CRUISING
experienced sailors told us captain had no insurance, his
the holding within the bay business had been poor that
was poor, so we decided to year and, as a result, he had
head for the semi-protected no money.
harbour. Secured stern to the The officials apologised for
harbour wall we had yachts their countryman saying that
and gulets either side of us. he was not an honourable man
Late in the afternoon, the yacht and that the only recourse
to our starboard side left the we had would be to file a
harbour. We found this strange, complaint at the courts in Kas.
due to the forecast, but in We decided, however, to put
hindsight they may have been the whole experience behind
the fortunate ones as we might us. The storm had passed and
have been wiser to swing free another day had dawned.
and trust to our anchor.
Above: The offending 60ft gulet, Where now?
At the mercy
blown into us by the wind – her
We had finally faced our first
of the storm
keel sat on our chain and pulled
us round until we were bows on.
negative ordeal in Turkey. The
The first gusts of the storm
Right: The Roman bridge
trouble is we have difficulty in
blew through directly on the destroyed in a storm. telling our story with a really
starboard beam and within negative slant, because, as
seconds a 60ft gulet had closed always on these terrible nights,
the gap left by the yacht and to find the wind had turned we made friends.
had started lying against us. again and blown the gulet back Whenever a yacht is in
We tried to attract the attention to fill the space we had just trouble, you find people
of the captain inside the gulet, left. We looked for a mooring pulling together to help.
but he chose to ignore us and on the windward side of the Friendships are made, troubles
walked away. As the gusts gulet, but found that a line had fought and drinks later shared.
increased, the gulet pushed been taken ashore from his For us, that night had been
harder against us. Our anchor bow to the end of the quay, no different.
was holding well against the effectively blocking any space next day. We were later told We’d wanted to travel
strain and extra weight of the there might have been. these rains caused a serious Turkey and thankfully had
gulet, but this was causing us We now found ourselves flood along the Kemer Gorge a wonderful two years
quite a problem. As the gulet’s at the mercy of the gale. We causing damage to several experiencing the good and
keel pressed on our chain it were in the middle of this village houses and destroying a bad it had to offer, but
pulled our bows round hard small, overcrowded harbour two thousand year old Roman as must happen with this
and into her side, crushing with nowhere to go and we bridge that crossed it. cruising life, we left Turkish
our bow roller. Our stern was knew a possible storm Force When the rains passed we waters and headed back
being pushed back at such an 10 was approaching. Suddenly went armed with English- across the Cyclades, around
angle that it was inches from we heard a shout from the speaking Captain Ali, the the Peloponnese and back
being shredded by the concrete quayside and the tripper boats Harbour Master and the to where our adventures
harbour wall and there was on the opposite side of the Coastguard in an attempt to get had begun. We had visited
nothing we could do. If we harbour had tightened their the gulet skipper to pay for the almost all the Greek islands,
let out more anchor chain to moorings and made a space damage he had caused to our taken part in the Eastern
avoid bow damage we would for us to squeeze into. We owe bows. He showed no remorse Mediterranean Yacht Rally
cause damage to the yacht on great thanks to Captain Ali and had made no apology – his and seen the delights of
our port side. We were trapped that night. He made a space only answer to the damage Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon,
and as the wind continued for us between the tripper caused was to smile and walk Israel and Egypt. Only one
the gulet pushed ever harder boats and secured our lines so away. After much debate question remains.Where shall
until suddenly our anchor let we were well cushioned and it transpired that this gulet we go next? ■
go under the strain. Orpheus safe, ready to ride out the full
straightened, but now our force of the storm. Charter
anchor was no longer holding yachts moored on the quay
About the author
us and the yacht on our port we had left were forced to call Born and raised in Norwich, Bernadette Seymour
side was being crushed not out the Coastguard to take joined the Norfolk Constabulary as a Junior Clerk. Over
only by us, but also by the lines from their bows as they
the next 21 years she gained computer and secretarial
gulet. Luckily for us, as we rafted themselves together.
qualifications and rose through the civilian ranks to
stood contemplating what to Anchors were dragging and
become the Personal Assistant to the Deputy Chief
Constable. In 2003 she took voluntary redundancy and
do next, the wind turned 180º people called for help all night
she and her husband, Dudley, bought a yacht to live
and gusted from the other side, as the wind increased and
aboard. She was soon hooked on sailing and gained her RYA Day
pushing the gulet away from never seemed to stop changing Skipper, feeling the need to know more before embarking on a new
us. This gave Dudley and me a direction. It gusted round and
life at sea. Dudley was already a Yacht Master and was keen for her
chance to lift our anchor. Once round until the final blow gave
not to be left behind in knowledge or ability.
we had the anchor clear of the way to rain that hammered
Since living on board, she’s learned to play the guitar and obtained
her PADI open water diving certificate.
water we tried to re-lay, only down through most of the
78 Sailing Today July 09
ST147 CompWinner
RTG.indd 106 12/5/09 21:50:06
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