The last cruise of Mary Lou

[Norman_E]

I bought Mary Lou, a 1998 Jeanneau 45.2 at the end of 2005, and sailed her round the south west Turkish coast and the nearby Greek islands with my wife, sometimes with friends and sometimes I just took her single handed. The 45.2 is one of Jeanneau’s best designs, with a sleek hull and deep keel, and a properly shaped bow and stern, unlike the modern trend of yachts with a vertical stem and a transom as wide as the maximum beam. Good interior accommodation finished with matched teak veneers makes it a comfortable and stylish cruiser. A strong masthead rig with a fully battened mainsail, and a tri radial laminate genoa made it a reasonably fast one.

Sadly in late 2019 and early 2020 my health problems, plus the onset of the covid lockdowns made it unlikely that we would be sailing for some time and I took the decision to sell the boat. I sold to a friend with the agreement that we could have one last good cruise, when we were able.

We have just returned from that cruise. We collected Mary Lou in Orhaniye and sailed her to see many of our old friends, among them Mehmet and his family at Sailors Paradise, Sailors House in Bozzukale bay, Banu and her staff at Yacht Classic in Fethiye, Can and Jill at Karacaoren, who now have two young daughters, Regip at Amigos and Mustafa & Salih at Ersoy

The weather was nothing like the normal full on sunshine that we had come to expect in May and June, but was characterised by cloudy days, with some rain even into June. We had to motor quite a bit but we did get some good sails, notably an out and back sail from Fethiye towards Gocek on a beam reach both ways, and mostly at 7+ knots.

All good things come to an end, and we returned the boat to Orhaniye on 10th June, with some sadness that our sailing days may now be over. The yacht will sail on, with her new owner, new flag, and a new name, but to us she will always be Mary Lou.

 

[Fimacca]

Well done you - a good send off - and perhaps you can crew for friends if you feel up to it. I know the jeanneaus and have one of similar vintage myself, early 2000's build.

 

[Norman_E]

I just put the few photos I took on the trip onto my computer, so here are two shots of the boat, sporting her American flag as she has an English owner who lives in Turkey. With no UK address, he cannot put it on SSR, and can only get it Turkish registered when he has owned the boat for 5 years. Hence registration by a Delaware company.
In Karacaoren bay, with the Island in the background.


Moored for the last time by me, at the Palmiye jetty in Orhaniye

 

[DownWest]

Glad for happy times.

 

[Sandydog2]

Thanks, that was interesting reading. We kept our boat in Orhaniye (sold her in 2013 having bought her new in 2001). We have sailed there since in a friend's boat which was kept in Marmaris and later at the Palmiye. We miss the area very much and it's good to hear news from there.

We haven't given up on sailing altogether. We have gone back to flotillas, which we are enjoying very much. The boats are nowhere near as well kitted or as our own was but it is great to not have the worry of fixing things. We also find we travel further in a 2 week flotilla than we would on our own boat as we know there will be a place on the quay.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

I bought Mary Lou, a 1998 Jeanneau 45.2 at the end of 2005, and sailed her round the south west Turkish coast and the nearby Greek islands with my wife, sometimes with friends and sometimes I just took her single handed. The 45.2 is one of Jeanneau’s best designs, with a sleek hull and deep keel, and a properly shaped bow and stern, unlike the modern trend of yachts with a vertical stem and a transom as wide as the maximum beam. Good interior accommodation finished with matched teak veneers makes it a comfortable and stylish cruiser. A strong masthead rig with a fully battened mainsail, and a tri radial laminate genoa made it a reasonably fast one.

Sadly in late 2019 and early 2020 my health problems, plus the onset of the covid lockdowns made it unlikely that we would be sailing for some time and I took the decision to sell the boat. I sold to a friend with the agreement that we could have one last good cruise, when we were able.

We have just returned from that cruise. We collected Mary Lou in Orhaniye and sailed her to see many of our old friends, among them Mehmet and his family at Sailors Paradise, Sailors House in Bozzukale bay, Banu and her staff at Yacht Classic in Fethiye, Can and Jill at Karacaoren, who now have two young daughters, Regip at Amigos and Mustafa & Salih at Ersoy

The weather was nothing like the normal full on sunshine that we had come to expect in May and June, but was characterised by cloudy days, with some rain even into June. We had to motor quite a bit but we did get some good sails, notably an out and back sail from Fethiye towards Gocek on a beam reach both ways, and mostly at 7+ knots.

All good things come to an end, and we returned the boat to Orhaniye on 10th June, with some sadness that our sailing days may now be over. The yacht will sail on, with her new owner, new flag, and a new name, but to us she will always be Mary Lou.

What a lovely post. Thank you for sharing this.

 

[Frogmogman]

Nice. Lovely boat, and one of my favourite cruising grounds.

I hope swallowing the anchor doesn’t cause you any indigestion.