Roller Coaster

This morning Mike was staying on track and continuing to get some putty on the topsides in preparation for paint. We also spent some time making plans on how to meet up with Adam and Zoe in Cappadocia! It looks like we are going to pull ourselves away from the boat for a few days and finally see another part of Turkey! After running them into town for their bus, we returned to see Foxy Lady moving out of the neighborhood. It kinda feels like we are the last tenants remaining in an abandoned building. This was also the start to our emotional roller coaster ride after getting an email from family which made us seriously debate about whether we need to be home or not. The going home part sounds easy, really easy. But what do we do with the boat? So much to think about and consider. Despite our physical and emotional fatigue we continued on with getting some needed projects done before we leave tomorrow for the next few days. It will be good to get away from this place and think about what we are going to do.

Squeezing by to get 'Foxy Lady'

When we arrived at the end of March...

...and today

A Day on the Water!

So this is what it’s like to be on a boat in the water! An amazing day of being taken from one small cove to another, swimming and snorkeling in crystal clear blue water, laying in the sun listening to good tunes, laughing with new friends. This was so needed.

Shut up! No you shut up!

The Ruhfs Have Arrived!

Little did we know that this was the start to an amazing week! Today Mike’s friend, Adam, and his sister, Zoe, came through Marmaris for a visit. They were both in Rome for the World Boomerang Championship and are spending the next couple of months making a loop around the Med and found out we were on their travel path. After picking them up from the otogar we cruised around town and started making plans for the next day. All of us were ready to spend a little time exploring the coastline and blue waters so arranged for a private boat tour tomorrow since Indy isn’t quite ready for that adventure yet. The evening was filled with sitting on the beach at ‘Orange’ with the legs of our table practically in the water. We chilled while sipping on drinks and watching the sun disappear behind the mountains. After watching yet another soccer match, Adam and Zoe were game to sleep on the boat so we all headed back to the boat yard. And some nudging towards us joining them in Cappadocia began….

Surprise Visit

We managed to have a pretty good Sunday. We slept in and then started to get a final coat on the outer decks. Since the job was going so smoothly we decided to put a third coat on the other grippy areas since the sand was a bit rough on the feet. All of that wet paint was a good excuse to get off the boat so we headed to the swim platform for an afternoon of swimming, reading and napping. And we had a really great surprise from Pat and Lani! They are a couple who Mike befriended a couple of years ago while here in the marina. They were back in town with a new boat they are crew on and came in search of Independence to see if we were still around. We enjoyed a quick beer with them and then they were able to escape their guests again that night to meet us in the bar. They were even bearing gifts of wine, homemade cookies, DVDs and books! So fantastic to meet up with them again and hope to catch them again sometime this season!

On the beach waiting for the full moon to rise

Trying Not to Eddy Out

There was a small feeling of ‘eddying out’ today and we tried to get ourselves back on track. Mike mounted the windlass and cleats where the bow plate was replaced. He was also able to finish the ‘turtle’ and mounted the rigging track. I continued with some varnishing and started prepping the topsides for paint which involves sanding, some puttying and taping off the rails. Engin delivered our bimini so now our canvas work is complete! We kind of think our spray hood is a bit high and large (lots of head room) but it was really the only option given a lot of other factors. But it should do the trick of keeping us dry and shaded! In the late afternoon we got a coat of paint and sand on the outer decks and once again found ourselves painting in the dark. It was then off to the shower and rushing to the bar for the 9:30pm start of yet another soccer game...

A Different Side of Marmaris

Today we installed the rest of our dodger windows. What a mess! We had black auto sealant everywhere. Despite wearing gloves it was all over our hands, even our arms, legs, hair, clothes. And then we started tracking it over our newly painted white decks. Why it was so messy we don’t know. But decided to get it done with quick so we could get all of that stuff off the boat as soon as possible! After de-stressing with a beer, we headed into town to deal with Vodaphone (frustrating…looking through security video tapes to prove we were in the store but issue resolved) and then watched a couple of soccer games. By then it was pretty late and decided to take a walk and check out the local nightlife. Town was jumping tonight! There was the Marmaris Motorcycle Festival going on and the entire quay was lined with bikes along with a stage and live band. We also ventured down ‘Bar Street’. Wow. A whole different Marmaris from the one we know. A bar/disco every few feet with music blaring into the street. A mix of scantily clad tourists along with local families pushing baby strollers. We decided to wander into ‘Club Areena’ which is the big club in town. After letting our eyes and ears adjust to the assault of strobe lights and bad music we ventured in even further. A waiter then came up and showed me a drink menu but all I could make out was 20 lira flashing with the strobe lights. And I was not going to pay 15 bucks for a cocktail that would only make me even more nauseas and dizzy. So we made our way back out and headed toward the silence of the boat yard. I will never complain about the sound of grinders again!

Back to Work

The morning brought a feeling of urgency after taking yesterday off. We got to work on various projects such as working on the ‘turtle’ shell (where the companion way hatch slides), getting a final coat of paint on the roll bar, painting the boxes which will go on the roll bar. Mike also got a small plate welded in the hole from where the propane hose was. We also got brave and re-installed one of the windows in the dodger. Thankfully, this time it went much, much better. And for the exciting stuff…Mehmet came to start the engine and it fired right up after 2 years! Engin also surprised us with putting up our spray hood! It’s starting to feel like it’s all coming together.

Visa Run

Today we got to make a visa run to Rhodes! After getting up early to get a second coat of paint on the decks we were off to the ferry. After a bumpy ride, and lots of white paper bags being passed out, we arrived and immediately walked to the harbor where we were with Independence three years ago. We also made a stop into one of the grocery shops in the harbor and eyed a hunk of salami we would be coming back for! After another reminiscent stop at the gyro shop (the best gyros ever) we filled our day with some shopping, sipping on retsina, basically a lot of nothing. It was glorious and 4:30pm arrived much to fast. After a return to the harbor market we made our way back to the ferry dock with our haul of yummy goods. And luckily made it through Turkish customs with our wine, cheese and pork products still in hand! After a quick stop in town to watch the USA vs Algeria game we made our way back home where we proceeded to feast on our goods. We realized how relaxed we were and look forward to many more days like this.

A smiling boat

A snack of salami and swiss cheese before getting on the ferry!

Our goods!

All You Need...

Today we started on painting the rest of the decks, the grippy part. In the past we have used sand that we have collected from the beach. But this time around we got a good tip for finer sand that is cheap…sand used to line the bottom of bird cages. So after a run the one of the many pet shops in town, we made our sand shaker from an old oregano bottle and got to painting. This part was much easier. I rolled out the paint on our flat surfaces and Mike sprinkled sand. It was over and done with in no time. Mike also installed some additional stainless steel bars for our soon to be arriving spray hood. He even got the thru-deck fitting for the propane hose moved to the very aft deck so it will sit underneath some boxes we are mounting on the roll bar. Now we just have another big hole to contend with on deck but that is where the convenience of a steel boat and welding come into play. In the evening, we were invited to dinner by Mike and Anne on ‘Mithral’. They are a very nice English couple who we besieged with questions while they were hauled out on their homemade Bruce Roberts steel boat. Their boat is also about 25 years old and immaculate. Very impressive. We enjoyed a lovely dinner with conversation ranging from family to history to, of course, boats. And since they have done a lot of sailing across the Med and the Atlantic we had lots of questions for them. The big question was ‘What do we need to do to prepare for the Atlantic crossing?’. We thought we would get an answer such as make sure you have a wind vane, a SSB, emergency equipment. But guess what their answers were… a good fishing rod and bread recipe. And this isn’t the first time we have gotten those answers. We will definitely add those to our list of preparations!

Happy Summer Solstice!

Despite our water and propane tanks running dry just as Mike was attempting to make coffee and another steel boat owner telling us that we have much more than 2 weeks worth of work to do before we are in the water…this has already started off to be a better week. The temperatures are cooler, although it is really, really sticky! I got the second coat of paint on in one area. And ugghhh! There are still drips on the vertical surfaces. I tried so, so hard to make sure that didn’t happen but actually, overall it looks ok. And it’s going to be far from perfect which I have to, or try to, accept (especially when people put their dirty little toes all over your fresh paint). And we have still more cutting and grinding to do which will only spread metal dust to grow more little rust spots. But that’s life on a steel boat, right? I also spent a little time cleaning up today which always makes things feel better around here. Despite Mike’s lack of sleep last night, he worked all day on starting the get the windlass mounted. And a guy came and installed our plexi-glass window in our dodger so we will have a little more ventilation. Now we just get to install the laminated windows which I have to say scares me a little bit after our last experience. We quit a little early today in order to have time and the energy to make and enjoy dinner, which felt good. And we even watched a movie. Ahhhh, the good life. And have I mentioned that we are going to Rhodes on Wednesday to renew our visas?! Yes, we have been here for 3 months now… I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am! A whole day away from the boat, no work, just sight seeing, walking around, eating, drinking retsina(!), maybe a little shopping. It sounds like heaven.

Another Sunday...

What a day. What do exhaustion and stress equal? More emotional backlash. The past few weeks have really been a test for us. We've both been on a knife's edge between composed calm, and loosing it. It sometimes doesn't take much to push one of us over the edge. Little things like access to the computer, a misspoken word or thought, or an imagined slight or complaint. We both know that it is the underlying frustration with our situation, and not the other person, but it can still make for some trying moments. In the big picture however, I think it is a good thing. It is teaching us patience and is honing our communication and tolerance. As Mike's Dad mentioned in one of his e-mails, it is one heck of a way to build a marriage. We are able to end most days on a positive note, and definitely look to each other for support and affirmation. Overall it is making us stronger. But still the day-to-day can sometimes really suck.
Today was no different. And it didn’t help that it was Father’s Day. Upon awakening, I went out and checked out last night’s painting. Despite the big globs and drips it wasn’t so bad. Then I went back inside and back to bed. I am done, stick a fork in me, done. Mike worked on different jobs but only found himself getting easily frustrated and making many trips to the store, at least one being to the grocery store for beer. In the afternoon, he finally gave in and joined me on the day bed for my second nap of the day. I finally roused myself outside to get ready for the second coat of paint. This time I had another approach which helped ease the job a bit. And luckily the paint finished before my patience this time. And Mike was there to help in anyway he could which was greatly appreciated. Then it was back to bed, some reading, emails and finally sleep.

Painting is Stressful

The heat wave is finally breaking and it felt so good to sleep in this morning. The morning started off slow but then got busier and busier. At first I was only working on the blog, then started multi-tasking by taping off the decks while waiting for pictures to upload. Then it was full on prep trying to get the decks ready for their first coat of paint! There has been much discussion on how to tackle the painting to try and minimize the prep time and taping. But we came to the decision (my idea…) that we should break it up into different stages. We are painting the decks with a two part polyurethane and from what I have heard it is tricky to paint with. It can set fast, show all of your poor painting skills, not to mention show all of the deck’s imperfections due to its gloss. Great. Finally around 6pm, the tape was on and the temperatures were cooler so I mixed up some paint and started on the borders. Once those were done there was still a lot of paint so got part of the roll bar. Still a lot of paint (…expensive paint) and it was getting dark. So I decided to start on another section that had some large areas and would use up the paint fast but only ended up spilling paint on the deck in my rush. At this point, Mike and I were both stepping in paint (spilled and recently painted) and I was getting really tired and really frustrated. I got to the point where I couldn’t work any longer so Mike took over the painting. And this didn’t help the situation too much because he was painting in the dark and I was always pointing out where he got paint on the hand rail or missed a spot…this mixed with already frayed nerves. But the paint finally ran out and we survived. And then went to bed.

What? We Have to Set an Alarm?

The alarm went off at 5:30am and after making coffee we were on deck to paint the primer. I can’t say that it was a fun time. Mike had the roller and I was trying to paint around everything that was taped off. Mike works fast, really fast, so I kept getting painted into corners or would have to do my acrobatic/balancing act to get to spots that had already been painted around. Basically, I just started the day off in a really foul mood. And I had a dream the night before that took absolutely no interpretation to show my recent, and mostly fleeting, feelings of anger/frustration/feelings of limited control, as well as my desire for the future when we can be home and start a family. For a dream, it was as obvious as you can get.

Decks primed and now ready for paint!

After painting we headed into town and gave a ride to some British folks on the boat “Youanmee”. They were chirpy and chatty and I felt like I was holding on by a thread. It was a long drive into town. But once we dropped them off we got to pick up Ishmail (our carpenter) and drive to his shop to pick up some boxes he made for us. Then the day started to get much better. His shop is outside of Marmaris in a beautiful spot in the pine forest. And we finally got to see his ’59 Chevy truck and custom chopper he is building. Amazing. And his shop is covered in posters, almost like a college student back home… Robert DeNiro from Taxi Driver, James Dean, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, not to mention a poster for a jeans ad where he was a model back in the day. On top of that, he was the Turkish Motor Cross Champion in the early 90s! Very impressive. After hanging out in his shop and playing on his bike, we took a walk to the swim hole we have heard so much about. Wow. A perfect and deep hole in the river being fed by a waterfall. It was also surrounded by tall rocks which made a perfect jumping/diving platform. It was a playground for Mike. Afterwards, Mike tried to give Ishmail lessons in throwing a boomerang but there was not quite enough room since on the 2nd throw the boomerang got caught high up in a tree. We are just so happy to have met Ishmail, he has become a dear friend. Despite his gruff appearance, he has the sweetest and most gentle soul. I know we are going to miss him when we leave.







On the way back to the boat, we stopped off at the pool for a quick swim. I could have fallen asleep with my arms and head resting on the side and my body floating in the cool water… But we returned with my only task being working on the blog which had been neglected. Mike then worked for a couple of hours before we headed to the bar for the much anticipated US vs Slovenia game! We were robbed! There were some really, really bad calls in that game. Afterwards, we enjoyed a conversation with Martin and Sandy on ‘Mystique’ who are also from Seattle. We reminisced about home and also talked about sailing in Central America which sounds pretty good to us, almost better than the Med…is the grass always greener? At least it’s closer to home this time. And only found ourselves returning to the bar later to see how the English fared against Algeria…a draw, thank god!

Crazy from the Heat

I think we spent most of the day trying to prevent ourselves from getting heat stroke. Thank goodness the hose was on deck since I was still washing the decks. Every half hour or so we would give ourselves a shower on deck and what a difference it made. All of a sudden our energy would come back and I would actually feel a little cold, well for the first 2 minutes, when the breeze would hit my wet shirt. And the boat should now be water proof! Mike got the depth transducer installed so all of the holes are plugged up and the boat should float when we put her in the water! The canvas guy also came by and I think we have finally figured out a solution for our spray hood and bimini. After I finally gave up scrubbing the decks after realizing I was never going to get all of the rust off, I began taping in preparation for paint. I was working fast because we really wanted to get a coat of primer on in the evening when the temperatures were cooler. And the sun was only getting lower and lower in the sky. In my head, I decided that we weren’t going to make it before dark. But Mike had another idea. He wanted to paint in the dark. We are realizing that we have very different ideas about painting and it sometimes causes a bit of disagreement. So after some discussion, I headed to the shower to let Mike take on that task if he really felt the need. I was too tired to argue any further. Upon returning, I found Mike on the decks, but instead of a paint brush he had a glass of raki in his hand. We sat for awhile on deck where there was a nice breeze blowing, very unlike the conditions in the furnace like cabin. Mike suggested setting up a bed on deck but I knew that my chances for sleeping would probably be even less under the spot light of the security light and being on display for the whole boat yard. So I made my way inside and collapsed on the bed with the alarm set for 5:30am to start painting before the heat of the day.

And It's Getting Hotter

And we thought yesterday was hot. I think the temperatures are maxing out today or tomorrow around 37-38 degrees Celsius (99-100 degrees Farenheit!). Brutal. But again, a good day of accomplishments. While we were just about ready to leave the boat to finally get into town, the metal guy came by with the stainless steel pipe for our spray hood…and even installed it! Then we were off with our list of things to do, which we did quickly so we could have time to stop at the beach for a quick swim before going back to the boat. Despite the garbage laden beach, it was refreshing. And the biggest accomplishment of the day….laundry! It has been a long, long time and it was getting desperate. Mike finally washed our work clothes in a bucket a few days ago (not sure if they came out cleaner or even dirtier). And I got tired of washing my underwear in the shower every night. So with the assistance from the car, we dropped it off and then I kept the car just so I could drive back and pick it up. I didn’t feel like carrying a 20# bag of wet laundry back across the boat yard.
In the afternoon I started scrubbing the forward decks to get them ready for paint. Mike got the rusty bits on the cockpit floor ground down and a coat of epoxy paint on. After a long afternoon and evening we were ready to quit. Since we couldn’t hang out in the cockpit due to wet paint, and the cabin was much to warm, we went to the bar for a drink. We were sitting at one of the outdoor tables enjoying the evening when hunger began to creep in. Once again, we couldn’t eat at the table we were sitting at so had to move a few feet into the ‘restaurant section’. A bit too fancy for our mood but the only option available. Why they can’t just have simple bar menu, we don’t know. But every so often we are struck by the fact that we are in a pretty nice place. Tables set up on a pristine lawn, surrounded by palms and marble statues. And an incredible sunset, the sky changed every color of purple with a beautiful crescent moon and star illuminated.
After dinner we made our way back to the bar to watch the South Africa vs Uruguay match. But we only lasted the first half since bed was calling to us. And tonight there was no way we could sleep in the aft cabin. The cabin was stifling hot! So made the day bed once again, set up 2 fans and hoped for a good night’s sleep.

It's Hot

By 9am we are sweating and hadn’t even made it out of the cabin yet. And Mike had a minor meltdown this morning while trying to install new through hulls in the engine room. A combination of a tight space and the pipe wrench being to big almost caused another close call with the green man emerging. But after taking a few breaths and some encouragement from his wife, he searched out a smaller wrench that got the job done. That then led to Mike getting some small projects crossed off the list that have been lingering. And no surprise, I continued with my work on the decks…sanding and more sanding. But I could feel my energy quickly draining around 4:30pm. And we had the car reserved at 5pm to go into town and run errands. The last thing that I wanted to do was to run around in this heat. Fortunately, Mike came to the same conclusion. And with his help, we got the last round of putty on the decks! And then took advantage of the car to go back to the restaurant ‘The Missing Link’ for a cocktail and dinner. The cocktail was questionable but the food was amazing again. We were entertained by the incredibly friendly (borderline obtrusive) waiter and the host, Hardy. We found ourselves lingering longer than we thought due to the cooling temperatures and very pleasant surroundings. Hardy has a good thing going on there…beautiful location, nice home/hotel/restaurant, incredible outdoor marble patio surrounded by palms and fruit trees, a waiter being at your beck and call for food and drink. It also helped prolong our stay when the tv was pulled outside for the Brazil vs North Korea match. And if the outdoor sleeping terrace (which is being built upstairs, complete with carpets and blankets) had been completed, I don’t think we would have returned to the boat that night.

Summer is Here

The morning started off on a solemn note due to ‘The Net’ announcing the death of the marina manager and deciding to cancel this morning’s chat amongst the cruisers since talking about ‘social events’ and announcing ‘hellos and goodbyes’ seemed a bit inappropriate. We also learned that Demokan had only recently turned 31 years old and left behind a fiancée. And it’s going to be a quiet Monday around here since the marina is running on short staff due to many of the office employees flying or taking an overnight bus to be present at the funeral in Istanbul this afternoon. Again sad, no matter what the circumstances.
And summer arrived a week early in Marmaris! It is hot, in the 90s. And working on steel decks doesn’t help. At least a good breeze came up in the afternoon to help cool things off. As for work,I am hoping that I put the last of the putty on the forward decks. Then the prepping of the cockpit started. It’s a mess from all of the surfaces being used as a work table. Mike spent his morning cleaning up the mess from yesterday’s failed attempt at installing the window. The automotive sealant was rock hard and no scraping was going to get it off. So out came the grinder and then the epoxy paint to cover up the bare metal exposed. That led to a little research on what is actually the best material to use for our windows… and then a nap for Mike. Siestas may have to be made mandatory this week.

Mike's Turn

So since when did we start taking candidates for the ‘worst day ever’? As mentioned above we are a wee bit behind where we thought we would be at this time, and looming dates, dragging projects, and closing weather windows has helped add a certain level of stress. We’ve forsaken our Sunday pledge of not working and have been working partial days the past few weekends in attempts to gain some ground. Probably a mistake. I thought that starting to install the windows into our new dodger would be sort of a low-impact activity, and therefore a good option. We have had some experience with this as we have replaced all the windows in the cabin, and this seemed like it would be the same bus, just a different stop. We were mostly right. However, this particular bus started going downhill when we removed the tape used to mask off the glass and noticed that we hadn’t applied enough of the spoogy-goop (adhesive-sealant) in some places, leaving gaping… well, gaps. We attempted to add more with mixed results, and that’s when we noticed that some of the masking tape itself had torn off and become embedded in the spoogy-goop also. Not only was it’s strength and seal questionable, it was just plain ugly. Of course, any spoogy-goop that’s going to hold on a bus’s windshield at 100+ km/hr in most any kind of inclement weather (we were using automotive sealant), isn’t going to easily allow itself to be removed once in place. And it’s really, really sticky and gooey. I mean really sticky. And really gooey. And we just ran out of latex gloves. Great! I was trying to remove this stuff before it set up on us (of course it’s fast-cure), and was busily smearing it all over most of the rest of our newly painted dodger as Serena ran to the store to buy more gloves and acetone. I had slipped a knife’s blade between the glass and the frame to cut the seal when the glass itself cracked and split right up the middle. I think that’s when I snapped. I felt like what Bruce Banner must have felt like when he finally reached that point of tipping over the top and knew there’s no soon return to calm. I felt like I was going to explode. I think I yelled something inappropriate, threw the knife to the ground, and stormed off ranting. Fortunately, no big green man appeared. But I did need to take a walk and bawl my eyes out for a while before the risk of monsters subsided. It was definitely enough to scare off any lingering ideas of continuing work. (I’m really glad that Serena and I are able to time our meltdowns so well. If we were both to freak out at the same time I’m not sure what would result. But thankfully, so far one of us has been able to be the rock for the other during these episodes.)
We decided that a walk to the beach and a swim would help cool us down, but when we got there a foamy streak of something not unlike raw sewage put us off of swimming. But damn! We needed to get in the water! Fortunately the car was available when we returned to the marina and we drove half way into town to one of the beach cafés that dot the shores of the bay. A long swim, a shaded lounge chair complete with a cold beer and a very bad, overpriced sandwich enabled us to forget about the boat for a while. The beach was crowded with local families and other tourists, and it was fun to watch the frolics and to see so many people engaged in leisure. Oh Yeah! That’s what Sundays are supposed to be like!







And remember us telling you about talking with the marina manager when we had concerns about one of the workers in the yard? Well, as we returned back to the boat we were shocked to hear that Demokan, the owner’s son and acting manager of all the marina’s operations was shot and killed in Fethiye the night before. There was a motorcycle festival there and apparently the shooting was in response to an argument about a parking space. I thought that shit only happened in the USA!? Although I have to say that we have our own questions as to whether this is the true story of what happened. Needless to say it was completely tragic and threw a pall over the place and created a lot of stunned silence from most of the employees. Again, tragic.
With that kind of news on top of an already shaky day, we decided we needed some cheering up. We returned to the boat and drank some raki, watched a mindless superhero movie, and skyped our friends Heather and Shan back home. It was not only a relief to hear the voices of dear friends, but we also cleared some anxiety by explaining our situation and putting our heads together about their upcoming visit.

Thank God for the World Cup!

It’s getting hot out there and the forecast only calls for increasing temperatures next week. By 3pm I was so done with working and looking forward to quitting time. Fortunately it came soon because there was the World Cup playing in the bar that gave us an excuse to get off this boat and into a dark and air conditioned bar. While watching the game, we hung with Paul on ‘Zachariah’ and shared common frustrations about how everything is always more difficult than it should be when working on boats. It makes me feel better to hear that other have the same experiences and fight the same battles that we do. We also indulged in another cheeseburger but for some really bizarre reason food is ‘forbidden’ in the bar and only served in the restaurant. So we got up from our bar stools, walked up 5 steps, sat at the first linen covered table where we could still see the bar tv, ate our burgers and then returned to our bar stools. And the restaurant and the bar are technically one in the same. Just one of the many things about this place that makes absolutely no sense. Then after a short siesta on the boat, we headed back to the bar and watched the USA vs England match. We were the only two Yanks in a bar full of Brits. But they were all old, we could have taken them!

Evolution of a Dream

It was another full day of work on Independence. Progress is slow but sure... Mike got the plates that will hold the deck blocks for the rigging welded in place. Also the winch and rope clutch in the cockpit got mounted into place! I continued with my sanding and filling any cracks or divits on the forward deck with putty.
But besides the actual work on the boat, we are trying to figure out our game plan and how this boat fits into our future life. Our big realization is that it is too hard to have this boat so far away from Seattle. It was a dream that at the time we felt we couldn’t turn away from. But after a few years of working at home to save money for a few months on the boat, it has proved kind of difficult to sustain. We find ourselves constantly battling the deterioration that happens when she sits alone for most of the year. And add that on to projects we need, and want, to get done. It all adds up to a whole lot more work than sailing. We did the math and realized that since we bought the boat we have physically been on her for 15 months. Now comes the sad part…11 months have been working on the boat and only barely 4 months sailing. Given, a lot of the projects we’ve done/are doing are once every 10 years-or-so projects. Once they’re done, we hopefully won’t have to address them again for many years, but regardless, it’s been very unbalanced. So this time around we decided to take a whole year off to spend on the boat, not really knowing where we would end up. Would we play around all spring and summer and explore all of the amazing countries and water the Mediterranean has to offer and then winter over somewhere in Tunisia, Spain or Sardinia? Would we be brave and sail her across the Atlantic? As reality sinks in, it looks like our season of good sailing weather is passing us by. We are striving to be in the water in 2 more weeks…it’s always ‘2 more weeks’. And then there will be at least another 2-3 weeks of tying up loose ends. And we are a little worried because so many people who have been here all winter with big plans to leave only find themselves getting stuck for an extended period of time because of some unforeseen circumstance. And we are a little worried because this boat hasn’t been in the water for 2 years. So at this point we will be lucky to be out of this marina by the end of July.
Another factor in planning our lives is that we are realizing that we want to be home. We miss our family, our friends, our puppy. There are growing reasons we want to be nearer to our family, and we want to start a family of our own (and we're no spring chickens). So what are our possibilities? We can still enjoy our time with the boat, sail around the Med, winter over somewhere and leave her again next winter/spring for unknown length of time. And lose all of this progress we have made? We could put her up for sale but it seems like half the boats in this marina have ‘For Sale’ signs on them. You could also say that we have bonded with this boat over the past couple of months and it is hard to let that go. Although, if it was for the right price…. So that leaves us to the idea of bringing her home, at least closer to home anyways. And that means sailing her across the Atlantic. Which also means our year of leisure is turning into one of work, preparation, logistics and making miles. Most people we talk to say you want to get through the Med by mid-October because weather can get rough and unpredictable after that time. So…that gives us 2 ½ months (hopefully) to go back through Greece, head up the Adriatic to Montenegro and Croatia, travel west and visit Venice, cruise down the east coast of Italy and around the boot, visit Sicily, then back up the west coast of Italy with visits to the Amalfi Coast and Rome, jump across to Sardinia, maybe head north to Corsica, then to the Balearic Islands, with some time in Spain before heading through the Straits of Gibraltar with the Canary Islands as our destination. Whew! I am exhausted already. And in case you missed my sarcasm, this itinerary is completely impossible in that short of time. We’d be lucky to hit half these stops. In addition, we have been planning the past year for our friends Heather and Shan, and their little boy Lucca, to come out and meet us in Croatia which we are so looking forward to. They have tickets to Rome in August. Now we are realizing that we have no idea where we will be. And traveling with a 2 year old requires a little bit of planning. We can only hope that they can be flexible and be ok with a ‘surprise’ destination.
So these are our latest thoughts/plans at the moment. Our dream of sailing in the Med may come true after all, just a really fast and abbreviated version. And maybe we will find ourselves in the Caribbean next January. Doesn’t sound so bad… First, we just have to get this boat in the water, and then hopefully everything will fall into place.

Dinner and a Movie

We finally had some good progress on getting the canvas project started today! The metal guy (who was referred to us by the canvas guy) came and measured for the stainless steel piping which we need first. Money exchanged hands so it should be coming in another week. Then we can get the spray hood made and once that is installed figure out how to make the bimini for shade cover. Our cockpit is small and with the main boom, mizzen mast and shrouds, it makes configuring all of this a little tricky. We really didn’t want to do it in two stages, spray hood and then bimini, because of time but it seems to make the most sense to come up with something that works.
After a full day of more deck prepping and Mike doing various jobs, we jumped in the shower and then headed into town with the final goal being dinner and a movie! But first, some boat errands. And even more progress with our canvas guy! We stopped by his shop and picked out foam and material for our cockpit cushions. It seems a ways off until our cockpit will be in a state where we can use them but they will be a welcomed addition after sitting on hard steel for so long.
And then we headed out on a mission for Mike…a much needed haircut. As we were going towards the center of town the skies were growing dark and a little rain was falling, but by the time we made it to the covered mall the skies completely opened. We took shelter in a little restaurant and waited out the thunderstorm. It has been a long time since I have seen rain fall like that. I was a little stressed about all of that water finding its way inside the boat through open holes or leaky windows, but tried to let that go and just enjoy being cozy and dry with a beer in my hand. As the rain began to let up, Mike went in search of the ‘kuafor’. After a failed attempt at buying a bathing suit, I found Mike in the barber’s chair and was thoroughly entertained while sipping on my cup of complimentary Fanta. The barber was obviously very experienced and had a young apprentice (with a very hip haircut by the way, I guess a perk of the job) watching every move. But the biggest fun was when he brought out the long cotton swab set on fire to burn off the hair in Mike’s ears! And I was thankful to him as well for trimming Mike’s eyebrows. For some reason, he doesn’t let me near them!


We then took off in search of a certain restaurant that came highly recommended from another cruiser. He told us how great the chicken sish and lamb were…and he was not lying! As many of you know, I am not always the biggest fan of meat. But this chicken sish was the most amazing chicken I have ever had! Oh my god, it was soooo good! Tender and flavorful. It may sound trivial, but we have grown to appreciate little things like a good meal. After stuffing ourselves silly with mezes and three main courses we set off for the movie. For some reason we thought “Prince of Persia” would be fun to see. Going to a movie was fun but the actual movie kinda sucked. But we got to see where the bootleg movies come from. Maybe the tops of our heads will be featured in one! But it was just really nice to get away from the marina and do something non-boat related. It’s funny how something that would be so simple and ordinary at home turns into something really exciting over here!

Rust and Putty

And this is why Mike’s nieces call him ‘Uncle Monkey’. Our neighbor, ‘Foxy Lady’ had a halyard twisted in their shrouds so Mike offered to climb up and help. I am just happy that he decided to use the bosun’s chair after he reached the first spreaders. He ended up going all the way to the mast head to retrieve all the halyards that they had stored for the winter. While I was a bit nervous watching him from our cockpit, all he had to say was there was a good view and a nice breeze!






Today was another productive one. And thankfully, my spirits improved a bit although still a little shaky at times. The day consisted of more sanding and filling gaps in the deck with putty. Also going around the decks and looking for all of the places that are showing some rust and need to have the grinder take them down. For some reason there are a bunch of them on the port side that will get tackled tomorrow. And hopefully they will all be superficial. Even if they aren’t, I think that we would just cover them up with some putty and maybe deal with it later. But man, these decks have gotten trashed with all of the metal work that has happened. Mike got the bow pulpit mounted so we have our life lines back up which is a nice thing. And by the end of the day we both noticed how many achy muscles we have. My back, right elbow, wrists and hands from all of the stooping over and sanding. Mike’s forearms are feeling the burn. A massage is sounding pretty good right about now.

Our putty and rust covered decks

Rust is everywhere

This spot and plenty more to be uncovered tomorrow