Thoughts ending 2011

2011 was quite a year!  It is hard to believe that one year ago tonight we sat in the cockpit in Patong at Phuket and watched the fantastic fireworks display.  And those thousands upon thousands of lighted Chinese lanterns floating skyward all night were unforgettable.  A cherished memory.


Little did we know that night that about a week later we would be caught in a circulating tropical storm in the Bay of Bengal, with the eye repeatedly changing directions unpredictably.  Unlike circulating tropical storms with which we are familiar, in the Bay of Bengal storms move with no predictable pattern.  The storm seemed to jump around all willy-nilly.  We broke out of the storm 3 times and were sucked back in each time.  29 people were killed on the island of Sri Lanka and more than a million people lost their homes during this storm.  One fellow sailor abandoned his boat less than 20 miles from us during one of the worst days of the storm.  Luckily, he and his crew were safely picked up by a commercial freighter, but the sailboat was lost.  Our 1100 NM passage from Phuket to Sri Lanka took 1608 NM, as I remember.  Hope we never go through anything like that again!  The experience proved to us that S/V BeBe is stronger than her owners.


While docked in Sri Lanka we met the Danish owners and crew of S/V ING.  The family of 5 and their 2 crew members were later captured by Somali pirates a short distance before they would have entered the eastern end of the IRTC.  A 3 million dollar ransom was later paid and all 7 were released after 7 months of the horror of captivity.  We also met the owners and crew of S/V QUEST in Sri Lanka.   


After another rough sail from Sri Lanka to Cochin, India, Bill updated our records of pirate attacks for the previous 90 days and we immediately saw there was no way we were going to continue through the Arabian Sea.  Pirate attacks had increased 13 times higher than the same 90-day period the previous year.  In 2011 the pirates inundated the entire northern Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea.  We decided to transport BeBe on the deck of a container ship.  Bill asked the owner of S/V QUEST if they also were interested in transporting, but Scott said it was his lifelong dream to sail a complete circumnavigation.  We did not press the matter.....as with everything involving sailors, it is always the captain's decision where and when and how to go. Two weeks later, all 4 persons aboard QUEST had been captured by Somali pirates and murdered.  We will always regret not showing Scott our updated chart reflecting how severe the pirate activity had become during the previous month.  Maybe he would have continued to sail; but maybe he would have considered transporting his yacht to the Med instead.  No one can know now.


We are forever grateful to Randal on M/V DORA MAC for forwarding us the contact information for Mike Heffer, the agent for SevenStar Shipping.  Bill worked with Mike and located 13 other sailboats that also wanted to transport.  Thanks to Michael on S/V B'SHERET for helping in the rate negotiations.  Four boats sailed from Cochin down to Male, Maldives to join the other boats awaiting transport.  The final number of yachts participating in this transport shipment totaled 18.    And all arrived safely in Marmaris, Turkey in late April.


We enjoyed a couple of months in Turkey, then 3 months cruising the Greek Isles, joined by 2 of our grandchildren.  Our youngest son and his family joined us for 3 weeks.  Then we sailed from Crete to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, where we are docked for the winter in the new Karpaz Gate Marina.  


In early December we returned to Houston for the Christmas holidays and for Bill to do his annual physicals.  One lab test had questionable results, requiring a biopsy for which the results will not be available until late January; thus delaying our return to Cyprus by at least a month.  We are spreading our time in Houston between Bill's brother's townhome and our sons' homes.  We figure 2 weeks at each home is enough to intrude upon the lives of others. Lucky us that we have so many relatives and friends living in Houston and that they all have extra vehicles to lend us.  Saves us the cost of hotels and rental cars.

Old school friend Tim Mulally

The highlight of this visit for Bill was an impromptu reunion of several high school classmates.  Bill attended a Catholic high school and was in a relatively small class.  Eighteen people met for dinner at a Cajun seafood restaurant in Beaumont.....some driving in from Austin, Dallas and even as far as Baton Rouge.  After dinner several of us gathered at a local pub for several more hours of visiting.  Bill thoroughly enjoyed visiting with his old friends and wished there had been more time.

Christmas 2011

Christmas Day was celebrated at our older son's home and most of the family attended.  Dinner for 22 people requires days of cooking.  It was wonderful to see everyone.  Just wish we had more time to visit with each person.  The day passed too quickly.

Christmas 2011

As always, Christmas is mainly for the children.  Wrapping papers and ribbons and bows were strewn throughout Trey's house.   It was a lot of fun.

Grandson Damien 

Damien loves trains

On New Year's Eve we visited our good friends Donna and Bruce at their country home.   Donna is a fabulous cook and the meals and pies were delicious.  We enjoyed a very quiet evening and watched the movie "The Help."  Four adults in the room and 3 of them had been reared by black maids in the South.  They could relate to this movie.  Bill did not like the part where 1 maid said they didn't get any Social Security.  Bill's father always paid Social Security for their maid, Clara.  He wanted to make certain that Clara would have retirement income during her old age.  It was nice that a few of the maids in the movie told positive stories about their employers.  Not all employers of housekeepers of the time were like the white women in that movie.


Fireworks at midnight and then we were quick to bed.  We are too old for late night celebrations.  It was really nice visiting with Donna and Bruce and we hope to see them again before we fly back to the boat.  They gave us a lovely gift......a framed stained glass mounting of nautical flags spelling out our boat name -- BeBe.  We like this so much that we are having flag graphics produced to put on the mizzen boom and also on the stern of BeBe.  Below is a graphic of our boat name spelled in semaphore by nautical flags.  I cannot include an image of the framed stained glass that Donna and Bruce gave us.  It is already packed away with lots of other items we are accumulating for the trip back to the boat next month.

BeBe in semaphore -- spelled out in nautical flags

Remember these?

New Singer can be operated manually

We saw a stack of boxes of these Singer sewing machines in the local village recently.  One was set up for display.  These were not used machines.  These are newly produced sewing machines.  These are electric machines that also have a foot pedal and drive belt for manual operation.  That drive belt is not installed on the machine in this photo, but you can clearly see the attachment points to install it.   I assume this type of Singer sewing machine is marketed in countries that have limited or unreliable supplies of electricity.

These are not the heavy solid metal machines of yesteryears.  The foot pedals are wrought iron, but the machine heads are plastic.  The wooden cabinets are not solid wood, of course. 

Wonder if these machines will last 80-plus years like the old sturdily built Singers our grandmothers used.

Time for a trip home

Ruth & Randal

We invited the only other American couple in the marina, Randal & Ruth on M/V Dora Mac, to join us for Thanksgiving dinner.  There is one other American man in the marina......married to a British woman......but he had already mentioned that he does not like to celebrate Thanksgiving; so we did not extend an invitation.  There are no turkeys sold in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.  Instead, I baked 2 chickens.  Also cooked cornbread dressing, giblet gravy, green peas, cranberry sauce and homemade yeast rolls.  Ruth provided a delicious dish of roasted vegetables.  For dessert I baked a fresh apple cake with pineapple glaze.   


We enjoyed the bottle of champagne recently gifted to us by our friend, Glenn, who visited last month.  We had much to be thankful for this year, not the least of which is the company of good friends.

Cliff & Charmaine

Here is a photo of Cliff, the other American in the marina, and his wife Charmaine......holding a very lucky little puppy.  Charmaine found this abandoned puppy while on a countryside walk early one morning.  She picked it up and nursed it to health; visited the vet for all the routine shots; and found it a good home with the family of an American physician working at Girne.  The family has small children and divides their time between Cyprus and their home in Virginia.  Lucky dog!!






Today I dug out duffel bags and packing organizers.  Time to start thinking about what we want to bring back to Texas on this trip.  One thing that should go is the ATN Gale Sail.  We have carried that sail for over 5 years and never once used it.  Time to Ebay that sail.  Get the unnecessary weight out of the sail locker in the bow of the boat.  


To do our part for Black Friday and help the economy, I browsed through Lands End online and ordered winter clothes.  Very much needed since we have been on the equator so long and have no cold weather clothes on the boat.  I will bring almost nothing home, and will return with lots of new clothes.  Cool!  


A boat here in the marina is owned by a British couple who live in southern Cyprus.  They will be visiting their boat later this week and have kindly offered to drive us to the airport late Friday night, saving us more than $200 taxi fare.  This is going to be a tough trip.......total 17 hours flight time divided into 3 flights.....beginning by sitting in the airport all night.  We will depart the marina at 10 p.m. Friday night for the 2 - 2 1/2 hour drive to the Larnaca airport, where we will sit until our flight departs at 4 a.m. to Frankfort; then to Chicago; finally arriving in Houston shortly after 3 p.m.  And traveling 'back' 8 hours in time zones.   We are going to be some tired puppies!  


Looking forward to seeing family and friends for the next month.

Lovely day for a walk......to an ancient basilica

Bill & Judy at the ruins of Trias Basilica at Sipahiay

A few days ago we joined Ruth and Randal for a short walk through the countryside near the marina.  They had already walked this route in August and knew where to find the ruins of a basilica dating back to 535 A.D.  Randal said the floors were covered in tiny tile mosaics.  One of the rooms had mosaics in the pattern of sandals and pomegranate branches.  So off we headed on a less-than-perfect day for a country walk.  We hoped to make it back before the skies opened up and poured again.

Lovely day for a walk?

As normal for us, we forgot to bring our camera.......yet again.  Ruth kindly offered to let me use hers; and later she also shared her photos with us.  Frankly, I don't remember which of these photos I took and which ones she snapped.

Walking past small herd of sheep

After reaching the top of the small hill we turned off the road to enter the field where the ruins are situated.  Soon a couple of small boys walked over and collected the 5 TL entrance fee from each of us and presented us with printed sheets providing basic information on the ruins.

Today I looked on the internet and found a bit more information about this place.

Randal & Ruth at basilica ruins

The Aya Trias Basilica is located near the village of Sipahi.  It was built at the start of the 6th century, although one source stated that the earliest construction found thus far dates back to the 5th century.  The basilica has been used for different purposes in different times, and various annexes were added at different times.  This is not a huge complex.  At least not what has been excavated thus far.

Basilica ruins as seen from original rear entry

 The basilica was destroyed during the Arab raids of the 7th century.  It was then abandoned, and a small church and other buildings were built to the south of the original basilica.  These buildings also were abandoned and destroyed around the 9th century.  All memory of the basilica disappeared until it was rediscovered by chance in 1957, at which time it was partially excavated.  Some parts are still under the earth.  There is still a great deal for archaeologists to do; however, no excavation is ongoing nor is any planned as far as we can ascertain.

Randal on north side of basilica ruins

The original entrance atrium is located at the western end of the basilica, the end farthest away from today's entrance gate.  That entrance atrium leads to an entrance lobby, or narthex, spanning the width of the basilica.  (According to what I have read, the narthex or entrance lobby was always located on the western side of the earliest Christian churches.  I have no idea why.)  The narthex leads to a 3-sided nave, with a number of columns still standing.  Inside the nave is the remains of a chancel.

Pomegranates & Sandals mosaics on basilica floor

The floors of the narthex and nave are extensively covered with tiny-tiled mosaics in mostly geometric patterns.  There are also mosaics depicting leaves, crosses and other early Christian symbols.  In the northern nave there are several very different mosaics -- of pomegranate trees alongside a pair of sandals.  Pomegranates were used by the early Christians as a symbol of resurrection and everlasting life.  According to the literature found online, the sandals are a little bit more of a mystery.  It is possible the sandals were a reminder of the time when Moses took off his sandals in order to meet God in the desert.  Or it could be a reminder of the time that John the Baptist described the coming of Christ, explaining that he was not even important enough to remove the sandals from Christ's feet.  It is assumed, however, that because the sandals are placed next to or between squares of pomegranates, the sandals simply represent the journey through this world to the next.  Although sandals as a symbol are found elsewhere in the Middle East, this is the only known example in Cyprus.

Basilica sponsors

One thing that is known about the basilica is who paid for its construction.   At the western end of the nave is seen the names of Aetis, Euthalis and Eutochianos as benefactors. Embedded in a tablet in cube-shaped tesseras in front of the main apse is an inscription which credits a deacon (assistant of the priest) by the name of Heracleos (Heraclios) as the maker of the mosaics. 

Cross shaped baptismal chamber

To the southeast of the basilica (on the left at today's entrance) one can see the remains of a large cross-shaped baptismal chamber.  This is the largest known baptismal chamber on the island of Cyprus.

The usual form of baptism among the earliest Christians was for the person being baptized to be immersed totally or partially (standing or kneeling in water while water was poured on him or her).

Cross shaped baptismal chamber

This baptismal chamber is large enough and deep enough to have been used in that manner, and it is not even completely excavated.   Dirt still fills the lower parts of the chamber.

Ruth & Bill in Bishop's Palace ruins

It is thought that the other structures around the baptismal chamber are the remains of the Bishop's Palace.  Again, more archaeological work needs to be done in order to learn more about this site.







One mystery remains for now.  The basilica is much bigger than would be needed for the use of the village that has so far been discovered.  Was there a bigger village somewhere nearby?  If not, why was this basilica built?

Bill in basilica ruins behind ancient olive tree

Hail!! Followed by rainbows

Fellow Americans, Ruth and Randal on M/V DORA MAC, returned last week after a 3-month visit home to the States.  They had left Cyprus a week before we arrived in August.  We first met Ruth and Randal in Malaysia; they also were part of the group of yachts that transported aboard the BBC EVEREST with us from Maldives to Marmaris last April.  We had been looking forward to meeting up with them again.

We drove down to the airport to meet them.  Unfortunately, their flight arrived 20 minutes early while we were sitting in the coffee shop.  By the time we walked to the arrival meeting area, they had already hailed a taxi to the marina.  Not to make it an entirely wasted trip, we drove to the south side and purchased another month of insurance allowing us to drive the rental car across the border.  Now we are set with the rental car through the date of our departure for our trip home in December.   Later, back at the marina we hooked up with Ruth and Randal and offered to drive them to the supermarket so they could stock up on the things one always empties from the boat when leaving for any extended period of time.

Hail several inches deep

It rained buckets during our drive to the supermarket.  As we pulled into the supermarket parking lot tiny pieces of hail were pelting the car.  Later, on the drive back to the marina we encountered large deposits of marble-sized hail.  The little pellets of ice covered the fields and looked like snow.  The road was covered by hail at least 3-inches deep.  None of us had a camera, so Bill used his cell phone to take photos.  Hence the crappy quality of these photos.

Hail!!!

There were skid marks all through the hail.  And one car was resting in a field about 4 feet below the road level.  It did not appear that anyone was injured and several people already were attempting to assist, so we continued on our way.  Not like our little car would be capable of towing another vehicle up from down there anyway.  This is the third time we have seen hail in the past 2 weeks.  A guy who has lived here several years said he had never seen hail here until 2 weeks ago.  Weird.  The brief heavy rain also had caused many mud patches across the road.  Some of the fields looks like small lakes.  It has been raining almost daily for a few weeks and I guess the ground is so saturated that it could not absorb this downpour.  Farmers have a hard time on this island.  For 8 months it does not rain a drop; then it rains very frequently for 4 months.  Rainy season starts in November.  Looks like we will have a wet cold winter.

Not long after passing the accumulated hailstones we were startled to see the brightest rainbow any of us had ever seen!  It was actually a full double rainbow, but the outer rainbow was very dim -- especially compared to the brilliant inner rainbow.

The crappy low-quality camera in our cell phone captured these images of the rainbow.  These photos do not do justice to just how bright this rainbow really appeared.  I have not edited these images other than to crop them.  The colors were remarkably brilliant.





















Wish we had brought a camera so we could have gotten decent photos.



 The ends of the rainbow were so bright they appeared to be glowing.  Most amazing rainbow I have ever seen.

Eastern tip of Cyprus looking south

One day last week we got stir-crazy and felt compelled to get off the boat and out of the marina for a few hours.  Since we had not yet been to the eastern end of the island, we opted to drive that direction.  Others had told us about high white sand dunes that they have walked on the beaches on the eastern tip of Cyprus.  We followed the tourism signs for a monastery supposedly located there.  Never found the monastery; the signs just ended.  Also never found those high white sand dunes.  We did see beaches filled with huge flat stones extending many hundreds of feet out into the sea.  Very definitely not an area for yachts to anchor, assuming the sea is ever calm enough for anchoring.  The sea was roiling the day we visited this area; strong winds and surging seas.

Wild donkey in valley

We drove past the first fee entrance to the wildlife preserve area (no attendant present, so no entrance fee paid).   The road past that entrance was very narrow and not well maintained; driving was slow.  About an hour later we arrived at the second fee entrance to the wild donkey preserve area (again, no attendant present).

By this time we were tired of driving.  We stopped to stretch our legs; realized how cold it was in the wind on the hillside right on the sea; and quickly got back into the car for the long ride back.  As usual, we had forgotten to bring the camera and only had the cell phone to snap crappy photos of the beach a few of the wild donkeys seen alongside the road.  There was a large valley through part of the area that looked like the most fertile earth we have seen on this island....surrounded by mountains on all sides and very protected from the wind in all directions.

Turkish type of zucchini

Recently Bill mentioned on Facebook that we had tried a strange vegetable that turned out to be something like zucchini.  It has a large bulbous end and a very long neck.  The one in this photo does not have nearly as large of bulbous end as most of these do.  The inside flesh is sort of a pinkish-yellowish color rather than the typical white of normal zucchini.  I cooked it with garlic and onion with a bit of bacon grease for seasoning and it was quite tasty.  We asked the manager of the marina restaurant and he explained that all types of squashes translate from Turkish to English as simply 'zucchini.'  He told us the Turkish name for this vegetable, but I could not understand well enough to try to look it up online.  Just accept that all squash in Turkey are zucchini.  He said that in Turkey this type of zucchini is cooked with black-eyed peas.  And, of course, they never use bacon or bacon grease because Muslims do not eat pork in any form.  So, I tried cooking the next one of these with black-eyed peas.  Nope; didn't care for that.  It is fine cooked my way with garlic, onions and bacon or bacon grease.  But squash in black-eyed peas wasn't so good.

Diet Coke

And while on the topic of food, I must mention Scrack.  Bill has become a Scrack-head.  He eats this Italian snack by the handful.  It looks just like the image on the package, except each piece is very small.  So he can eat it by the handful and never fill up.

Diet Coke is a thing just for the United States.  Almost everywhere else in the world this beverage is called Coca-Cola Light.  Other countries object to the term "diet" being applied to any foods or beverages.  They seem to think "diet" means something for diabetics.  Notice that cans of Diet Coke look much different in Turkey and Cyprus than these cans appear back home.

One day Bill walked over to the laundry room to help me carry back the heavy laundry bag.  He cracked up laughing when we saw how a worker had plugged his electric sander into the electrical wall outlet.

Wouldn't OSHA have a ball with this!!! 

My hubby's freezing!!

And, last but not least, Bill is freezing much of the time -- and it is not even winter yet!  He is really.... really.... really going to freeze when the temperatures drop another 20 degrees (Fahrenheit).  This is how he bundles up while drinking hot tea when the temperature inside the boat drops to about 68F.  Can you imagine what he will be like when the temperature inside the boat get down to 55F?  Thanks again to Bruce and Donna Rill for giving us these blankets/snuggle things when we were in New Zealand.  These furry-lined silky-textured 'blankets' are ever-so-warm and snuggly.  We love them.  Although I have never zipped up into one like Bill is in this photo.  Just laying one across my lap and tucking my feet beneath is comfortable enough for me.

BTW, he did not stay like this for long.  He warmed up quickly all wrapped up into a cocoon like that.