Wilkomen crew-mate Tracey
 
Monday the 12th May arrived and it was a day tinged with mixed emotions (yes we are still in the marina). Captain Ian (Team Moli) was leaving to return to Blighty to get his 78’s sorted. Good luck shipmate, you’ll be doing the tango fandango in no time. Our chum Tracey from Blighty was arriving that night for her Stella Maris experience (about time to). We’d also heard that Jan & Mike a couple we’d met on a flotilla holiday in 2005 (oh heady naive days) were going to be in Marmaris for the start of a flotilla holiday. We planned our day with military precision (you know that’s not true). After bidding a sad farewell to Captain Ian, we hot tailed it into town (to the posh marina) to have a rendevouz with Team ‘Flotilla’ to discuss sailing tactics and the merits of the Turkish meze. Tracey arrived bacon laden and travel weary at about 9pm and we all went for a spot of dinner. It was lovely to catch up after all this time. Hope you have a fab dab holiday shipmates, calm seas with just a soup-son of wind up your bot!! Now shipmate Tracey had one simple request for her week sur Stella. Sun, sun and more sun! We got off to a slightly shaky start with a few clouds getting in the way, but in the end the sun won through. We took time to check out the marina pool which is lovely, felt like we were all on holiday!! Mandy arranged a drinks party on Moli which included Crete chums and a few new found friends. When she brought out the jug of Pimms, we knew she was spoiling us and we liked it. Yacht marine is out of the town, to get into downtown Marmaris you need to go for 10 minutes at 50 miles an hour on a local dolmush bus! We visited the local market where you can get lovely fresh fruit, veg and you’ll be pleased to hear 5 tee-shirts for a fiver!! The market stall-holders boast that their prices are better than Primark!! Tracey was settling in to marina life well and had no qualms about taking on the ladder of death!! So the time had come to up the pace a little we planned a jolly jaunt over to Simi (Greece). Mandy from Moli joined us so that meant the Captain had a crew (and I use that term lightly) of 3 females!! We left Yacht marine and motored out into the bay. The wind wasn’t playing ball for our 35nm journey to Simi. Time to break out the sarnies. Around lunch time the wind picked up a bit, we were pretty close hauled (tippy time). Helms-woman Mandy was on the helm and things were getting feisty. We had the stereo on and the music playing was quite dark and menacing, which was adding to the tension. Time to put a 2nd reef in the main and get a bit of that darn Genoa in!! We were able to sail like this for a couple of hours. Then as is so often the case the last 3 nmiles of the journey seemed to take forever, we encountered a confused sea (I feel for it I really do). After battling through that for a bit we finally managed to enter the anchorage only to find it was pretty full! We found a cosy spot at the back of the pack and dropped the anchor. It was now about 7pm and we were all a tad tired. Beer and crisps time. We’d heard there was a taverna ashore so the Captain was going to blow up the dinghy and we’d row in for a cheeky Greek Giros (kebab). Turned out the taverna was shut! So it was tuna pasta all round!! Whilst sat in the cockpit Tracey decided to try and go for her ‘Anchoring badge’ honestly some people, she hasn’t even got her helming badge yet. She was playing footsie with a button in the cockpit that lets the anchor out. This will come as no surprise to you shipmates, I popped my head up and asked the Captain if it was our anchor I could hear being let out. His response a mild mannered ‘No’ followed by him running up to the bow to bring the anchor back in!! The next morning we rose early to the bells of a monastery. The Captain and Tracey were feeling brave and went for a quick dip. Don’t think I’ll be doing that till June!! We upped anchor and set off before the sea outside the anchorage got confused again! We were confident that we would have a good sail as the prevailing wind would be blowing up our bot!! I tell you don’t count your Beauforts before they’ve blown. First the lickle ickle bit of wind we had was sur le nez, then it moved round but it was very light, so we weren’t really getting anywhere quickly!! We arrived back in Marmaris and had decided to spend a night in Marmaris marina (the posh one). We’ve been here before and mooring up is always a tad stressful. Despite a slight hiccup with the lazy line we got in whilst only providing the minimum of entertainment. That night we braved it into the hustle and bustle of Marmaris for a sneaky Turkish kebab. We were sat in a restaurant when the Captain pointed out that the man opposite looked like the First Mate from our 2005 flotilla holiday. I was somewhat sceptical but after some prompting from the Captain I went over and interrogated him, turned out it was him. Did he remember us? Of course not we hadn’t sunk a boat!! The next day (Tracey’s last) we moved back to Yacht marine, well you can’t have the crew getting used to the posh marinas. Then it was an afternoon by the pool for a final bake. That night we had a few farewell drinks on Stella then went onto have a late dinner at a local restaurant. We bade a sad farewell to Tracey at about 1.00am in the morning as she headed off for her 5.00am flight. The journey home for her an adventure in itself, 20 minutes into her flight the plane returned due to ‘Technical problems’ Your much safer at sea shipmate! Hope to see you again soon matey. Right after that mammoth instalment I think you deserve a drink and make it a large one! Ciao for now landlubbers love & anchor chains The Captain & The Cook XX
Tuesday, 20 May 2008