Good-bye Marmaris, Marseilles here we come.

After a late afternoon flight back to Turkey, from London Gatwick, it was a taxi transfer to Yacht Marine and a late night “spot the boat” challenge. Unlike last year Kurukulla was in exactly the same place I had left her 6 months before. A swift scale of the ladder and I was back onboard and 15 minutes later, asleep!

En route to launch

The next morning I awoke to bright sunshine and the noise of some TMS staff knocking on the hull, they were wanting to come aboard and complete some of the work they had been undertaking in my absence; the primary items of which were re-insulating the fridge cabinet and undertaking an extensive refurbishment of the hull above waterline. In addition the Mainsail had gone off to North sails for a full winter service and replacement of the luff rope.

The best surprise of the year was the clean condition of the interior of the boat. Having had the galley virtually dismantled, to get the fridge cabinet out, I was anticipating a similar situation of dirt and chaos as occurred in previous years, with other work. The interior was verging on pristine! Www.tms-marineservice.com .

Why I will miss Yacht Marine, Marmaris

A very pleasant surprise and indicative of a change in the working practices at TMS. In addition, all of the work that could be completed before she went in the water had been completed. Such a change to the two previous years when, at this stage, extensive work had yet to be started! The new management at TMS have certainly made changes and I can now recommend them again with a clear conscience, 12 months back I was considering taking my business elsewhere! The new owner, Emre, and his office team of Alex and Mustafa have certainly improved the performance of the company dramatically.

The new look stern with logo, Goddess Kurukulla

The other great success of the winter was the new name graphic for the stern, produced by David Mills of Evolve Creative ( david@evolve-cd.co.uk ), an excellent piece of artwork that has transformed her appearance and replaces the rather tired earlier version.

After four days onshore it was time to put her back in the water, recommission the systems, rectify a few electrical defects (including the engine start circuit!) and get under way for this years programme. Christoph joined the day after launch and helped with the final preparations and by 2 May we were set to go. €80 to the local agent to organise our departure from Turkey (it still grieves me that the system effectively prevents you from doing this simple task yourself – a money creation scheme!) a trip to the ferry port to clear immigration and customs on the way out and that was it.

Our escort on departure from Marmaris

The last visit to Marmaris for the foreseeable future. Next stop Rhodes.

This was the third attempt to get to Rhodes; on two previous occasions I had abandoned the attempt due to excess of, or absence of, wind. Third time lucky! We entered Rhodes old port and berthed in the yacht moorings on the inner face of the outer mole at the inner end of the old harbour. Here we were greeted by an efficient representative of “Rhodes Marina” (the new marina intended to provide much greater capacity now lies in virtual ruins and has remained incomplete and unopened for years, only the old harbour functions. A massive waste of money!).

Rhodes Old Town

Rhodes is a welcoming port in the off-season but overcrowded in mid summer. That said it is well worth a visit for the joys of walking through the old town, notwithstanding that it is full of tourist shops, selling tat, and tourists who seem more interested in the tat than the 1000 years of history that surrounds them.

Rhodes Harbour, outer mole

After 48 hours in Rhodes we set sail for Lindos, the original capital of Rhodes before the city of Rhodes was built. Lindos old village is pleasant enough and the bay offers a good anchorage (even if we did snag a rock with the anchor cable which took 30 minutes to unravel as we departed). Lindos is subject to the ebb and flow of tourists with the day trip boats that come and go most of the day. The saddest part is the “restoration” of the Byzantine castle and the “acropolis” within, which is steadily being turned into a modern replica, worthy of a Disney theme park.

Two days here and we were off again but this time it was to a rather more remote part of Rhodes, we thought!

Lindos anchorage

Our plan was to anchor at the very southernmost tip of the island where there are two bays on either side of a north/south sand spit configured such that a suitable anchorage is highly likely to be found in most wind conditions. Quiet my foot! As we approached we were greeted by the biggest fleet of kite surfers and wind surfers I have ever seen in one place, short of a major competition. Over 30 of each on the water at one time! We wended our way through the crowd and anchored in 4m of water on the east side of the spit for an ultimately very quiet and pleasant night.

Lindos Castle, Acropolis (reconstructed)

We awoke next morning to flat, oily calm. No windsurfing this morning... Our aim was to make passage up the west coast of Rhodes to the island of Alimia, a beautiful anchorage with an abandoned settlement behind. I had been here before two years back but was keen to return again whilst en route north. After an hour of motoring the wind filled in and we were able to sail the rest of the way, finally coming to anchor in the small bay adjacent ot one of the two settlement churches. Shortly after we arrived two charter boats, who were in the same bay, departed and we had the place to ourselves.

The anchorage at Alimia

Following a night at anchor in a flat calm we set off on a brief ramble ashore to look at the ruins of the settlement and the two churches. The last time I was here we were shocked to find an oil lamp still burning in one of the churches, this time we discovered it had been replaced by an LED version! After this diversion we were off again heading for Tilos, a quiet but enchanting island some 18 miles NW. Here we were again greeted by a very helpful and welcoming harbour official who informed us berthing and power were free, the only charge was for water, if we required it (we didn't). We berthed alongside, for a change, on the inside of the outer wall.

Waterfront at Lindos

The pilot warned of shallows adjacent to the inner side of the harbour, such that going bows to
was advised. Since this was written the harbour has been improved and there is now ample water for going stern to on the inner wall as well, as the attached photographs show. A bit of victualling and an enjoyable meal in the Gorgona taverna (to be recommended) and it was an early night in preparation for an 0600 start for Astypalaia.

Next day dawned bright and with a NW wind blowing at 10 - 15 knots. Just as forecast. We motored out and decided to use the engine until we reached the northern tip of the island rather than sail in a light-ish headwind and choppy seas. Once clear of the northern tip of Tilos we set full sail and set Kurukulla up on starboard tack for the fetch to Astypalaia. That was the theory! The wind spent an hour trying to decide whether to blow at 10 kts, 30 kts or not at all.

Lindos harbour

After an hour of trying our patience it finally settled for 25 kts from the NW, we put in a reef in the main and 5 rolls in the genoa and from here on we averaged 6 kts plus all the way to Astypalaia. We only needed a few tacks, towards the end of the trip, to enter the bay on the southern side of the island and finally bring us to rest in Ormos Livadhi, to the south of the port of Scala Astypalaia, and in the shadow of the castle. Here we sailed onto the anchor ready for a quiet night in the company of one other, French owned, yacht. That was until an idiot in a German flagged yacht motored in and spent 20 mins trying to anchor upwind of both of us. What is wrong with these people? They either have blind faith their anchors will never drag or just don't care! 25M upwind in 25kts is not enough clearance especially when the boat behind you has 35m of cable out and you are swinging over his anchor! He got the message!

View of Astypalaia Castle and Chora from the anchorage

Wednesday dawned bright but very slightly overcast but we were not concerned. It was a day for relaxing and doing a bit more maintenance whilst we awaited the arrival of the next crew member, Yiorgos, on the Thursday night ferry; after which we head north for a bit.

More when we leave Astypalaia …....