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03/04/09 The last few days have seen a return of summer weather and yotties are in shorts again - though I haven't inflicted the spectacle of my white legs on the populace of Marmaris as yet! An early morning drive to Dalaman airport to meet Bob & Sue who flew in from Cyprus for the weekend - absolutely great to see them again
and my slight trepidation of wondering what we would talk about after all this time soon vanished as we drove back to town. Neither had changed much over the years and the humour was still there as we reminisced. I had booked them into Domino's with Karen and Paul, and dropped them there whilst I took the car back to the marina and said 'cheerio' to Roger, who was flying back to the UK for a while, before returning by dolmuş to wander around the bazaar with them. When we later returned to the marina and Rhumb Do.....Sue was unable to climb aboard - it's quite a stretch to my bow and she doesn't have long enough legs! Adjourned to the bar and a meal in the restaurant with Astrid before cracking open a litre bottle of bacardi onboard Storm Dodger (which Sue could board!). Strangely, they then missed the last domuş back to town and Astrid offered them a bed onboard Storm Dodger when the bottle was empty!
04/04/09 Enjoyed a relaxed lunch at Çinar restaurant, sitting in the dappled sunshine of the open air restaurant before repeating last night's bacardi programme - Bob & Sue again missing the dolmuş - must be a Cypriot thing!
05/04/09 Rained all morning and most of the afternoon which prevented us from doing very much. Met up with Bob & Sue in town for an evening meal (but no drinks today because of driving later).
06/04/09 Drove back to Dalaman in heavy rain, dropping Bob & Sue there at 0345. The drive back was interspersed with brilliant lightning flashes which lit the road like daylight, helping me avoid the flooded areas! Arrived back onboard at 0500 and turned in for a few hours. It's not often you get to see friends from so long ago and Bob is in fact the only 'ex Navy' pal I've ever met again.....so it's been a great weekend for me (photo's by Sue) and hopefully I will see them again later in the year in Cyprus, but for now it's back to the reality of water-makers and radar!
07/04/09 Grrrr.....woke to rain again! Some worrying news over the last day or two with regard internet access for us yotties. As a result of a European directive which requires internet service providers to store records of all internet phone calls and e-mail contacts made (an attempt at anti-terrorism), marina's in Fethiye and Marmaris (Netsel marina) have 'switched off' their routers without any warning whatsoever, leaving boats there without any form of internet connection. There is debate about who actually is the service provider that would have to keep the said records and we don't believe it is the marina itself. Furthermore, it's an EU Directive - so what's that got to do with Turkey? However, the fact remains that some cruiser/liveaboards in Turkey now have no access to the outside world via the internet. If it happens here, then my website will only be updated when I am located in a 'non restricted area' ........and worse still - I will have no access to e-mails, or any other website for that matter. Nothing to do but wait and see.
09/04/09 Ran the electric cables for my water-maker from the fwd cabin wardrobe to the nav. berth. My new anchor chain arrived - should have been yesterday but I suppose one day late isn't bad for Turkish timekeeping. It's what comes of the Turkish genuine fake Rolex watches! Spliced on some new octoplait rope to the chain and stowed it away in the cable locker, marking the 10 metre points can wait until later.
10/04/09 One of those days when I should have stayed in bed! It happens now and again to us all. Started the plumbing of the water-maker membrane by removing the supply hose to the sink hand pump. The base of the pump is plastic and of an unknown age, which obviously weakened by the pressure of it's jubilee clip, decided to break off inside the removed hose. Simultaneously, the electric pressure pump refused to turn off, and I spent an hour frantically turning out lockers to find the suspected burst pipe (as before). It took me some time to realise that by disconnecting the hand pump, the electric pump is affected - it shouldn't be - but it is! So, off into town to find a replacement pump, which of course is not available (how did I know that before I set off?) and I have now had to order one from Istanbul.......meanwhile, the day is wasted and no further progress made with the job in hand. Returned onboard and 'bodged' a repair to last me until the new pump arrives. Ah well, there's always tomorrow!
14/04/09 I thought the membrane plumbing would be easy - the pump and filters being the 'hard' part - but I was wrong! I've been back and forth to town because of differing connectors being required for varying hose sizes, 6mm, 16mm, 19mm and half inch imperial all need to be connected and clipped. It all takes time, and coupled with the limited space under the galley sink in which I have to work, has made it a longer than expected job. Diving into the depths of the bilges revealed that both the cold water hand pump and the electric pressure pump have a common suction pipe - which explains the continual running of the pump a few days ago - it was sucking in air! A final trip into town for yet another connector, and lunch with Rose, Joyce, Astrid and Leah before finally completing my 'in cupboard' work (photo's) which leaves just the final electrical connection and plumbing of a 50 micron filter to the sea water inlet - which hopefully, Roger will be bringing back with him from the UK on Friday.
16/04/09 Into town again for some bits and pieces, most of the town centre being closed off for the start of the 5th leg of 45th Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey, the cylists heading from Marmaris to Fethiye, some 130km away. I most definitely do not envy them on the hill climb out of Marmaris!
The cyclists head away from Tansaş supermarket on the road toward Fethiye.
20/04/09 A depressing couple of days where nothing seems to be going right for me. My much needed filter for the water-maker was inadvertently left behind when Roger returned from the UK on Friday. My cruising chute is still stuck in Istanbul and is to be destroyed because of some paperwork problem, and the replacement which should have arrived in Turkey (Bodrum) today, has not yet been despatched from the UK. This morning I noticed water where there shouldn't be any - and discovered a small drip (about 10 drips per min) from a three way valve on the fresh water flushing side of the water-maker. I had intended going into town to collect the new hand pump sent from West Marine in Istanbul, but luckily, Fiona and Terry from Roam II were in town at Aras Kargo and they picked it up for me, because my whole day was taken up with stopping the leak! I must have taken the joint apart and re-assembled it a dozen times before the drip finally stopped.....but there is another from the charcoal filter housing! I'm still unable to get anyone to fit the radome bracket or run the cable down the inside of the mast - and there is no way that I can get up there on my own, so I will leave that job until the next marina that I visit.
22/04/09 Emptied my chain locker and dumped 30mtrs of old chain that I wasn't aware I had. I cut 10mtrs from my old anchor chain for use on the kedge anchor before storing the remaining chain in the lower part of the locker. I pulled the new chain and spliced rode out along the pontoon and marked off the 10mtr lengths - one or two asking who had done the splicing, and would I do theirs for them - sorry, I don't have time to do others at the moment.
23/04/09 St George's Day and the appropriate St. G flag flying at the port spreader (I have a German boat on one side and a French boat on the other). A few other boats in the marina are also flying the Cross of St George. I went to pay for another month in the marina this morning, forgetting that Roger had told me they were no longer accepting plastic fantastic as a means of payment. A stupid decision by the management as 's are not available from the marina hole-in-the-wall and means I will have to go into town tomorrow before I can pay for my berth. I wish the boat was ready to sail out now but I still have much to do before going to sea again.
30/04/09 Unable to get anyone to fit the radar scanner for me and with Roger's offer of help, I decided on the DIY approach. Roger hoisted me up the mast with Astrid 'tailing' the halyard. I drilled the required 14 holes and riveted the bracket to the mast but the cable run down the mast is going to be problematic because of the internal conduit - how do I drill that without damaging the cables already contained within? Had dinner in the restaurant with Roger, Astrid and Kev & Karen who have returned to Marmaris from Malta onboard Nisroc.
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