GHOST

First things first....yesterday was Kat's BIRTHDAY!!! Pretty simple affair. We headed into town for a little shopping for the occasion which resulted in a thimble, a couple of bowls and a full on Turkish hair cut experience for me!! Mate she was happy!! What can I say, my wife likes things simple! (and cheap!). Then it is was back to the boat for a few last minute preparations for departure as it became apparent the stainless steel man (everyone is referred to this way, stainless man, paint man, canvas man, outboard man, gas pipe man...and so on!) would finish his job..finally.

But first more about the hair cut! Now on route to the supermarket we found a barber offer 10 lira haircuts, perfect we thought, I was in need of a haircut. It started off slow, potentially looking like a mistake that could only be remedied with clippers back on the boat, but it did improve. I've never seen someone take so much pride in their work! So the simple haircut turned into flaming cotton buds burning the fluff of me ears, a long strand of cotton pulling out rogue eyebrows, scissors up my nose and in my ears, a double cut throat shave, a face mask (only male products were used..honest!) a full back and neck massage, a full face and head "wash" before a decent slapping of old spice just to top it off! WOW what an experience! Yes it did end up costing a little more than 10 lira, in fact 35 lira (15 quid) but it was worth every kuru! So as I was saying it was Kat's birthday.....!

So 0830 local time we left the marina and said goodbye to Marmaris and Turkey. A local Turkish war ship wished us well, so long as we stayed clear of their live firing exercises and we headed for Simi to check into Greece for the next few weeks. We've done Simi before, back when Celina was on board and another time to stock up on booze before Heath, Dave and Kneisa came out so nothing new to report from here...in fact it is all too familiar, too windy and we ended up tied up to a corner in the town wall AGAIN so the boat is rocking around as we can't get a good angle on the lines to hold her steady. Not dangerous but I am a Mr Worrywart when it comes to being tied on to town walls. Nothing a dose of care less and a beer wouldn't fix, so here we are, in a pub, drinking beer and internailing!!

Tomorrow we plan to head off in the direction of Nisos Nisoros, on route to Athens in a couple of weeks time. Speaking of which, does anyone fancy a quick trip to Athens to say hi?

Hi from Kat. Just wanted to say we will miss you Keith - a bright light of this world will no longer be with us and we are both deeply saddened by the news. Best wishes to Nancy and the girls. So glad we had a chance to catch-up in Sydney earlier this year.