Hello dear friends and loved ones,

ChaliVentures and crew arrived in Marmaris, Turkey a week ago.... a little unexpectedly, I might add. We were so tired of being holed up 5 days at a time in completely deserted, uninhabited and desolate places in the Greek Cyclades islands waiting for the gales to blow themselves out that we decided to just GO FOR IT. So we PLANNED to do a 100-mile, overnight sail to Simi, Greece (an island right next to Turkey) to check out of Greece and enjoy the town. (We had heard that Simi was a really neat place.) HOWEVER, while en route, -- motoring, of course, (there was NO wind when we really needed some!) -- our engine's alternator started acting up and stopped charging our batteries. SO! Since we've heard that "you can getting ANYthing in Marmaris" -- being a major yachting center in the Mediterranean, much less Turkey -- we decided to bypass Simi and just go straight to Marmaris. And so we are in a huge marina complex enjoying the luxuries of life, listening to a little Tchaikovsky as I write this. Since i downloaded iTUNES music manager and loaded all my CD's, onboard life has definitely been enhanced. Speaking of luxuries, the marina laundry service picked up and delivered 2 loads for me. Only 30 lira.... or about $24.00 usd. seems incredible compared to laundromat prices in the States, but over here, that's a bargain. AND.... since the Turks take their water cleanliness very seriously, they frown and FINE YOU for ANY pollution coming out of the boat... dish water, shower water, and laundry water. so, i don't "get" to do my laundry by hand! I'm not sure if that's good or bad. ?

At this point, the alternator issue is resolved, we think. Also, Chuck's computer started working again, thanks to a little bitty screw that wasn't where it was supposed to be, so he's a happy camper. He had learned that buying a new MAC in Turkey with an American keyboard was going to 1/take too long to get and 2/be very expensive. So this is a very happy development. Chuck spent 4 days completely re-plumbing our toilet system so that now ChaliVentures won't sink from water being inadvertently siphoned back into the boat! THAT's a good thing. We plan to be in this marina until the end of the month, then we'll start heading east again to rendez-vous with the Eastern Med Yacht Rally in the town of Finike. We are sure hoping that the rainy season quits SOON. We had more rain in two days than we've had since arriving in Europe 3 years ago. Of course, the plus side of that is that Turkey is very green, almost lush, at least here in the southwest corner.

On the social front, we have lots of friends here in Marmaris, although they're in the OTHER marina, a busride away. Unfortunately, we couldn't get in there. It's the launching season, so they need every spare berth for the 1000 boats that have been stored on land over the winter. too bad. The marina that DID have space is setting us back a tad over $1000 USD for a 1 month contract. gulp. But, with all the boat projects and 5 trips/day to various chandlers, we really needed to be in this marina. oh well. it's been great getting together with our buddies.

We've had the BEST lambchops here; the BEST tomatoes; the BEST zucchini; the BEST yoghurt. We just came back from the weekly market, and we bought some fresh yoghurt that is the consistency of whipped cream cheese. add a little honey and you're good to go! Turkey is reknowned for its veggies. Turks are VERY FRIENDLY, too. I'm motivated to learn at least key phrases in Turkish. At least i can read the bloody alphabet, unlike in Greece. Turkey however doesn't seem to be as DOG friendly as Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Croatia, Montenegro or Greece. I had to smuggle her into a restaurant in her special rolling tote/backpack dog bag. The more casual places were cool with her, though, so we'll see.

And lastly, but most importantly, we just became grandparents for the third time. Sienna Elizabeth Spinney was born to Jonathan and Hatty on Saturday, April 5. Her 2 1/2 year old big brother Ben is taking his new role very seriously! The whole family is home together again, and all are doing splendidly. HOOOORRRAYYYY!!!

well i better get this posted or it'll be way too long.

hope all is well with you and yours. Feel free to write back. We LOVE to get emails, and we have reliable access to a WIFI for the next 2-3 weeks.

XOXOXOXO,

Alison, Chuck and Zoey