The Galley is Open!

The morning started off with rain which kinda threw off our plans for painting on the first coat of polyurethane. Bummer. I took advantage of not being able to sand and varnish (not too disappointed I have to say) and started to clean up the cabin a bit. The head which is 99% done ended up getting used as a storage room so tried to make it a bit more functional. Also did some cleaning in the aft cabin so we could sleep back there once again. But yesterday, we discovered that the hatch in the aft cabin has a lot of bubbles around it on deck. And that means… rust, which I found a bunch of while taking off one the small headliners that needed replacing. It looks kinda bad and it’s hard to restrain ourselves from just chipping away (it’s kinda fun and satisfying) but that feeling would quickly turn into ‘what have we done?!’ as big holes and an even bigger project would surely emerge. So we are just ignoring it for now and saving it for a later day.
Mike spent his morning getting the table mounted back into place and it feels like we are getting our boat back! The galley is open, we have floors to walk on, we have our table and bed again. The big inconvenience now is that I took the companionway ladder away yesterday to varnish since it was bare wood in places and covered in big paint drips. It makes getting in the cabin a little difficult, especially when the box we’re using as a step topples over, but hopefully it won’t be too long. And our friend, Ishmail, stopped by to do some more carpentry work for us. I’m not quite sure what he thought about my varnishing job on the floors, but told us that he charges 1000 Euros minimum for varnishing. Look how much money I saved us! I think I can buy those pair of Birkenstock sandals now (smile).
And in the evening, we quit working a little earlier than the past several nights so we would have time to enjoy the evening…make dinner and watch a movie. Despite some earlier and on-going feelings of frustration and tension, the evening felt much more light and promising with a little normalcy and comfort returned.

Need...More...Coffee...

The most dramatic part of our day was drinking the last of the 5# bag of French Roast coffee we brought with us. Besides that tragedy, the day was uneventful. Maybe a few more moments of feeling completely overwhelmed, not feeling that we are ever going to be done and just generally being tired of working on this boat. Other than that, it was more varnishing, deck prep (translation: epoxy paint, then putty, then sanding…ughh…now more bare metal showing, more epoxy paint, more putty, more sanding…) But we did manage to get primer on the roll bar and dodger! And tomorrow we hope to get the first coat of polyurethane paint on which means that Mike gets to start mounting stuff….like the wench (allright, so this is how I first spelled it and Mike thinks it's funny), rope clutch, exhaust fans for the engine, box for navigational equipment, maybe even the windlass!

Scroll to the Bottom!

It was a bit of a hectic morning with giving John and Aysel a lift into town and trying to get some needed errands done all before the car was due back. And I didn’t envy them closing up their boat and dealing with the marina beaurocracy. But we managed to get them to the otogar on time and squeeze in a quick phone call to the solar panel guy so Aysel could give her much appreciated Turkish translation one last time. After a sad but hopeful goodbye (we hope to visit them in Usak, Aysel’s home town, in a couple of weeks!), we were able to squeeze in a stop by Doyle Sails and put a down payment on a new mainsail!
Then it was back off towards the marina with plans of work, but it was time for a siesta instead. We found ourselves falling asleep on the day bed in the heat of the day. But it actually proved beneficial because when we managed to get ourselves moving the temperature was cooler and we worked happily until 8:30pm, only stopping because the day was growing dark. Despite an overall feeling of being productive, there were some moments of discouragement as well. We had another guy come by to give us an estimate for a storm dodger and bimini. And like the first guy, he didn’t seem eager to start work with us. He couldn’t understand why we wanted to start this process now when we had all this work left to do, thinks we should wait a couple of weeks. But our fear is that we will be one of those people who get stuck in the marina waiting endlessly for their canvas work to be done. We have the dodger, measurements can be taken, what is the problem? He also told us that a window in our dodger should definitely be able to open for circulation. Especially while we are on anchor or it will be unbearably hot. That was our original plan but we somehow let Mehmet, our metal guy, talk us out of it. And when we changed our minds after he put the dodger in he said it would be too complicated. Now looking back on it, we think he talked us out of it because he doesn’t know how to install windows. That, plus the windows panes are still sitting on the ground which he left us to take care of. Just another thing to try and solve.
But on a good note, our ‘perfectionist’ and nice neighbors on Foxy Lady (why do so many people think that is a good name for a boat?) gave us some beautiful (and expensive) material! They had it all sewn into covers for their beds but then changed their minds and don’t want it anymore. And it looks like there is enough to re-cover our whole settee. We will see when we get around to that project…


And here are our new floors!!!

Before...

After!

"Stay Strong Dirty Pirates"

We woke up to bad moods and grey skies this Monday morning. Actually, the skies were a nice change from the sun, the clouds were low with the mountains rising above them. As we were walking the docks looking at solar panels and roll bars for ideas, it made us reminiscent of Seattle and looking forward to the day we might step off Independence and walk the docks at Shilshole.
Once we got back to the boat I decided I had enough of no floors. So we brought our newly varnished floors inside and boy, they are shiny and new looking! After we admired them for a few moments, I immediately scavenged some card board and covered them up! Fortunately our moods improved and after more deck prepping and rigging work, we headed into town to meet John and Aysel for a farewell dinner at a local hangout, Escape. We were also joined by, of all people, their adorable dentist, AJ, and her boyfriend, the bar owner. We probably could have sat there all night but Aysel and I helped make the decision to call it a night. Late nights don’t mix too well with working the next day…
And thanks Jenny, we are trying our hardest to stay strong...and dirty!

Another Sunday Gone

Our Sunday morning started off with a bit of work since we didn’t have the fun stuff planned until the afternoon. After a little more painting and varnishing, we picked up John and Aysel in town and headed to the little town of Bozborun. On the way we spotted a sign for ‘waterfalls’ in Turgut and realized this is the place we always see pictured on post cards. It wasn’t the most magnificent waterfall but it was beautiful, green and lush and the air was cool. Mike walked up the riverbed and took a chilly swim in the pool while we followed on the trail.























After we all cooled off a bit, we got back in the hot car and continued our drive. The last part was along some beautiful coast line and past some familiar bays and towns such as Orhaniye where we spent time on the boat a few years ago. It’s amazing how you can drive to these places in 30 minutes but it can take 24 hours of sailing to reach them because of the large peninsula. We arrived in Bozborun, a very laid back sleepy little harbor town. We ignored the touts of the waterfront cafes, and instead found a little restaurant a couple blocks back from the sea that served up some delicious homemade meals. Afterwards, John and Aysel wanted to visit with some friends they met sailing in Grenada. Mike and I were desperate for a swim so took a little detour and found a nice little pensiyon that had some lounge chairs and a swim ladder. We bought our obligatory beer, took a swim, sat in the sun and tried to relax for a few minutes.

Our swim spot


But we started feeling anti-social so headed back to join John and Aysel and their friends. They are a really laid back and friendly Turkish couple who were from the area and used to own a bar. They hadn’t ever done any sailing, but one day decided that they would buy an old abandoned steel boat and over the course of six years they rebuilt it almost completely. They then set out on a two year circumnavigation. Impressive and inspiring. Their boat had a really good used and lived in feeling. I think something that we are striving towards with Independence.


After a little more beer, some more visitors and boat talk, it started to grow dark and we decided to make our way back towards Marmaris. The drive wasn’t quite as scenic in the dark, but as we were almost back to the marina we saw a wild boar walk across the road in front of us! It was a big, ugly, mean looking pig with a mohawk. I am just glad we were in the car and not walking along the road!

Hot and Dirty

The morning started off with John and Aysel arriving, pulling up chairs in the shade, and announcing that they were our ‘fan club’ here to bask in our presence! It was hard not to pull up a chair with them but we managed not to delay too much. I finished with the outside floor boards(!) and forced myself to get a coat on the inside. I am so done with this job. And today was hot. I ended up taking a cold shower in my underwear just to cool off, but then just dripped water from my wet hair and still sweat all over my varnishing. I have no room to complain, however. Mike had the worst job of them all. He crawled down into the chain locker to grind and prep the metal for paint. All I could see was a plume of metal dust flying up out of the hole. And he was covered, covered in black dust. After that job was done, it was definitely time for a shower…then a beer. At that point I was done. I was having a hard time holding up my head while sitting in the cockpit, so made my way into the hot, varnish fume-y cabin and passed out for a couple of hours. I managed to rouse myself around 6:30pm and went for another shower. When I came back, Mike had the decks clean so he could get a coat of epoxy paint on in the morning. Oh my god, there is actually a boat underneath the chaos! As for dinner, it was pumpernickel bread and cheddar cheese. And so not satisfying. You know how you feel when you have been on a really long hike or backpacking for a week, and all you want to do is stop at the local tavern and eat a really big cheeseburger? Well, that is how I felt with absolutely no chance of satisfying that craving. And with the galley and BBQ out of commission there was no chance of grilling up our own. Oh well. We’ll see what tomorrow brings when take a drive with John and Aysel, a chicken doner may have to do the trick.

Our fan club

So close and yet so far

"Boating is fun"

"Drinking beer is better!"

"It's Gonna Be a Better Day"

So I thought I was doing a good job with my varnishing. Until our neighbor came over to ask if he could give me some suggestions…but keep in mind that he is a perfectionist (and I mean perfectionist, he considers it ‘heartbreaking’ when he sees dust on his floors). And I gave up perfection on this boat a long time ago (we find it ‘heartbreaking’ when we find a big hole in our boat). I was informed that I need to sand even more (I would have no finger tips left if I did) and I need to varnish quicker and with a bigger brush if I want that really smooth, glossy finish. But my reasoning is that a smooth, glossy finish will make our floors like an ice rink which isn’t so good. So brush strokes are better, more grippy, right? After he left, a worker across the way then told me I need a bigger brush. What’s up with all this advice coming on Day 5 of varnishing and one coat away from being done? After my shoddy varnishing was finished, I started to help out with prepping the decks. Wow, it is overwhelming and I can see why Mike gets a bit frustrated. I am going to have to break it into sections to be able to deal. After a little sanding, I pulled off a couple of windows in the aft cabin that were pulling away from the deck and leaking. By this point I felt like I was forcing myself to continue working because by now I am feeling a little spent after this week. Mike spent his day putting more putty down around the dodger and other places to even out the decks before paint. He also spent more time figuring out how the new rigging will be attached to the decks. Every so often I realize how much we are actually doing to this boat and I think we will be pretty proud of ourselves at the end of this haul out. At 7pm, I was just winding down and Mike was still down below working when John and Aysel showed up with ice cream! So I brought down some bowls and spoons (and a little Raki) to enjoy our desert underneath the boat. We sat down there talking and laughing until the sky finally grew dark. It was definitely a positive way to end the really long, hard day.

Trying to figure out the best home

The metal plates Mike made for the deck blocks