40:52.688 N  029:04.994E  

82 Mile Run

 11/6/12 

Left at 7AM.  No wind. Very hazy vis. More and more motoring.  Still doing Laundry and making Ice to keep the batteries from overcharging.  Soon we’ll have start washing clean clothes all over again.

The last few motoring sessions have been  broken up by the French Open which unfortunately has finished now.

We are passing through an area which is labelled on the charts as “Submarine Transit Line Exercise Area,”  This sounds alarming but I don’t think there’s anyone here as we were passed by about 18 Turkish Navy Ships coming down the Dardenelles as we were coming up.  We have however been attacked by  hoard of aggressive Turkish Flies.

5 PM Princess Islands We’ve just motored around this small group of islands and found a secluded anchorage which is open to the prevailing wind but there is no wind at all tonight.  The Marmara sea is largely  very shallow and seems to be various shades of green and grey.  Not inviting all although the locals clearly don’t mind swimming in it.   The water around the boat is thick with algae and zillions of  jelly fish many of which appear to be dead.   We can see Asian side of Istanbul from here and its the sprawl is pretty impressive.  Best of all the flies have vanished.  There is a wonderful sunset followed by an extremely good dinner al fresco in the cockpit.  What a privileged life!