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

Meltdown

The last few days have been a struggle for me. And I think today it all came to a head. My mood was kind of a surprise because the end of last week felt so promising. But the past several days have just felt like a grind and completely overwhelming. And I don’t think my poor sleep and dream about my dad last night helped the situation either. Today, I just felt like I had to purposefully put one foot in front of the other to make it through. If some one had offered to come and take this boat away, I think I would have accepted. I also found myself in tears this morning while telling Mike about my dream and then again at the end of the day. I guess it’s normal to still be suddenly stricken with sadness 8 months after my father passing away. And today I just missed him terribly. I am just so thankful that our down moods don’t seem to coincide. Because Mike was a love and really helped me get through the day. If we were both in this state at the same time I think that we would run away screaming, or more likely just crumble into a heap on the floor never to rise again.
But the more we trudge forward, the quicker we will be in the water. Our electric sander finally called in quits after faltering for the past month. So we made a quick run into town on the dolmus to buy a new one. And the new toy helped in giving me some motivation to get the aft decks sanded in preparation for the primer. Then it was scrubbing the decks with Por Coz (a household cleaner…acid) to try and get the thousands of tiny rust spots off from all of the grinding and metal dust. I felt like Cinderella. Mike was successful in getting the throttle control, the panel for the engine gauges, and engine room vents mounted, and dry-fitted the hatch for the chain locker. So despite my meltdowns it was a pretty productive day.

A Taste of What's to Come

We spent most of our day in town trying to cram as many things as possible into our time allotted with the car. Including an unexpected and leisurely stop for a sit down lunch on the waterfront. Nice, despite the time it took. The morning also included paying a parking ticket. The traffic police are sneaky around here. They go around taking photos of cars parked illegally and then mail you the fine, no ticket on the window here. And the frustrating part is that the parking is so darn confusing and we never know what is ok and what isn’t. It seems like there are only traffic laws when we as foreign drivers do something somebody doesn’t like. Otherwise, it’s a free-for-all. The day we got the ticket (well, we were the ones with the car checked out at the time so it must have been us) we saw the cops, so Mike jumped in the car and moved it. I guess a little too late though.
The most exciting part of the day was buying a used wind generator from another cruiser and it should be a good addition to the solar panels we are still waiting for. We also put our companion way ladder back since we finished the varnishing. This is a good thing because last night I cut open my toe on the metal inverter while ‘jumping’ (or maybe falling is a better word) inside the cabin.
In the evening, we were invited by Bunny and Bill to their yacht ‘Onset’ for drinks (sounds pretty posh, huh?!). They were kind enough to invite us and some other folks who are hauled out and slaving away to come and enjoy the good life of a boat in the water for awhile. It was a really enjoyable evening and felt like a treat to sip on a gin and tonic and get to know some other people. I found myself feeling like I could sit there all night just chatting and picking everyone’s brains on places to visit in the Med. And it was so nice to sit on a boat that actually rocked with the water!

Food Coma Strikes Again

For a Sunday, a lot of work got done. Mike was busy at it all day and I was doing jobs here and there. But to honor the day, we headed to the bar around 5 o’clock, just in time to order a cheeseburger. Then walked to the floating dock where we were lured in by their big lounge pillows. Again, for the second day in a row Mike succumbed to food coma from a large meal and a couple of beers.

Food Coma

My craving for comfort food resulted in the end of our work for the day. As I was trying to decide what sounded good to eat, nachos came to mind and Mike put me on a mission. To my surprise, they actually ended up pretty good despite being forced to use Doritos. And the beers along with it at 3 in the afternoon went down pretty easy as well. So well in fact, that we strayed from our usual one beer quota and had a second. That’s all she wrote. As you can see from the picture, Mike was sent into a food and beer coma, barely to arouse the rest of the day.

Serena Misses Her Bathroom Because...

She doesn’t have to walk down a ladder to use it.
She doesn’t have to walk across a boatyard to find an open one.
She doesn’t have strangers washing their underwear in her sink.
She doesn’t have strangers trying to open the door (has anyone heard of knocking?).
She doesn’t have strangers casually chatting outside her door while, you know…
She isn’t tricked into thinking there is toilet paper.
It doesn’t cause her to start the day off in a bad mood.