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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 Mordoğan > Yassica Ada > Izmir

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

It is now 3 Sept and we depart Mordoğan for an island in the lower part of the Izmir bay called Yassica Ada.

Diesel Duck Trawler LeeZe in Yassica Ada

Diesel Duck Trawler LeeZe in Yassica Ada

The claim to fame of this island is that there are ferry boats that service this island in the summer so that Izmir people can come to the beach. It was a Sunday that we were here, near to the end of the 10-day holiday period and there are maybe 300+ people at the beach. It was also near to the end of the season so concession stands were not stocked up very well and were out of mostly everything.

We had a very hard time finding a good holding spot of the anchor and after trying 4 times, decided that based on the weather prediction. I would live with an anchor that was not holding very well.  When I went to look at the anchor, it was laying on a small piece of sandy bottom, surrounded by grassy clumps of seaweed. Had I chosen to anchor in far shallower water, I would have found a sandy bottom, but I also would have been among very small day boats.

By sunset, the ferry boats had taken the day trippers back home and there were just 3 of us at anchor. There were some nocturnal visitors to the island, a few quite noisy, but by midnight, there was calm seas and a quiet night. The city lights hid many of the stars. We did go ashore to the beach for a few hours, and then came back, cleaned up, and has a  BBQ for dinner.

Diesel Duck Trawler LeeZe in Yassica Ada - Levent Marina

Today is 3 September. It is a Monday, and the last day of the 10-day holiday period. We motor toward Levent marina. There are two dog legs to the marina, and one must stay between the buoys because just outside the buoys is shallow water punctuated by rocky outcrops.

LeeZe is a steel boat and as we approach, Izmir Traffic Control (ITC) hails us in Channel 16. I kind of knew this would happen, ever since our days in the Istanbul area, where that traffic control authority called so often that it bordered on harassment.

ITC hails us, and wants to know our particulars, why we have AIS not on, etc etc etc. I tell them what we are, and that w are not required to have AIS on board. ITC thinks, based on radar return  that we are a small freighter. It is not until we get near to one of their long range camera stations on the shore that they can see what we are. By then, I had answered all of their questions and they left us alone.

Now, I think it must have been a boring day for them as I saw no ships underway, only ferry boats. They needed a distraction and I provided one.

Well, we get to Levent marina and we anchor just outside. We need to lower the fenders, bring the tend up to the starboard side from astern, get lines ready, etc etc. By then, a craft from the marina comes out. It is our good friend from the last time we were here. We tell him what we are doing, and ask him to take the tender in.

About 30 minutes later, we up anchor, cruise slowing in the marina, and with the help of this lone marina person, we med-moor in a place that Zehra had already negotiated with the manager, and with two bow lines on, we are in.

Diesel Duck Trawler LeeZe in Levent Marina

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

Diesel Duck Trawler LeeZe in Kusadasi > Sağacik > Sapere> Cesme > Eğri Liman > Mordoğan

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

The anchor windlass was repaired in Kusadasi and with family on board as guests, we depart for a leisurely cruise around the Çesme peninsular toward the marina w have chosen to winter over in. Our policy for the guests is that we IMPLORE them to sit and enjoy the ride, and not try to prevent any damage to LeeZe as LeeZe is ~50 tons and while I can fix LeeZe, I cannot fix humans. But on of our guests is the brother to Zehra, and he has bought a new 10 meter boat for delivery in 2018. So, since he is a neophyte at this boating life, he wants to learn. Now, I believe that there is not much I can teach and show him. His boat is no more than 6 tons, a day boat, that does 15-20 knots. But, he still wants to learn so I do let him do a lot, but always under my direct supervision. I try to point out where and how one might get hurt and h comments that he never would have thought of this or that.

So, on 17 Aug, we depart Kusadasi, conduct an anchor test in the bay, verify all is well and make our way to Sağacik.

Diesel Duck Trawler LeeZe in Kusadasi>Sağacik

The NE wind is above 20 knots for nearly the entire trip but since we stay relatively close to the coast, there is not enough distance for the wind to build the waves. We anchor In the bay close to where we had anchored in 2014.  Sağacik is a very cute town, with a somewhat restored coastal /fort on the bay where on Sundays, a superb local food farmers market is held which attract buyers and people from many miles around.

Diesel Duck Trawler LeeZe in Kusadasi>Sağacik

There is a marina here called Teos where we stayed one night when we were on the East-Med Yacht Rally in 2012. We stay here two nights, going ashore both days. One of our guests was last here about 35 years ago and while he notes that much has changed, a lot more has not.

On 19 August, we depart for Sarpdere Bay. This is not a long run but the wind has had some distance to cause some waves as we cross the open bay.

Diesel Duck Trawler LeeZe in Sağacik>Sarpdere

As the crow flies this area is close to Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city, so there are MANY fish farms, some so long that they are more than a nautical mile long. There is one that is so long and wide that it blocks the direct path into Sarpdere bay. One ends to see the huge red buoys that denote a passage between the fish nets. We find one, but the width of the gap may be at most 50 meters, and the fish farm hardware is appears to be quite strong and visually imposing. A loss of propulsion or a loss of the rudder would have one in extremis quite quickly and with the depth more than 100 meters in most places, dropping the anchor is not an option.

So thankfully, LeeZe has no problems and we proceed safely thru the farm to the bay.

Diesel Duck Trawler LeeZe in Sarpdere 2017-08-19

Our plan is to stay one night because the GRIB forecast predicts a good day tomorrow to go to Çesme. We had a BBQ, a swim, and talk quite a lot before retiring for the night.

On 20 August, we depart for Çesme.

Diesel Duck Trawler LeeZe in Sarpdere > City Wall

The wind is 20+ knots as we go around the peninsular, and we arrive at about 1400 or so in the bay.  Now, we have stayed here before, so we know that we have to get directions from the day trip boat Captains as to what mooring spot we can use. It turns out some of them remember us so they tell us to moor in front of the local post office.

This bay is mostly open, and from experience, can be quite rocky and rolly at the wall. I also now that this is a bay where one really must have more than 100 meters of chain out, angled at about 20-30 degrees off the starboard bow. That means for this particular case we I drop the anchor to the north of the post office, and then med moor.

The wind is blowing 20+ knots so after I get the anchor down and confirm it is holding, I go aft to ask our guests to sit down and enjoy the ride, as Zehra and I know what we are doing.

I go forward to the helm and we get LeeZe close enough to get one line over. This is a great sign as it means that it is just a matter of time until we are along side.

20 minutes later, we are at the wall.

Diesel Duck Trawler LeeZe Untitled

We also had a visit from a couple who we use to hang out with a lot while will lived in Chicago 15-20 years ago. It was fun to note how all of us had changed, or not changed, and to catch up.

Finally, we catch a break and on 29 August, we depart Çesme for Eğri Liman Koyu, a long and narrow bay that offers protection from early very direction.

Diesel Duck Trawler LeeZe in Egri Liman Koyu

Diesel Duck Trawler LeeZe in Egri Liman Koyu

Now, per the port guide and the chart, there is good anchorage deep into the southern part of the bay, and also at the western beach area. The chart also reports that the bottom depth by the beach rapidly becomes shallow.

Knowing all this and having been here before in 2014, I elect to anchor in front of the beach at the southern end. But first, we took a quick tour with LeeZe in the beach area and did confirm, by nearly running around, that the bottom does rapidly and un-expectantly shoals. That got my hart racing a little.

After anchoring, and verifying that we are in fact holding, there is a wind shift and now we are about 50 meters from a small cliff and a rocky outcrop. Ugh!

The wind picks up some more and by nightfall, it looks like we are getting very close to the cliff. I know it is an illusion because it being night time, but it is still quite unsettling.

So, the next day, we pickup anchor and move a few hundred meters toward keeping water and again anchor. The weather this day dos NOT support us moving on.

A friend also told us that there are two large red buoys in the middle of the bay that we can tie up to. When we arrived, we saw a fishing boat tied to th one closest to the entrance  and the other one deep in the bay empty. We did “toy” with the idea of tying up to it but in the end, it was occupied most of the day by various fishing boats.

On 1 Sept, we lifted anchor and got underway. We poked our nose out and found 20-30 knots of wind from the NW and just under 1 meter high waves and whitecaps. Decided to come back and anchor again, and the Admiral was not happy. But it has been like this all summer. The wind has been quite uncooperative.

We try again on 2 Sept and the seas are a little rolly but th wind is low, so off we go to Mordoğan. In all of the times we have boated in Izmir Bay, we had never been to Mordoğan.

Diesel Duck Trawler LeeZe in Egriliman Koyu > Mordoğan

Diesel Duck Trawler LeeZe > Mordoğan Anchorage

Mordoğan Has an old harbor which the port guide says not to enter without local knowledge. There is also a marina to the south of the old harbor that has never been finished. What we see when we arrive is a fast ferry moored inside the old harbor that goes to Izmir as well as a dredging ship. We continued south and anchor close to the mouth of the “new” marina.

Weather in the bay is very different than in the Aegean, and we luck out because for the next few days, it appears that the seas will be absolutely flat.

Today though is part of a 10 day holiday that the government created because Tourism has been deeply affected by the current geo-political climate. It was thought that by creating tis long holiday, Turks would take to the roads and go on holiday. Later, thru the newspapers, we learned that th tourism industry did NOT get the boost that was expected because this current geo-political climate has also affected imports and exports, the economy, and unemployment. The 5-star all-inclusive resorts were charging over $1000 for two to holiday with them, and the turns out to be way too much money for way too many people. By the time this was known, much of the holiday period had already come and gone so there were no real winners, and many losers.

We saw this in Mordoğan who we went ashore. There were many visitors to Mordoğan, but nearly all had Izmir license plates on there cars. We did eat shore that night in the old harbor area and the meal was quite good and “normal” Turkish prices.

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