2008

11 - 13 May Herzliya to Finike	We departed Herzliya marina Monday morning and cruised directly to Finike, Turkey. The weather was good, a maximum of 1/2 meter waves and 15 knots of wind. We made the crossing in about 36 hours and arrived in Finike Marina at 1900 on 12 May. We checked into Turkey on 14 May. John and Rachel accompanied us on the crossing. John will return to Israel on 15 May and Rachel will stay with us until Gocek and plans to leave next Thursday.
15 - 17 May Finike to Kerkova	We departed Finike around noon for Kerkova. We stayed late to shorten John's wait for his flight. The trip to Kerkova was only 12 nm but it was a little windy and choppy. No dolphins for Tsipy. We spent Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at anchor off the town of Ucagiz. We had several dinners at Ibrahim's restaurant and a nice walk around the tombs above the town. Rachel bought a new carpet. We met John and Sue on Saltscar and Ron and Susan on Gemini.
18 May Kerkova to Kastellorizon	We departed Kerkova for Kastellorizon around 0600 and had a short beautiful cruise to the island. We initially tied to the ferry boat quay but learned that the big ferry was due in at 2200 so we moved to a mooring off Vagelis restaurant (Yehuda's friend). Be aware that Kastellorizon is now a port of entry; we had to get a Greek transit log instead of the normal visitor's fees. We took a walk around the town, went for a cold swim, and had dinner at Vagelis' restaurant. Gemini pulled into port in the afternoon and they joined us for dinner.
19 - 21 May Kastellorizon to Sarsala Bay	We departed Kastellorizon about 0600 and had a nice cruise along the coast to Fethiye Bay. We anchored in Sarsala alongside Winnie and Mark on Grand Jete. We had dinner on board Odelia the first night, then breakfast with Winnie and Mark plus Peter and Sandra (from Bondi Tram). Our friends from Gemini arrived in the afternoon and we all had Gin and Tonics on board Bondi Tram.
21 - 27 May Sarsala to Gocek	We left around 1000 for the short cruise up the bay to Gocek. We needed to shop and I wanted to get some prices for new gel cell batteries for the house battery bank. I have a bad cell in one or more of them. They are 6 years old so we are due to replace them. We had dinner in the Kabab Hospital, one of our favorite restaurants. Rachel left in the morning at 0600. We stayed at anchor off the town through the week end. We celebrated Shabbat on board with Winnie and Mark. I mounted two new battery boxes and relocated the generator starting battery to allow me to expand the house bank to six 8D batteries with a total of 1350 Ah. We moved to Skopea Marina on 25 May and Blues delivered and installed the new batteries. They were supposed to be gel cells but turned out to be AGM batteries. This increased my battery capacity to 1470 Ah. I connected the batteries, configured my charger and alternator for AGM battery mode, and increased my capacity on the battery monitor. Hopefully this will finish my electrical upgrades for a while. We traveled to Marmaris by rental car on 27 May and decided to winter in Yat Marin. They have the best prices and the most service for us. We made a reservation and will sign a contract on our arrival.
28 May - 2 Jun Gocek - Sarsala	We moved to Sarsala to wait for duty free fuel. We are with Grand Jete, Escape Key, Onset, and Sybaris. We had parties on board Odelia the first night and Escape Key the second. Onset left on Thursday and we celebrated Shabbat onboard Odelia with Grand Jete, Escape Key and Sybaris. We had dominoes and dinner on board Sybaris on Saturday night.
2 - 8 Jun Sarsala to Fethiye and back	We moved to Fethiye and are anchored off the marina. While anchored we saw a catamaran dragging across the harbor. The Turkish Coast Guard came out and with the assistance of a small fishing boat were able to reposition it. We finally got duty free fuel on Friday morning early and moved back to Sarsala for Shabbat.
8 - 19 Jun Sarsala to Marmaris	We arrived in Marmaris after an easy crossing from Sarsala. Waves were less than a foot and wind was mild for most of the crossing. We had some local wind at about 15 knots for about 30 minutes outside of Marmaris bay but it slackened as we got close to land. We stayed in Yat Marina for more than a week. I replaced the thermostat on the freezer, added new stainless steel flag staffs, and worked on the raw water pump for the port engine. We meet with old friends: Gerry and Esther on R-Gem, Frank and Helli on Fortuna, Mark and Winnie on Grand Jete plus Hava, Guy, and Yvgeny from Herzliya. We celebrated Shabbat and also an early birthday party on board.
19 Jun to 1 Jul Marmaris to Orhaniye	We cruised to Marti Marina for a haul out and bottom painting. We met our old friend Jahit here and had dinner together in the marina restaurant. We also met John and Delwin on Colvale and we went to an excellent restaurant for my birthday. They brought out a complimentary fruit plate for my birthday. We cleaned the metal (props, shaft, struts, etc) and then sanded the bottom in preparation for painting. I also removed the trim tabs (we never used them). I filled and sanded the trim tab mounting blocks and then primed all the metal parts and exposed fiberglass. We celebrated Shabbat with Utz (an old friend) and John for Joy Ging (our neighbor on the hard). Painting was done in two days, we thought the blue suits made us look like the "Smurfs". I am happy with the results.
1 - 2 Jul Orhaniye to Selimniye	We went back in the water on 1 Jul and cruised over to Selimniye for the night. We stayed on the new town dock there. We had a lovely meal with Jahit and some of his friends at a local restaurant and then returned back to Odelia for coffee.
2 - 13 Jul Selimniye to Marmaris	We left early on 2 Jul and returned to Yat Marina. We had a lovely cruise, light winds and almost no waves. We had quite the arrival. As I came into the marina we were greeted by Yanev (from Eluethera) and by Frank. Once we were settled, Mandy and Gingy came by for a quick coffee and chat and then Frank came by on his moped to say hello. Yanev and Hagid came after that followed by Mark and Winnie and Gerry and Esther to say hello and goodbye since both boats are leaving tomorrow for Greece. We had a lovely Shabbat dinner with Poppa Joe (Debbie and Moshe) and My Mermaid (Mandy and Gingy). We rested and will do the serious cleanup tomorrow.
13 - 24 Jul in Israel	We flew to Israel for Roi's wedding and returned on the 24th. The wedding was wonderful and we had a chance to see all of the family and lots of our friends. I got to play bridge with Eddie twice and Tsipy was able to dance with her group twice and visit her bible group. All in all, a great trip.
24 - 31 Jul Marmaris	I have replaced the raw water pump on the starboard engine, picked up our dinghy, and completed all my other projects. We are waiting for the delivery of a teak grating for the compressor before we leave on Thursday morning for a cruise to Gocek.
31 Jul to 12 Aug Gocek and Sarsala	We had an easy cruise from Marmaris to Gocek accompanied by Utz. We stayed overnight off Gocek and then moved to Sarsala. We met several Israeli boats here and have enjoyed the bay as usual. We moved back to Gocek on Wednesday to pick up Moti, Jackie, Eyal, and Sarit for a weekend visit. We stayed in Skopea marina for Wednesday and Thursday to give them a chance to see Gocek and then moved back to Sarsala for Shabbat at anchor. We had dinner at the Wall Bay restaurant with some special music by one of the owners. They caught their taxi from the bay and returned on Sunday, 10 Aug. Yoni and his friend Noy arrived on 11 Aug for a week long visit. We spent their first night in Sarsala to celebrate his birthday.
12 - 18 Aug Sarsala and Marmaris	We cruised from Sarsala back to Marmaris on 12 Aug. The weather was clear, light winds, and about 1/2 meter waves. We stayed in Marmaris while Yoni and Noy enjoyed the nightlife of Marmaris. We met our friends Steve and Jan on Sugilite and tried out a new restaurant on the way to Marmaris. They also joined us for Shabbat dinner on board. Yoni and Noy also helped us clean the boat and rebuild a raw water pump for my engine. They left this morning for Israel and we hope they had a nice time here.
18 Aug to 8 Oct Marmaris	We are still in Marmaris, catching up on maintenance and visiting old and new friends. Frank from Fortuna came back to put his boat on Dockwise and introduced us to his friends Jan and Nicolina (Blue Arrow also on Dockwise). They joined us for Shabbat dinner and we introduced them to dominoes. We met our friends Ehud and Jenny (now with a sail boat) and had a couple of lovely dinners with them. We got to meet Uma (Giurkan's wife) and had all of them aboard for dinner. It was our 25th wedding anniversary on 1 Sep and we had a small celebration on board with our new friends Gerard and Catherine on Troll. Tsipy baked one of Ora's famous chocolate cakes for the occasion. Nir and Edit came for a visit and we were able to have a dominoes tournament for a couple of days. Gerard and Catherine joined us for Shabbat dinner on 5 Sep Monday, 15 Sep - We were surprised by the arrival of our friend Israel today. Israel, his daughter Adi, Sylvan, and their friend Roni are bringing Sylvan's new Lagoon 44 Catamaran from France to Israel. They came by for dinner and we introduced them to dominoes. On Tuesday we went into Marmaris for a shopping trip and later dinner. They will be here for a few days and we are happy to see them. We had lunch aboard Sylvan's catamaran Coral. We had time for one more game of dominoes before Adi and Roni left and Israel won his first game. We had Yosi and Rachel, our new friends from Nevada, along with Israel and Sylvan for Shabbat dinner and dominoes. On Saturday evening we had Geoff and June from Concerto and Israel and Sylvan over for drinks and then dinner at Orange. Israel and Sylvan left for their return flight after dinner and we had our first rain storm, lots of thunder and lightning and a great fresh water rinse.
08 - 10 Oct Marmaris	We moved to our winter berth today. It is at the beginning of Lima quay near the swim raft. We are right in the corner in the most protected area on the quay. We were able to move just before Yom Kippur and I am very happy with our place. Here are some photos of Odelia at rest. We are close to the showers, swimming area, and the rest of the facilities.
10 - 15 Oct Marmaris	Israel (with two of his grandchildren), Sylvan (with two of his children), Gadi, and Mira arrived on 10 October. We had Shabbat dinner on board the first night and then lunch and dinner on board Coral. They left on Monday morning to begin their cruise to Israel. We enjoyed their visit. I have been able to play some bridge with Barbara and Richard from Breakaway and Fred from Escape Key and we have enjoyed some dominoes with Fred and Jane from Escape Key and Frank and Gail from Al Cid.
15 Oct - 18 Nov Idaho & Israel	We left on the 15th to return to the US. I stayed there for a month visiting my parents, brother, and his family. We had a great visit with my family. Terry and I made a quick trip to Las Vegas to play poker and to see my friends Sam and Linda. We want to thank Terry and Kathy for being such wonderful hosts and for setting up all of our medical and dental work for the year. Here are some photos of the grandchildren - Devin at play and Megan and Maddison dressed for Halloween. Tsipy stayed for two weeks and then returned to Israel for the wedding of Yardena's son, Elad. The first two photos are from the Yemenite Hina with Hodaya and Tsipy's family. Tsipy was also able to see our friends Yosi and Ruti during her visit. We wish Ruti a speedy recovery and plan to see them next summer cruising or in Herzliya for the winter.
18 Nov - 31 Dec Marmaris	We are wintering in Yat Marina. There are about 2000 boats out of the water and another 600 or so in the water. Lots of live-aboards and lots of activities. We are playing Mexican Train dominoes with a group here. The photo is from one of the games on Odelia with Eve, Colin, Trish, Paul, and Gabi. We had Shabbat on 05 Dec with Moshe, Debbie, Eitan, and Liora. Tsipy has started knitting scarves and she is shown here with her friend Jan and with a couple of her creations. We celebrated Hanukah on board Odelia and on Nevada. There are two photos of the first evening party.
Next Up	We are in Marmaris for the remainder of the winter.