very knowledgeable about computers, cameras, mobile phones, stereo systems etc. Apart from that he’s also very practical, and has been helping us out on a range of jobs. Chris is a keen freedom caravaner, and in the caravan community has the nickname “MacGyver” due to his fix-it capabilities.
When Di got her Turkcell USB stick for internet access several weeks back her computer was reprogrammed, and during the process her file containing all our photos disappeared. Chris was able to find and restore that for us (and of course it’s now backed up!)
Chris gave us an incredible torch. This is a small LED torch, only 105mm long, brand is “Cree”, powered by 3 x AAA batteries, in black aluminium. The light it puts out is brighter, with a longer range than our spotlight powered by 8 x D batteries. It also has 3 power settings plus 5 zoom options for different conditions. These torches are just amazing and a must for boating, camping etc. Frank – you need one of these! We laughed over our evening “Efes” beers about Chris being a “Geek bearing gifts”.
We spent a couple of days in Keci Buku where Marti Marina is located. This is a very sheltered anchorage, and we went there as winds of 20-30 knots were forecast. These winds never eventuated though, and we only got a few gusts up to 18 knots for a couple of days.
Having a drink at a shore-side Taverna we met a British guy who’s been living alone aboard his yacht alongside the Taverna’s jetty for 12 years without moving. This seemed rather a shame when there are so many delightful places along this coast to cruise and explore. We decided to have a snack and ordered some calamari. Although it was delicious, we were surprised to be charged Lire 30 (about $25) for it – we thought it was worth Lire 10-15, and this reminded us – if you don’t have a menu always ask the price before ordering.
We went to Bozburun – a charming small Turkish village. Chris and I took six 30 litre water containers to fill – for the last time this trip! Next year we should have our watermaker operational and hunting for water, and lugging around heavy containers will be a distant memory.
We had thought about visiting the Greek island of Simi for a day or two, but the bureaucratic requirements are too great for such a short visit, so we moved on to Bozuk Buku instead. This is the site of the ancient city of Loryma, where the ruins of the mighty citadel, constructed 2,300 years ago still dominate the hilltop, and provide for an interesting exploration. Barbarossa’s restaurant, where we had a great evening with John and Frank & Marie in 2007 was boarded-up and deserted, with two donkeys on the deck overlooking the bay.
Log
Days aboard Envoy this trip: 222
Engine hours and distance this trip: 353hrs, 1,743NM
Technical: No problems or issues, but Chris has provided a lot of help. He managed to get our spare navigation laptop running C-Map with Envoy’s position icon showing on the chart (this icon was missing previously). It turned out to be a simple matter of starting the computer before connecting it to the GPS, and it’s very re-assuring to have that spare system working. He was also able to fix our sea water wash-down tap (actually repairing the internal tap cartridge), fix our remote switch for the boom winch, re-hang our bedroom cabin door to make it close properly, level our BBQ so the oil doesn’t run to one side, make an Ipod connection for our Salon stereo system, and make a connection for laptops to the same system so we have great “surround- sound” audio when watching movies on laptops. Our DVD player is an older one, and only plays single region American DVDs. Chris is going to organise a new multi-region player for us to bring back and connect into our system.
I had several unusual tools on board with no idea what they were for, or how to use them - and Chris was able to put me right there too.
Apart from that we’ve had deep and meaningful discussions on a whole range of technical issues, with me learning a lot in the process.
We bought 750 litres of diesel in Didim to ensure our fuel tanks are about 40% full when we leave Envoy for five months in Marmaris. This cost Lire 3.06 / litre – about $2.80.
We have always used SAE30 oil for all three engines, two gearboxes, and the Yamaha outboard. Both Lugger and Yanmar now recommend 15W40 instead of SAE30, so I’ll use that for our next oil change. Lugger still suggest to use SAE30 for the Borg Warner gearbox. The manual says either SAE30 or ATF can be used, but Lugger advise for low revving applications like ours, SAE30 is better.
We’re changing the Lugger engine oil every 200 hours. The Yanmar manual says to change every 100 hours, but a Yanmar mechanic told us that using the engine every day as we do, 150hrs between oil changes is OK. I think I still prefer to change at 100 hours as the Yanmar (as with the Genset) is used for quite short periods – typically 90 minutes and doesn’t have the chance to get up to a good working temperature.
The Turkish antifoul we used – “Seajet” is not performing well. After five months in the water some slime appeared, followed by some light weed in places, even though Demir Marine said the Seajet would keep our hull clean for the season. My brother warned me about this, and next year we’ll try Interlux Micron Extra.
Some months back, in Crete we found the Start Battery Bank wouldn’t always turn the Lugger over to start it. We got around this by trying again (and it would start on the 2nd or 3rd attempt) or using our Parallel Switch to connect in the House Bank to the Start Bank. Since Doug improved the Lugger charging system this problem has resolved itself, and the Lugger has always starts fine, except once – when it started fine on the 2nd attempt. Chris has suggested we further improve our battery system by fitting a “Megapulse” de-sulphating unit to each Bank.
From Torba we cruised around the Bodrum Peninsula to Bodrum, and anchored off the spectacular St Peter’s Castle. It’s now very quiet; the holiday season is long over, many shops and restaurants are boarded up for the winter, and fresh supplies are harder to get.
Chris is a self-confessed “Geek”, and very knowledgeable about computers, cameras, mobile phones, stereo systems etc. Apart from that he’s also very practical, and has been helping us out on a range of jobs. Chris is a keen freedom caravaner, and in the caravan community has the nickname “MacGyver” due to his fix-it capabilities.
When Di got her Turkcell USB stick for internet access several weeks back her computer was reprogrammed, and during the process her file containing all our photos disappeared. Chris was able to find and restore that for us (and of course it’s now backed up!)
Chris gave us an incredible torch. This is a small LED torch, only 105mm long, brand is “Cree”, powered by 3 x AAA batteries, in black aluminium. The light it puts out is brighter, with a longer range than our spotlight powered by 8 x D batteries. It also has 3 power settings plus 5 zoom options for different conditions. These torches are just amazing and a must for boating, camping etc. Frank – you need one of these! We laughed over our evening “Efes” beers about Chris being a “Geek bearing gifts”.
We spent a couple of days in Keci Buku where Marti Marina is located. This is a very sheltered anchorage, and we went there as winds of 20-30 knots were forecast. These winds never eventuated though, and we only got a few gusts up to 18 knots for a couple of days.
Having a drink at a shore-side Taverna we met a British guy who’s been living alone aboard his yacht alongside the Taverna’s jetty for 12 years without moving. This seemed rather a shame when there are so many delightful places along this coast to cruise and explore. We decided to have a snack and ordered some calamari. Although it was delicious, we were surprised to be charged Lire 30 (about $25) for it – we thought it was worth Lire 10-15, and this reminded us – if you don’t have a menu always ask the price before ordering.
We went to Bozburun – a charming small Turkish village. Chris and I took six 30 litre water containers to fill – for the last time this trip! Next year we should have our watermaker operational and hunting for water, and lugging around heavy containers will be a distant memory.
We had thought about visiting the Greek island of Simi for a day or two, but the bureaucratic requirements are too great for such a short visit, so we moved on to Bozuk Buku instead. This is the site of the ancient city of Loryma, where the ruins of the mighty citadel, constructed 2,300 years ago still dominate the hilltop, and provide for an interesting exploration. Barbarossa’s restaurant, where we had a great evening with John and Frank & Marie in 2007 was boarded-up and deserted, with two donkeys on the deck overlooking the bay.
Log
Days aboard Envoy this trip: 222
Engine hours and distance this trip: 353hrs, 1,743NM
Technical: No problems or issues, but Chris has provided a lot of help. He managed to get our spare navigation laptop running C-Map with Envoy’s position icon showing on the chart (this icon was missing previously). It turned out to be a simple matter of starting the computer before connecting it to the GPS, and it’s very re-assuring to have that spare system working. He was also able to fix our sea water wash-down tap (actually repairing the internal tap cartridge), fix our remote switch for the boom winch, re-hang our bedroom cabin door to make it close properly, level our BBQ so the oil doesn’t run to one side, make an Ipod connection for our Salon stereo system, and make a connection for laptops to the same system so we have great “surround- sound” audio when watching movies on laptops. Our DVD player is an older one, and only plays single region American DVDs. Chris is going to organise a new multi-region player for us to bring back and connect into our system.
I had several unusual tools on board with no idea what they were for, or how to use them - and Chris was able to put me right there too.
Apart from that we’ve had deep and meaningful discussions on a whole range of technical issues, with me learning a lot in the process.
We bought 750 litres of diesel in Didim to ensure our fuel tanks are about 40% full when we leave Envoy for five months in Marmaris. This cost Lire 3.06 / litre – about $2.80.
We have always used SAE30 oil for all three engines, two gearboxes, and the Yamaha outboard. Both Lugger and Yanmar now recommend 15W40 instead of SAE30, so I’ll use that for our next oil change. Lugger still suggest to use SAE30 for the Borg Warner gearbox. The manual says either SAE30 or ATF can be used, but Lugger advise for low revving applications like ours, SAE30 is better.
We’re changing the Lugger engine oil every 200 hours. The Yanmar manual says to change every 100 hours, but a Yanmar mechanic told us that using the engine every day as we do, 150hrs between oil changes is OK. I think I still prefer to change at 100 hours as the Yanmar (as with the Genset) is used for quite short periods – typically 90 minutes and doesn’t have the chance to get up to a good working temperature.
The Turkish antifoul we used – “Seajet” is not performing well. After five months in the water some slime appeared, followed by some light weed in places, even though Demir Marine said the Seajet would keep our hull clean for the season. My brother warned me about this, and next year we’ll try Interlux Micron Extra.
Some months back, in Crete we found the Start Battery Bank wouldn’t always turn the Lugger over to start it. We got around this by trying again (and it would start on the 2nd or 3rd attempt) or using our Parallel Switch to connect in the House Bank to the Start Bank. Since Doug improved the Lugger charging system this problem has resolved itself, and the Lugger has always starts fine, except once – when it started fine on the 2nd attempt. Chris has suggested we further improve our battery system by fitting a “Megapulse” de-sulphating unit to each Bank.
Sunday, November 07, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Amy’s and Steve & Jane Wilson’s visit
We had planned to enter Dalyan harbour for the period of Amy’s visit, and for Steve & Jane’s arrival, but at the last moment were advised there was no room. It’s preferable to be in a harbour when leaving Envoy for several hours at a time, but we anchored in the picturesque bay off the village of Ildir where there is reasonable shelter, water available from a hose at a shore-side hotel, and a dolmus (bus) to Cesme.
The dolmus network is very interesting. They use mini-buses seating about 15, with standing room for about another 10. You can hail them down to get on, and they will drop you off anywhere along their route. There are no tickets – you just pay cash to the driver, a typical fare for a 30 min ride being about $2.50. From the remote village of Ildir there was an hourly service to the regional town of Cesme
We needed to go into Cesme to get a rental car to pick up Amy from Izmir airport. While waiting about 45 minutes for the dolmus a waiter from a nearby taverna brought us out a couple of chairs and a table, then a coffee and a pastry to enjoy during our wait. He refused payment, saying it was “Turkish hospitality” - this is typical of the kindness we encounter from Turkish people.
Driving to Izmir we encountered very heavy rain, and partial flooding of the autobahn. Izmir is a large city with a population of 2.25m, but the autobahn took us directly to the airport. By the time we got back to the boat at 1am the rain had eased, though the RIB was half-full of water. Amy’s visit was absolutely great, and the four days went in a blur. Although the guys at the hotel were helpful with giving us water, their eyes just about popped when Amy came ashore to help with the water, and from then they couldn’t do enough for us. With Amy we had swims, caught up on family conversation, dined well, enjoyed some wines, further explored Cesme, Alicati & Sigacik using the rental car. In Sigacik we were able to visit the weekly market, and then had a great lunch at a small & typical taverna with traditional kebabs. Then all too soon it was time to take Amy back to Izmir airport. When we left Envoy there was torrential rain, so we had to get our full wet weather gear on, and put Amy’s bag in a plastic rubbish sack to keep it dry. This was never going to be a sad farewell as we’ll see Amy in just a few weeks time for Christmas.
After seeing Amy off we picked up Steve & Jane Wilson. It was still raining heavily as we drove back to Ildir, but fortunately eased off while we took the RIB out to Envoy.
As we chatted after dinner the wind picked up, and we had a severe electrical storm with copious thunder and lighting. The wind increased unexpectedly to mid-30 knots with gusts into the low 50s, and Envoy started to drag her anchor. Dragging is unusual as I mentioned in the last posting, and I think this time was due to quite soft mud on the bottom in Ildir, probably combined with only having about 50m of chain out in 8m of depth; for a blow of 40kn+, I would normally put out around 70-80m. Quickly Envoy moved a couple of hundred metres, from 8m to 18m depth, and as the fetch increased the choppy waves grew to over a metre. The heavy rain turned to hail and Steve’s first night back on board (Steve & Jane joined us in 2007) was partially spent getting soaked to the skin on the foredeck operating the anchor winch while I used the engine to take the strain off the anchor chain. Our navigation computer chose this time to play up, and with the poor visibility I had to use radar to get back into a good anchoring position. That night the wind came from all points of the compass, sometimes 5 knots, and sometimes 35, requiring me to maintain anchor watch for a good part of the night – by far the worst night we’ve had during this year. It wasn’t much of a first night for Steve & Jane, but the following day the weather cleared, and mostly stayed that way for the rest of their visit.
We wanted to leave Envoy for a day to go to Ephesus, so moved to a more secure anchorage at Sifne - a larger, shallower bay with more swinging room. Ephesus was great, and a “must-see” for people visiting Turkey. We’d been advised to use a guide to fully explain what we were seeing, and this proved to be very worthwhile for an investment of L90 (about $80). Our guide was a mine of information, presented in a charming manner – his favorite word seemed to be “exactly”, which he used every time one of us made a comment.
I’ve mentioned before that a lot of the ancient ruins you see are little more than piles of rubble, however Ephesus has been quite well preserved. Ephesus was a prosperous city by 600BC, and later became the capital for the Roman province of Asia. Ephesus then had a population of 250,000, but declined after 600AD, when the harbour had fully silted making sea access no longer possible. Nowadays Ephesus is about eight miles from the coast. Ephesus also features the largest ancient Great Theatre – built by the Romans in the 1st century, capable of seating 25,000 people, and still used for performances.
We wanted to take Steve & Jane to Sigacik, and on the way anchored two nights in Alicanti. Here we had yet another gale warning - not as serious as the last one, but the wind shifted from S to N so we had to re-anchor. When we pulled up our anchor, we had a fishing net tangled in the anchor chain, and I had no hesitation in cutting it free our – it is easy to get a fishing net tangled in your propeller.
We had a great farewell dinner in Sigacik; we’ve mentioned before about the Turkish sense of humour – well; we were correctly using the word “Tessekur Ederim” for “thank you”, when the maitre de said we could use a shorter word “ashkim”. So whenever our young waiter brought food or drink we said “ashkim”. Then we noticed some of the other staff and guests were chuckling away. Later the maitre de explained he’d been pulling our leg and “ashkim” actually means “my beloved”.
We had a great time with Steve & Jane who left very early on a balmy morning in complete contrast to their baptism of fire arrival.
We’ll post some photos with Amy and Steve & Jane in a day or two.
We have now moved further south to Akbuk Limani, near Didim, and not far north of Bodrum. During the trip we had one passage of eight hours, covering about 45NM. This was a passage into a southerly wind of 15-20kn, putting up seas of about 1.5m. Apart from our passage to Rhodes in June we have yet to make one with a following sea! A pod of dolphins joined us and swam alongside for 15 minutes or so, jumping and cavorting.
Approaching the Samos Channel (separating mainland Turkey from the Greek Is of Samos) we encountered a classic katabatic wind with thick clouds peeling down from the tops of the mountains on the Turkish coast. The wind came up to over 40kn blowing water off the sea surface and kicking up a 1.5m “washing machine” chop for about 30 minutes until we cleared the channel.
Yesterday we had another gale warning – which is still valid, although we are on the fringes of the gale area with winds in our position only up to high 20s. It looks like a chane to a period of light northerlies within a day or two.
On Monday we meet our last guest – Chris O’Brien, who is cruising to Marmaris with us for two weeks.
Log
Days aboard Envoy this trip: 206
Engine hours and distance this trip: 319hrs, 1,482NM
Technical: Nothing much to report. The C-Map on our navigation computer had a problem – the on-screen chart was somehow replaced by large cubes (probably I accidentally activated a Fn key). Steve managed to find a fix for this within the Display function. We have a spare C-Map program loaded onto a different laptop, and although the chart displays fine, the gps position icon doesn’t show. I’ll investigate further when Chris is here.
The dolmus network is very interesting. They use mini-buses seating about 15, with standing room for about another 10. You can hail them down to get on, and they will drop you off anywhere along their route. There are no tickets – you just pay cash to the driver, a typical fare for a 30 min ride being about $2.50. From the remote village of Ildir there was an hourly service to the regional town of Cesme
We needed to go into Cesme to get a rental car to pick up Amy from Izmir airport. While waiting about 45 minutes for the dolmus a waiter from a nearby taverna brought us out a couple of chairs and a table, then a coffee and a pastry to enjoy during our wait. He refused payment, saying it was “Turkish hospitality” - this is typical of the kindness we encounter from Turkish people.
Driving to Izmir we encountered very heavy rain, and partial flooding of the autobahn. Izmir is a large city with a population of 2.25m, but the autobahn took us directly to the airport. By the time we got back to the boat at 1am the rain had eased, though the RIB was half-full of water. Amy’s visit was absolutely great, and the four days went in a blur. Although the guys at the hotel were helpful with giving us water, their eyes just about popped when Amy came ashore to help with the water, and from then they couldn’t do enough for us. With Amy we had swims, caught up on family conversation, dined well, enjoyed some wines, further explored Cesme, Alicati & Sigacik using the rental car. In Sigacik we were able to visit the weekly market, and then had a great lunch at a small & typical taverna with traditional kebabs. Then all too soon it was time to take Amy back to Izmir airport. When we left Envoy there was torrential rain, so we had to get our full wet weather gear on, and put Amy’s bag in a plastic rubbish sack to keep it dry. This was never going to be a sad farewell as we’ll see Amy in just a few weeks time for Christmas.
After seeing Amy off we picked up Steve & Jane Wilson. It was still raining heavily as we drove back to Ildir, but fortunately eased off while we took the RIB out to Envoy.
As we chatted after dinner the wind picked up, and we had a severe electrical storm with copious thunder and lighting. The wind increased unexpectedly to mid-30 knots with gusts into the low 50s, and Envoy started to drag her anchor. Dragging is unusual as I mentioned in the last posting, and I think this time was due to quite soft mud on the bottom in Ildir, probably combined with only having about 50m of chain out in 8m of depth; for a blow of 40kn+, I would normally put out around 70-80m. Quickly Envoy moved a couple of hundred metres, from 8m to 18m depth, and as the fetch increased the choppy waves grew to over a metre. The heavy rain turned to hail and Steve’s first night back on board (Steve & Jane joined us in 2007) was partially spent getting soaked to the skin on the foredeck operating the anchor winch while I used the engine to take the strain off the anchor chain. Our navigation computer chose this time to play up, and with the poor visibility I had to use radar to get back into a good anchoring position. That night the wind came from all points of the compass, sometimes 5 knots, and sometimes 35, requiring me to maintain anchor watch for a good part of the night – by far the worst night we’ve had during this year. It wasn’t much of a first night for Steve & Jane, but the following day the weather cleared, and mostly stayed that way for the rest of their visit.
We wanted to leave Envoy for a day to go to Ephesus, so moved to a more secure anchorage at Sifne - a larger, shallower bay with more swinging room. Ephesus was great, and a “must-see” for people visiting Turkey. We’d been advised to use a guide to fully explain what we were seeing, and this proved to be very worthwhile for an investment of L90 (about $80). Our guide was a mine of information, presented in a charming manner – his favorite word seemed to be “exactly”, which he used every time one of us made a comment.
I’ve mentioned before that a lot of the ancient ruins you see are little more than piles of rubble, however Ephesus has been quite well preserved. Ephesus was a prosperous city by 600BC, and later became the capital for the Roman province of Asia. Ephesus then had a population of 250,000, but declined after 600AD, when the harbour had fully silted making sea access no longer possible. Nowadays Ephesus is about eight miles from the coast. Ephesus also features the largest ancient Great Theatre – built by the Romans in the 1st century, capable of seating 25,000 people, and still used for performances.
We wanted to take Steve & Jane to Sigacik, and on the way anchored two nights in Alicanti. Here we had yet another gale warning - not as serious as the last one, but the wind shifted from S to N so we had to re-anchor. When we pulled up our anchor, we had a fishing net tangled in the anchor chain, and I had no hesitation in cutting it free our – it is easy to get a fishing net tangled in your propeller.
We had a great farewell dinner in Sigacik; we’ve mentioned before about the Turkish sense of humour – well; we were correctly using the word “Tessekur Ederim” for “thank you”, when the maitre de said we could use a shorter word “ashkim”. So whenever our young waiter brought food or drink we said “ashkim”. Then we noticed some of the other staff and guests were chuckling away. Later the maitre de explained he’d been pulling our leg and “ashkim” actually means “my beloved”.
We had a great time with Steve & Jane who left very early on a balmy morning in complete contrast to their baptism of fire arrival.
We’ll post some photos with Amy and Steve & Jane in a day or two.
We have now moved further south to Akbuk Limani, near Didim, and not far north of Bodrum. During the trip we had one passage of eight hours, covering about 45NM. This was a passage into a southerly wind of 15-20kn, putting up seas of about 1.5m. Apart from our passage to Rhodes in June we have yet to make one with a following sea! A pod of dolphins joined us and swam alongside for 15 minutes or so, jumping and cavorting.
Approaching the Samos Channel (separating mainland Turkey from the Greek Is of Samos) we encountered a classic katabatic wind with thick clouds peeling down from the tops of the mountains on the Turkish coast. The wind came up to over 40kn blowing water off the sea surface and kicking up a 1.5m “washing machine” chop for about 30 minutes until we cleared the channel.
Yesterday we had another gale warning – which is still valid, although we are on the fringes of the gale area with winds in our position only up to high 20s. It looks like a chane to a period of light northerlies within a day or two.
On Monday we meet our last guest – Chris O’Brien, who is cruising to Marmaris with us for two weeks.
Log
Days aboard Envoy this trip: 206
Engine hours and distance this trip: 319hrs, 1,482NM
Technical: Nothing much to report. The C-Map on our navigation computer had a problem – the on-screen chart was somehow replaced by large cubes (probably I accidentally activated a Fn key). Steve managed to find a fix for this within the Display function. We have a spare C-Map program loaded onto a different laptop, and although the chart displays fine, the gps position icon doesn’t show. I’ll investigate further when Chris is here.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
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Sunday, October 24, 2010
Activities up to 14 October
I had an email from a business friend – Owen Embling, saying he thought the photos on the blog were great, so I wanted to mention that Diane takes all the photos, and does the first edit, then we sit together and decide what photos to put on the blog. These are generally the same photos as get published in Pacific Motor Yacht magazine with our regular articles.
Turkey is a wonderful country, and we in NZ could learn a lot from the Turks. People smile and laugh a lot, and are courteous to each other – and to visitors. You never see “threatening-looking” people or drunken idiots around, and people go about their daily business without fear of being mugged or bothered. Although the driving is atrocious, there is no road rage or people giving the fingers etc, everything is just taken in good humour. Yes NZ could learn a lot. One negative though is the considerable litter everywhere (similar in Greece), they are not as “green”, as we are in NZ.
While in Gerence Koyu we received a gale warning of Force 7 NE winds. Weather patterns and forecasts are very important when you’re living on a boat, so we monitor the weather in four different ways;
- by what we can see happening “Mark 1 eyeball”
- listening to Greek and Turkish VHF English weather bulletins
- on the internet – checking four main sites
- by Navtex – which receives text messages put out by Coast Radio Stations (we get about 20 per day).
We decided to head back to Eskifoca where there is good shelter from the wind, no swell coming into the bay, and plenty of room. We anchored in 7m with 50m of chain out, but the gale was both short-lived and mild with the strongest gusts around 33kn. Of course the wind would have been much stronger in open waters. This was more like what in NZ we call a “strong wind warning”, issued when gusts are likely to exceed 33kn. An actual gale on the Beaufort Scale requires mean winds in the range 34-47kn, bearing in mind gusts can be around 40% greater than the mean wind speed. At those levels “mean” is the right word!
It is always a bit daunting in gales anchored during night time; the wind seems to howl more, and you obviously can’t see what’s happening so easily. Envoy has good ground tackle – a 40kg Delta anchor with 120m of 9.5mm BBB chain, and very rarely drags, but we do need to be cautious of major wind direction shifts, and we’ve seen these happen during gales. We always set the audible Anchor Alarm on the GPS at 0.03NM, which is 55m. For non-boaties this means if Envoy moves more than 55m from where we anchored, the alarm sounds. In strong winds anchored boats do move around a bit, and if we set the alarm the next step down at 0.02NM, or 37m, it goes off too frequently. We can’t easily hear the alarm in our cabin below, so we bought a Philips baby monitor, and we put the transmitter (the baby end) near the GPS, and the receiver alongside our bed. This works really well, and saves me getting up several times during the night to check that all is OK. However in severe conditions (40 knots+), or in the rare case we are close to other boats in strong winds I doze up in the Pilothouse, where I can keep an eye on the situation.
Estifoca is an ancient town, founded around 600BC by Phocaeans, and now a quaint village. I already mentioned this is where the Commandos have their training centre. Naturally Estifoca has a castle, and this one was originally built by the Byzantines, and subsequently maintained by Genoese, then Ottoman Turks.
We left Estifoca on 10th and cruised back to Ildir. We had arranged to go into the Dalyan Harbour for a few days while we picked up Amy, but on arrival there were told there was no room (despite a booking). So we stayed at Ildir.
In a couple of days I’ll do a post about Amy’s visit and Steve & Jane’s visit, including a gale on the night Steve & Jane arrived – when Envoy did drift!
Technical: Again nothing much to report, so I’m going to talk about bilges.
This won’t interest everyone, in fact probably no one!
All leaking liquids end up in a boat’s bilges. This includes:
1. Seawater - from the Lugger prop shaft stuffing box (intentional), from the Yanmar “dripless” prop shaft, and from any leaks in seacocks, through hulls, sea water hoses, the bow thruster or stabilizer seals. Also in heavy sea conditions a little spray can end up in the bilges.
2. Fresh water – from the Fridge/Freezer compressor (intentional), from the Aircon compressors (intentional although rarely used), from any leaking fresh water tanks, hoses or hose connections, or from an engine cooling system. Note – if there is a leak from the fresh water plumbing system we can tell as the fresh water pump will operate to maintain pressure, if an engine cooling system is leaking we can tell from daily checks of water levels. Also when it rains very heavily some rainwater ends up in the bilge.
3. Sewage – from the toilets, holding tanks, hoses or hose connections if they leaked (not happened so far)
4. Oil – any leakage from the three engines, two gearboxes, windlass, or watermaker
5. Hydraulic fluid – any leakage from the steering system or stabilizers (not happened so far)
6. Fuel – if a fuel tank or hose or connection were to leak (not happened so far)
Envoy has five bilge compartments, one forward - housing the bow thruster and various sea water pumps, one in the aft section of the Guest Cabin, one under the main Lugger engine, one aft of the engine, and one further aft again under the prop shaft. They are connected by a limber hole running the length of the vessel, and water will eventually make its way to the deepest bilge – aft of the engine.
In 2007 Envoy had a “wet bilge system”, and always had about 100mm of water in the bilges, which we pumped out daily to keep the level constant. This was mostly due to seawater coming in the Lugger prop shaft gland as intended. But the problem was you could never tell if the water in the bilge was sea or fresh water, whether it was supposed to be there or not, or the source of the water.
This year we’ve gone to a “dry bilge system”; we’re using containers to collect the water from the prop shafts and the Aircon, and the Fridge/Freezer compressor so the bilges are always dry, and this means if you see water or other fluid in there you know there is some issue. All the bilges have an old towel in them so I can tell if there is any leakage into that particular bilge. I check the bilges daily at anchor, and hourly under way, and if there is water there (which is very rare) I can check if it’s fresh or salt, and much more easily resolve any problem. Also this keeps the three bilge pump inlets free of contamination, and makes it easier to see any thing that drops into the bilge, like a nut or bolt (often an early portent of a pending problem).
So to give a practical example, a few nights ago we heard the fresh water pump activate for a few seconds several times. As no taps had been left dripping this indicates a fresh water leak. When I did my engine room check I found about 2mm of water in the bilge aft of the engine. A taste test found it was fresh – that’s a good start, and it tied in with the fresh water pump running. Going to the forward bilge I found the towel in the bilge was wet – so the leak is into there. I check all hoses in the area, and found a slightly loose hose clamp on the supply to the Guest sink. Tighten it, observe and check, and now all OK.
Turkey is a wonderful country, and we in NZ could learn a lot from the Turks. People smile and laugh a lot, and are courteous to each other – and to visitors. You never see “threatening-looking” people or drunken idiots around, and people go about their daily business without fear of being mugged or bothered. Although the driving is atrocious, there is no road rage or people giving the fingers etc, everything is just taken in good humour. Yes NZ could learn a lot. One negative though is the considerable litter everywhere (similar in Greece), they are not as “green”, as we are in NZ.
While in Gerence Koyu we received a gale warning of Force 7 NE winds. Weather patterns and forecasts are very important when you’re living on a boat, so we monitor the weather in four different ways;
- by what we can see happening “Mark 1 eyeball”
- listening to Greek and Turkish VHF English weather bulletins
- on the internet – checking four main sites
- by Navtex – which receives text messages put out by Coast Radio Stations (we get about 20 per day).
We decided to head back to Eskifoca where there is good shelter from the wind, no swell coming into the bay, and plenty of room. We anchored in 7m with 50m of chain out, but the gale was both short-lived and mild with the strongest gusts around 33kn. Of course the wind would have been much stronger in open waters. This was more like what in NZ we call a “strong wind warning”, issued when gusts are likely to exceed 33kn. An actual gale on the Beaufort Scale requires mean winds in the range 34-47kn, bearing in mind gusts can be around 40% greater than the mean wind speed. At those levels “mean” is the right word!
It is always a bit daunting in gales anchored during night time; the wind seems to howl more, and you obviously can’t see what’s happening so easily. Envoy has good ground tackle – a 40kg Delta anchor with 120m of 9.5mm BBB chain, and very rarely drags, but we do need to be cautious of major wind direction shifts, and we’ve seen these happen during gales. We always set the audible Anchor Alarm on the GPS at 0.03NM, which is 55m. For non-boaties this means if Envoy moves more than 55m from where we anchored, the alarm sounds. In strong winds anchored boats do move around a bit, and if we set the alarm the next step down at 0.02NM, or 37m, it goes off too frequently. We can’t easily hear the alarm in our cabin below, so we bought a Philips baby monitor, and we put the transmitter (the baby end) near the GPS, and the receiver alongside our bed. This works really well, and saves me getting up several times during the night to check that all is OK. However in severe conditions (40 knots+), or in the rare case we are close to other boats in strong winds I doze up in the Pilothouse, where I can keep an eye on the situation.
Estifoca is an ancient town, founded around 600BC by Phocaeans, and now a quaint village. I already mentioned this is where the Commandos have their training centre. Naturally Estifoca has a castle, and this one was originally built by the Byzantines, and subsequently maintained by Genoese, then Ottoman Turks.
We left Estifoca on 10th and cruised back to Ildir. We had arranged to go into the Dalyan Harbour for a few days while we picked up Amy, but on arrival there were told there was no room (despite a booking). So we stayed at Ildir.
In a couple of days I’ll do a post about Amy’s visit and Steve & Jane’s visit, including a gale on the night Steve & Jane arrived – when Envoy did drift!
Technical: Again nothing much to report, so I’m going to talk about bilges.
This won’t interest everyone, in fact probably no one!
All leaking liquids end up in a boat’s bilges. This includes:
1. Seawater - from the Lugger prop shaft stuffing box (intentional), from the Yanmar “dripless” prop shaft, and from any leaks in seacocks, through hulls, sea water hoses, the bow thruster or stabilizer seals. Also in heavy sea conditions a little spray can end up in the bilges.
2. Fresh water – from the Fridge/Freezer compressor (intentional), from the Aircon compressors (intentional although rarely used), from any leaking fresh water tanks, hoses or hose connections, or from an engine cooling system. Note – if there is a leak from the fresh water plumbing system we can tell as the fresh water pump will operate to maintain pressure, if an engine cooling system is leaking we can tell from daily checks of water levels. Also when it rains very heavily some rainwater ends up in the bilge.
3. Sewage – from the toilets, holding tanks, hoses or hose connections if they leaked (not happened so far)
4. Oil – any leakage from the three engines, two gearboxes, windlass, or watermaker
5. Hydraulic fluid – any leakage from the steering system or stabilizers (not happened so far)
6. Fuel – if a fuel tank or hose or connection were to leak (not happened so far)
Envoy has five bilge compartments, one forward - housing the bow thruster and various sea water pumps, one in the aft section of the Guest Cabin, one under the main Lugger engine, one aft of the engine, and one further aft again under the prop shaft. They are connected by a limber hole running the length of the vessel, and water will eventually make its way to the deepest bilge – aft of the engine.
In 2007 Envoy had a “wet bilge system”, and always had about 100mm of water in the bilges, which we pumped out daily to keep the level constant. This was mostly due to seawater coming in the Lugger prop shaft gland as intended. But the problem was you could never tell if the water in the bilge was sea or fresh water, whether it was supposed to be there or not, or the source of the water.
This year we’ve gone to a “dry bilge system”; we’re using containers to collect the water from the prop shafts and the Aircon, and the Fridge/Freezer compressor so the bilges are always dry, and this means if you see water or other fluid in there you know there is some issue. All the bilges have an old towel in them so I can tell if there is any leakage into that particular bilge. I check the bilges daily at anchor, and hourly under way, and if there is water there (which is very rare) I can check if it’s fresh or salt, and much more easily resolve any problem. Also this keeps the three bilge pump inlets free of contamination, and makes it easier to see any thing that drops into the bilge, like a nut or bolt (often an early portent of a pending problem).
So to give a practical example, a few nights ago we heard the fresh water pump activate for a few seconds several times. As no taps had been left dripping this indicates a fresh water leak. When I did my engine room check I found about 2mm of water in the bilge aft of the engine. A taste test found it was fresh – that’s a good start, and it tied in with the fresh water pump running. Going to the forward bilge I found the towel in the bilge was wet – so the leak is into there. I check all hoses in the area, and found a slightly loose hose clamp on the supply to the Guest sink. Tighten it, observe and check, and now all OK.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Map of Envoy's Travels
This is a reminder that if you go the bottom of the right hand column, and click on "Map of Envoy's Travels" you will see a map of where Envoy is, and all the places we've been to. When you get to the map you can zoom in to see the places in minute detail using the + and - buttons, and use the directional arrows to navigate around the map. Point to a blue marker to get some commentary, especially concerning visitors we've had. Scroll down to the bottom of the list of places on the right hand side of the map to be able to see where we are now. This is wonderful technology, and I want to ensure all our blog readers are aware of it.
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