A few note about the weather
The weather in Turkey along the South coast is very changeable. So a few notes may be of some use to some people. Sailing from East to West is always better at nights which are calmer than the days. Usually the wind is blowing parallel to the coast ranging from NW to SW and the afternoon breeze may reach force seven. Naturally, when sailing Eastward one may find unexpected Easterlis. In the various bays the wind blows in differrent directions in variouc corners of the same bay, and always it differs from the wind outside the bay. Gusting near capes is always expected from differrent direction of the actual wind. Those facts do not show in weather bulletins or maps, or in weather predictions. So, take care. An example is the last passage from Marmaris to Fethiye. I left Marmaris yesterday 0400 hrs. All the predictions, including mine, showed pleasent weather for the next 3 days, NW'lies 5 to 10 kn. At 0400 when sailing the wind in the bay of Marmaris was NW 5 kn. Out side it turn to be SE 5 kn, later becoming calm. 2 hours later She blew NW force 3 to 7 with short rain periods. I reefed the main and remained with a small stay sail. The wind than changed every 15 minutes by 90 to 180 deg. with rain in each wind change, however , the velocity was between 3 to 5 bfrt. Nevertheless i stayed reefed. Half an hour after entering Fethiye Corfezi, about 15 miles SW of Fethiye Limani came the blow. A squall of 55 to 60 kn coming from the SW with heavy rain hitting like needles with the force of the wind. The boat listed about 45 deg running into the wind like in Amok. I took manual helm and relesed the sheets, but the boom ran to the opposite side savagely, causing damages to various components The whole thing lasted no more than 10 minutes than the wind turned to NW and after an hour to NE. Luckily i have a small workshop aboard and today i spent repairing the damages and installing new components.
The weather in Turkey along the South coast is very changeable. So a few notes may be of some use to some people. Sailing from East to West is always better at nights which are calmer than the days. Usually the wind is blowing parallel to the coast ranging from NW to SW and the afternoon breeze may reach force seven. Naturally, when sailing Eastward one may find unexpected Easterlis. In the various bays the wind blows in differrent directions in variouc corners of the same bay, and always it differs from the wind outside the bay. Gusting near capes is always expected from differrent direction of the actual wind. Those facts do not show in weather bulletins or maps, or in weather predictions. So, take care. An example is the last passage from Marmaris to Fethiye. I left Marmaris yesterday 0400 hrs. All the predictions, including mine, showed pleasent weather for the next 3 days, NW'lies 5 to 10 kn. At 0400 when sailing the wind in the bay of Marmaris was NW 5 kn. Out side it turn to be SE 5 kn, later becoming calm. 2 hours later She blew NW force 3 to 7 with short rain periods. I reefed the main and remained with a small stay sail. The wind than changed every 15 minutes by 90 to 180 deg. with rain in each wind change, however , the velocity was between 3 to 5 bfrt. Nevertheless i stayed reefed. Half an hour after entering Fethiye Corfezi, about 15 miles SW of Fethiye Limani came the blow. A squall of 55 to 60 kn coming from the SW with heavy rain hitting like needles with the force of the wind. The boat listed about 45 deg running into the wind like in Amok. I took manual helm and relesed the sheets, but the boom ran to the opposite side savagely, causing damages to various components The whole thing lasted no more than 10 minutes than the wind turned to NW and after an hour to NE. Luckily i have a small workshop aboard and today i spent repairing the damages and installing new components.
