Histoire d'eau - July 2013

Histoire d'eau DIARY - July 2013

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2013: Thursday July 4th to Wednesday July 31st.

We have now left the boat at its mooring in Toul and are enroute to do some sailing with our friends, Iain & Helen, in Turkey.

They have a great cruising yacht called "Alma" in the port at Göcek, on the South-West corner of Turkey. I've included a couple of maps to try to explain where we were sailing in Turkey. The first map (right) is an overview showing the general area of our sail. This is shaded in red.

Many thanks to Mr Google for the map.

Our route was from Gocek to Bodrum, calling in at the following ports on the way:

* Göcek: ... Our starting point.
* Kucuk Kuryuk: ... which we referred to as "Goat Bay", because there was a freshwater spring there and the local goats came down in the morning and evening to drink at it.
* Ekincik: ... from here we took a tour up the Dalyan River to see the tombs.
* Marmaris: ... had to visit here for vital supplier.
* Serce Limani: ... we moored in the bay and had dinner aboard.
* Sogut: ... we ate at "Jimmy's" restaurant.
* Selimiye: ... we ate at "Susan's" restaurant.
* Knidos: ... we visited the pre-Roman ruins and ate at "The carpet Man's" restaurant.
* Bodrum: ... we spent two days in the marina here, visited the bazaar and the castle before leaving Helen & Iain and flying to Istanbul.

The map to the left shows a more detailed view of our route, or as best I could mark it. Apologies to Iain, who's actual navigation was (fortunately) much more accurate than my 'scratchings' on this map... but I think it gives you the idea.

I have included below a number of photographs of the sailing leg of our Turkey trip, along with a video taken at Göcek. This is my first attempt at putting a video into the website. If it works technically, and people like it, I'll include some more perhaps later in the year.

My main concern is that it might be a bit too resource heavy (and possibly a bit 'wanky'.) Anyway, here goes ...

To see the video taken at Göcek marina, ... click here .

To see the photos ... read on.

Photographs taken on the sailing leg of our Turkey trip: 04/07/2013 to Monday 15/07/2013:

Turkey: sailing on Alma with Helen & Iain in July 2013.

Turkey: sailing on Alma with Helen & Iain in July 2013. Goats at 'Goat Bay'

To see another video, this one taken at Sogut marina, ... click here .

After leaving Helen & Iain in Bodrum - a fantastic 10 days of sailing, we caught a flight to Istanbul. Here we did the usual 'touristy' things, but it is such a fantastic city, its hard to know where to start. Consequently I'll let Pete's photographs do the talking.

The only things I'd like to add are:

I'd like to thank Peter K for the book he loaned me; "Constantinople". It made a huge difference even knowing just a little bit about the city's history, and about the Ottoman Empire. Thanks Peter. (You might get the book back when we return to melbourne ... or ...

We also spent a day travelling down to the Gallipoli peninsula. Its a four hour drive down the coast from Istanbul, and then a four hour drive back, but it was well worth the trip. As with our previous visits to other (European) WWI battlefields, Gallipoli was another quite moving experience. I'm happy to have been born a generation or two later.

Photographs taken in Istanbul: 15/07/2013 to Monday 22/07/2013:

Turkey: Istanbul in July 2013. Hagia Sophie

Turkey: Istanbul in July 2013. The Blue Mosque - or the Sultahnamet Mosque.

Turkey - Istanbul in July 2013. The Spice Bazaar.

France: Toul: Monday 22/07/2013 to Friday 26/07/2013:

On arriving back in France we spent the time catching up with people in Toul, and doing all those mundane but essential jobs; shopping, haircuts, loading fuel for the remainder of the year, etc.

One of the little jobs that we were faced with, that we had not expected, was a re-plan of our cruising timetable for the second half of the season. We had already made plans to cruise on the "Canal de la Marne au Rhin" and to meet people in certain places, such as Saverne and Strasbourg, and we were pretty confident that we'd have no problems - its a good canal and the flooding that closed rivers earlier in the year is well and truly over.

Never say never! when it comes to the French waterways. To get to Saverne and Strasbourg, one has to traverse the Arzviller Lift. This is a lock that is lowered down an inclined slope (equivalent to a vertical 45 metres, I believe).

This is a picture of the Arzviller Lift (sometimes called the St Louis Lift) taken from the bottom of the complex.

The 'normal' locking procedure is: Arzviller Lift in July 2013.

Boat goes in at the top.

Gate closes (a very important step, it seems...).

The whole lock is lowered down the incline.

Gates open & boat exits.

The procedure is reversed for boats going upstream! Simple when it works...

This is what happens when it doesn't work ...

Arzviller Lift in July 2013.

I found this article on the internet:

"The Arzviller Boat Lift on the 'Canal de la Marne au Rhine', one of the French waterway's most iconic features, has experienced a serious malfunction; one that came close to causing multiple fatalities.

The cruise boat 'Paris', one of the two 21-person passenger boats that regularly provide tourists with the unique 45m lift experience, found herself in danger of falling into the valley below. She had moved to enter the transverse sliding chamber when the tank started to proceed downhill, and with the gates open. Immediate action by the skipper, who attempted to reverse out of the lock chamber, resulted in the boat becoming wedged between the upper access canal and the tank itself.

All passengers were quickly and safely brought off but huge quantities of water flowed from the breach and parts of the village of Lutzelbourg, which lies below the Lift, were evacuated as a precaution. .... The situation was subsequently brought under control, but this was a very serious machinery malfunction and a full investigation has been mounted into the circumstances.

Inevitably, the Marne-Rhine canal is now closed at Arzviller and is likely to remain so for weeks, if not months."

Consequently, we are re-planning.

Toul to Nancy: Saturday 27/07/2013 to Friday 02/08/2013:

Helen and Iain arrived on Friday and we have spent the (short) week that they have been here moving lazily down the Moselle to Nancy. Liverdun with friends Helen & Iain in July 2013.

When they arrived to meet us at Toul on Friday night, the port was 'heaving', with a 'Rock & Roll' concert in full swing. Organised by the Marie, the stage was located immediately in front of our mooring. Several days before when I heard about the proposed event I was a little nervous, as you might expect; my imagination going to heavy metal bands, deafening noise, hard drinking, free sex and a frenzied drug crazed spectacle raging all night right in front of Histoire d'eau.

As it turned out my fears were for naught. The concert, scheduled to commence at 8:30pm actually didn't get going until 9:30pm (a very French tradition ... providing a start time is a matter of manners; it's not a contract). I think I was probably one of the youngest attendees and we were all packed up and ready for bed before midnight.

The night was indeed terrific and the "rock concert" was in fact an evening of "1950's rock & roll". The old farts playing in the band did undeniably knock out a few decibels, but it was nothing more than you would have heard from a cruising Chrysler 'Valiant Charger' in Carlton in the 1960's (I'm sure some reading this will know exactly what I mean).

Toul: Rock and Roll concert in the port in July 2013.

A great music night at the port!

(Unfortunately we won't be here for the next two concerts ... we'll be cruising by then).

Liverdun: At 'le plage' with Helen & Iain in 2013.

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