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!