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 LeeZe Trawler in Turgutreis> Bodrum> Kos
We have decided to sell our beloved George Buehler Trawler Diesel Duck 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
It has taken a while to get this going as I have been quite busy.
Over the winter, we stayed in Turgutreis, near to Bodrum. It is a large, very impersonal marina that I could not recommend to anyone. Out of all the marinas that we have stayed in on both sides of the Aegean, this one will stick in our minds as one of the worst, if not the worst.
Over the winter, the required maintenance was accomplished in a timely, but not rushed scheduled. I changed out our mooring lines yet again for 12 strand ropes, and they seem to be doing MUCH better than the braid I used the last two years. It is really difficult to “give away” used rope, because one always thinks that one can find a use for it after its expiration date for the given function has passed. But I did bite the bullet and gave away my FIRST set of ropes to the Bodrum City marina staff who were quite appreciative, but not so much as to offer us a place to stay in downtown Bodrum for a week.
So, on May 1, we departed our marina for a quick run to Akarlar, an anchorage just around the corner between Turgutreis and Bodrum. We anchored there for one night and then made our way to the outer harbor of Bodrum. Zehra wanted to anchor in front of the famed nightclub Halikarnas, which we came to learn later has closed after 38 years.
While on the transit over, the engine died about 2 hours into the run. I get it started using the emergency fuel pump and anchored. I found the two vent valves on the water separators open and these are quite small, so it took a while for them to lose their vacuum.
We were there a long time, and there was one day/night/day when I had Zehra stay ashore at a hotel because the winds and waves were predicted to be high and large. LeeZe was at anchor in about 8 meters of water with about 70 meters of chain out, snubbed with a 22mm 12 strand snubber line and backed up with two addition snubber lines. Wind gusts got about 60 knots and easily there was 1.5 to two meter waves in the outer harbor.
The harbor is a semicircle, more or less, so the wind was not blowing from the same direction all the time, but changed direction due to the topography. The waves more of less came from the same direction for hours on end, within +- 40 degrees, but the gusts would change direction quite quickly, and LeeZe rolled 10-12 degrees while she worked her way around. I told Zehra later that LeeZe was doing some very funky dance moves!
I was surprised that only one boat lost its mooring and ran aground hard in the corner by the castle. I saw it being moved later to somewhere with a floating collar around it with the boat half submerged.
LeeZe’s anchor seemed to dragged about 60-80 meters from where it was initially, and had I gone in the water, I would have seen evidence of the “field being plowed.”
Th night after the wind, we were meeting Brit friends from my first Ankara period for dinner at Sunger, a great pizza place in downtown Bodrum. At first, I was not sure that the winds would die down as the forecast predicted, but they did, and I got ashore to meet with Zehra and the friends, and to have dinner. To be honest, I was relieved to be on dry land. I was STUPID and CHEAP and should have come into the marina for the night, pay their outrageous daily fee and not have to live thru that storm. Next time.
So, on 14 May, we depart the anchorage for Kos. We had to delay our departed a few days because PROBABLY as a result of the 9 May storm, I did SOMETHING to my left shoulder that caused it to hurt like the dickens for 3-4 days. No amount of Ben-Gay helped, but I was good to go on the 14th.
Now the trip over was no a long one, and the seas were calm, the wind low, and we get into Kos and tie up at the “city wall” or so we thought. Nope, where we tied up was at an extension of the main private Kos marina, and we learned that the daily fee was ~ 4 times more than the city wall fee, + electricity and (very expensive) water.
It took us a few days to arrange to go to the real city wall, where there was no electricity, and water was available for free, if one had a 50 meter hose, which I did not have at the time of arrival, but do now!
On 16 May, a surprise pair of visitors show up at our stern, our British friends from Bodrum. They had no clue we were in Kos and came over for a day trip. It was so nice to have them visit, quite and un-expectent surprise.
Meanwhile, Zehra is trying to figure out what hoops her brother and his wife have to jump thru to spend a few days or so with us on LeeZe. We visit agents, passport and customs officials, and in the end, the visa they need is a Schengen visa, a visa that would allow the to visit any of 28 European countries. This application for the visa is $$$ and you do not get your money back if the request is denied. So, in the end, they decided not to come, and we were a little disappointed.
On 17 May, we move to the other side of the harbor and stay there until 3 June, enjoying all that Kos has to offer. The spot was a little rolly, especially when big ferries came to the custom dock just across the way. But, the price was right and we enjoyed it.
But the time comes that we want to leave. So, we pick 5 June to continue our travels, so 3 June, we decide to move back to the marina because the batteries need a really deep charge that the solar panels and the generator just cannot give. This day was falloff calamities. First while preparing to depart, I lost my balance and fell into the water. My GOOD glasses fell to the bottom and it took some time to find them. Since I had dropped a garden hose brass cut-off valve into the water the day before, I retrieved that also.
Then underway, but while docking stern too, the engine died. Restarted and this happened maybe five or six more times. Ummmmmmm. But we do land safely, plug in shore power, and give the batteries the charge they need. Meanwhile, I found a fuel valve out of position, and thinking that was cause, checked each valve and confirmed that they were correctly placed. But it was Sunday and I was tired so I failed to do an post-maintenance check. You are probably NOT surprised that was not the cause of the engine shutdowns, but I leave that to the next installment.
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.
Our first stop is Vlychada.
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.
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.
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),
And a local 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.
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