Monday 13 February 2012

Chritmas in Prague, New Year in Marmaris


In between and during the colder months we have been doing lots of maintenance on the yacht. Stripping down the winches and greasing them, oil changes on the motors etc., etc. A yachtie’s work is never done! We also took the opportunity to send the sails to the sail maker for some minor repairs etc..


Weather has become cold. Winter has definitely arrived with a vengeance, so does the Christmas.



John & Woei Haw spent Christmas in Prague. It was very nice, but no snow in Prague, so if the snow will not come to us, we will go to the snow. So we drove to a National Park on Christmas Day and had lunch of beer and Roast Duck and Pork Schnitzel. Heaven!!!








Back to Turkey on Boxing Day and off to Marmaris for New Year's Eve celebrations. The weather was cold and very wet but we enjoyed our time, having diner in a Turkish restaurant with Will & Gill, Georgina, Woei Haw & John. It was a good night starting with drinks at the Lighthouse Bar overlooking the harbour and then onto the Netsel Marina shopping centre for the festivities at midnight. The question is: was it the wet conditions or the festive "cheer" that cased the skipper to have a wee fall - we will never know!

Rugby worldcup, Cesme, Pamukukle

It’s late September and we are now settled in Kusadasi and getting ready to bunker down for the cold winter season. We are still swimming but the water is definitely getting cooler. Everything is starting to slow down, however the one highlight is that the  World Cup Rugby is on and we have found a great bar across the road from the marina owned by an Aussie, called Slip Inn, where we can watch the games.  They are on in the morning here, so while enjoying the excitement on the field, we pile in and enjoy a hearty breakfast, and wait for it - with bacon!!! How good is this in a Muslim country!


Sue from Dalyon, (Muzza – our honorary engineer’s cousin from Aussie) came and joined us for a couple of days which was great.  Sue and John had to do a visa run so they caught the ferry to Samos for the day. They had a good time and came back to Turkey with kilos of yummie pork!!! OMG- soooo good!!!! We also had our first winter storm come through at this time which was not so good, however it was really wonderful to catch up with Sue as always.

Gill & Will from “It’s a Doddle” arrived for a couple of days.  Always great to see them.  The weather was good so we went out for a sail and used the gennaker, but unfortunately the winds were light. We watched the final game of the 2011 World Cup (talk about nail biting stuff) and then said a sad farewell to Will & Gill.


Woei Haw is working hard and has rented a small apartment in Alsanjack, Izmir.  John and Woei Haw have been setting this place up as a base when not on the yacht.  Izmir is such a nice city!


Our friends John & Elsie from “Ichi Feet” came and spent a week with us as their yacht was on the hard for ‘winterization’. John & Elsie return to the UK early November and will not be back here in Kusadasi until April next year. Thankfully the weather has been holding and is still good, with lovely warm days. The port has been busy with many cruise ships visiting -up to 5 or 6 a day.

The day our guests left Mark & Phil arrived that night at midnight! 


It was all change as Woei Haw also flew back to Singapore for a week. Phil had never done any sailing and John was itching to get out. So Awatea left the marina and sailed away in light winds. The wind did improve and an excellent sail was had. After an overnight stop in a small bay it was onto Cesme, with yet another great sail doing 8.5 knots in a brisk 25 knot northerly wind. We were going faster than a small coastal ship and Awatea arrived at Cesme Marina at 1400 hrs. We spent a couple of days in this lovely town and then had the best of sailing back to Kusadasi. The old girl was flying!!


Woei Haw arrived back from Singapore and we all hired a car and drove to Pamukkale. This is am amazing place with terraced white calcium pools…….. just stunning!! One of the wonders of Turkey and a must see. Woei Haw was taking some photos and slipped into one of the pools and the Nikon went under the water for a second! Not a good result.



We went on to Marmaris for a couple of days to meet up with friends and show Mark & Phil the sites. On the way we stopped off at Aphrodisius. This is yet another amazing Roman/Greek ruined city, but so much is still standing. One of the better sites to visit, and we were just about the only visitors!!




We all went to Istanbul for the weekend. Phil & Mark flew back to Japan and John flew off to Brisbane and Woei Haw flew back to Izmir!