June Part 1 (what can I say it’s been a busy month).
 
Hope your all keeping well and out of mischief, it seems an age since our last chat. We went to Marmaris for a birthday party and ended up staying over 3 weeks! That’s the sort of thing that happens when your ‘sailing the dream’ shipmates (sorry to rub it in). There was so much going on we just couldn’t drag ourselves away. All I will say on the matter is that we went to a fab dab ‘Welcome to Summer’ party at the marina and a gang of our chums survived a ‘Chilli night’ on Stella (not for the faint hearted). A lot of water has passed under the hull since we left Marmaris. Our first port of call was Simi town on the Greek island of Simi. The Captain found himself with two women on board (lucky unlucky, I’ll let you be the judge of that). Mrs Muffin (Mandy) had been press ganged into coming with us for a jolly jaunt whilst Captain Ian was in Blighty getting his 78’s sorted (you’ll be pleased to know he’s now back in Turkey with Mrs Muffin, taking it easy and the signs are good). We had a good sail to Simi and had time to hoof around (very technical sailing term) in the bay outside before going in. That Mrs Muffin likes it tippy, she’s not happy unless the toe rail is in the water (she earnt the ‘Tippy badge’ and the chest to put it on that day). We decided to call it a day when the winds reached 30 kts! The next day Aldebaron arrived in town (you remember Alan & jeannie, it was his birthday bash we went to). To mark the occasion they cooked up a pretty feisty curry for us all. We all spent another couple of (hot and getting hotter) days on Simi. Mrs Muffin bonded with the Al fresco shower facilities and we found that we’d all become synchronised in certain daily functions that I won’t go into right now. The harbour was getting crowded so we decided it was time to move on there’s only so much anchor anxiety your nerves can take. On leaving both Aldebaron and ourselves found we were attached to some old mooring lines, less than ideal but the Captains managed to sort things out without further incident. Next stop Ketchi Buku (Turkish anchorage). Stella and her team were pretty subdued on the journey. The wind wasn’t and threw in the odd gust to keep us on our toes. Aldebaron were putting their new mainsail through it’s paces and we could barely summon the energy to talk. We anchored up and went for a swim before we melted. It was hot with a capital H (I know I’ll get no sympathy from you lot). The next morning we were even more subdued (it’s not what your thinking). The time had come to say Au revoir to Mrs Muff, none of us were looking forward to it. We couldn’t keep her for any longer we had to set her free (yes the Nescafe frappe has just kicked in). It’s the old pleasure pain thingy, you’ve got to have the tears and emotions of the goodbye to have the tears and the emotions of the hello. I’m welling up just writing about it here (which is a bit embarrassing as I’m in a taverna). That said it doesn’t make it any easier. Mrs Muff you were a star and are welcome anytime (same goes for Captain Ian). Stella says she loves getting tippy with you! Team Stella and Aldebaron left the next day for Datcha (Turkey). Aldebaron were on their way to Samos to meet up with friends from Blighty and we were heading that way so we decided to travel together. We anchored in Datcha for a night then moved onto the quay as we needed to get water and check out of Turkey officially. Yes Team Stella were going legit (well almost). It was very windy in Datcha and we saw something that we hope we never see again. The owners of a beautiful American yacht had gone ashore and their boat started to drift out to sea but it was right on course to hit some rocks first. If it hadn’t been for the quick actions of a Frenchman, his young son and some Turks the boat would have ended up on the rocks. We and Aldebaron moved back out to the anchorage as the quay was expensive. It was still windy so it goes without saying that neither of us left our boats. It was an early start the next morning off to Kos, which is apparently one of the windiest Greek islands (oh joy). We had decided to anchor on the South part of the island, ‘Rod the God’ says that the anchorage offers good shelter unless the wind is from the South. The prevailing wind is from the North so we thought we’d be tucked up snug as bugs. Snug as bugs isn’t really the term I’d use to describe our night. But I’ll save that for another time, always leave them wanting more. Tune in next time to find out what happens when a southerly wind blows into an anchorage on the South side of Kos. Take care you rascals. Love & air con The Captain and me XX
Friday, 20 June 2008