Northbound, finally!

Jack Tar is underway and bound north for Istanbul and the Black Sea. Our new anchor winch is finally in place and has already proven its worth. the Queen of the Forecastle is extatic. We have managed to sail [rather than motor] most of the way to our present location at Turgetreis not far from Bodrum. We have travelled via Simi [a Greek Island] and Bodrum. We are here for an unscheduled stop due to a failure of the navigation system which left us with no gps, speed,depth,wind information or auto pilot. The problem has now been resolved with the assistance of a local electronics ace and was found to be a faulty cockpit display recently purchased in Australia and installed on our return. Unfortunately we lost the system when sailing through a narrow reef strewn channel in a wind gusting to 20 kts with rain. Disconcerting.

More Marmaris Scenes

Jack Tar is ready for sea except for the installation of our new anchor winch which progresses slowly, very slowly. However time has allowed the completion of other maintenance which was to have been undertaken enroute. Discussion with other yachties who have visited the Black Sea indicate that our visit should be perhaps even better than we have anticipated, as, without exception, they all had a fabulous time. So we are anxious to be under way.

More Marmaris News

The First Mate [ Queen of the Fo`csle ] has arrived and final preparations including the installation of a new anchor winch are under way. Things progress slowly here and happen "Insh Allah" [ if thats how it is spelled ]. We will soon be ready to depart so look forward to making our way north before the meltemi sets in. In the accompanying photos you will see the new name signwriting and our new array of solar panels.