End of voyage...

On Sunday mid-day, we arrived at Yalikavak in Bodrum, Turkey, finishing Dafne´s 15 day voyage from Split Croatia to Turkey. It was indeed a very colorful and rather eventful crossing. Apart from engine problems, Dafne performed exceptionally well and proved that she was still as seaworthy and elegant as she was 102 years ago.

We had a great and warm welcome with all the family waiting for us. Sanem and Sinan flew all the way from London the day before, and welcomed Dafne and us outside the harbour in a dinghy boat. There were also cameraman from the national TV and newspapers.

Champagne was popped upon our landfall and there was much interest from local yachtsman who came on board Dafne. Sanem, Sinan, my parents and Sanem,s parents, my sister and 9 months old nephew Can, my cousin were among the few who welcomed us.

Dafne is now safe and secure at her new berth in Yalıkavak. Special thanks to our crew Mick Groves and Ozlem Civi and especially to our skipper Anil Civi who brought us home safely.

Dafne and I are awaiting our next trip, probably to Knidos with Sanem and Sinan on board this time...

Dafne impounded at Siros

For the last two day, following our rescue operation by Siros Coast Guard, Dafne was impounded at the harbour in front of Coast Guard. According to Greek Law if a vessel is rescued by Coast Guard due to malfunction, it is required to have an inspection and get a certificate of seaworthiness from its flag. This is a law designed for big ships and the Coast Guard was totally confused about how to apply to Dafne since we said we can not fly in an inspector from UK, the flag country of Dafne. After 24 hours of red tape, finally we were helped by Ms Marianna, a lovely young officer who arranged for a local inspector. During our long stay in Siros we met several people who stopped by to talk about Dafne. We also met a young shipwright who is building and restoring classic yachts in Siros. We visited his yard and looked at the boat he is about to finish restoring, a 1950's gaff rigged Swedish boat of 32 ft. We ended up enjoying Siros, a bustling town with students from local university. We will try to revisit Siros and our friends from the island next year...
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Rescued by Coast Guard...

We sailed all morning and made to Siros island midday as the wind started to gust at 25-30 kn. Just aswe were planning to enter to harbour the engine failed with cooling water problem. With the wind picking up we had no alternative but to call Coast Guard for rescue. They sent a boat which pulled us to the harbour and we got tied in front of Port Authority. The wind is still blowing gusts but Dafne and us are now safe and secure. We will fix the water cooling problem and then show it to Port Authority's specialist mechanic that it safe to go, then we will be allowed to depart. The good news is that the wind is expected to slow down tomorrow onwards. Hopefully it will be a smoother run to Bodrum than onwards...
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Pooh Bear on board...

We left Poros at sunrise, 6am eastbound. We stopped at a small deserted island on the way for a swim. Mick and I went onshore for a small expedition and collected a few cast away item on the beach, including a set of white stones for Sinan and rescued a small Pooh Bear which was about to be eaten by the goats of the island. The Pooh Bear is now safe and secure on board at Dafne, and enjoys his new home...

Then we sailed to Kithnos for 5 hours with 20 kn winds under single reef. Dafne sailed beautifully and was at ease with wind and the sea...

Finally we arrived at Kithnos with strong winds blowing and after 2 hours managed to secure Dafne on some rocks on shore and with anchor.

We are off to some dinner now if we can find a place in this small island...
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Poros...

After passing Korinth Canal we went to Poros which is about 6-7 hours South-South East of Korinth. Weather forecast was 25 kn winds with 2.5m waves from South so we decided to get a safe berthing at Poros and take the day off. Poros is a very cute small island village separated from mainland with Poros channel which is about half mile wide. The sea traffic is busy with a ferry crossing back and forth every half hour.

We had good lunch, followed by a siesta, climbed up the hill with clock tower, checked out local shops, bought food for the boat and had a nice taverna dinner.
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Correction...

In the last blog update, I wrote that we were now six on board, actually I meant four, Mick, Anil, Ozlem and I...


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Passed Korinth, now in Agean Sea

We passed Korinth Canal at 17:30. It took us 35 minutes to cross a long and deep cut canal of 3.2 miles long and 25m wide. We are now in Agean waters, getting close to home. Ozlem, Anil's wife, joined us in Korinth, so we are six on board now.
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