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.