The Drama Continues...

We could still see Uli’s mast from our cockpit this morning and knew he never made it in the water. We gave him a call to check in and he stopped by on his way to the airport a few minutes later. He told us how the angry worker had talked to the travel lift operators yesterday and told them not to put him in the water because he was a ‘liar’. For some reason the travel lift guys listened to him and so after all of that work and stress the boat just remains hauled out. Uli had some contact with the office about this whole mess but didn’t really have the time to sort it out because of needing to catch a flight. Mike and I also felt it was important to talk with the office about our concerns because this guy seems like a time bomb. So we headed in and talked with one of the lovely (and stylish) young women who work in the office. She had spoken with Uli and was aware of the situation and us being witness to the interaction. She said she will pass it along to her manager. Apparently, there have been previous complaints about this guy, and he may be banned from working in the marina any longer. We returned home feeling a bit bad about everything but continued on with work to only be witness to another unfortunate event. The workers from Demir (the shop below us) were on the boat next to us. It’s a very expensive sailboat and they were continuing the job of removing the steel structure which had been previously built around it so they could tarp it off and protect it…from people like us! I had been watching them yesterday and told them to be careful as one guy was standing on a one inch wide piece of steel about 15 feet in the air trying to unbolt a large piece above him. Well today I was on deck and the same men were at it again. This time he was on a ladder which was supported against one of the steel beams (if you can call it that). Unfortunately, the steel beam wasn’t welded in place as he thought and gave away. There was this moment where his ladder seemed suspended and then started to fall out from beneath him. There was nothing he could do because he couldn’t jump or else we would fall on a pile of rusty steel pieces. So he clung to the ladder, and good or bad, our boat (and his head) broke the fall before he hit the ground. He had a bit of a goose egg on his forehead and appeared a little shook up. Also a contusion to his leg but overall he seemed ok. And as he was falling an older worker tried to jump out of the way of flying metal but got hit on his ankle and foot. Again, nothing seemed punctured or broken and they both seemed to have luckily escaped worse injury. We tried to play nurse but their co-workers were taking pretty good care of them. After lunch they were all right back at it again, only this time another guy on the ladder. I think the one who fell was done with that job for the day! Right in the middle of all of this a marina employee came by and told us that the office wanted to see us again. So we made our way back and were informed that the marina manager wanted to speak with us. We have to say that it was a bit like being called into the principal’s office and telling our version of the fight in the school yard. But we also took it seriously and really wanted to convey our concerns about this guy’s very obvious anger issues. We weren’t really sure if the manager took us seriously since he laughed at times, but he did tell us that he was most likely going to kick this worker out of the yard. And to make it feel even more like school when we walked out through the reception area there was the worker sitting with his head down waiting to speak with manager as well. And it only continued when later in the day as we were walking to the store we ran into the manager and the worker on their scooters. They came over to us and the marina manager said “Apologize to them!” so the worker told us he was sorry, shook our hands and then also tried to slip in that he wasn’t at fault. The manager was obviously done with our drama and he stopped that conversation quickly and they rode away. We do feel badly about him most likely losing his job. Maybe the whole thing was just a simple misunderstanding. English is both their second languages, and perhaps it was just a simple miscommunication that led to their conflict. I’m sure they both honestly thought they were right, but the workers reaction was way out of proportion to the situation. I have also thought back to the book “The House of Sand and Fog” and my imagination gets carried away. Maybe the worker has a personal situation going on where the money is really important or necessary for him which caused the frustration and anger. Or maybe he’s just an ass after all. But the whole thing was unfortunate and is hopefully behind us now.