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George Buehler, Steel trawler, Diesel Duck, Long range, RPH trawler, Raised Pilothouse, Trawler, Steel, Lloyds, Ocean Crossing.

Currently in the Med. Recent price reduction of USD 100k.

Diesel Duck Trawler LeeZe in Katapola > Naxos > Paros > Mykonos > Ikaria > Pythagorio > Kusadasi

We have decided to sell our beloved Diesel Duck Trawler LeeZe.  The blog posts on this site are some of our adventures during our time cruising and meant to shed some light on the cruising life.  Enjoy our posts and please contact us for more information on the places we have been or information on our Diesel Duck Trawler for sale LeeZe.  The complete collection of our travel blogs can be found here:  http://whereisleeze.blogspot.com

On 7 August, we are underway to Pythagorio where this time we moored along the wall.
Diesel Duck Trawler LeeZe in Pythagorio
Diesel Duck Trawler LeeZe in Pythagorio
Pythagorio’s daily rate for motor yachts is 36 € /day water and electricity included. We came in late so we paid for an extra day. Pythagorio is an active town with lots of people walking after the sun goes down. Took a day trip to Vathy where we had been last year to shop at Lee’s favorite butcher on the island and Zehra’s favorite fruit and veggie guy.
Our 90 day visa clock runs out on 12 August, so Zehra wants to check out the day before just in case there are problems. So, on 11 August, we trek over to the Passport Police who is so nice and full of useful info that we nearly fall over. He said that Greece allows us to stay as much as 24 hours after your passport is stamped and if one asks nicely to the Port Police, they can extend that one extra day. The we go to the Port Police and tell him we want to depart the next day and he says “then, come back tomorrow.”
So, we are officially out of the country, but LeeZe is not. So, on 12 August, we go to the Port Police who have seem to have lost out arrival paperwork, so we sit they while they recreate it. Then out come the stamps, and with numerous chunks, our  arrival paperwork is stamped and so it our transit log. Then after taking photos of the now completed transit log (just in case) and paying a €5 exit fee (this is new), we walk next store to the Customs Office and she takes the transit log, looks at it for all of 5 seconds, and says goodbye!!
So, we depart for an anchorage at the tip of Samos called Poseidonio. It is a 5 nm run and when we turn into the bay, there we se what we believe is MV Castalio, a 1968 wood yacht that was built in Scotland, and owned by a very good Turkish friend who last we heard was very very sick.
It is Castalio, and our friend with part of his family is on board. We try to anchor near to them, but there was not enough room if the weather went bad, so we went and anchored just a little further away. Now, at this time, the anchor windlass was acting “funny” but it functioned and I did not give it another thought. Our friend came by and invited us over later when they return from their shore side trip. We catch up then, and learn that he is about 60% better after falling some 5-6 meters off of a scaffold onto the concrete while doing some repairs to Castalio. He suffered significant neck injuries that took weeks to diagnose. As he is not a spring chicken, the healing process is quite slow and he is still on the mend. But we are so happy that is better that we are both overjoyed.
He invited us ashore for dinner, but as we were officially out of Greece, we did not want to poke at the immigration Gods by going ashore. So we decline.  It is now 13 August and our PLAN was depart the anchorage and go to Teos, north of Kusadasi. Up at 0800 and notice that Castalio is gone. We kind of expected that as the owner is an early riser. We decided to go to Kusadasi, instead of Teos, and see some of our friends.

Diesel Duck Trawler LeeZe in Kusadasi
We are off to the Kusadasi Marina some 15-16 nm later, we are at marina.
We met some of our old friends from 2015,  told them about the adventures of our summer.  Cahit from the boat Castelio invited us out one night. We went to our favorite restaurant “Ketchup” and had a great meal. Marina staff tried to convince us to stay there for the winter, but we already made our minds to go to Izmir.

That is all for now folks!
If you have any questions, please ask.
Lee and Zehra
MV LeeZe
You can find older blog posts here:  http://whereisleeze.blogspot.com

George Buehler Trawler in Kos > Katapola

We have decided to sell our beloved George Buehler Trawler, LeeZe.  The blog posts on this site are some of our adventures during our time cruising and meant to shed some light on the cruising life.  Enjoy our posts and please contact us for more information on the places we have been or information on our George Buehler Trawler for sale, LeeZe.  The complete collection of our travel blogs can be found here:  http://whereisleeze.blogspot.com

We spent some time in Kos, move around to three different mooring spots, washed LeeZe just before our third berth shift and loaded water (as it was free, just for the cost a new 50 meter water hose).

There had been a rain storm, and it came from the south. That means work, and lots of it. For rain from the south means that air mass has been over the Sahara and contains much sand, which comes down with the rain, sticks and does not wash away. So, I wait until I am almost ready to depart to wash LeeZe with soap and water, bow to stern, boat deck to aft deck. One can see the sand rinse away. I have to use my onboard water pump because while shore water is free, the pressure is not enough to even wash one’s face.

This also means that I have to load water, and with such a low pressure, and going thru filters before the tank to make sure the water is debris-free and chemically as soft as possible, the load takes over 22 hours. But I plan for this and this load does not inconvenience me at all.

So, we do the berth shift two days before our planed departure. We moor at the only spot at this marina where there is a 63 amp/308 VAC outlet and can people watch. I like to people watch from the aft deck, on the cushion, sipping a glass of wine.

But, the engine idling rough and dies maybe 5 or 6 times during the mooring. Ugh. But we do get in safely without crashing the wall. That is good!

As water here is €6.49 per ton, we only take electricity at €0.29/kw, and some €20 later, and after 2 equalizing battery charges, the battery is “back to normal.”

As for the engine, I am perplexed. I drain each fuel filter of water (there is none), inspect the water-separators and find them clean, tighten the throttle linkage and while those efforts made a difference, now the engine “hunts” at idle, and remains steady and strong at power.

Our plan is to go to Katapola. But as we tell people, we are retired and have no place to go in a hurry. So, I plan to stop at two anchorages along the way to make each leg about 6 hours long.George Buehler Trawler in Kos > Katapola

Our first stop is Vlychada.

George Buehler Trawler > Monastery of St Cyprian

George Buehler Trawler in Viychadia - Anchored 2017

There is a little town at the north end of the harbor but as we are only staying the night, we elect to keep the tender on the boat deck. (A new practice implemented the middle of the last cruising season continues with this one. If we plan to cross open water, no matter what the darn GRIB weather forecast predicts, we are securing the tender in its cradle on the boat deck. We no long want to worry about losing it when we run into foul seas.)

The next morning, we are off to Levitha, again to anchor one night.

George Buehler Trawler > Levitha

Our cruising guide states there is a mooring field in “E Cove” and it is right. There are about 24 mooring balls. None seem to be big enough for us to use so I anchor to the west of the field. By the time 1800 comes, there maybe be ONE ball not taken. After 1800, a person from the restaurant comes around to collect a fee for the use of the ball. The guide also says the the house over the ridge runs a small restaurant where the fish is fresh from that day, and the wine local. We inquire if they will run a “taxi” service” and was told no as they are short handed this night. So, we eat aboard, watch a movie, and plan to be underway at around 0800 the next morning.

Today is 7 June and this is the longest leg of this part of the adventure. Up anchor, and make the run to Katapola, arriving around 1400. Here we are mooring, but have NO info on who to call and who to speak to. This is somewhat maddening as one cannot arrange in advance to have help handling lines.

We arrived in the harbor and look around.

George Buehler Trawler > Katapola

There are two distinct groups of boats moored to the wall with a huge gap in between. There is a person on the SW side waving his hands and so we have found our place.

After studying how the gulets moor, we decide to try their way. Even after 6 years, we are trying new things and learning. We place our mooring ropes in such a way that they hang off the 3 meter passerelle. Zehra has a 10mm “Spectra” line in her hands that she can easily throw to moor us to the wall. The plan is to get that line over, settle in, and then with me on the aft deck with the anchor control, complete the mooring. That’s the plan and well, on this adventure, plans tend to fall to shit two minutes into them.

So, I drop the anchor about 90 meters from the wall, came back relatively straight this time (LeeZe backs to port) pause at about 50 meters out to verify the anchor is holding, (which USUALLY causes the line handler at the wall to start to yell because he has no clue why I am stopping, which depending on his antics, causes Zehra to get agitated as she knows what is happening and is unable to calm him down which………), verify that we are holding, and resume my backward approach.

When we are close, Zehra tosses her line, the guy on the wall takes it to the bollard, and we are in. Zehra stops all work and tells the guy to wait. Typically, LeeZe will lurch forward after one throws the line as she tries to find the equilibrium point between 90 meters of chain out and a line ashore. If the line ashore holds, and it has yet to not to, engines are now in neutral and will stay that way. Using the anchor control, I let out chain and slowly bring LeeZe back by hand. I then direct how I want our mooring lines placed and doubled up, and 15 minutes later, we are done. Zehra remarks that this was the easiest mooring in such a long time that she could remember.

So, the plan did not fall to shit like it normally does, and came together, like it normally does not!

Akmed, the Egyptian running the wall, tells us that water and electricity is €15/day, mooring fees are extra, and check-in is right behind him. Zehra goes and completes check-in with the Port Authority, and I decide that we will use our battery and water tanks while here. I will load water and charge the battery bank one day before scheduled departure.

That evening, a guy comes by from the municipality office and seeing how we are staying longer than two days, asks us to pay for two days, then call him before we leave. Two days is about € 17.50.

Katapola is a small town. The big and bigger ferries come into town and moor to a pier to the west of the town, and in some cases, cause a surge around the bay that is pretty strong.

That gap I mentioned? Well, sometime between 1800 and 2000, a not-so-small ferry comes in, drops some 300 + meters of chain across everyone’s anchor who is moored to the SW, and sterns too a loading ramp that I had failed to see until it used it.

There is a plus and minus to his arrival.

The plus is that no one will moor to the SW wall while the ferry is in as the ferry is guaranteed to lift our puny-to-it chain upon departure the next morning at 0600.

The minus? No one on the SW wall can leave until the ferry does.

Now that is out of the way, we clean up and for the next few days, plan to see the island.

Here is a city map (with a legend to the left that is not in the frame),

George Buehler Trawler > Katapola

And a local bus schedule.

Bus Schedule

By happenstance, we are moored next to a sail boat whose home port is also Florida, SV Believe. I knew the boat was a “real American” because they were flying a decent size flag. If the boat is from Delaware, the flag is BARELY the size of a napkin.

George Buehler Trawler moored beside SV Believe

They are leaving the next day so do not have much time to chat. They had been sailing away from the US for 14+ years, having been North of the Arctic Circle, been to Russia, and nearly all the places to go on the North Atlantic seaboard. SV Believe stays on the hard for 6 months and they use it 6 months. Wish we had more time to talk.

In Katapola, we use the bus system to get around, and spend some time in the mountain village called Chora. This island makes and sells it own cheeses, and some of them are quite good. Zehra buys what she likes and we will eat it all up! We met two Aussie ladies at Chora and come to learn that they are departing on the next morning’s ferry. Since they are staying at a place near to us, we invite them to seek the us out after dinner.

I choose to walk from Chora back to LeeZe, and the path, while well marked and easy to follow, it is only 7 km long but boring as the predominate color is earth brown. Other hikers told us it was quite a beautiful but I guess I missed taking THAT path.

The Aussies did come by after dinner and we shared a bottle of wine, talked and talked for 3+ hours. Nice people!

Anyway, 8 days after arrival, after paying our mooring bill, completing two more equalizers, and arguing with Akmet about how much water I actually did use, and having to get the Port Authority to resolve it (in my favor), we depart for a day run to Naxos.

That is all for now folks!

If you have any questions, please ask.
Lee and Zehra
MV LeeZe

 

You can find older blogs here::
http://whereisleeze.blogspot.com