April 11th: Sea Star Summer 2012
Hi Everyone,
It's time again to return to Sea Star for our sixth summer cruising in the Mediterranean. I leave April 30th with an overnight stop in Istanbul before going to Bodrum where Sea Star has spent the winter. After some boat maintenance I will pick up John Strickland in Iassus and we will cruise down the Turkish coast to Gocek. Cindy, my daughter Megan and her friend Barbara (they were also with me in France 2009) will join me in Gocek. Megan and Barbara will be with us from Gocek to Rhodes, Greece followed by John(3rd summer) and Laura(2nd summer) Proctor, (Rhodes to Santorini). Tony(3rd summer) and Rhonda(2nd summer) sail from Santorini to Olympic Marina near Athens. Nick returns for his 6th summer meeting us in Athens and cruising through the islands where the movie Mamma Mia was filmed. Our final crew will be Claire, 3rd summer, who will sail with us back through the Corinth Canal meeting her husband Bret in Zakynthos then up the Ionian Islands to Corfu. I will leave the boat in Preveza, Greece for the winter and return to Sarasota August 17th.
If you are no longer interested in receiving these e-mails please let me know and I will remove your name from the list.
Hope you have a good summer. Next e-mail will be from Bodrum.
May 29th: Sea Star Update 2
Hi Everyone,
John Strickland joined me on Sea Star May 20th at Iassus. We toured the museum and walked through the old ruins. Atop the hill is the wall of a fort built by the Knights of St John. Iassus dates back to 500 BC and is a small fishing village now. The next day we headed south to Gumusluk. A strong wind kept us there a day longer than planned but gave John the opportunity to go to the local Barber Shop which overlooks the harbor. He got a haircut, shave, and massage for 18 Turkish Lira or $9.87.
Next stop the ruins at Knidos, I stopped here last year with Claire. From Knidos we deviated from our planned itinerary and sailed to Simi, Greece. Technicaly you are not suppose to do that as when you leave Turkey you are suppose to turn in your Cruising Permit. A British sailor I met said he went back and forth all the time with no problems so off we went to Greece a short 20 NM away. Simi is beautiful and was once famous for shipbuilding and sponge-diving. The town shops still offer a huge assortment of sponges that I suspect come from Tarpon Springs!
While we were there the super-yacht Ocean Pearl moored a few boats down from us. Here is a link just in case you may want to do a charter in the Med next summer: http://www.superyachts.com/yacht-charter/ocean-pearl-883/
The cost is only €115,000 - €130,000 per week. ($146,000 t0 $165,000)
After Simi we sailed over to Rhodes, site of one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world, the Colossus of Rhodes which reportedly straddled the entrance to the harbor.
Next day we crossed back to Turkey and were immediately arrested for not turning in our Cruising Permit, just kidding, we stopped at a place called My Marina and took a boat up the Dalyan river site of ancient Canous and some spectacular Lyciean Rock Tombs that date back to the 4th century BC.
Last night we picked up a mooring ball in Deep Bay (140ft deep) not far from Goeck, a beautiful area and this morning we came over to Fethiye. Tomorrow we will go to Goeck. John and I will leave the boat there and fly to Capadocia for 3 days before John returns to Istanbul for a few days of sightseeing and I return to Goeck to wait for Cindy, Megan and Barbra to arrive.
Iassus Slideshow: http://larsonweb.net/Iassus/
Iassus Slideshow for iPhone and iPad: http://larsonweb.net/IassusMob/
Khidos to Dalyan River Slideshow: http://larsonweb.net/KnidostoDalyan/
Knidos to Daylan River for iPhone and iPad: http://larsonweb.net/KnidostoDalyanMob/June 15th: Earthquake Hits Turkey
Well, I guess even if you do not read these updates that subject line may have caught your attention. Yes, we experienced a 6.1 earthquake while food shopping in Gocek. Cindy sent out an e-mail earlier describing the event which you can read at the end of this message. (I reserve the right to give my version at a later date).
Cindy and Megan arrived in Istanbul after 22 hours and 1 car, 2 airplanes, 4 taxis, 1 bus and a ferry ride to get to our hotel, arriving 3 hours after Barbara and I expected them.
The slideshow captures our adventure from Istanbul to Bozburun, Turkey.
Turkey with Megan, Barbara & Cindy for PC and Mac: http://larsonweb.net/MegTurkey/
Turkey with Megan, Barbara & Cindy for iPhone & iPad: http://larsonweb.net/MegTurkeyMob/
We are now in Symi, Greece on our way to Rhodes Saturday.
Paul, Cindy, Barbara and Megan
Hey you guys,
I guess you saw the news about the earthquake in Turkey yesterday. We had arrived in Gocek about midday, ate lunch and the girls (Megan, Barbara and I) went shopping (excellent! BTW) for about 90 minutes. We went back to the boat and Paul had made a grocery list and after grocery shopping we were going to leave for an anchorage for the evening about 5 miles away. Paul, Megan and Barbara were getting chicken and I was a few aisles over at the deli counter for cheese. OMG, without any warning....the building started shaking violently, the floor felt like rubber and the electricity was going off and on. We all just froze!! It finally dawned on us it was an earthquake! Bottles, jars, boxes.....stuff was falling off the shelves all around us. Paul, Megan and Barbara were in the aisle that had the wine and bottles were falling and breaking. They saw a salesgirl run for a doorway to a stairwell that led to a cellar and followed her covering their heads. I went to find them and saw them (only the backs of them!!) going for the doorway and joined them there. (Paul took some ribbing because he did not call my name hysterically or run in my direction! Remember, I saw the BACKS of the three!!! Barbara did hold open the door for me! The 6.1 tremor lasted for 30 seconds but felt much much longer than that. When it stopped we left quickly through the front entrance. The damage in that 30 seconds was shocking. All the aisles except the last were impassable. Broken bottles....liquid....food items were piled in the aisles after being shaken from the shelves. Outside the store we joined all the other tourists and townspeople. Sirens were blaring. Clearly, everyone was in shock. A gentleman from the store said that it was the worst earthquake for them. Amazingly, the electricity was on and Paul went in, I guess not too concerned with aftershocks and retrieved our grocery cart and we were able to check out. Megan and I stayed outside the store for a bit while Paul and Barbara were at the checkout. We could see them! Only later as we were putting groceries away on the boat did we realize that we bought THREE boxes of cereal. When we questioned WHO felt they needed that much cereal....we figured out that the 3 boxes had fallen from the shelves into our cart during the earthquake and Barbara reported back that she just was emptying the cart and wasn't paying attention to what we were buying. Earthquakes can do funny things to your brain!! Needless to say, Sea Star guests will eat Fruchte Musli this summer!! With wobbly legs we left Gocek and motored to Deep Bay, took the dinghy to Tomb Bay and climbed up to see a Lycian Rock Tomb. Then Paul, Megan and Barbara played on a rope swing to cool off. The water was 81 degrees. Had a good dinner at our anchorage. WHAT A DAY!! We are now at My Marina and plan to go up the Daylan River to see ancient Canous ruins and the Lycian Rock Tombs tomorrow. Cindy
June 5: Cappadocia
Just got back to the boat Sunday after John and I spent three days in Cappadocia. What an amazing place. You can find out more about Cappadocia at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cappadocia. We took a balloon ride the day after we arrived. There were over 70 balloons in the air with each basket carrying up to 24 passengers. Several of the smaller balloons hold fewer passengers. The morning was overcast but the sun peaked through a few times. Later that day I took a tour of the area. As you can see in the slideshow it has breathtaking scenery. The next day John and I did a different tour and visited an underground city. It went down over 100 feet and had five levels below ground. More info at: http://www.goreme.com/kaymakli-underground-city.php
Then next few days I am busy with more boat projects before flying to meet Cindy, Megan and Barbara in Istanbul. We return to Sea Star on June 10th and will head west along the Turkish coast before crossing over to the Greek islands. Next update from Greece.
Slideshow for Mac and PC's: http://larsonweb.net/Cappadocia/
Slideshow for iPhone & iPad: http://larsonweb.net/CappadociaMob/
If you haven't looked at the panos I have upload to Pano 360 check them out: http://occipital.com/user/dc41-309498/paul-larson
Paul
