Leona

14.07 - 24.10.2025 

m/y Leona

Captain

Forward view

Leona

Having had an interview with the Director of FEMA sometime in May I was at home after having been dismissed by the Owners of Al-Raya due to change in Management perhaps due to internal politics. Our old yacht manager who had had the relationship with the owners had recently passed away due to cancer, so thinking this was the clue of the sudden change. Nevertheless this was now history and not worth dwelling on.

Istanbul west marina

I was chilling at home in Italy when I got a phone call mid-July from Turkey to come join the 80m Leona for some summer cruising in Turkish waters, she was built by the Bilgin yard in 2023. I wasn't really doing anything and was not looking forward going onboard either but still agreed to go as it was a challenge, not to mention urgent. I only got barely a day to close my house and throw a few things in a bag before hurrying myself to Nice and fly to Istanbul/ Constantinople...

Bodrum

Bodrum 

Bodrum

Bodrum

Fire drill

Having arrived Istanbul late at night we got a taxi to a hotel somewhere near the Bosporus, I had been joined by a chief stewardess from Lithuania and 2nd stewardess from Serbia and a new yacht manager from Croatia. The next morning it was time for a quick breakfast after only a handful of shuteye. Then it was again on the road to the Management Offices for a quick pointless meeting telling us we had to get to Bodrum for a possible charter in a week. 

We then piled into cars and were driven to the West Istanbul marina where the yacht was. Apparently she had been laid up or sat in same spot for past 2 years with only a handful of crew onboard. She had only made the trip to Monaco yacht show upon her launch, been displayed there and then made the same trek back to Turkey. She looked ok from a distance but as one got closer I could see the threadbare mooring lines and the accumulated dust that had burned into the paint, maybe acidic rain, making it very streaky from different angles. She had no accoutrements for running a charter so basically everything had to be purchased from plates, cutlery, crystalware to bedlinen, towels, table decorations and water toys. I was given a credit card to that effect.

At Bodrum

Bodrum

The yacht itself looked very sleek but funny enough had more pools than you could shake a stick at. Maybe the owner was a fan of Roman baths as the lazarette looked like one. She also had 2 large side doors and a stern door that opened the whole lazarette into a spa area, only the sauna was missing. She was quite spacious but kind of narrow vs her length but I was told by the Captain handing over that the beam was due to limitations of the shed at the builders, I think she could've done with maybe 2m more width to give her better technical spaces. 

The guest cabins were only 5 as one had been converted to a walk in wardrobe, as usual the master was at top but interestingly the view was aft, not forward. Under the master was a bar lounge that could be split into 2 separate areas if needed by sliding glass doors. Then was main salon and 2 VIP cabins and under them was a gym/ sauna and cinema + 2 smaller guest cabins and the walk-in wardrobe. The outfitting is very opulent and with so much detail it's enough to give one a headache maybe not everyone's cup of tea. Our nightmare was a fishtank in the main salon that was always splashing over in a bit of sea, then the fish kept dying on us despite the chief engineers best efforts.

The galley was hopelessly small and so was the provision storage area on the tank top, one got an impression of large space but when looking into it you realized it was actually quite narrow due to the beam. There was no dry stores, they had all been converted to crew recreation rooms (as per the signs), wonder what one could do in a dark cubicle without windows and a sofa in one corner? Maybe throw in a roll of toilet paper. We had no choice but to use these for dry stores if we were to manage at all. One good design was the side door for provisions, it saved us time from lugging all the stuff from the stern and was not disturbing guests. As usual, crew cabins were at waterline forward and aft of them the messroom, the space was not very comfy and garbage handling was not thought out very well. Most crew had to share cabins except the chief engineer. Captains and chief mate's single cabins was behind the bridge and aft of them was the sick bay which really was a closet considering how small the space was. Quite a simple layout with a central staircase in guest areas and one in crew areas. 

Turkey

The Turkish chief engineer we found to complement the crew was a likeable chap and spoke good English, the 2nd engineer had been onboard from the newbuild but not very well versed in English but was very useful to know what is behind panels. 

One of the deckhands we got was a SA chap that turned out to be a bit useless, most of the time he was staring at the horizon or he was tired, I also had several female deckhands that was new for me but worked out quite well. I got as chief mate a Croatian chap that later I had to let go because he was not very good in leadership, he did not take it well either and walked off there and then, it was a pity as he was a very good seaman. 

The first chief stewardess I also had to let go as she was too tied up in her earlier preconceptions and could not think out of the box, got complaints all the time of her from management. I got a temp replacement from Latvia that was heaps better but still had room of improvement, she came for one trip only and was replaced by a Croatian lady that was a considerable improvement. 

My 2nd officer was a young lad from Uruguay that in the end proved to be a lot of talk but no walk and not very reliable in the end. He also took as habit to go and pilfer guest caviar and champers during the night. 

Finding the chef was a nightmare in the middle of season and after a few failures I ended up taking a guy from Czech, he was the weirdest chef I ever had onboard, I replaced him after the 1st trip with an Indian chef that was more talkative and social and I had also worked with him before. 

For the Interior we got a mixed bag of nationalities from Sweden, South Africa, Croatian, British and Kiwi, then the rest of slavic origin from Ukraine and Hungary. Later on the Serbian 2nd stewardess got some mental melt down and resigned, she was replaced by a British girl. The Swede could not take the workload and was poisoned by a toxic south african that continuously sowed dissent and tried to instigate somekind of mutiny, to what ends I have no idea but she kept the DPA occupied for days and other crew did not go with the 'plan'. In the end the Swdish girl gave her resignation days before ending the first trip which was one problem less. I had another Serb stewardess that came onboard with mental issues from the onset and she melted down just few days after joining, luckily got her off fairly quickly. 

The crew was quite small for this size of a yacht to provide service for 12 guests 24/7, only 20 of us was the complement. Personally I would have liked a minimum of 25, I had not designed or built the yacht but we were definitely short in all departments considering the hours we worked.

Turkey

I met with the Turkish skipper and other 4 Turkish crew that consisted of 2 deckhands and 2 engineers. The deckhands and 2nd engineer would continue onboard as crew and so we had to find a new chief engineer. The other crew was sourced by the office and HR sent a slew of CV's, as time was short there was no time for interviews etc. so I just chose people like out of a deck of cards. At the same time there were technicians servicing the CAT gensets and MTU main engines after a long standstill to see they're still ok to run. We also had to deal with the new flag from Antigua & Barbuda to get the registry in line with statutory certificates, then the other headache was to get the electronic chart system up and running. We finally had the crew onboard and I had to send the girls ashore to buy some food so we could get something to eat enroute, I had the chief officer boarding the same hour we were leaving and had the pilot onboard. The interior was piled up with stores purchased just days before.

Barcelona

The marina was very shallow and we slowly made our way out of the wave breaker until the pilot told us goodbye and I set course for the Dardanelles. The night did not go well as we had to stop one engine due to technical issues but we were still doing around 11kts with one engine. We arrived in the straits anchorage and the vessel traffic control told us to anchor and wait for instructions. Said and done we did and waited, some hours later we were told to heave up anchor and pick up pilot for the transit, it all went well and we continued for Bodrum in a fresh breeze. 

Barcelona

The next day we arrived Golturkbuku bay north of Bodrum and I called the broker lady as instructed of our arrival. The crew set to the task of washing up and setting up the interior, obviously we were all salt encrusted and the interior was stowed for any bad weather. The broker arrived 2 hours later and came onboard with, I guess, a potential client rep. As she came onboard she hissed at me "why did you not tell me you weren't ready?"... I thought to myself... "oh, we just arrived 2hrs ago, isn't that obvious, duh?"... but I think I didn't think of anything clever to say so I thought the question rhetorical for her as she had just had a blond moment. They had a walk around and lot of discussions between themselves and finally they left. I think then after a few days the client fell through and was told to carry on the setting up and arrange repairs of the other main engine problems. 

Barcelona

I shifted south around the headland in front of Bodrum and eventually went stern to the Aganlar yard/ marina for services, supplies etc. I needed a hatch coaming to be straightened out as the deckies had bent it with the crane whilst launching the rescue boat. We discovered the hard way that there were no limit switches and that the coaming was soft aluminium instead of steel so the hatch was jamming a bit after that. It didn't take them long to bend it back with a hydraulic jack and then repaint the area. 

We also received water toys but had no chocks for them so we initially put them in the hold on car tyres whilst we found a chippie that could have them made up and put in. We also tested launching the two tenders we had onboard. Both were of Italian Dariel brand and had good gear in them but the cranes and the tolerances for getting them in and out was millimeters rather than centimeters, very tight squeeze. The small tender was easier to launch but it broke down later as it had been capsized by the previous crew, I suspect they had full rpm on the engine and played around with the scoop and went from ahead to full astern and she dipped her bow and went in. The whole electric circuitry had been found corroded and disintegrated by salt and rust, I'm surprised how it worked for us a few weeks before it gave up. We stowed it in the tender garage and never got permission to repair it.

Stowing the tenders was also a saga, the smaller Dariel was not very difficult to lift in but the larger limo type Dariel was a major undertaking. First of all we had to dismantle the canopy fully and carry the pieces forward to the tenderbay above. Then we had to hook on a several hundred kilo square frame to hook the tender on, with a bit of sea it was nearly impossible and the risk for squeezed fingers was considerable. Then when it was hooked on and lifted it had to be maneuvered sideway inside so the bow could come in first and then slowly ease the stern in with only 2-3cm to spare. The boat was way too large for the tenderbay and spending an hour to assemble and dismantle the canopy was most of the time impossible as we had guests that wanted to get going immediately. So we fixed up a makeshift bridle and towed the larger Dariel to most places, only for longer transfers we broke it apart and stowed in tenderbay. Luckily it was running on diesel so he inboard engine was well protected.

Ibiza

After the first client having fallen out we then a few weeks later secured a charter that was along the Turkish coast, we had guests coming and going, the only fixed item was the wife onboard and her security detail. As we got to know each others teams the routine soon settled in, the program was a 24/7 onslaught with kid waking up first and as the day went along the adults went to bed last, the crew of course got hardly any sleep.

Bug on the tender

The Turkish coast was new to me, we did many times on the guest request coastal moorings with our stern tied to the rocks and they enjoyed the privacy of the lines going ashore. The maneuver once getting used to it quite easy, drop anchors one by one and maneuver stern to the rocks marked out by the deck crew, first line was already rigged ashore and only given by tender to aft swimplatform to heave up on, then after that the second line would be taken ashore and tightened and that was pretty much it. Of course an anchor watch had to be kept in case of dragging, we did drag a few times and had to re anchor. The coast is quite deep so getting anchors to hold at 60-70m depth was not very easy, most times we let out all chain we had.

Because of Management's call we were tied up on the provisions supplier to use and it was a long dragged operation to get all special items they required on daily basis. The Czech chef churned out food apparently to the satisfaction of the guests but I only heard complaints from him as he could not work with the provision supplier with the notice they required. I did not envy his position but he also did not make it easier for himself by being angry at everyone.

As the charter was drawing to an end I had process some crew home that resigned and I also a couple fo dismissals as they had definitely been the wrong choice and so we had new crew coming in Bodrum but we had not time to tarry so got orders to sail for Greece and stand by there. As I was letting go and a couple of hours enroute I got instructions to sail for Ibiza. This was a bit of a surprise and I did not have the provisions for this time so I got permission to stop in Antibes enroute and provision up for the next trip. After 2 nights there we set course for Ibiza and arrived two days later. 

The trip started with a few days on the Island and receiving enormous amounts of luggage. The walk-in closet was fully packed like a thrift store. From Ibiza we then went on to Barcelona and moored in the marina and from there it was then France starting with Cannes, then onwards to Beaulieau-sur-mer and then to Italy. First we stopped at Portofino, then off to Forte dei Marmi and Sorrento, we had to skip Sardinia as the weather was quite rotten there. From Sorrento we took some fuel at Castellammare di Stabia and continued to Taormina in Sicily. Then weather look bad for going to Greece and guests needed to go so it was decided to go to Malta instead. I got a berth at the Grand harbour marina and my next quest was to arrange the luggage to be sent home to the guests by plane. It was a hard task but got an economic solution in the end. The clients left happy and I was asked to be there the next year when they would return, I said I make no promises but would not mind doing another cruise with their company.

Passing the volcano

Sicilian volcano

Sorrento coast

Capri Island

Capri Island

Full moon

Full moon off Sorrento

Coast of Sorrento

Ancient guard tower at Sorrento

Naples volcano

Sunrise at Capri

Sunrise at Capri

Sunrise at Capri

Capri

Bridge

Kalizma off Beaulieau-sur-mer

Towing the Dariel

Mermaid off Cannes

Bridge evening view

Forward mast with sunset view

Sunset view

Sunset view

Sunset view

Dariel tender with canopy

Jetskis before we got chocks made up

In Grand Harbor Malta

Having finally seen the guests off it was time to wrap up my contract, I was quite tired having done 5 months on al Raya and 3 hereon Leona so I as not keen to boatsit as the winter was approaching fast. I told the office to arrange for my relief as I had already been over my 3mth temp contract and some days later I got information of my relief. At same time we planned drydockings and repairs of snags we had found but owners seemed reluctant to take any action. I handed over to a British Captain and signed off with that. I heard later that no repairs took place and payments got overdue so she got stuck in Malta, I guess until owners would cough up funds to settle accounts.

Valletta

Waved clients goodbye

Debrief in messroom

My last view leaving

Leona specifications as follows:
IMO Number: 9842920

Dimensions & Displacement

Length Overall (LOA): 80 m 
Length at Waterline (LWL): 71 m
Breadth (Beam): 12.3 m 
Max Draught (Draft): 3.5 m 
Displacement: 1,510 tons 
Air Draft: 25 m

Build & Construction

Build Year: 2023 (Launched late 2022, delivered February 2023)
Builder: Bilgin Yachts (Istanbul, Turkey), yard no: Hull 76 
Hull Type: Full Displacement
Materials: Steel hull with an Aluminium superstructure

Tonnages & Volume

Gross Tonnage (GT): 1,722

Net Tonnage (NT): 

Performance & Capacities

Maximum Speed: 19 knots
Cruising Speed: 15 knots
Range: 6,000' at 11 knots
Fuel Capacity: 155,000 litres
Water Capacity: 45,000 litres