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2008 EMYR
Schedule
Tuesday, May 27th, Lattakia, Syria
The best laid
plans.....
We took off from
Iskenderun around 3pm despite forecasted 20 knot
headwinds. More than a dozen other boats had
already taken off, including Ibis, one of the official
rally boats. Not willing to miss out on a day of
our stay in Syria, the Zia crew decided to endure the
slow, bumpy passage. As we left the harbor the
wind gusted up to 10 knots. Very quickly,
it increased into the 20s. We were motor
sailing twenty degrees off the rhumb line in order to
get some wind in the sail to help propel us forward.
When sailing upwind, your boat speed augments the true
wind speed so our apparent winds quickly climbed into
reef territory. As the forecast called for the
highest winds between 6 and 9pm, we opted for a double
reef. Zia's manufacturer, Switch, advises one reef
at 25 knots apparent, with the second reef recommended
at 29 knots.
We are sailing along
heading close to due west, making only two or two and a
half knots towards our destination. Our strategy
was to get out a little ways on this tack early on so as
to improve our angle on the opposite tack, which would
be a much longer leg. Larson and Gav hadn't yet
experienced the violent upwind action of the boat, as we
typically avoid this kind of sailing. They were
getting their sea legs underneath them but feeling fine.
Cassie and Juliana, on the other hand, weren't too
happy. We kept hearing radio traffic from the
other EMYR boats as one by one they U-turned and headed
back to Iskenderun. "Why can't we turn back,
mommy? I want to go back," pleads Juliana.
Our latest windfinder
forecast indicated winds easing off overnight, although
they would still be on the nose. We figured we
were experiencing the worst of the waves already and
doing fine with it, so we would keep on truckin'.
You should have heard the radio traffic as everyone was
hailing everyone to find out where they were and what
conditions they were experiencing. I think Zia
wound up being the farthest boat at at 14 miles from the
harbor before they called for a general recall. We
made one last ditch effort to see if we could keep
going, but in the end we were strongly advised to return
to port. Being good little rally participants, not
wanting to ruffle any feathers either within the rally
organization or more importantly with the authorities in
Syria, we too turned around.
The ride immediately
became much more comfortable. We turned off the
engine and rolled out the gib. We had taken our
fishing lines in on the upwind passage, figuring we
didn't want to to deal with a fish in those conditions
anyway. The lures went back in the water.
The sun fell in a fiery orange ball into the sea.
In the dim light of dusk we saw a flock of terns
swooping and diving on the water's surface.
Excitement gripped the crew. "Oh! We are
going to catch some fish for sure!" exclaimed Gav.
I silent curse him for
jinxing our chances. Minutes pass like hours as we
await the telltale sing of the reels. Darkness is
descending quickly. Come on fish! Gav,
watching the tip of the fishing rod like a hawk, jumps
up suddenly. False alarm. The uneven tug of
the lure as we ride the 6 foot swell downwind tricked
him into thinking we had a strike. We are just
approaching other EMYR yachts that are circling around
in front of the harbor, awaiting their turn to enter
when finally our prayers are answered. First one,
then the other reel sing out as our catch tries to run
away with our lure. Sorry Charlie! We got ya.
.JPG)
There was not time to
deal with the fish as we prepared to enter the harbor in
the dark. Even though we had been there before, it
is always just that much more nerve wracking trying to
pick a safe passage through the dark. With the
kind help of Jean Claude and his crew on Anthea, and our
neighbor Dick on Tucanon, we were safely tied up within
minutes.
A late dinner and early
bed time were all that was on the agenda for the
evening. I had managed to make a lamb curry while
underway (you just have to love catamarans!) so all that
remained to cook was the rice. Oh, don't forget
about that tuna. After dinner, Larson and Gav went
to work turning our catch into delicious looking tuna
steaks. So much for the early bed time.
Finally falling into
bed around midnight, Joe and I were abruptly awoken by a
scraping sound against our hull. That could only
mean one thing. The wind had shifted directions
and we were bumping up against the little jetty that we
were tied off to. Packaged along with the change
in wind direction came some pretty impressive
thunderstorms. And rain. Just as we were
confident that we had winched Zia far enough off the
jetty, we looked over and saw our neighbor Tucanon's bow
swinging towards us. Their anchor had let go so
there was nothing keeping her off the rocks that line
the seawall. Luckily, there is a pretty steep drop
off and the wind was not too strong so she was just
resting up against them.
Joe jumps off Zia,
walks over and knocks on the hull to wake up the boat.
What a nasty surprise to awaken to! Dick and crew spring
into action. We offer to drop our dinghy and take
out a secondary anchor. "Yes, please!"
As Joe motors the
anchor out, Dick is feeding the rode to him. He
has 300 meters of rode. About half way through, he
comes up with a knot the size of a watermelon.
Just about now the rain increases. Not that it
hadn't been coming down pretty hard already. I am
not exaggerating when I describe it as torrential.
Poor Joe is patiently sitting in the dinghy as three of
Tucanon's crew frantically try to undo the tangle.
Wishing never to be in the same position but hoping that
someone would do the same for him if we ever were, Joe
is more than happy to do his part. The anchor sets
perfectly and all is well. No damage was done and
we had some extremely grateful neighbors.
We spent the whole next
day awaiting the official word about when the fleet
would depart anew for Syria. The wind picked up
again in the afternoon. It was going to be an
early morning departure. As a result, we had a
rare day of relaxation, albeit in the harbor and not at
anchor off a sandy beach...... The highlight of
the day was when a group of graduating high school
students who had heard about the presence of our fleet
came down to practice their English. Walking down
the dock, Zia was the first boat you reached.
Larson and Gav didn't hesitate. I can't think of
two better candidates to spearhead the cultural
exchange.
.JPG)
The nineteen year old
students were studying for an English exam. There
is a whole slew of subjects on which they are tested in
order to place them for entrance into university.
Apparently, excelling on the English exam in particular
will qualify them for entrance into the coveted
university in Istanbul. Their English was
phenomenal, despite a little trouble understanding the
American accent. Although the group consisted of
only men, they assured us that there were more women in
their English classes than men. They plan to go to
Izmir for university if they do not get into their first
choice. They will rent an apartment with three
bedrooms for about $300 a month. They will
probably have to work while they are in school to help
pay living expenses. In the past, they have gone
to Antalya to work in the tourist hotels and restaurants
over their three month summer break, but they don't
really get much practice speaking English there. I
suppose most tourists don't want to be bothered on their
vacations. We learned that there are two Turkish
basketball players in the NBA. One of the crowd
had some considerable talent break dancing.
.JPG)
It was a very pleasant
forty-five minute interlude, especially considering that
our previous contact with locals had been mostly with
young boys who did everything they could to get on our
boat and use it as a platform for jumping into the
water. Rather than parting Iskenderun feeling
irritated, we left with smiles on our faces and fond
memories of our new friends.
The tour program will
be juggled around a little bit in Syria. We will
still take off on an overnight tour to Damascus and
Palmyra tomorrow. The Aleppo and Homs tour that
was supposed to happen today will take place on Friday.
Saturday we leave for Lebanon where peace seems to have
been established just in time.
Next Entry
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Many thanks to our friend Craig Homenko for his assistance in setting up the website.
We also would like
to thank our buddy Scott Brunner who has been kind
enough to host the website on his server.
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