WHERE ARE WE ANNE?: July 2017

SMALL TALES AND TRUE

FROM THE FOURTH DIMENSION

ASTYPALAEA

Fourth Dimension is sailing again which is good after missing out on sailing last year due to workload in Australia which was bad although being there was good. Clear?

I've spent about 150 days in the interim working on 4D on the hard in Finike, Turkey. Some deep renovation on the holding tanks, poo pipes and cocks, generator overhaul, regular maintenance and countless small jobs including a lot of timber related jobs because I had access to a table saw and a docking saw. Being able to quickly cut timber straight and square and a keen eye in Bunnings while in Australia beckons another world of renovation with a lot of jobs now ticked off the list. As my German yachtie friends say “immer arbeit”.

Anne is not on 4D at the moment though her arrival is eagerly anticipated. She joins later in August after convalescing from surgery. In the meantime, Michael and Anna, the crew from 'Red Rackham' are kindly helping me get 4D to Greece from Turkey. Anne has been coordinating the friends onboard roster and boarding points for the rest of the season. With Anne's planning prowess and herself onboard again, I expect seamless integration and a very happy skipper.

The most notable thing sailing from Turkey to Greece this season apart from Anne not on board is the decrease in boat numbers. I expected it in Turkey but wasn't expecting it in Greece. All the restaurants visited mention it. At Sercan Limani in Turkey the bloke who has been selling stuff to yachties out of his little boat for 40 years said it was very quiet. “No Europeans, mostly Turkish.” Plus one Australian. In Greece, my favourite storekeeper in Symi said "Cata stroff!" “That peanut in Turkey has scared everyone away”.

In Datca, on the move, I replaced a dead battery only to yesterday have another one get very hot and outgas hydrogen sulphide as it threatened to melt down. After mistaking the smell at first for someone polluting my beautiful fresh clean holding tank, I found the problem so the potential bomb is off the boat and we are on the lookout for another new battery again. European prices this time.

And the sitrep now? Astypalaea waiting for some more favourable winds rather than 15-22 kts on the nose which we've already endured and are so not fond of. There hasn't been a lot of sailing going on, mostly motoring directly in to headwinds. The purists might scoff but we have a mission to get my crew back to their boat in Greece in good time. A day or two sailing and we will be out of the main stream of the Meltemi winds that course South through the Aegean although there may be some sheltering soon as the next blow descends. We travel as the windows present.

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