Black Friday

Part of our daily morning routine consists of making coffee, checking e-mail and the weather (OK, and maybe a game of spider solitaire or two). The forecast for today called for rain. LOTS of rain. Normally not a problem, but when the companionway hatch isn’t in place, and there are a few open holes in various places in the deck, and you need to do some painting, it can become a problem. And lots of rain can become a very big problem. Luckily for us, the forecast didn’t quite pan out as … well… forecasted. It did rain, but not the torrential downpour of biblical proportions that we were expecting. We were able to tarp off the cockpit and cover any holes in the deck that may have caused concern, which left us with our painting projects to worry about. We were painting the anti-fouling (below the water-line) which requires a wet sand anyway, so that part was OK in the rain. Man, what a dirty and toxic job. The anti-foul is supposed to kill any marine critters that want to grow on your hull, so it’s basically a biocide. We got all dolled up in coveralls, masks, gloves and goggles to go at it. Nasty, but with the two of us it went pretty quickly. The next step is the primer. Even though it goes under water, you’re still not supposed to put it on in the rain. The weather couldn’t quite make up its mind. Clouds loomed, then went away feigning disinterest, only to come running back with cracks of thunder and nasty intentions that sent us running under cover. A few spits of rain, and the clouds again would retreat. My old rule of thumb when painting my last boat was that if it was not actively raining, you’re fine. So we armed ourselves with rollers and rags and went for it. We got 99.9% of the hull under the water line covered when the rain decided that we needed a break. We had to wait only about half an hour before Thor got distracted again and left us to finish the last remaining swath. The second coat was delayed by more hollow threats, with associated false starts. Finally in the afternoon, the clouds started to disperse more completely, and we were able to finish the second coat in one smooth go. The boat looks much nicer without the patchwork of old anti-fouling and random patches of primer that she wore before. All the while we were running in and out of the rain with our paint brushes, Ishmail was finishing up the floors. Well, his part is done anyways. Now Serena gets to take all of the floor boards outside and get several coats of varnish on them. And varnish inside the cabin where the floors don’t come up. Fun for her! Also Mehmet came today, with some prompting… and got the bow plate welded on. I shouldn’t poke fun at Serena for the varnishing because my turn comes next with grinding and painting.
After a productive day, our friends John and Aysel came over with a few beers to while away the evening hours and allow us to catch up on the past year. And they have had an eventful one. John’s home (well one of them anyways) is in Haiti and this is where they were at the time of the earthquake. Actually, on that day they were in Port-au-Prince, sitting in a café that was no longer in existence three hours after they returned home. To say the least, they were pretty affected by what they saw and experienced. After John offered his help to several different aid organizations (he is local, knows the culture and speaks many languages) he was turned down for the reason of “We know what we are doing. We have been to Africa.” To John and Aysel, it was pretty apparent that these agencies didn’t have a clue but fortunately stumbled upon an organization from Turkey that seemed to have a realistic approach to the aid they were offering. So now they are traveling in Turkey with this organization (Kimse Yok Mu –translation: Is Anybody There?) raising awareness and also trying to find companies that would like to bring business opportunities to Haiti. It’s kept them very busy with traveling and meetings and will hopefully have the end result of bringing jobs and money to the Haitians. After much conversation, the evening finally came to and end when Aysel got tired and pulled John away, down the ladder for the walk to their boat.

Grumpy...

...and grumpy

Ahhh....salt water!

Once again, another run into town but we made this one a bit more fun. On the way in we got to stop by a boat in Pupa Marina. We realized it was at the end of a road that I always longingly glance down as we drive back from town. It is just a small, dirt and gravel road lined with oleander flowers that ends right at the sea and is just so beautiful. After stopping every few feet for pictures we finally made it back to the main road. This was a quick trip into town and wanted to make sure that we left ourselves enough time for a swim on the way back. Because another place that always catches our eye is a little rocky point into the bay lined with tall pine trees. The water changes every color of blue from the rocky shore out into the bay and it just looks so inviting. We managed to leave ourselves a few minutes and joined many others who had the same idea as us. This was our first swim in the salt water and it felt heavenly. The water was cool at first and then became a perfect temperature. It was hard to make ourselves get out so we could have time to dry off a bit before jumping back in the car. We returned to the boat to find a good progress at the bow…meaning a large hole where Mehmet cut out the rusty steel under the windlass. And we were able to stay off the dirty boat a little longer and do some painting and varnishing in the shade of the eucalyptus trees. The afternoon only got better when Mike received a phone call from his friends, John and Aysel, who he got to know last year in the marina. They are back in Turkey to do some fundraising and awareness for Haiti, where they were living at the time of the earthquake. Luckily, they were able to make little room in their schedule to come down to Marmaris this weekend so we will get to see them. I know Mike is excited to spend some time with good friends again and I look forward to getting to know them better.

Roll Bar!

Another morning and early afternoon spent in town running around. It’s amazing how fast 4 hours will go by and there is always another errand you can do. We returned back to the boat and happily found Mehmet continuing his work on the dodger. And this time I had a proper excuse to hide in the library, to research anti-fouling…exciting, I know. And once again, Mike stayed on the boat which was good thing because he put out a few small fires in the cabin top due to Mehmet welding on the dodger. But what was really exciting was the roll bar going up! It’s going to take a little getting used to how it looks but it should balance out once we get everything back in its home. And at the end the day we excitedly put in our boot leg copy of Iron Man II. But this copy was even worse than the one we have for the first movie (people standing up, babies crying, squeaky chairs) so we aborted our attempt. Instead we watched the funniest movie of all times…Rat Race! We happened to spot it in the DVD store and the laughing already started just thinking about it, especially when Mike was doing his impression of Cuba Gooding, Jr in the bathroom. Greg, you know what I’m talking about! So we knew we were in for a treat and I wondered if Mike would fall off his seat from laughing again this time…yeah, the movie is that funny! Lucky for him we watched it on the day bed. And oh boy, I must have needed an emotional outlet because I don’t know if I was laughing or crying and it was only 5 minutes into the movie. But it sure felt good to laugh until your stomach hurt!

Perspective

Today was filled with rain showers with a couple of thunder storms thrown in for good measure. On one hand, it was relaxing because we found ourselves looking for little projects to do with some reading and playing games mixed in. But the lack of progress also made us feel a bit frustrated. Especially with Mehmet not being able to come and continue work on the dodger and roll bar. The afternoon did end pleasantly, the skies cleared and we shared some ouzo with the folks on ‘Good Golly Miss Molly’. They invited us aboard as we went to pick up their work table they were passing along since they are getting launched tomorrow. They also helped put some things in perspective. They built their own boat in the UK 25 years ago. They then spent 3 years sailing in the Med with their very young daughter (18 months to 4 years old) and talked about how different it was then from today. The sailing crowd was much younger, many with small children and people sailed on smaller and much simpler boats. A boat our size would have been pretty uncommon in those days. Now everyone has a big boat, fancy navigational equipment that they can’t leave the dock without in proper working order. And everyone is much older. It seems pretty obvious that this hobby has switched to the retired generation because of all of these expensive toys that people feel compelled to have. No longer are the days where you get your weather information from the radio broadcast in the local language and then spend your time trying to translate it. Or setting off across the Atlantic with only a sound boat and sextant. Now people abandon their boats in the middle of the Atlantic due to losing a rudder because they can get insurance instead of figuring a way to remedy the problem. Anyways, it was just a good reminder that we can get by with a lot less than we think and to get out there as quick as possible and let the wind fill our sails.
And…Happy Birthday Mom! I love you.

Yummy arugula salad...less peanuts, more greens!
And a happy birthday ouzo cheers to my mom!

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

The ‘montage’ started today which is very exciting but means a lot of noise, grinding and metal dust. Since the boat has to be tarped off, including the companion way, it makes it difficult to come and go. So once again, I headed for the library for a little reprieve from the noise and dirt. Meanwhile, Mike decided this would be the time to pull our old windlass off, good idea since our metal worker was on board. And it shouldn’t have been much of a surprise to find a bunch of rusty metal! We are really glad that we didn’t decide to keep the windlass for another season because the anchor may have just ripped it from the deck. But fortunately Mehmet came to the rescue and is going to cut out a pretty large section at the bow and weld in a new plate. For the good news, by the end of the day we had our new dodger tacked in place and it looks great! But it definitely felt like one step forward and two steps back today because of a new project being added to the list. Also, even though the dodger is close to being in place, it will lead to many other jobs that have to happen. Grinding down welds, cleaning and painting, spot-filling/smoothing uneven surfaces, sanding and re-painting…
As the day was winding down, we were enjoying the peace and quiet in the cabin, making dinner and listening to Neko Case. The music just seemed so perfect and reminiscent of home and we found ourselves a little emotional. Again, missing our friends and family and finding it hard to be away during some important times. We seemed to ease the feelings a bit while creating another little Italy. This time watching a beautiful and funny Roberto Benigni film and eating some decadent lamb and eggplant pizza. Definitely not Seattle, but our home away from home is kinda nice too.

Lazy Sunday

Now this was a Sunday.
Sleeping in, laying in the sun, reading, swimming, eating cheeseburgers and drinking beers poolside, napping, watching a movie, taking a nice evening walk, the VHF turned off all day and absolutely no work done!

T-Minus Three Weeks and Counting

It’s official. We’ve submitted a launch date with the office. Saturday, June 5th. That’s 3 weeks from today! On paper it seems like we can get everything done by then, but we all know that reality often has its own ideas. We were thinking about launching the day before, but it was too much like starting a voyage on a Friday. I think we’re becoming superstitious. Other than that it was another routine day. Ishmail “finished” the floors, which is definitely a step forward, but of course there is still a lot to do to them before we’re done. Several coats of varnish, attaching the pull-rings, the ladder and table fixtures, and figuring out a way to secure them down in case of rough weather. We continued to prep the hull, with Mike applying primer in select places while I sanded the topsides. We even think that we can get on the bottom paint this coming week. Any visible progress is extremely motivating! Despite the occasional interruption (sander breaking down and a fire on the hillside) we had a long and productive day. So maybe a little stress at times but it seemed to fade when the work was coming to an end and we shared a beer and some peanuts with Ishmail. He is such a soft spoken, sweet man and we are happy to get to know him better. Also hoping to one day drive out to his shop where he has a ’59 Chevy truck. That is a picture I have to get! We celebrated Saturday night with a gin and tonic and then headed to bed with dreams of a quiet, restful Sunday.

Fire on the Mountain!

The 'bed' truck. I love it!