Hi Everyone,

  I want you to meet two really nice very interesting people.  Heidi and Kalle Trautmann….

Ru

  It was serendipity and some left-over reference skills that led me to Heidi Trautmann’s website.  Heidi is an artist.  She makes art, teaches art, shares art, has friends who are artists.loves art.  www.heiditrautmann.com is her website.  I’ve mentioned Heidi in earlier emails.  Today Heidi and her husband Kalle came to visit us. (Thankfully the weather cooperated with us and not with the forecasted weather report.)  We had a wonderful time sharing cruising stories, travel experiences, home building experiences, recipes and I even got a mini-art lesson.  Heidi may not say she teaches art, but her suggestions are teaching me to think better about how I put paint on paper.  And Kalle explained to me about voppa (sardines) which I’m still on a quest to find.  Heidi and Kalle have lived on Cyprus for 6 years.  Their home is in Yeşiltepe near Girne and they have made lives that involve them with their community as well as the land itself.  Heidi was invited yesterday to watch a class of college theater students give individual performances before a jury of professors and artists.  In the past she was part of a team that wrote about the creation and development of libraries on North Cyprus.  And there’s lots more.  Heidi has chronicled these adventures on her website.   We have promised to visit them sometime in the next week or so when we can all work it out. 

Heidi and Kalle

Home produced wine, orange marmalade and grapefruit marmalade. 

I managed to tear up the beautiful hand-painted label on the wine bottle and I’m really sorry about that because it was quite lovely.  Kalle brought a map of Karpaz and Heidi also loaned me some art magazines she uses with her Thursday art group.  I passed along the ones I have so Heidi could share them with her Thursday art group too. 

If you visit Heidi’s website you can read her story about harvesting their olives and bringing them to the local press to be made into olive oil. 

  For some reason our satellite TV is now working so I could watch Once Upon A Time this past Friday night.  The US is ahead of Cyprus in episodes, but I’ve only seen about 3 of them so they are all new to me.  It was the episode when the people in fairy tale time, the parents of Gipetto,  were shrunken into puppets!  Randal watches the educational shows, I watch the entertainment ones and the movies.  But I’ve taken up knitting again and TV is really good for that; I can listen and knit at the same time.  If I have a problem both Julia and Tatty, a cruiser knit so can help me.  I’m just making a simple vest so we’ll see how it goes.

Ru

“Somewhere over the rainbow” is North Cyprus.

Friday morning greeted us with a beautiful rainbow. The weather report for Friday and most of the days to follow predicted rainy days and heavy winds. Luckily most of the forecast was wrong and I could walk every day. Sometimes Randal came too. He always does the Thursday Deks walks, but the rest of the week I have to push and prod him to walk with me. Friday was sunny, Saturday and Sunday called for rain so we went off for a long walk to tide us over for those rain days.

Up into the hills across from the marina and then along the ridge.

There are many plowed fields up on the ridge and beautiful green fields that are way too mucky to walk through. We walked up and then took one of the dirt roads heading west parallel to the main road toward Deks.

Then down and left onto another dirt path back towards the marina.

Our friend Charmin plotted out the paths looking at Google Earth. Charmin walks even more than I do with her puppy, Sophie. Charmin had found and nursed back to health a stray “pointer” pup. It may go to a home in America because a visiting family fell in love with the dog. But the family’s son has allergies so Charmin and Cliff may have Sophie forever which is ok with them as there sailing days are winding down and they think the puppy would fit into their “not so much cruising life.” The green fields off in the distance were dirt brown when we first saw them in August.

Saturday morning started out sunny so I decided to go for a walk before the rains would eventually come. Earlier in the morning I’d noticed we were getting low on toilet paper. With rain forecasted for days, I wasn’t sure when we’d motorbike into town for supplies and the marina market isn’t open so can’t provide supplies. One can do without some things, but not toilet paper. I decided to walk back to the small market in Sipahi where I’d bought my cheese, yogurt and bread. I looked up the words for toilet paper (we’d learned them in my Turkish lessons) but decided to write them down on my cheat sheet paper which has all kinds of phrases I can’t always remember.

How are you? I am good….. I am lost: We are lost….. Yes No Okay

Tuvalet kağıdı pronounced Toilette kadur

The words for toilet paper are crammed on the edge just below, I’m an American!

Kütüphane is the word for library. To show something is a building you add the phane at the end of the root word. Kütük means register so maybe that’s where it comes from. Kitap is book so you would think it would be Kitaphane…but it isn’t. Then the ci means profession and then yim means I am. So as Pete says, the language is written left to right but read right to left. So starting with the yim you read I am the profession of someone who works in a library. Or something like that.

On my way to the Sipahi market people called out hello to me, since now I’m a regular…I’ve shopped there twice. The owner got up and gave me a smile this time too. In what I thought was Turkish I asked for the toilet paper pronouncing it TUVAHLET KAAUHDUH. That didn’t work so I dropped the word for paper and just said Tuvalet and sign language the word for roll. That didn’t work either so I got out my cheat sheet and showed him. He pronounced it the correct way for me and then got the 8 pack down from a high shelf. He then spent a few minutes reading other phrases on the paper and smiled when he read that I was an American. I would have spent more time in the shop but the sky was looking grim so I needed to hustle back to the boat. It was actually drizzling when I started out, so I put on the light jacket which I unearthed from my back pack which caused the rain to immediately stop, the sun to come back, and me to get hot. Off came the jacket as I walked down the hill back to the boat. The trip takes about 90 minutes if I don’t dawdle. I usually do dawdle taking photos and saying hello to dogs, cows or chickens I see along the way. And people too. But usually no rush, we’re retired.

The cupboard was getting very empty with those last 3 rolls the only ones left in the storage space. The new pack should last us until we go to town Monday morning if the weather cooperates.

Saturday, about noon, the veggie man stops at the marina. I usually buy something because some cruisers need this service not having motorbikes or even bicycles to get to town. If not enough people shop, he probably wouldn’t come. I was the last in line, not needing much and not being in a hurry. I asked for a few lemon, some cucumber, and some tomatoes. (Potatoes and other things we buy at the Monday market.) He told me it was beş TL. I knew that was 5 and handed him a 5 TL note. He took it and then put some oranges and cilantro and arugula (or what the Brits call rocket lettuce) into my bag…just because he seems to always give extra stuff.

The arugula and cilantro are the best tasting stuff!

They are also full of dirt and a pain to wash, but if you don’t they crunch when you eat them

Sunday morning walk with wool hats and scarves! But it doesn’t take much for us to feel cold after our years in the tropics. The marina is in the distance.

Sunday’s rain didn’t come until later in the day, and then it came and went and came and went. I’m really counting on Monday being sunny so I can do a laundry and we can go off to the Monday market. We’ll see.

  A special congratulations to my pals at the Roanoke County Public Library and the grand opening of the new South County Library.  Wish I could have been there.  Libraries are priceless, but a library with a coffee shop, doubly priceless!  I look forward to seeing it next time we’re home.

Ru

Wednesday and Thursday stories January 4^th and 5^th 2012

It’s late Thursday afternoon and there will be an early dark today from the clouds and gloomy weather waiting to descend on us for the next week or so. Depending on the website I’ve looked at we won’t have good weather until a week from Sunday! Hopefully that’s wrong. I don’t mind getting caught in the rain on the way back from a walk, but to make myself leave our warm dry boat and start off into a chilly rain would take days of continuous rain. And then I’d go mad if I didn’t get off and go for a walk.

While I type Randal is down in the galley making an apple pie. He has already put our “bon filet” into the slow cooker so dinner should be pretty great! While he was gathering his supplies he discovered the Crisco seems to have gone missing. I know he’s convinced I threw it away when I tossed the 3 or 4 year old jars of spaghetti sauce. I do remember chucking the sauce, but not the Crisco though I can’t imagine what it would have been like having baked for 3 months on the boat while we were home. The temperature on the closed up boat with no AC in the desert heat of Cyprus would have been pretty high. But I truly don’t remember tossing it so who knows what happened. I never used it, though Randal did for most of his biscuit and pie experiments.

Wednesday Randal worked on our sea chest which had developed a leak. Last Friday we’d taken the motorbike to Famagusta and Randal had managed to find the Plexiglas and rubber gasket material he needed for the project. We found the industrial park area because it was where I’d taken those bakery photos of the computer cake. The huge bakery was next to the marine supply shop and across from the tool shop. I’d taken a photo of the front door so could Google the name and find enough information to link it to the word Sanyi (Industrial area in Turkish) and then find a major road and then find it on the map I’d gotten once upon a time at the Yenierenköy visitor center. We had been to the Sanyi about ten days earlier with Julia and Robin but aren’t familiar enough with Famagusta to find it easily ourselves. Now we know. The tool store didn’t have some tools that Randal needed but suggested a near-by glass shop for Plexiglas. That shop not only had no Plexiglas, the clerks told us no one in Famagusta sold it and we had to go to Nicosia for it. Across from the glass shop was an auto collision repair shop! Randal went in and instantly bonded with one of the men there who lead us down the street and around the corner to a sign shop which used Plexiglas. That shop was willing to sell a piece to Randal and also cut the large piece into the 2 smaller pieces Randal needed. Negotiating the price was interesting. It started at 20TL but then got bumped up to 30TL (American customer prices…) but it was exactly what Randal needed so it was fine. Randal also gave the auto collision shop guy a “finder’s fee.” Then we stopped at the bakery for lunch, the book store at Diniz Plaza for a Turkish Text book and North Cyprus flag. Our last stop was at the Lamar Supermarket we pass on the way home for Raisin Bran and Diet 7UP. Neither was available in Yenierenköy until a few days ago when the new Mo-PA opened across from the gas station. I was happy to see they sold both products, but we’ll still also continue to shop at some of the smaller markets in Yenierenkoy.  But no more long rides to Lamar!

So Anyway…as Ellen DeGeneres would say, Randal was busy on Wednesday morning so I went off for a walk myself. We needed some yogurt, white cheese, and bread and I knew there was a small market in Sipahi that sold all of those things and it was just the right distance for a walk. The dirt trails are still muddy from recent rain and Wednesday is a hunting day (as is Sunday) so I didn’t want to walk in the fields. It was about an hour uphill walk to the market and 45 minutes to get back.

It was a lovely day between rainy days, so there was an early morning load of laundry hanging to dry before I left boat for my walk.

The small market in Sipahi

I asked for everything I needed in Turkish and got what I needed, so how great is that!

Now I’m making myself crazy trying to translate all of the words on the yogurt container.  Translating the Beyaz Peynir (white cheese) was easy. It cost 13.50 TL which seems a lot, but the entertainment factor of the walk was worth it.

This brand new cement wall being built isn’t half as appealing to me as the old stone one across the road.

Wednesday night one of the cruisers, Riana, invited all of the ladies to her boat (her dad’s really) for a light dinner. All we had to bring were our own plates, forks, glass, or cup. Counting Riana, there were 8 of us, a few ladies having the traveling flu just now. I only thought to take photos at the end so have very few and none of the wonderful food that we were served, except the small amount of chocolate cheesecake that was still left.

Riana, on the left and Dotty on the right.

Riana is from Wales and with her hair down and her voice she reminds me of Mini Driver, the British actress who was in Good Will Hunting among other films.

A very contemplative Margaret, Charmin, and Tatty who promises to teach everyone how to knit.

Linn translating for Michellenne(Sp) who is not in the photo.

I’m sitting between Linn, an American who speaks some French and Michellene, who is French and understand only a little bit of English. Riana also speaks French from her years as a ski instructor. Funny enough I could understand most of Linn’s American French, about 2/3 of Riana’s Welsh French and only about ¼ of Michellene’s Parisian French! I was truly amazed at how much I could understand and completely embarrassed by how little I could actually speak after all those years of "studying" French.

Red, White or Rose!

Amazingly there were cheese cake leftovers.

We had cold meze and then shrimp and then chicken chunks in sauce and sausage balls and salad and beans…..and sweet potato fries, so everyone was really good and just had a small sliver of cheese cake.  Riana had actually carried the potatoes back from Great Britain in her suitcase! 

We sat around and ate and drank for several hours and it really was very fun because Riana was just such a great hostess who could have fun at her own party!

Thursday was our 6^th Deks walk and we returned to the stone statues because Dina, Denise’s daughter had never been there. Everyone enjoyed the walk and the company.

The Neolithic statue always makes us ask questions none of us can answer…so my assignment is to do more research.

Hundreds of sheep, thousands of sheep, millions and billions and trillions of sheep!

Actually you have to go to New Zealand for that many sheep.

The loop walk took about an hour and a half and then it was time for lunch at Deks. Randal and I are now hooked on the wonderful bacon sandwiches Denise makes. Randal has his with scrambled eggs on it but I have mine just plain and pile the side salad on it. It comes on grilled, buttered “village bread” and it’s wonderful. Buttered bread with bacon, definitely not kosher, but wonderful!

Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun

(Hemingway’s Restaurant & Bar Karpaz Gate Marina)

Happy New Year from North Cyprus

For those of you who don’t know, this is the famous Roanoke, VA traveling fruitcake. It began its travels in 1999 when John Edwards and his family brought it to a gift exchange where it became the property of Jane and Peter Field. Jane, who works part-time in the Reference Department brought it to a Roanoke County Public Library Holiday Party and over the years various staff selected it as their surprise gift. (The gifts are always wrapped so no one knows what they are picking and eventually someone would go home with this fruitcake.) As a retirement gift to the Library from me, I chose the fruitcake at the last party Randal and I attended, and promised to drop it into the South China Sea so it would never shop up, wrapped in paper and bows at a Library Holiday Party Gift Exchange. But the fruitcake is still here and the South China Sea is far behind us. We could drop it into the Mediterranean, but we’ll probably just carry it around the world with us and one day, when no one is expecting it, it will turn up, once again, all wrapped up in paper and bows as a gift at a Roanoke County Library Holiday Party.

Happy New Year to all of you from Randal, DoraMac and me

  It’s Thursday and so as long as there is not rain, it’s a Deks Walks Day.  Our walk today began close to town so Robin and Julia, back for a few days from Famagusta where they celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Eve, came to get us in their car.  Usually we meet at Deks but that is the other direction from town, so Denise came to us.  Her daughter and son-in-law are visiting so they came too.  All of the walks provide good company, great scenery, and good exercise.  Most include really interesting structures and some history.  Today’s walk took us to the old carob warehouses, so of course, I had to start looking for information about the carob industry and one thing always leads to another.  So here it all is.  If you skip most of it, try to read the write up about the Carob Festival by Sue Steel.  It’s really quite funny.  I don’t know her; I found it researching the festival.  Funny enough, because I have mentioned carob in past emails, my carob research kept leading me back to our website!

Ru

Deks Walk # 5

Walk number 5 was along the Yenierenköy coast to see the ruins of the carob warehouses. Randal and I had once gone looking for them, unsuccessfully, so were especially looking forward to this hike. Julia was there, though Scruffy was still vacationing in the Kaplica kennel: Julia and Robin will be off again for the New Year’s weekend. Mick and Dedi were home in Kumyali waiting for the plumber. But Denise’s daughter Dina and her husband TK were visiting from Marmaris, Turkey so it was a nice group indeed!

A flat land hike along the coast.

TK and Dina

TK works on an oil tanker. He has his Captain’s license and his specialty is navigation. A good man to have around! Dina, we are told by everyone who has heard her, has a very beautiful voice. And like her mom, she is fluent in both her native British English and Cypriot Turkish. TK is Turkish so soon Dina will have her Turkish citizenship rights allowing for more employment opportunities.

A carob warehouse (photo was shot into the sun so not very good.)

But the more interesting warehouse was closer to the coast and almost “church-like” with its arches.

Inside of a carob warehouse.

This carob-warehouse site has the exact same photo!

http://www.northcyprus.co.uk/carob-warehouses/ has some interesting info. Below is the first paragraph.

“Like sentinels along the Cyprus shore, stand the slowly crumbling relics of a wealthy past. These are the remnants of an ancient trade that once helped make Cyprus very rich. Dotted along the coastline, now abandoned and neglected, stand carob warehouses that are inexorably crumbling into a state of ruin that will soon be beyond repair. These warehouses, built wherever there was a convenient natural harbour, were used to store the carob harvest before it was packed and exported into Europe.”

Inside

I just love the stone buildings.

The old harbor now broken down and silted up.

Below is some carob info and websites for those really interested in the carob trade.

http://www.tccruraldevelopment.eu/rdst/images/stories/documents/rdp.pdf

“Table 7 – The ratio of agricultural products in extra-island trade (%)

Product 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Agricultural extra-island trade is dominated by Citrus (mostly to Russia, Ukraine and Turkey), followed by other products and potato……77 % of the trade consists of dairy products (mostly cheese to Turkey and Arab countries), followed by citrus (14 %), processed carob (6 %), olive oil (1 %) and tobacco (1 %).”

Carob

Carob is another typical plant of Cyprus. It requires no water and thrives well in the

natural habitat. Each part of fruit can be used (seed, outer part) for production of

organic foods, syrup, animal feed and cosmetic industry

http://www.tccruraldevelopment.eu/rdst/images/docs/ldskarpazfinal.pdf

Carob processing. Carob trees are one the main markers in the northern Cyprus landscape and the carob pod is a popular product used for feeding animals and producing pekmez. Carob seeds are exported for different purposes (film production, cosmetics, etc.). A producer’s cooperative, participated by the Kooperative Bank Co, manages one storage and processing plant, located in Iskele district that serves all the northern part of Cyprus. This plant processed 600 tons of carob in 2009 that is a vertical fall from the 6.000

tons processed in 1985. There is a deep crisis in the carob seed international market, due to the world over production as well as to the introduction of alternative products. Prices are so low that the last three years carob seed couldn’t be sold and is stored waiting for better market conditions. The other products derived from carob, animal feed and pekmez have a stable domestic demand.

pekmez, (traditional sweet preserve made from carob)

http://turkishcookingeveryday.blogspot.com/2011/07/pekmez-mulberry-carob-and-grape-syrup.html explains what it is and how to make it. I’ll have to get some.

In Turkish it is called keçiboynuzu Horn of a goat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceratonia_siliqua I actually recognized the word keçi and knew it meant goat and the pictures of the pod make it look like a goat horn.

Wikipedia’s photo

North Cyprus has a carob festival, but we were home in the US when it occurred. ( I grew up in New Bedford, MA where we had the Scallop festival which later became the Seafood Festival. We also had the wonderful Portuguese Feast in August when the fishing fleet was blessed and there was lots of great Portuguese food.)

Tatlisu Carob festival. (I found this funny write-up)

Festivals abound in North Cyprus to the extent that, during the summer months, we are inundated with the things. We have the carob, potato, grape, apricot, orange, watermelon oh….. you get the idea.

They are always held outside and the village life is suspended for the duration of the festival….anything from 3-9 days but it is all done in the best possible taste.

For instance, we have just come to the end of the Tatlisu carob festival where activities as diverse as judo and kite-flying, photography and fire-eating were on offer. Actually, the fire-eater was short lived as he could not put out the flame shooting from his mouth. He was unhurt but it did give cause for concern, after the laughter subsided that is.

I enjoy the festivals each year as it is a time for all the family to go out together, eat, drink and generally be merry, at very little cost.

The villagers enjoy it because it breaks up the hum-drum of everyday life and generally, the women do not go out too much (whereas the men do!) so they dress in their glad rags and hit the town.

The children enjoy it because instead of going to bed at midnight, they can go to bed at 2am.

Festival time is almost over for this year but everyone is eagerly waiting what will come next year and who will top the bill and which village will bring more to the table than the next. It’s a bit like stalls on Ponty market, all vying to get the best stall but generally it stays the same.

Sue Steel http://blogs.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/2011/09/flippin-festivals.html

The sea washing away the coastline and creating lots of sculpture and caves.

Dina taking her photos.

Randal and Dina discussing the housing bubble burst and Khan Academy website where you can learn about such things.

Julia insisted this was her weekend house on the coast. It is definitely a fixer-upper with loads of potential…unless you need a roof, doors, windows. There was a mattress already provided.

But the views would be worth it.

I just like this photo Randal, Denise and Dina

Dina setting up the timer on my camera for our group photo…

TK, Denise hiding Dina Randal Julia and me

This dog was “guarding” the food in the back of the truck…

When he saw the trail would take us by “his truck” this dog jumped in and grabbed one of the loaves of bread and took it back further into the truck. Then he came for another loaf! Not sure what the owner, working off in the field will think. It was really comical.

After the walk everyone came back to DoraMac for coffee and apple cake. I had made the cake the night before hoping everyone would have time to come. The cake was somewhat experimental. Randal and I wanted to test out our small convection oven which we’d stopped using because it got too hot and sort of melted the open/close mechanism. It is also a microwave and that works fine. The recipe, something I must have found on the Internet, once upon a time, called for 1 ¼ cups of cooking oil so I had my doubts. We had “bought cake” and cookies in the pantry in case the cake was terrible. But it was fine and everyone had seconds! (We work up an appetite on our walks!) Denise, Julia and Dina wanted the recipe which I gladly photocopied, but had to tell them I’d added this and changed that…but luckily it all worked out. And thankfully most of it is now gone so Randal and I won’t eat a ton of it. It also had 2 cups of sugar!

Everyone had walked the plank off the boat when I made them all come back for a photo! There was no place to put the camera so we took turns taking photos. Robin had chauffeured Julia, Randal and me back and forth to the hike so was here for the snacks and photos.

Denise kindly wore the white scarf I’d knitted her for Christmas.  Very basic knit knit knit, next row, knit knit knit.  But it did keep her warm along the chilly coast.

Randal and Dina having another philosophical discussion as we walked everyone back to their cars.

Lots of fun!

I went to my Turkish lessons today though apparently they had been canceled for Christmas!  Somehow I missed that when it was discussed at last week’s lesson.  Denise came to the restaurant, saw me there and very kindly gave me a lesson. That was great because she backed up to beginner stuff for me with flashcards that she’d created. More and more makes sense and now it is just a matter of the work of MEMORIZING. Hoşbulduk is the response when someone says, "Hoşgeldiniz." (Welcomes you into their shop or home.) I couldn’t imagine how I could remember the response until I came up with Horse Bull Duck! Now I’ll always remember, though it is pronounced Hoshboolduk and the last things you’d want in your shop or home are horses, bulls or ducks!

Randal came to get me and we ate lunch. While we were there a couple with "American Accents" came in and we got to talking. We told them we had a boat in the marina and they asked if the marina was near the Malibu Hotel on the coast. That gave me a chuckle because that is a small fishing harbor, picturesque but not a marina for cruising yachts. They live in Istanbul where she works for Save the Children. He is a journalist and was the overnight editor for Morning Edition on NPR. She had been stationed in Tel Aviv and Ramallah before Istanbul so I hope we ever meet them again to hear their stories. We gushed on about NPR for a few minutes and then had to go while they were just starting their lunch. We later saw them in Yenierenkoy and they had noticed our marina and asked if one of the huge yachts was ours. We told them ours was a diesel trawler and not a mega-yacht and told them to stop in if they were our way again. Then they asked how to get out of town. There are only about two roads, but you have to know to follow the one pointing towards Lefkosa and G.Maguza to get back toward the road towards Bellapais where they were heading. Randal gave them directions and we said good-bye. We got back to the boat and Randal took apart our front cabin air conditioning/heating system which was having issues. For dinner he cooked some of the meat we’d bought at the local butcher Monday. We’d bought some expensive frozen "bon filet" recommended by other cruisers and that’s in the freezer. We also paid $5.98 per pound for shoulder cut of meat that came in chunks and Randal cooked it in a frying pan with olive oil and soy sauce and it was some of the best meat we’ve bought in years traveling. It tasted like steak. I can’t imagine what the other meat tastes like and I don’t really even like meat. Tomorrow we’re having the rest of the shoulder with the fresh mushrooms I’d gotten at the Monday market. Yum!

Ru

December Final Bits and Pieces

Deks Walk # 4 Thursday December 22, 2011

Up, up, up, up up! But it was worth the hike!

At the top of the ridge looking at the southeast coast of Karpaz Peninsular on a somewhat overcast day. We had some bits of sun and some very light drizzle: a perfect day for an uphill hike.

We are at B 13 though none of us had the map to match; we just follow Denise.

Looking back towards the Med on the northeast coast of the Karpaz Peninsular.

Denise says in the spring we’ll see loads of wildflowers!

Julia waiting for Scruffy to come back from her wanderings (a few days before she went off to the kennel.)

Randal was telling Denise how he’d love to have a house up on this ridge and would anyone notice if we did build one? (No we aren’t but it would be a dream location if we had a 4×4.)

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Pre-Christmas party on M.Y. Souris Rose Thursday afternoon….

A lovely pre-Christmas Party on M.Y. Souris Rose was hosted by David and Jill for all cruisers who were in the marina for Christmas. They provided everything, made sure everyone kept eating and drinking and then did all the clean up after we’d all gone home to rest!

Our hostess Jill with her camera.

My classmate for Turkish lessons, Pete in the background. Pete has done a wonderful job of writing up his notes from the Turkish lessons which started while Randal and I were home in the US. I am now, thanks to Denise’s teaching and my classmates’ patience, finally starting to understand all of those notes.

Sitting in the saloon (living room) chatting before dinner.

Souris Rose is 65 ft. long compared to our 50 ft.: and wider. It is also a sedan so shaped somewhat like DoraMac rather than sailboat shaped.

Looking from the saloon to the enclosed back deck where the buffet was served.

Pete’s wife Sue is the woman in dark mid picture. She and I will get together in the new year for some sketching and watercolor painting. We both think we’re terrible so we can encourage each other to “just do it.”

Scenes of Christmas present….

There was a whole cooked salmon and smoked salmon quiche and salads and later in the evening, huge whipped cream covered trifle and other desserts. I concentrated on anything with salmon!

And also the fresh fruit trifle with gobs of whipped cream. Good thing Randal and I had hiked in the morning and skipped our usual post-hike meze lunch at Deks.

I’m sorry that I have no photo of David who kept himself busy filling and refilling everyone’s glasses with red or white.

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Scruffy goes off to the kennel for a Christmas holiday in Kaplica!

I apparently confused some folks, but Scruffy isn’t our dog. She is a wonderful dog and I’d love one just like her one day, but Julia and Robin would never part with her. Randal and I went along for the ride.

Penny, the kennel owner, and two boarders welcome Julia and Scruffy

Penny sitting on her front porch.

Penny and her husband are in the process of building a new kennel across the road up into the hill and also in the process of selling the kennel to 3 women…I think that’s the story. Penny also takes in strays though now will only take them if they are sponsored to help pay the cost of food and shelter. There are way, WAY too many stray dogs and cats in North Cyprus and so far that’s the only real gripe I have with the people here. They need to take better care that their pets are neutered and also not left to fend for themselves just because they might no longer be useful as hunting dogs or whatever. Most strays are incredibly friendly and just want A HOME!!! Too, too sad. It’s why Julia and our other dog walking friend Mick have taken in stray dogs and why Jan is the Cat Lady of Boğaz.

The kennel….

Being out in the countryside, Penny and her husband have to generate their own electricity.

We waved good-bye to Scruffy and went off for lunch in a seaside resort.

Robin had suggested that Randal and I go with them to Kaplica because the restaurant near the kennel served large fresh voppa, sardines, and I’d mentioned wanting to try some since I’d loved the ones I’d eaten in Izmir, Turkey. But, alas, they were not available that day…so I had sea bass instead. It was quite good and the meze that came with the meal and the toasted bread were all very good and filling. The owner of the restaurant came to our table and said, “Nasılsınız?” (How are you?) I knew 3 different responses, muddled them all up in my head, said part of one and then told him I couldn’t remember what came next! He laughed and shook my hand because he knew we weren’t Turkish speakers and at least I’d tried. I now know what to say….though it depends who is asking, how well they know you, and how many of us there are and ….it gets tricky.

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Day 6 of Hanukkah and Christmas Day

Early morning storms gave us a beautiful rainbow.

Randal and I took a pass on both the Marina’s and Deks’ big Christmas meals (Deks was actually all booked up when we’d begin to think about it,) and had a quiet day on the boat. I made some really good banana bread in the morning and took myself for a lovely walk in the afternoon. The internet was working and so, amazingly was our TV. My sister, nephew and I had a nice Skype video visit.

Sundays and Wednesdays are hunting days so I stay out of the fields and keep to the paved road into Sipahi. I thought I’d walk up to the Greek Church and see if it was open for Christmas. It wasn’t but I had a lovely walk.

These chickens seemed to be unsure where they wanted to go and were running about in a dither watched by the black cat on the table.

Then “my shepherd and flock” came by again! I love watching this man with his sheep.

This sheep had come for a reassuring pat. I wanted to pat it too.

This photo was the next day when Randal and I were walking; same shepherd (not in the photo) and sheep.

I had made myself learn how to say, güzel koyun (beautiful sheep) and to ask if any were goats because sometime it’s hard to tell. He told me, “keçi yok.” (No goats.) I told him görüşürüz (see you again.) He smiled and said, “Bye Bye.”

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Monday Market

Monday is market day and thankfully, so far, the weather has cooperated and been sunny.

Randal was buying some elmalar (apples) so he can make a pie.

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Not all play and no work…..always something.

110 outlets on the port side of the saloon aren’t working.

Randal had to take down the TV and box and mess with the plugs to see what was what.

The port side 110 outlets still aren’t working but now the TV which is plugged into 110 outlets not on that wall, is working…so maybe it wasn’t the satellite or maybe complaining in Girne did something. Who knows? But with TV to watch, I didn’t do my Turkish homework….just like when I was a kid.

  Earlier this evening we had wind gusts of 40knots and the wind now is still strong enough to rock the boat making it a bit hard to type.  This morning, I had managed to get in a walk up to Sipahi before the rain; but the laundry, several pairs of jeans, is still drying in the saloon.  I knew the weather probably wouldn’t cooperate, but we were going off on another adventure with Robin and Julia (Rob and Jules) so hanging our jeans in the saloon wouldn’t be in our way.  And we each needed some clean jeans so there was no second choice.  I can use the marina dryer in a pinch, but the saloon works ok for small amounts of laundry.  Our adventure today was to take Scruffy off to the kennel where she will stay while R and J go to a Famagusta hotel for Christmas and New Year.  The kennel is about an hour away and then we went to a restaurant on the coast for lunch.  We all missed Scruffy but she’ll be fine.  Earlier in the week we’d gone to Girne with J and R and here is the story.

Ru

Girne with Julia and Robin: Line Dancing, Harbor Master, Dome Hotel, Digiturk

Our friend Julia is a member of a line dancing group that meets at a golf resort not far from the city of Girne. Robin suggested that Randal and I come along and he would take us to Girne after dropping Julia at the resort and then he and Julia would come to Girne and we’d all have a late lunch. That was perfect as Randal and I had to go to Girne to hopefully, finally clear up the problem of our motorbike’s exit from Turkey. Our agent in Turkey had failed to do the paperwork to check the motorbike out when we’d left and now Turkish customs needed to make sure we hadn’t left the bike in Turkey. When we’d checked in at Girne last August, Randal had asked if we needed to complete any paperwork regarding the motorbike. We had been told, “No.” Maybe that wasn’t the correct answer….but the agent in Girne is working with Efe, one of the Karpaz Gate Marina managers and our agent Soner in Turkey to get it straightened out. Randal’s passport is stamped with the motorbike’s entry into Turkey and must have proof of the motorbike’s exit if he is to travel into Turkey with his passport! It took 2 visits to the Girne harbor and we still have more paperwork to do, but hopefully it will be resolved with email and fax rather than a very long motorbike trip to the Turkish embassy in Nicosia.

Robin and Julia picked us up at the marina at 9:15 and off we went. Our first stop of the day was at the Korineum Golf and Country Club in Esentepe. http://www.korineumgolf.com/

The main building where the dance group meets and where Robin, Randal and I had a coffee.

No sheep and goats here!

The Korineum is lovely, but I prefer the sheep and goats of Karpaz. Our friend Carol needs to come here to play golf.

While we sat and drank coffee, Julia got her exercise! I went down to watch and it was great fun. Maybe one day I’ll go and try it too. The Texas Two Step in North Cyprus!

The man in plaid is the caller and the woman in blue is Jan, the “Boğaz cat lady.”

Julia and Jan having a pre-workout chat.

Welcome flags in the parking lots indicate North Cyprus isn’t a huge destination spot for Americans.

Then it was on to Girne.

http://www.hoteldome.com/www/tr/anasayfa.asp

I read an MC Beaton Agatha Raisin murder mystery set in Kyrenia/Girne and the Dome was part of the setting. Now I’m reading Genocide Files by Harry Scott Gibbons who I later found out is married to Beaton. He mentions the Dome also. Robin suggested that we all meet there so we did and had coffee.

Julia and I ordered hot chocolate but the expression on the young waiter’s face should have warned us that maybe it wasn’t such a great idea. Luke warm milk flavored with chocolate was a better description. Earlier in the afternoon Randal and I had stopped for a drink. I was amazed and impressed that I could read the sign Taze Elma Cayi (with dots and underscores not on my keyboard,) and knew it said, Fresh Apple Tea.

Dressed for Christmas and New Year

One of the dining rooms.

………..Then it was back to the car to visit the Digiturk office and to return to the Girne harbor agent’s office.

Geereesh and Chuhkuhsh I think that’s how they are pronounced.

Robin needed to make a stop at an ATM and while he was doing that……

So, for some reason the man driving this car drove into this ditch..

Lots of guys came to help, including Randal. But instead of everyone pushing they made several of the men, including Randal; get into the back seat to add weight for traction. It didn’t work. So everyone got out, the big stone was put just behind the front tire and all the men pushed and managed to get the car out. AAA not needed!

Our next stop was the Digiturk office to see if we could get that office to help with our TV problem. When the Digiturk box was first installed it worked and I watched an old Gilmore Girls episode and an old In Treatment. Once Upon a Time is shown here too; and House and lots of good stuff that Randal doesn’t like, but I do. He likes National Geographic and History. We paid for a year’s service (they are afraid we’ll run off with their box because we live on a boat…) but it only worked for a week. The Famagusta repair man said it was because the boat moved and the satellite signal gets lost, but that can’t be true because it worked the first week and we do get 2 Turkish stations loud and clear. And if the boat moves, the program should come and go, but it doesn’t come at all. We hoped the Girne office would be more sympathetic. The English speaking woman rep called the main office and they knew about the Johnson’s TV problems along with other problems in Karpaz where we live. So sometime after the new year they will give us a new satellite dish to replace the one we brought from Malaysia. They just weren’t sure exactly when after the new year! We only hope they come at all and that it will work. Not sure what we will try next if it doesn’t.

From there we went back to the harbor to see the agent who hadn’t been there earlier. Our marina office had told us any time after 11:30 but we should have been told any time after 1 pm. We got there about 3:30pm, the agent was very helpful, and we left about 4 ish so our lunch with Robin and Julia became dinner instead. We went to a place called Peanuts near the harbour and I had a wonderful salad with salmon. Randal had a burger and fries. Julia had pasta with veggies and Robin chicken shis.

Girne harbor where we originally checked into North Cyprus and where we returned to deal with the motorbike.

On the way home we stopped at a grocery store for odds and ends and then drove home in the early evening dark. It had been a long but very nice day!

Thanks Robin and Julia!

It’s Thursday and the weather cooperated so we could do our weekly Deks walk with Denise.  It was uphill the whole way, but the view at the top was worth it.  This afternoon/evening was a lovely party on Surrey Rose owned by David and Jill who put on a feast for all of the cruisers here in the marina.  Tomorrow we’re off on another Julia/Robin adventure to take their dog Scruffy off for a stay at the kennel while Julia and Robin go off for a long Christmas weekend.  Robin knows a restaurant near the kennel where I can get sardines like I had in Izmir.  We’ll see. 

This email is a mish mash of photos from different adventures.

Ru

Variety Pack…a little bit of this and that from the past week of so

These are some photos I want to share from the past week or so.

Food photos

Fish and chips at Deks.

Friday night is fish and chips night at Deks. Last Friday after our visits to Philon and Aphendrika we joined Julia and Robin and what seemed like half the British population of Karpaz for a fish and chips dinner. We were asked if we wanted hard peas or mushy peas…or something along those lines meaning “do you want your peas still round or mashed up”…I think. It felt as if we were in Jolly Old England listening to everyone talk.

I had my peas “unmashed” but next time will ask for the mushy ones just to see what that really turns out to be. Everyone at our table ate “hard” peas or skipped them altogether.

Deks, “Where everyone knows your name!”

Sunday, after our walk to the nearby light house, we tried a Yenierenkoy restaurant recommended by Julia and Robin for pide. We’d eaten pide in Turkey, except Randal couldn’t remember what it was. It’s basically seems like a cross between pizza dough and bread dough topped with cheese or meat or whatever. My Turkish/English dictionary translates pide as “fat bread,” probably because it is stuffed.

"Mixed Pide"

It was pretty good, though next time I’ll skip the pink baloney like meat and just get cheese and veggies. Randal ate some but concentrated on the bread and hummus that we also ordered.

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During our Famagusta trip on Monday we stopped at a wonderful bakery for some bread and sight- seeing. There were lots of interesting theme cakes. There were car cakes and Elvis cakes, but I though these two said a lot about where Turkish interests lay…

A laptop cake

Looks like the score is 0 to O.

Actually the cakes remind me of Hope Cemetery near Montpelier, VT where the headstones are carved to look similar to these cakes!

“Located on a small hillside in Barre, VT, the "Granite Capital of the World", the Hope Cemetery stands as a magnificent tribute to the stone cutters and artisans peacefully interred amongst their very own creations. Entering the front gate, you will pass by two granite sentries, forever watchful over their abode. From the moment you arrive you’ll notice this is no typical resting place for loved ones gone by. It is truly a gallery of splendid artwork in the most unusual of settings.” http://www.vermonter.com/hopecemetery.asp

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Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats…

Well, maybe not that many, but lots of cats in Boğaz Harbor. One of Julia’s line dancing buddies raises money for food and health care for the cats. Jan is a psychiatric nurse by training, but a cat lover by nature. On weekends she has a booth in Boğaz harbor and sells whatever people have donated, the money all being used for the cats. Randal and I donated some too-small clothes and a few other things. Julia had knitted a lovely toddler sized yellow sweater, pants, and hat to be sold most likely for less than the cost of the yarn! We stopped in Boğaz on our way to Famagusta to see the harbor and visit with some of the cats.

Julia and the cats

Julia and Robin have one rescued dog, Scruffy and one rescued old cat.

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Finding wool in North Cyprus

You would think that North Cyprus shops would, with all of the sheep raised here, sell yarn made from wool. All of the shops in Yenierenkoy sell acrylic. In Famagusta I found a shop selling a mix or mohair and acrylic so bought some…just in case. Maybe I’ll knit a vest. Here are the yarn ladies who gamely tried to explain about their yarn to me with my very limited Turkish.

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Closer to home, back in Sipahi, on one of our walks we passed the Greek church that is sometimes used for Sunday services.

You can see the rope going from the bell tower to the door, making one tempted to pull it just to hear the bells. But I didn’t do it.

We also passed a “just born” baby lamb.

We were told that when the grass is available this time of year, more lambs are born. It certainly seems that way. I didn’t want to get closer and disturb the mom, or the woman who lived at the farm and was a bit suspicious of me taking photos.

We saw a parade of UN trucks driving through Sipahi one day on their way to deliver supplies to the Greek Cypriots who still live in the north. The Greeks have “refugee” status so are entitled to supplies from the UN.

Interesting remains I saw on a wall through the hills of Sipahi

I can see how people could become interested in archeology because seeing old bones and pieces of things lying about. It makes me want to know more.

I have more photos from Famagusta, Salamis, and Julia’s line dancing in Girne. Maybe I’ll catch up over the weekend.

Hi Everyone and Happy Holidays whatever you celebrate.  Here in North Cyprus the Brits and other Europeans celebrate Christmas, the North Cypriots celebrate Bayram, and everyone celebrates New Years.  There is a Jewish community in south Cyprus so they will be celebrating Hanukkah.  And just in time for all of that the marina wifi is being terrible making it difficult to email family back home.  We do have a dongal, so if the marina wifi won’t work I should be able to email using our Turkcell dongal.

Ru

Our new friends Robin and Julia have included us on several adventures in the past week.  We visited Famagusta Monday and Girne yesterday.  Today we all did the Deks Thursday walk.  Tomorrow we’re riding with them to the small town where they will board Scruffy while they spend Christmas and New Years at a Famagusta hotel.  Robin knows a place where they serve the same wonderful grilled sardines like I had in Izmir.  In about an hour Randal and I are off to a cruisers holiday party just across and down the dock from us.  Surrey Rose is providing all the food and drink.  After our uphill walk this morning, to some wonderful views! Randal and I can indulge a bit this afternoon. 

This email is the completion of the one I started what seems ages ago about our coast walk to Oasis and Philon Church.

Oasis at Philon and Aphendrika

Time for a coffee at Oasis, a restaurant and beach resort.

Robin, Denise (in black,) Sue, John and Randal

Denise had been orange picking the day before and brought some for us to share with our coffee.

After the coffee, Denise, Michael and his dog Didi got into the van driven by Sue’s partner John and they headed back to Deks. But Robin and Julia offered to continue down the track to the ruins of Aphendrika so we piled into the car and off we went. Julia and I sat in the back seat with her dog Scruffy and I got my pet fix for the week.

Aphendrika

http://www.whatson-northcyprus.com/interest/dipkarpaz/aphendrika.htm

“In the second century BC, Aphendrika was one of the six most important cities in Cyprus…… Like a lot of sites in North Cyprus, much has still to be excavated, and virtually all that remains are the three churches you can see on your approach. To your left is Agios Georgios. Beyond there is Panagia Chrysiotissa, while over to your right you will see Panagia Asomatos.

Panagia Chrysiotissa

Agios Georgios is a late Byzantine church, having been built at the tail end of the 10th century.

It was single aisled with a double apse at the eastern end and niches on either side. West of the apse, you can see the remains of four piers which had arches joining them. These in turn supported a dome on top of a rounded drum, most of which has collapsed. Most of the western end of the church has long gone.

Agios Asomatos Basilica

Close to Agios Georgios is the church of Panagia Chrysiotissa, being built some four hundred years earlier than its neighbour, in the 6th century. After Arab raids, its original wooden roof was replaced by barrel vaulting in the 10th century. Further destruction meant another rebuild in the 16th century. This time the church was much smaller, but enough remains of the ruins for you to get a feel for the size and design of the original.

Over to the right is the church of Panagia Asomatos, loosely translated as "Blessed Virgin Mary, the Devine". It is similar in design to the original Panagia Chrysiotissa, and is the best preserved of the three churches. This was also built in the 6th century as a three aisled basilica. Like its neighbour, it had a wooden roof, again replaced with barrel vaulting in the 10th century. On its southern side, the apsidal passages and barrel vaulting remain.”

Panagia Chrysiotissa

Robin Randal and Julia

Agios Georgios

We got back into the car and headed down the track back to Deks only to be stopped by flocks of sheep coming our way.

One last look!

It’s the strangest sight to see these flocks of sheep just walking down the road seemingly unattended by shepherd or sheepdog (I have been assured that there was a shepherd, I just didn’t see him.) They don’t have the curly wool one thinks of for sheep, but what looks like long hair. Researching North Cyprus sheep is pretty interesting. First I found mention of the ancient and feral Mouflon sheep, but the pictures didn’t look like the sheep we see. Then I found a great article about Awassi sheep and it led me to another article which mentioned the Cyprus fat tailed Chios and again the Awassi sheep. The pictures of the Awassi look like what we see.

The main breeds involved were the Cyprus fat-tailed, Chios and Awassi.

http://bit.ly/rBH4uU

http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/p8550e/P8550E01.htm

Wool.

The Awassi has long wool with an open, lofty and moderately lustrous fleece of carpet wool with distinct, wide crimps. The fleece con­sists of an outer coat, an undercoat and kemp. It has the principal req­uisites of carpet wool, namely coarse­ness and resilience, qualities that make carpet wool resistant to matting down and to wear under the constant scuff­ing of passing feet. An ideal carpet wool should have a fibre diameter of 30 μ, a fibre length of 10 cm with a 20 percent variation in length, and 4 percent by weight of kempy fibres. Awassi wool complies with these re­quirements as regards fibre thickness and length, but the fibre length has a greater variation and kemp contents are somewhat greater.

http://www.fao.org/docrep/011/aj003e/AJ003E04.htm

The Cyprus fat-tailed sheep (see appendix Figs A-l and A-2) present a special problem with regard to their relation to the Awassi group. They are undoubtedly allied to the Awassi of the mainland, which they resemble in many physical and physiological respects. Maule (1937) writes that the ‘Palestinian breed… is probably the one nearly akin to the Cyprus sheep’, while Mason (1967), grouping the Cyprus with the Awassi, notes that the Cyprus breed ‘is similar to the breeds of the neighbouring mainland and resembles the Awassi of Syria more than the White Karaman of Turkey’. Yet there are also significant differences between the two breeds, which may be due to the long isolation of the Cyprus sheep on their island or the influence of Turkish sheep. Thus, unlike the head of the Awassi with its typical brown coloration, that of the Cyprus sheep is commonly white with black on the nose and around the eyes, more rarely white, black, brown or mottled. The greatest difference is the size, weight and shape of the fat tail. In the Cyprus the tail is much longer, broader and heavier than in the Awassi, its twisted end often reaching to the ground. It is widest in the middle third and then tapers gradually to the tip, making a half-turn to the right or left at the junction of the middle and lower thirds (Mason, 1967). Mason (personal communication, 1979) also notes that ‘it would be confusing to include the Cyprus as a variety of the Awassi since the name Awassi has never been used for them’.

The Awassi sheep with special reference to the improved dairy type

By H. Epstein

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS

Rome, 1985

ps..I don’t know if these really are Awassi sheep…I’m just guessing.

And then there are the wild donkeys…

http://akti.org.cy/portal/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=73&Itemid=47

During the war in Cyprus in 1974, large numbers of domestic donkeys and pigs were allowed to go feral. Most of these were subsequently captured, but feral populations of donkeys and pigs have persisted in the north of the island (e.g., the Karpaz Peninsula). Population estimates are uncertain, and the local Department of environment Protection estimates the number of feral donkeys to be about 300. However, villagers complaining of agricultural damage estimate the population to be in the thousands. Besides these free-ranging populations, the government has been releasing additional donkeys captured and obtained in other parts of the region, in a fenced area on the Karpaz Peninsula. This has raised concerns about the impact of donkeys on native vegetation and wildlife. Although a 22-km2 area of the Karpaz Peninsula was declared to be set aside for conservation purposes, neither organized leadership nor plan was ever set up for the area. Most of this area has been fenced to keep donkeys inside. However, this was not very successful as demonstrated by donkey population found outside of the fenced area. It is not known if there is movement of donkeys across the fence or those outside represent animals that have simply not been captured.

Therefore, the primary goal of this research, undertaken by KAYAD, was to develop abundance estimation techniques and obtain reliable baseline estimates of these populations. (KAYAD is an environmental organization on Cyprus.)

They are definitely cute! But I’m sure they have an environmental impact. We couldn’t get very close and I didn’t want to chase them away trying to get closer. I want one!

We arrived back at Deks about 1 PM. Julia and Robin only wanted a coffee but Randal and I had our usual meze lunch of cheese, yogurt, olives, bread, hummus etc.

Robin looks at our DoraMac boat card while Randal adds Robin’s phone number to his phone. We made plans for a trip to Famagusta the next day. Rob had to go to the dentist (who is Denise’s niece by marriage) and Randal and I were going to find a new computer printer…as ours gave up the ghost while we were in the US.

Julia and Robin are really nice people who are teaching us about North Cyprus and taking us along when they have to go off to Famagusta or Girne or wherever.

Several of our friends take advantage of the holiday season to update their friends and family on the past year’s events. I like them so much I have decided to try it too.

On Nov 28, 2010 we departed Puteri Harbour Marina where we had been since mid August for our leisurely trip up the west side of the Malay Peninsula to Langkawi. We stopped at islands and coastal anchorages along the way each night, primarily because of the danger of traveling along the coast in the dark and not being able to see fish traps and debris in the water. Night passages can be stressful and it usually takes several days to get into the swing of standing two-three hour watches at night. We were in no hurry.

We arrived at Rebak Marina in Langkawi, Malaysia on Dec 7 at 5:40 PM. The next day we started making arrangements to have Dora Mac pulled out of the water so we could do a bottom paint job and get her in the best shape of her life for the long passage to the Mediterranean Sea.

We spent most of December making sure everything was in working order, repairing or replacing what wasn’t, and provisioning for our long journey. Our first stop would be Cochin, India, a distance of 1522 nautical miles and 10.5 days underway.

On the morning of Jan 6, everything was ready. We had said our goodbyes and our friends were on the dock to hand us our lines; it was 10:15 AM. They actually had untied us from the dock and were holding the lines in their hands when an alarm went off in the boat. It was the “LOST HEADING” alarm. The Heading compass is what the autopilot uses to keep the boat going in the right direction.

I restarted the system and the heading came back. We left the dock at 10:35 AM heading for Telaga Marina a few short miles away to load up with fuel. On the way there we lost the heading again. We arrived at the fuel dock in less than an hour and took on 1308 gallons of fuel. With what we already had, I estimated we had a total of 1,919 gallons onboard.

We left the dock and pulled outside the marina and dropped anchor as I needed to solve the lost heading problem. We have two autopilots, one connected to our primary GPS heading compass and the backup autopilot connected to a flux gate compass located in the flybridge above the steel of the boat hull. I connected the flux gate compass to the primary autopilot and away we went on Jan 6^th at 6:30 PM.

We had a long passage ahead of us and quickly set into our routine. I would take the first night watch from 7-10 then Ruth 10-1, then me 1-4, then Ruth again 4-7. I would take the watch again while Ruth prepared breakfast. Each of us would take naps during the day to compensate for our watches.

We experienced some difficulties as the engine died twice and I shut it down twice to change fuel filters. Apparently we had dirty fuel and although I had filtered the fuel many times before leaving Langkawi, I didn’t get it clean enough. I can tell you it is a frightening experience to have the engine shut off so far from land.

We also experienced a rotating storm that had developed east of Sri Lanka causing us to make a 180 degree turn and go back towards Asia for 36 hours. One of our fellow cruisers who had left Langkawi two days ahead of us lost his boat in the storm. He and his two crew members were rescued by a Japanese freighter.

The storm encounter and delay caused us to seek shelter in Sri Lanka which we had not planned to do. We dropped anchor in Galle Harbor, Sri Lanka on Jan 17, 10:15 AM. We had been warned of the corrupt officials; and they were. They took every opportunity to take anything and everything they wanted. Helping themselves to snacks and cigarettes we had brought to trade to fishermen for fish.

We escaped Sri Lanka on Jan 24 at 3:50 PM and I was glad to see it disappear from our stern.

The three day passage to Cochin was even worse than the earlier storm we’d run into. I got sea sick and threw up in the cock pit. Ruth was a true trooper and kept the boat going in the right direction. The problem was not a storm but the NE monsoon wind was getting funneled and intensified between the land masses of India and Sri Lanka. We experienced 25 to 35 knot winds and three meter seas right on our starboard beam. It made for a terrible rolly ride. We were relieved when reaching Cochin to hear some 20 year veteran cruisers say it was the worst passage they had ever made.

I don’t want you to think we were oblivious to the piracy threat before leaving Asia. I had been tracking their activity for three years, up until the 2011 piracy season. Yes, there is a piracy season! It is during the NE monsoon when the wave conditions in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea are settled enough for the pirates to use their skiffs. It is also the best time for cruising yachts to make the passage.

It was thought, up until this year, that staying 60 degrees east and 15 degrees north would keep you out of range of the pirates but this year they changed their tactics. In the past when they took a ship, they would head right for the Somalia coast and start negotiating a multi-million dollar ransom. This year they started using the captured ship as a mothership to expand their range and launch new attacks.

This new MO allowed them to cover routes previously used by yachts to avoid them. There was no safe passage. Three cruising boats in front of us turned around. Most boats behind us were making other arrangements but options were few. One could only turn around and go back to Asia, go around Africa which added 10,000 miles and one year to the journey, or ship their boat to the Med on a freighter. All three options were used by friends of ours; we chose the shipping option.

I give much credit for making that decision to fellow cruisers Bill and Judy Rouse on S/V BeBe. While in Cochin they were tracking each attack and indicating them on a map of the open ocean that made the map look like it had measles. Looking at the map, it was very easy to see that your odds were not good.

The S/V Quest was on the dock beside us in Cochin and apparently thought they could make it. They didn’t. On Feb 18 they were captured by pirates and on Feb 22 all four crew were murdered.

Prior to the Quest tragedy, on Feb 10, we decided to ship Dora Mac from Male, Maldives 400 miles south of Cochin.

We departed Cochin on March 12 at 2:45 PM and arrived in Male on March 15 at 7:50 AM. We remained in Male as the freighter was delayed again and again; the last of the 16 yachts finally loaded on April 14. Ruth and I flew to Istanbul and joined up with fellow cruisers Linda and Michael on S/V B’Sheret. We traveled together through Turkey, finally reuniting with the transport freighter and Dora Mac in Marmaris, Turkey on April 30. Dora Mac was in good shape and the house battery bank had actually topped up as a result of no draw and the solar panels charging for the two weeks.

We spent three months in Marmaris and enjoyed the use of our 110cc Honda motorbike we had bought in Malaysia. We completed a 10 day, 1500 kilometer trip into the lake district, the rose fields of Guneykent, and the whirling dervish center, Konya.

We left Marmaris on July 30 and arrived in Karpaz Gate Marina in N Cyprus on August 1 where the boat has remained. We flew out of Cyprus two weeks later for an extended stay in the US. We normally go home for two months in the fall but this time we stayed three months as there were some chores to attend to regarding the lease of a warehouse we own. I’m happy to say we did get that all sorted out and the tenant has signed a five year extension contract.

Because of our extended stay, we decided it would be cheaper to buy a used car than to rent one. Within 12 hours of our plane landing we had purchased a 1999 Buick with 85,000 miles on it We drove it as far south as Savannah, GA; as far east as Provincetown, MA, and as far north as Charlotte Island, Lake Shabot, Ontario, Canada. We left it with Ruth’s sister to drive and keep it loosened up.

During that trip to New England and Canada, we had a wonderful time seeing everyone. Our friends in Canada, Charmaine and Linda, have bought flight tickets to come join us here in Cyprus in late March and will go with us on the passage to Israel in April.

We arrived back to the boat on Nov 18 and are starting to become acquainted with our fellow cruisers here at the marina. When we left there were about 20 boats here. When we returned there were 70 but only about 40 people as most boats are unoccupied.

We continue to be amazed by the finding of ancient ruins in N Cyprus. At first it seemed to be just s desert waste land but digging deeper, it is obvious that this place has had a long history and has been an important part of the development in the eastern end of the Mediterranean. We are still learning but the Byzantines, Romans, Ottomans, British, and probably many others have held influence here. The UN is here to keep the peace between the Northern Turks and the Southern Greeks as their recent conflict is still fresh in the minds of the living.

It is Dec 17 as I write this and Ruth and I still enjoy this lifestyle. We are making friends among the cruisers and the local British expatriates. We have become regulars at several of the small shops in Yenierenkoy, a nearby small village.

I have an internal conflict as I do not want to give up traveling but have an urge to build another house of our own design. I think about it daily. Ruth keeps reminding me that I’m no spring chicken anymore and old men don’t undertake the task of building new houses too often. I keep telling her I’m only 63.

Having said all that, we’re planning on remaining in the Med for up to five years. We want to spend as much time as we can in Israel, perhaps as much as a year. Because we missed the Red Sea, we want to go through the Suez Canal and winter over in the north end maybe in Egypt. We want to go up to the Black Sea one summer and visit the north coast of Turkey. We also want to go back to Marmaris and maybe spend a year there.

That could all change if someone walked down the dock one day in the next few years with a pocket full of money and a love of steel trawlers or the perfect piece of land became available overlooking Roanoke City with enough space for a garden.

It would be a very sad day for me when we do give up Dora Mac. Tears come to my eyes when I think about it. I even kissed her goodbye when we placed her on the ship and when we left her to visit the US in August.

Well that has been our year. We hope all of you have had a good one and continue to enjoy life as we have.

In Memory of Dora McManaway Johnson March 9, 1910 April 30, 2006.

Randal & Ruth Johnson

www.mydoramac.com