Reasons for doing it -1!

So what is it about sailing which keeps us WAWAWs coming back for more. I can't answer for my fellow WAWAWs but there are two over riding reasons for me to keep  returning to the boat, the sea and my intrepidation.

Firstly, but probably not the most important one, is the leaving and arriving!
There is something magical about slipping away from a mooring, out into the sea, and not being entirely certain what your next port of call will be like (and in the case of the WAWAW whether you will even make it!).

OK, there's all the bits in between, the good, the bad and the unpredictable but there is, also, an anticapation which is unlike anything else you may experience.  You may see very little but then when you do see something it is always fascinating. Whales off the coast of Marmaris, dolphins playing around the boat, flying fish, sword fish and always the changing colour of the sea.

Then there is the arrival at a new harbour, marina or anchorage. Yes, I know,this is  one of the biggest causes of stress for the genuine WAWAW  but, you must admit, arrival at anywhere new in a boat  is an adventure.

There is nothing quite like it. Arrival at an airport,or  a train or coach station just doesn't feel the same. Maybe there is a sense of relief attached to this but, I think it is more than this, we feel a sense of achievement - we've made it!

"I must go down to the sea again" Why?

Why, when we are not natural sailors, have an aversion to iffy weather, and prefer dry land to heaving seas, do we go sailing?
It's THE big question.
Do we do it out of love and devotion to our partners?
May be, in part.
Are we masochistic?
Don't think so.
Are we testing our inner strengths?
Could be something in that?

I bet all WAWAWs have been asked this question. I have - often! When people see me reaching for the seasickness tablets, smiling wanly at the thought of another passage in lumpy seas and note my endless checking of weather forecasts, they ask, "Well if it's this nerve wracking, why do you do it?"
At last I think I've figured it out - well for me at least.

Before I can post my reasons I need to think them through so they make some kind of sense but it would be interesting to ask that question of my fellow WAWAWs and see what they come up with.

More later....................................

Gocek Story

I also have an incident in a bay near Gocek. A few years ago my husband and I were anchored in one of the charming anchorages that line the Gocek area. We decided to swim.
We dove into the water and swam away from our sailboat. Looking out to the bay, we suddenly saw a mass of debris, spread over the water like oil, heading our way. A gulet had emptied their waste tanks within the Gocek bay area and it was moving towards us! We swam as fast as we could to our boat! So much for swimming on that beautiful day. I'm quite certain that this was not an isolated incident and that since then, it has only gotten worse.

A dirty tale or two - making a point!

Tale number one:


A beautiful day and I'm sitting on our boat in Ayvalik Marina. It's hot but there is a breeze. Unfortunately it  is carrying the 'Ayvalik Perfume' with it, a smell distinctly like bad drains.
Another equally unfortunate side-effect is the amount of rubbish which is blowing  between the boats. It is swirling and dancing in the murky water, an unpleasant mix of plastic bags, water melon husks, peel and skins from a  variety of fruits, and other bits of rubbish which I would rather not examine too closely.
Apart from the obvious damage such rubbish can do to boats this is unhygienic to say the least. The only things that don't seem to mind are the fish!

On the jetty there is a young boy laboriously harvesting the fat, well fed mussels that bloom there.

I don't eat shell fish in Ayvalik!

Tale number two:

It is late May and we are sailing with my brother and his wife from Tilos and are on our way back to Gocek. The weather is wonderful, warm and sunny. We decide to break our journey on one of the lovely bays in that stretch of coast leading to Marmaris.
Our welcome onto the jetty is helpful, just as it is everywhere we go in Turkey. There is electric and fresh water, with showers and toilets if we want them.

The sea in the bay is begging us to go in for a swim. People on the boats moored next to us are already enjoy the clear, turquoise water but we hesitate. We are wary of swimming close to moored and anchored boats  even if the water does look clean and clear.

After a while my brother gives in to temptation.
"I'm going in," he says.
Well if he is, we are, and we go to get changed.
Back on deck we see he is still not in the water.
"Changed my mind," he says with a nod towards the water where an innocuous couple of brown 'parcels' are bobbing towards the shore.

Do people at anchor deliberately empty their toilet tanks? Is it accidental? Do they care?
Sometimes I am ashamed of my fellow yachties. Most would say that they would never pollute the seas but if it isn't them them who is it? Is it just too easy to get rid of our human detritus into the sea?

Dear friends,
I am able to contact WAWAWs at last. Thanks Moira for your initiation for this special blog which I believe will be very popular.
I also as a founder member of WAWAWs is very excited to see the developments. I believe we are different than our women friends on land. We do our best to survive against the wind and waves as a result of our love for the sea and our partners.
All the individuals have a great responsibility to care, maintain and protect the sea of all kinds of pollution. Any kind of chemicals, dirt, material against the nature of sea, fish farms will detsroy our beautiful seas and our health and future in parallel. I believe the first holy purpose of this blog will be pave another way together with sea lovers to protect and maintain the pristine of the sea. I thought maybe we can form a motto for ourselves and just to give an idea like "Crystal waters" " Keep the sea crystal clear" etc.
Congradulations to us all,
Bella

As a founding member of WAWAW, I am deeply concerned about pollution in our beautiful seas and oceans worldwide. Aside from linking with fellow female sailors and sharing experiences, a basic goal of WAWAW is to help the international cause "Clean marine debris" or specfically to our Turkish coast region, "deniz temiz". We hope to link with clean sea organizations as our membership grows.

My experience with marine pollution includes the Baltimore, Md/Annapolis, MD, U.S.A. area and waters off the Turkish coast. When sailing in the Fetiyhe bay 21 years ago, my children were then 8 and 9 years old. I told them, quite off the cuff, "Enjoy it now, for in years to come we will lose these pristine waters". I had never imagined it would happen so fast! Last year I was shocked at the Gocek waters so heavily borne with trash (papers, plastics, etc) from both boats and shore.

A few weeks ago we sailed up the western coast of Turkey. Just north of Bodrum, I noticed a lot of refuse floating in the water. I commented to my husband that pollution is not just a problem in the charter-crowded south. At that moment one of our engines overheated and stopped. Plastic was found covering intake valves. I'm sure we are not the only boat troubled with the results of pollution in the seas! Not to mention our fishing line once hooking a large plastic bag full of trash--a disappoinment to us hoping for a fish lunch!

The WAWAW's are hoping that fellow female sailors will not only enjoy sharing their adventures at sea, but also will be inspired to join our new organization to put real teeth into efforts to clean our precious seas. Let's restore Jacques Cousteau's message and save our seas! ~Pat (Istanbul, Turkey)

The WAWAWs may be Women Against Wind and Waves but equally importantly we are women passionate about Clean Seas, Safe Shores and Caring Sailors.
We have seen the results of those who disregard the need for the responsible disposal of rubbish. Litter accumulated in marinas, plastic bags, bits of polystyrene, paper, and much worse, choking up, what should be, idyllic coves and destroying marine life.

Help us keep our seas beautiful., particularly the unique seas of Turkey,  by caring as much as we do.

How did that happen!!??

"There's a line in the water. You'll have to get it in!"
Who me? Moi???
"Hurry, now quickly!!!"


We set off this morning from Datca with the intention of having a short, pleasant and, hopefully, uneventful sail to Knidos where we would spend the rest of the day and night before tackling the dreaded Datca peninsula.  At first the day was kind to us, blue skies, a gentle breeze, the kind of days WAWAWs love.
Three hours into the journey that had changed to slate grey waters, a herd of white horses and WIND!
But I'm OK. I settle myself into my tiny corner of the cockpit, arms wrapped firmly round the nearest winch and think that in an hour or two we will be at our destination. I can cope with this bit of rough!

The call to arms comes just as we are rounding into the Knidos bay. The cliffs loomed large on our starboard side and the waves have increased alarmingly.

"You'll have to get that line while I stop the engine and WE ARE IN A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION HERE!"

As if he need to tell me that! Sod's Law has it that I am not wearing my harness or life jacket so am not clipped on to anything on the boat. If I go over it's hello blue seas here I come!

Nevertheless I relinquish my love affair with the winch and crawl forward.

"On your feet not your knees!"

"I can't stand up in this!" I scream back but eventually I stagger upright and somehow reach the trailing line.

"QUICKLY, QUICKLY. YOU'LL HAVE TO BE QUICK!"

What does he think I"m trying to do. Knit a jumper?

I wrap myself round a stay and pull in the sodden rope with a speed and strength I didn't know I possessed and stow the line safely behind a stay.

"It's in." I yell..

Without a moment's respite the engine is restarted and we are off, plunging our way through the foaming sea with me clinging to anything I can get my hands, arms, and legs round.  Spray drenches me, I am sodden, my hands are wrinkled with sea water and going numb and I am seeing more of the sea at an unfamiliar angle than I like. There is no way that I can get back to the relative safety of the cockpit! However, I, me moi, did save the day and I am surviving this roller coaster ride surely my husband must be a bit proud of me.

"And just how did that happen?" I hear the accusation in my captain's voice. My reply goes unheard, words whisked away by the wind.

"Well actually it was the line that you brought in at Datca and stowed on the deck."

For once it wasn't me to blame and there is a small victory in that. After all we WAWAWs must gain points when and where we can!

So we arrive in Knidos. My hair is standing on end and I look like an entrant for 'Granny in a Wet T-Shirt but another day, another harbour and another night to contemplate the next Big Adventure.

A happy WAWAW  negotiating calm waters.

A WAWAW at peace!

The WAWAWs - an introduction

WAWAW stands for "Women against Wind and Waves."
The WAWAWs began life on the 2010 Aegean Yacht Rally. Founded by a select group of female sailors, our group encompasses the spirit of those women who bravely endure conditions contrary to their natures. Whilst our membership is in no way exclusive we are selective. As this blog progresses those of you who read this will know whether you can or cannot meet the strict WAWAW criteria.