Thursday, September 18, 2008
What's Rumpus doing now?
Rupe and I are back home in Auckland, with medical matters taking precedence ( see below). Also a new Burmese kitten called Mars to keep us cheerful. Gabe loves him!
Well, as I am (finally) writing the last stories of our time in Turkey, Rumpus has been journeying around Turkey, north of Marmaris, with Mark and Sally Verbeist and their friends. They have doubtless had many adventures and fine times, and we have the occasional update.
Our friend Martin Caughey, one of the original Wild Things, is travelling back to Turkey with his wife Lee, Mark Hughes and some other friends to take Rumpus out on the next excursion. Who knows where they will go or how they will go!?
Meanwhile Rupe is going through the fifth operation in the hippity hop series; he has been pretty much confined to quarters since we returned to New Zealand. What a contrast to the freedom of being on Rumpus ! So we know hospitals, public, private, Auckland, Wellington, you name it....he will get better, no doubt about it, he is under the care of a very good American surgeon now - Kelly Vince - who is working with him to make him better than ever. I can't wait!!
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Lulu and Kristin, leaving Fethiye
statue of Fethi Bey, the Turkish aviator who gave his name to Fethiye; hand embroidered scarves; Lulu with Mark Barton; Mark, Emma, George Barton and Kristin on Cowrie; K and L with Johan and Eva from 'Northern Lights'
Well it has been a very long time since this blog had any update, so this is a retrospective! We had a wonderful time in Fethiye; we caught up with some friends from the rally and ate fish in the local market-cum-restaurant plaza where you select your fish from the stalls and then choose a restaurant to cook it for you.
After leaving Fethiye we headed for the bays in the west of the Gulf of Fethiye, beautiful, deep, pine-fringed waters with the occasional ruin at the water's edge. This was going to be magic! Especially as Lulu had some friends who had run a restaurant at Cleopatra's Bath in Ruin Bay for many many years.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Travellıng on through Turkey
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Corn ın Kerkova;dınner ın Kastellorızon
; vısıtıng Patara ruıns wıth Lulu;some embroıdered scarves;a sarcophagus ın Kala koy; now ın the water because of earthquakes.
Well Rupe ıs now back ın New Zealand and Rumpus ıs now ın Kalkan after spendıng a couple of nıghts ın Greece!!
There ıs a tıny rocky ısland called Kastellorızon whıch ıs 25 nautıcal mıles from the nearest other Greek ısland Rhodes and a mere 2 mıles from maınland Turkey but nonetheless ıs Greek. It has a fascınatıng past ıncludıng beıng used as a submarıne base ın WW2. It has had many admınıstratıons ıncludıng Italıan French Turkısh and Brıtısh. The whole populatıon was evacuated durıng the war - most went to Australıa so there are many 'Aussıe relos' now back and wanderıng the beautıful waterfront...Lulu and I felt quıte at home wıth the sound of theır accents. We had had a lovely dınner wıth our frıends from Twıce Eleven and Tapestry (Davıd Tamsın Henry and Julıe) on the waterfront on July the fourth - very suıtable to be spendıng ıt ın Greece wıth Amerıcans!
There ıs a chunky southwesterly comıng up ın the evenıngs over the last couple of days whıch made sıttıng ın the anchorage at Kastellorızon an uneasy experıence as there were rocks ın all dırectıons. However we had been lucky the prevıous nıght as all the other yachts ın the anchorage were told at mıdnıght that they had to weıgh anchor and move out of the way of the water tanker. We sat on our deck expectıng the call: 'Kapıtan!' but somehow we were not ın the way. However our frıends on Twıce Eleven and Tapestry were not so lucky..
Lulu and I are havıng lots of fun on board and ıt ıs just wonderful havıng her - she speaks Turkısh and ıs great at bargaınıng and (as I dıscovered today) hıtch hıkıng! We arrıved at Kalkan thıs mornıng and managed berthıng wıth a bow anchor no problem - however the harbourmaster was none too pleased when I threw a lıne whıch was wet and hıt hım on the head.... Lulu calmed hım down ın Turkısh and he became very frıendly - gave us a cup of 'chay' ( tea) as they chatted and we got the latest weather report. He was wearıng the same unıform that the Port polıceman had been wearıng ın Kastellorızon....no shırt and a paır of shorts!!
So for the day today we went to Patara beach - a lovely long stretch of golden sand wıth surf rollıng ın... very hot. We hıtched a rıde wıth the fırst car that passed drıven by a crazy Turk who took the opportunıty of an audıence to sıng Turkısh songs to us at the top of hıs lungs and drıve VERY fast!!! We were laughıng so much as he got carrıed away wıth hıs gestures and the emotıons ın the song.... and Lulu had to tell hım to slow down as we approached corners at an alarmıng speed. But not only dıd we get the musıc - he also stopped wıth us at the ruıns of a Roman cıty near Patara and showed us the wonderful amphıtheatre and other buıldıngs - most damaged by an earthquake ın the 1950s but amazıngly ıntact and evocatıve. They are next to a hugs marsh area that was once an ınlet - now sılted up. As ıs the case wıth so many of these places all the wonderful statues and treasures are ın a European museum -the Brıtısh museum has most of them from Patara.
On the way back from the beach we took a Dolmus ( mınıbus) but jumped off before our fınal destınatıon to look at a local market and buy some vegetables and a boıled corn cob from a roadsıde vendor wıth a gıant kettle full of them. They are served sprınkled wıth salt and ınsıde a cradle of the orıgınal corn husk. There were also scarves and every kınd of dark small floral desıgn for the shalwar pants that the older women wear here. Another hıtched rıde home and now here I am ın an ınternet cafe ın lovely Kalkan enjoyıng the aır condıtıonıng and wıth sand between my toes - lookıng forward to a shower on the boat.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Rupe's tuna file
OK, this year's total for tuna..... 6
Here are the latest 2, both caught on a red and white diving lure, which we have found works best in the half light morning and evening.
Our best daytime lure was taken!!! with all of the line out of the reel...some thing very big is still swimming in the sea.
Rumpus back in Turkey
Rumpus is back in mainland
We sailed 28 hours from Herzliya in
There were interesting immigration issues: in 1974
The peninsula in the north east of
We anchored off in another little bay on the north of that peninsula, then on to Girne in Turkish North
The next day we said good bye to them and Rupe and I have just completed the last ( I hope) long overnight passage - 190 miles. Only wind we found was "right on the nose" and a westerly swell made things quite uncomfortable, though fortunately very warm and clear. In the evening and again in the morning we were lucky enough to catch another couple of albacore tuna, making the tally 6 for this season on Rumpus.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Leaving Herzliya and off to Cyprus
WE said good bye to our Eastern Med Yacht Rally friends from Group 4 on our last night in Herzliya, and also to Pippy and Richard who are on to their next adventures, in Slovenia. Here is a picture of the group 4 sailors at our final get together; all the group 4 yachts were a similar size though different speeds....also a picture of us with Pippy and Richard.
The longest passage so far was the 200 nautical miles from Herzliya to Larnaca in Southern Cyprus, to meet up with Rupe's daughter Kate, her husband Duncan, and friends Philly and Jonno. It is so hot here, and it has been a delight to be able to swim in the water at the marina.
On the way here ( took us 28 hours) we caught another tuna!! very exciting.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Leaving the Rally and off to Cyprus!
Mosque and fishing boats, Port Said; Felucca sailing on the Nile; Rupe on a camel at the Pyramids; buying limes in Port Said.
Rumpus has returned to Israel after a visit to Egypt full of dust and antiquity. Last night was the final rally dinner and party - great food and dancing, yet again, and saying good bye to wonderful friends that we have met on this Eastern Med Yacht Rally.
Today we spent a day in Jerusalem seeing the Mount of Olives, Gethsemane, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Via Dolorosa, Temple Mount, the Western Wall - places just reeking with spiritual feeling and beauty. More on this later! Still catching up I'm afraid, we've been too busy sailing.
We saw the pyramids after arriving safely in Egypt with a big albacore tuna caught off the Gaza strip en route.
We left Israel in some of the largest seas Rumpus has been in - 2-3 metres - quite scary at the marina mouth off the surf beach where the swell had Rumpus's depth gauge showing zero beneath the keel between each wave!
We had a wonderful sail in the afternoon and evening - last boat to leave Israel and about the 6th boat in to Egypt , at 1.30am in the morning - after passing an oil rig - and arriving at the Suez Canal entrance.
At 6.30 am the whole rally moved in a procession down the first part of the canal to our marina.
We then went to Cairo and sailed feluccas on the Nile, and the next day visited the pyramids. It was extremely hot as you can imagine. A real highlight was the Cairo Museum with its unsurpassed collection of antiquities, including all the contents of the tomb of King Tutankhamun, which are staggering in their beauty, condition and significance. He died at 16, so they would have been making these things all during his short life, to leave with him for his afterlife. The gold is amazing; the workmanship so fine and showing so much love and respect for the pharaoh. WE also saw, nestled next to the Great Pyramid, the oldest boat in existence, a huge 45 m Nile river barge built for King Cheops, and excavated from a pit beside the pyramid in 1954. It has been reassembled and it is truly grand.
Now we are back in Herzliya near Tel Aviv after a wonderful sail back from Port Said - 160 nautical miles, the longest passage in the rally.
We were the last boat to leave the Suez Canal entrance at about midday, and the whole fleet in front of us was a great sight with a lovely 15 knot northwester pushing boats along on a tight reach - for the first time in the whole rally all the boats were sailing and no diesel was being burned..... for a while anyway. We had an informal race challenge ( well it was going to be a race....) with Zia, the 51 foot catamaran, and had prepared to blitz them with our spinnaker up , but sadly the hoped for Westerly didn't kick in. Rupe had a wonderful day counting the boats we passed....till he got to 25, then started counting the boats in front. By the end of the passage the morning after we left these included Zia, of course ( Rupe said several times: " unfortunately, this is a perfect breeze for Zia.....") and Sansipapp, a lovely Farr 50 footer from Sweden. So the passage was 21 hours with a full moon and lovely breeze for much of the way - sadly no fish; we were going too fast!
But no rest for the wicked - tomorrow morning early we leave for Larnaca in Cyprus to meet Rupe's daughter Kate and her husband Duncan and friends for a week. This will be a very long passage, 28 hours, so a big challenge. We are nonetheless really looking forward to swimming off the boat and being in anchorages and going wherever we want to !!!
Friday, June 13, 2008
A lovely passage from Ashkelon to Egypt
Dawn at Port Said, yacht rally boats in ArsenalBasin, Rumpus in Port Said, Mark from 'Cowrie' in an unusual moment of relaxation; the latest tuna.
For the second time in this rally we left a port (Ashkelon) a day later because of the weather; Rupe and I spent the extra day in Jerusalem. I will have to write about that and all the other times in Israel later... just to catch up, here are the pictures from this morning when we arrived at dawn in Port Said, the northern entrance to the Suez canal, after a 150 nautical mile sail, all day and most of the night. Rumpus just romped along, a wonderful broad reach with a 15 knot breeze helping us to zip past most of the fleet in the night. We anchored at 2.30 am and rose again at 5 to prepare the boat, flags and all decorations, to join with the other boats in our group for a procession into Port Said. As you see there was excitement in the first couple of hours of the journey when we caught another tuna; many others also caught tuna so all the boats with freezers are well stocked and we are again giving it away to our friends and neighbours. different variety from the others, with big eyes and paler flesh...
Tomorrow we leave the boat for a couple of days to tour the Pyramids. What a treat in store.
Tuna for dinner!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Lively Lebanon
After a very smooth sail we arrived in Jounnieh, a port north of Beirut. This is where 'le tout monde' of Beirut spends leisure time. Our young friends Arthur and Brune ( aged 15 and 9) from 'Arcaloune' were delighted to discover that most people spoke French. There was a 50m salt water swimming pool which was absolutely delicious.
We had been apprehensive about Beirut because of the Hisbollah fighting in the centre of the city just a few weeks ago. However a week before we arrived the factions had met in Doha and signed a peace accord. So the first night we were there we went into central Beirut which was clean, rebuilt, and bristling with security - riot police and armoured troop carriers. There was a concert to 'reopen' the city and even celebratory ice creams at Haagen Dazs. Our meal in an open air restaurant near the place de l'Etoile was typically middle eastern fare; yoghurt, chick peas, and so on.
The Lebanese have just elected a new President who by law must be Maronite Christian: General Michel Sleyman - and the other two major leaders, Prime Minister and leader of the House of Parliament, must be from the Shia and Sunni moslem faiths. There is so much hope for this new regime; there are pictures of the new President everywhere.
On 1 June our tour was to the Jeita grotto; an astonishing complex of underground caves discovered by a hunter who heard a strange echo when he shot at a fox. Truly stunning and very impressive. The lower caves you navigate by boat; there's a pathway through the upper caves which are skilfully lit.
We also visited Baalbeck - stunning Roman extravagance and grandeur, impressive in scope and opulence even as a ruin today.
Byblos is a seaside town where the Phoenician alphabet was developed and which saw a succession of cultures using the unique port with a north and south facing harbour.
It was great to explore these places with my Mum Diane and we had a special trip into Beirut to visit the museum - many of the special treasures from the places we visited were preserved there, especially the beautiful ex voto statues from Byblos. Well worth a visit and set aside a couple of hours - it's not big, just everything is so fascinating.