Turkey Scrapbook: Reliving the Moments is Good Therapy

Back in the office after sailing a destination that’s new, reality hits hard. When you want to forget about the bills and the to-do lists that piled up while you were gone, indulge yourself and have a look at the pictures and videos you and your crew shot on that trip. It reminds you that you really did do a lot and see a lot and that bareboat chartering is a jam-packed vacation that long outlives the actual experience.

That strategy has worked for me so far. Of the four videos I posted to cruisingworld.com, three are for fun and interest, and one shows how well my crewmates worked together when we anchored in the countless bays and coves that make the Turkish Riviera such a sought-after sailing destination. That’s the one I gave the painfully obvious title: “Turkey: Swimming the Stern Line Ashore.”

There were six of us on this charter. Crewmember Sue Areson is an athlete and swimmer and general lover of all things outdoors, but she’s not a sailor first. So mate Carrie Fletcher, a longtime racer and delivery crew, worked with Sue to pull off the part of the anchoring technique that involves leading a stern line to shore.

While crewmember Pat Manion helmed, crewmember Rick Martell, my other half, operated the anchor windlass. Jane, Pat’s wife, made sure the dinghy was properly cleated off and that nothing went amiss with it or its painter during anchoring.

Carrie prepared the floating blue stern line by tying a bowline. She’d shift between port or starboard quarters depending on which bollard or rock Pat ultimately chose. When Pat gave the call, Sue would jump in the water with the line, and Carrie would pay out the line to her, all the while noting Pat’s actions and staying alert for sudden changes and keeping Sue informed.

Yes, sometimes there were sudden changes, and the crew pulled it off flawlessly. I owe them big time! You might ask what I was doing the whole time? I was benefitting from the therapy, of course!

See the rest of Elaine's videos:
A Good Breeze on the Lycian Coast
Dalyan River and Ancient Caunos
In Istanbul, the Muezzin Call to Prayer