Yat Marin, Marmaris

We had Fernando and Jeanette from Yen on board for Shabbat dinner on 7 Jan. They wintered with our friends Winnie and Mark in Barcelona a few years ago. On 15 Jan, we took some photos of the sea just to the south of our marina. There was about 20-25 knots of wind and a nice surge. We had Fernando and Jeanette from Yen and Martin and Sandy from Mystic over for a light dinner on 18 Jan.

We had a big storm during the weekend of the 23 - 25 Jan. The storm reached up to 70 knots on some wind gauges. We saw only 44 knots on ours but we are protected by a wall and our wind gauge is lower than most. Here are some of the photos of the damage from the wind and sea. I added a short movie made by one of the cruisers (Mike on the s/v Roam). It shows some of the surge coming across the road carrying rocks and water into the marina. At the end there are some more photos of the damage, including shots of the painting tent. Click here to see the Storm Movie. 

We had a multicultural weekend; first chulnt (a European Jewish dish) on board Sea Pearl on Friday and then Jachnun (a Yemenite dish) on Saturday.

We took the ferry from Marmaris to Rhodos on 30 Jan to renew our visas and do some shopping. They use the slow ferry in the winter and it took about 2 1/2 hours each way. That only allowed us about 3 hours in Rhodos, just time enough for some shopping at Lidl and then a quick lunch in the old city. We had Gingy and Tal over for Shabbat dinner.

Yat Marin, Marmaris

Yat Marina hosted a trip to the Istanbul boat show 18-22 Feb. We traveled by bus from Marmaris (about a 14 hour trip) and arrived late on Wednesday. We stayed in an older hotel and pension located in the heart of old Istanbul. On Thursday we went to the boat show and then a three hour boat tour of the Bosporus Straits. The views were spectacular.

On Friday morning we walked through the old town, including the Grand Bazaar, Spice Bazaar, Blue Mosque, New Mosque, and other attractions.

On Friday afternoon, Tsipy took a taxi to visit the Jewish quarter. Unfortunately you could visit the synagogue only with tour organized 3 days in advance.

We toured through Topkapi Palace (now several museums) on Saturday and flew back to the boat on Sunday.

Our mufflers are just about finished, Anker cut them open, welded flanges on the top so they can be bolted together, and then laid fiberglass with a special heat and chemical resistant epoxy on the inside and outside surfaces. They painted the outside and are putting on a heat and chemical resistant gel coating inside now. We hope to have them installed during the week of 10 Mar. 

We went to Mugla for a tour and shopping in the souk on 5 Mar. It is an interesting old city and market area and we were fortunate to have nice weather for the trip.

We had another storm, this one lasting from 6 to 8 Mar so far. It is warmer but still lots of wind and rain. Not too pleasant for boat work. We celebrated Purim on Monday, 9 Mar with friends on board. We were really happy to see Mike and Andrew from Israel. They flew in to take a sail boat back and were able to attend. Nevada, Yen, and Eve came and a good time was had by all.

Anker installed the mufflers on 13 - 14 Mar and also replaced some cracked cooling water hoses for my engines. The mufflers look and work good (so far). I was finally able to clean up the engine room and start putting things away for cruising.

Tsipy went to Israel on 5 April for Passover. She had a great time visiting her family, the Seder dinner with Israel's family, and the BBQ at Motti's. Here are some photos of the BBQ and her visit with Mike and Batsheva at their new home.

She returned on 16 April. I remained here and worked on the boat and taxes. Tsipy and her friend Derin Sekerci are giving each other language classes: Turkish for Tsipy and English for Derin. Lots of laughter seems to be the order of the day. Our friends on Sugilite, Steve and Jan came to stay with us. They are preparing their boat for launching. Here is a photo of Steve after a day of sanding. On 30 Apr, we had a party for the Israeli Independence Day. Here are some photos of the party.

20 May - We had some excitement today when the 75 foot Catamaran Skye was lifted into the water. She had been on the hard for over two years being repaired. Her owner ran her aground at full speed and damaged the hull. The interior was heavily damaged when the marble countertops and tabletops slammed through the bulkheads. In any case, she was too large to lift with the travel lift so two cranes were used to lift her. A strong-back was used on the aft to spread the lifting straps and two straps were used on the forward hulls. The two cranes had to coordinate their lifts and then swing her outboard over the shrubbery to the water. Here are some photos:

We finally left Marmaris Yat Marine on 29 May and traveled to Fethiye. The cruise was great, no winds or waves. We anchored off Ece Marina for Shabbat. We visited the town and ate at one of our favorite restaurant (Pasha). We got fuel on Sunday and then traveled to Gocek. We anchored off the town and had dinner at the Kabab Hospital. 

It is now the 13th of Jun and we are still in Boynuz Buku. I took some photos of Tsipy enjoying her kayak on Shabbat. There was a beautiful, big English sail boat anchored across the entrance of the bay. To give you perspective, the large motor yacht you see on the left is a 100 footer and is closer than the sail boat. I would guess she was about 140 or so. We called this an English blockade of our bay.

Our friends Mike and Batsheva arrived on the 19th and we celebrated Shabbat together on board Odelia. On the 20th, we had dinner on board Wind Sea'n. Our friends Jeanette and Fernando on Yen also arrived. We had a quiet celebration of my birthday on the 21st with a BBQ on board Odelia. Here are some photos.

We met the Rothenbergs, an Israeli family from Cincinnati and Ra'anana, on a chartered catamaran. We had them aboard for a visit. Mike and Fernando helped me install two new solar panels to add to my passive charge system. I can now rely on the panels to finish charging my house batteries during the day.

We also met Ersal and Necla (pronounced Nejla) Yavi, a Turkish couple that built a small catamaran. They live in Izmir but spend their summers onboard. We had them over for drinks and a movie. 

We moved to Fethiye on the 7th to meet Yen and spent a couple of days at anchor. Unfortunately we missed Fernando's sister and brother-in-law due to a schedule mixup. We returned to Boynuz Buku with Utz, Melodie, and Tanyali. They enjoyed the cruise back and some swimming, tubing, and relaxing in the bay. Tsipy and Utz prepared Shabbat dinner. 

Yen (Fernando and Jeanette) returned with his sister and bother-in-law from Uruguay for a few nights before they return to England for the wedding of their son. Here are a few photos of their visit. 

Our friends Jan and Steve from Sugilite returned from the EMYR. They joined Ersal and Nejla for hamburgers on their first night. Jan had to fly to China for work so she left Steve on Tuesday. We met Beni and Hilda and their kids on a charter cat (along with their captain Ofer). We had them over and took the kids for a tube ride. Eve returned with friends from Israel and we had them over for tour and drinks.

Ruti and Motti joined us on 26 Jul for a few days of relaxation. We had them met by a taxi and brought to Boynuz Buku. We are just relaxing, swimming, and having fun. Rashat from My Tuli dropped off the trampoline while they went off for dinner. Tsipy and Moti discovered that it was hard for two. Utz returned with a new cover for our dinghy and stayed for a day or so to fit.

Rachel and Yehuda arrived for the first leg of the return trip to Israel. They arrived in Boynuz Buku on the same day that Ruti and Moti left. Rashat from My Tuli brought them out to our boat. We went into Gocek to drop off Utz and had dinner at the Kebab Hospital. We stayed in Boynuz Buku through Shabbat. 

The time goes quickly.

We stopped in the unfinished marina just to the west of Kas. They are working to complete the marina, a breakwater is under construction and the anchoring systems are on the quay. We had dinner at a Chez Evy, a French restaurant that we discovered with Mike and Bonnie on our first cruise to Turkey. It was still outstanding. We left on Monday for Kerkova and anchored off the new marina there. On Tuesday we cruised further east past Finike and anchored in a lovely bay called Çavus Limani (pronounced Chavush). The bay was beautiful but very windy in the afternoon and evening. We cruised on to Kemer Marina on Wednesday. Yehuda and Rachel left on the 6th to return to Israel. 

The weather here in Antalya bay is very windy in the afternoon and we have decided to change our itinerary. On Sunday we left Kemer and returned to Kerkova for a few days. As we passed Gokaya, we saw the Club Med 2, a cruise ship with sails at anchor near Demre.

We returned to Finike on Thursday to meet Fernando and Jeanette and started our return to Israel on Monday, 17 Aug. The weather was good for the crossing to Cyprus and we arrived on Tuesday. Fernando tried his hand at fishing and landed a nice 3 kg tuna. We had the tuna in Cyprus, Tsipy and I had sashimi (raw tuna slices with wasabi) and Fernando and Jeanette cooked theirs. We also prepared and ate the roe as appetizers.

We left Cyprus on Wednesday, the 19th and arrived in Haifa on Thursday morning about 0630 and were on our way to Herzliya by 0730. We passed Yehuda in Mevoot Yam on the way down, he was leaving for two weeks for Cyprus and Greece. The crossing was great, flat seas and little or no wind. We are back in our old spot in the lagoon in Herzliya marina. Yosi and Israel welcomed us back and helped us with lines on our arrival. We celebrated with our usual Friday afternoon gathering on board Odelia and then had a lovely Shabbat dinner at Yosi and Ruti's house with all the kids and grandkids. It is really good to be back with our friends.

We did some sightseeing with Fernando and Jeanette to Tel Aviv, Yafo, and Caesarea. Fernando and I were able to take a sail onboard Coral (a Lagoon 44 cat) with our friends Sylvan, Israel, Adi, and Sylvan's kids. Fernando and Jeanette took a bus trip to Jerusalem and then rented a car to travel to the Dead Sea, Masada, Eilat, and Petra (in Jordan). 

I left for the US to visit my family on 14 Sep and will return on 1 Nov. Tsipy left on 8 Oct and spent 2 weeks with my family and then a week with her sisters on the east coast. We flew back together on 31 Oct.

On 20 Nov, we had a nice gathering on Friday with lots of our friends. We were able to enjoy the sunshine on the front deck.

We will remain here for the winter.