We were underway all day yesterday in some rather boisterous weather so not able to put together this weekly update and get it out to you until today. We continue to climb the learning curve with this very unique boat but all is going well and we could not be happier to have finally thrown off those pesky dock lines and start our new adventures aboard the Good Ship Möbius.
What’s the Plan Stan?
As many of you know I life life on The No Plan Plan and have hopes and intents instead but in the coming weeks we will continue to make our way along the beautiful Turquoise Coast of Turkey which you can see in this map. Möbius was built at Naval Yachts in Antalya so that’s where the adventure began. Last July with our Granddaughters and family aboard we moved West to the marina in Finike where Möbius has been tied up most of the time since
They also took some video of us leaving the dock and so here’s a look at that for you and our thanks to Matt and Cindy for taking and sending these videos.
One thing that is working eXtremely well is using the huge rudder and CPP prop to act as a big stern thruster. Very well shown in this video as you watch Möbius pull away from the dock, clear the bow lines on the boat to our Starboard/Right side and turn on a dime. I put the rudder over at 35-40 degrees (limit is 45) and then push the Pitch lever full ahead for a few seconds and then back to neutral. You can see the water being kicked up from this at the stern and then watch as the boat turns almost on its center point to make the 90 degree turn in this narrow waterway. As I get more and more used to this the bow thruster won’t be needed at all though always there to help out and for other uses as well. We designed the rudder to be very large and to be able to turn 45 degrees in both directions for this purpose so it is great to see it all work out so well in practice.
And with that, we were off!
Another thing we are eXtremely happy with is how well this hull slides through the water. In this shot of us leaving the marina we are doing 6.5 knots and not a wake to be seen. Thanks Dennis!
So far we have only used the Helm up in the SkyBridge as the views from there are truly spectacular and this has been working out very well. The removable acrylic sliding windows allow us to move and remove the side panes to suit the weather and right now it is still a bit chilly during squalls and early mornings so we have left in two of the four sliding panes on each side which allows us to get just the right amount of breeze coming in or kept out as conditions change. As the hotter summer weather arrives we will remove all but the front three panes for maximum airflow and cooling.
Timely Transition
In all seriousness though, it really is going to take me a good while longer to make this transition back into the live I and we both love SO much. The build officially started on the 6th of April 2018 and we had been in Antalya since the end of 2017 so we have been landlubbers for over four years and that along with all the stress and strain of the build process has taken its toll on both of us. Our choice of Turkey and Antalya to build Möbius turned out to be even better than we had hoped and especially when you consider the safe haven this provided for us as we lived through the past few years of Covid on top of it all. We therefore begin our meandering exit out of Turkey with the fondest of memories, a fabulous new home and that bittersweet combination of melancholy to be leaving and excitement of getting back to life afloat.
Truth be told though we are also both exhausted mentally and physically. You know that feeling when you finally finish a big job and sit down for a quick breather and it hits you; “Oh! I didn’t realise I was THAT tired!”? Some supersized version of that is what I’ve been feeling these past few days after leaving Finike. Christine has her own similar but unique version as we both become more and more aware of the need to breath deeply and take our time settling into what in some ways is our very familiar past life and yet at the same time, our all together new life.
The Latest Voyage Begins
Unfortunately Christine twisted her knee last week and it has been getting worse so we rented a car and drove back down to the hospital in Kamlucha the town beside Finike and where we have been before. Their MRI machine was being serviced but they did a preliminary exam and prescribed some anti inflammatory to help reduce the swelling and those have been helping. We will go to the next big hospital for a full MRI scan at our next stop in Fethiye.
The Newest Member of Möbius.World Fleet
For now though, this new kayak will work fine for short trips ashore when we are on anchor.
Testing, Testing ………
We now had about 100 nautical miles under Möbius’ keel with our various short test runs and trips since launching last year and all of these have been in very benign conditions so we wanted to push Möbius, and ourselves, a little bit harder. Weather forecast for Sunday the 22nd called for some thunderstorms and a bit of wind so we decided to make the longer run, about 60nm from Kas to Fethiye. We left Kaş marina in beautiful sunny morning weather but a few hours later as we were making our way along the coast the skies turned dark and stormy with winds gusting over 35 knots with about 1 meter seas. Both of those on the nose of course! So we got a bit more than we had bargained for but did provide us with the kind of testing and different conditions we wanted. Mr. Gee purred along for the next 8+ hours without a hiccup or complaint and we probably averaged about 7.5 knots overall. I was surprised at how much wind affected our speed which would reduce our speed up to one knot when against us and add about the same when from behind. We are in eXtremely lightships trim with only about 500 of the 17,000 liters in our tanks and I have not make our paravanes yet and so in the confused seas we experienced, when the swells came at us on the Port beam/Left side they rolled our smooth rounded hull much the same as our previous sailboat. However Möbius handled it all in stride and really did help us get much more of a feel for the way this new hull performs. It will be a completely different ride once we have full fuel tanks and paravanes in the water! With that experience under our keels we can now go back to the much more common calm sea and weather conditions for the remainder of our cruising up the Turquoise coast towards Istanbul. As Christine noted though, “getting those paravanes installed just moved up my priority list quite a few notches”!
This is how we will continue for our last few weeks in Turkish waters before we check out and head over to Greece where we are VERY excited to be meeting Lia, Brian and our two Granddaughters Brynn and Blair when they land in Athens. Can’t wait for more time and experiences with that whole crew and we will need to take it slow and rest up between now and then to have enough energy to keep up with our two young crewmembers.
Thanks for joining us as we set of on this latest of life’s adventures and please continue to add all your comments and questions in the “Join the Discussion” box below.
-Wayne
Great to hear you are under way! I remember when we first met on Rapa Nui. You have accomplished the most amazing life adventures with more to come. I look forward to following along in spirit! Stay well.
I remember it very well too Elaine. Rapa Nui was a VERY special stop for me on Learnativity, perhaps only topped a wee bit by my sail over to Pitcairn from there.
Really appreciate you taking the time and interest to continue to follow me on these latest adventures and hopefully the new one we’ve just begun getting back to sea on our newest floating home will be even more fun and entertainment for you.
Hi Wayne. Bravo on finally starting to cruise!
Am I right that Mobius is not wearing the Jersey ensign, even though she’s registered in Jersey?
Hi Piers and thanks for the comment. Good eyes and yes I’m guilty as charged! This is “just” the plain Red Ensign because back when we first needed a flag for launching Möbius it was the height of the covid restrictions and the best flag we could get. We are very proud to have the Baliwick of Jersey as our “home port” and we now have the proper Jersey ensign onboard and I just need to retire the old one and hoist the new. Thanks for the reminder and I’ll try to include a photo in an upcoming blog update when the Jersey Red Ensign is flapping in the breezes behind Möbius.
Although we miss you two (and Möbiüs and the doggies), we are so delighted that you’re finally under way
We share all those sentiments Matt and Cindy and thanks again for the help tossing off the dock lines in Finike and for the photos and videos. Other than the drone it is always a challenge to get shots of your own boat from shore or sea so much appreciated.
Hope you two get Speedy all finished and back in the water and that you too are soon on your way back to life afloat. Look forward to sharing an anchorage with you somewhere soon as our paths cross again.
WOOHOO, Wayne & Christine, you are afloat! Enjoy your sea trials, scenery and family. Congratulations, your voyage is in motion. Mike & Cindy
Always puts a smile on my face to know that you and Cindy are along for the ride with us Mike. We will do our best to try and make it over to at least the East coast and hopefully close enough to you guys to be able to have you aboard Möbius and enjoying our Guest Cabin.
Looks great, sounds great, and I am sure it feels great !
It does indeed feel great to be as I titled the latest blog update “Free at last”. Hope all is going well for you and Lily and the your new XPM build so please do keep us posted as that progresses. We will continue to try to maintain the weekly updates to this Möbius.World blog as we make the transition back to our life at sea.
Well done. We will leave Alanya, sometime mid to end June, working our way West, bound for Greece. Maybe we will see you?
Ahoy Wade and Diane. Thanks for this update and exciting to learn that you guys will soon be back at sea as well. We are most likely to be in and around the Athens area for most of the month of July so let’s stay in touch on WhatsApp or FB as our voyages move forward and be sure to find an anchor to share if at all possible in Greece or wherever comes next for both of us.
Love to see you both cruising again and your amazing Mobius! We hope our path will cross again at sea or on land! Enjoy this next chapter. The Conti’s
Hey there Conti Clan! Yes, as you know better than most getting back on the water and underway is a feeling that is hard to top.
We too look forward to finding the next place where our wakes can cross and we can share an anchor together or be aboard one of our boats together.
See you soon!