05/03/2011, marmaris turkey
well i did manage to get up at 230am to a moonless but flat calm anchorage. i got the anchor up with no problem while karli stayed snuggled below in the nice warm bed! i motored us out of the harbor and headed west and a fresh pot of coffee brewed, talk about efficient! this was clearly the right call vs pounding into wind and waves the day before. i spent most of the early morning getting caught up on blogs posts once karli got up a was able to take a brief nap. it was not surprising we managed to hit our schedule exactly and pulled into the little bay off the letonia resort at noon.
what was surpassing was we had a little welcoming committee standing on the end of the dock waving at us. we got anchored with lots of excess chain as i told karli to let it out until the "second red" we only have one red! but there was no one else near us so more chain is better. we got the boat buttoned up and headed ashore to reunite karli with her dad and ness who she had not seen for 10 months since our brief trip from darwin to brisbane.
karli's dad and ness had two friends, peri and ricardo, with them and they showed us around, got us permission to use the dock for our dingy and got us a pretty good deal on all we could eat and drink at 40$ per person per day. they have a house and a 47 foot benatau here in the resort complex. we signed up for two days but looking around at the two pools multiple bars and just overal amazing views we may be here longer. you will have to wait for a picture on the next blog as karli taking her dad back to shore after his visit to our home trumped the photos of the resort.
we got in in time for the lunch buffet and then hit it again for dinner after the palapa visit. the food was good but we had to rank it 3rd behind our maldives and hotel intercontinental buffet experiences. tomorrow will hopefully be just relaxing by the pool although karli is excited about yoga, swimming and aqua gym we will see what all eventuates!
cheers, roger
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05/02/2011, marmaris turkey
so again i got off to an early start on the fuel transfer pump. this time i had all the parts and everything went together smoothly and by the time karli got up i was happily transferring fuel faster than i had ever done it before. i discovered the old pump impeller had cracked and was slipping on the shaft probably been this way for a LONG time getting worse and worse. in any case after this i filled up a couple of water tanks for the slappers and once karli was done with breakfast we where ready to go. as you can probably guess from the photo and the title we did not go. i got up to the bow and just the click click of the anchor windless solenoid. i reported this back to karli who was even more frustrated than i was. cant anything ever just work, she said, i think this was a rhetorical question but i tried to answer it anyways. this was followed by how long will it take. i thought this was the rhetorical one and gave the i dont know depends on too many variables but i will probably need parts from shore.
as i got into the locker i could see the fix on the dodgy wiring had not been sufficient and all the wiring needed to be replaced. the terminals on the the box also would need to be replaced. not good but i was optimistic i could find a 3 terminal strip somewhere in all the marine stores. seth came by and offered to take me to shore so i would not have to relaunch the dingy. very nice! i was glad i had dropped the water off earlier!
we must have hit 20 marine stores looking for this terminal strip with no luck. we did, however, stumble across a replacement control box. these things are usually 500$ or i would have had a spare. i was able to get this one for $180, seth found several autopilots but all more than a new unit in the US, very strange pricing here. he has some guy looking at his instruments now and think he can fix them for $1200.
we headed back to palapa and i got new wires made and crimped heat shrink connectors (available from west marine for 1/3 the price in the us) and also sprayed everything down with anti corrosive spray. the box is really not designed to be in a wet anchor locker but hopefully this will last a while. i got everything back together by noon but by this point we had wind out of the ne at 10 to 15kts exactly the direction we needed to go. i took a look at the grib and i was forecast to be calm and out of the east but this was not the case.
after much consternation i decided we where not going to go out and motor into waves and chop just to meet a schedule even if it was only 50nm. so we gathered up our computers and went to shore for internet time at the cafe'. it was good to just relax for a bit, i called karli's dad and told him would would be leaving when the wind allowed and finally was able to get a hard drive to back up my mac. around dinner time it was finally calming down but that would have meant a 3am departure so i went shore had a beer with seth and jamie and got the latest on their predicament and brought pizza back for dinner for us. we got 3 turkish pizzas for 3 Lira each, basically free, of course this was not on the menu perhaps we will need to hang out here longer.
i set the alarm for 230am which should put us in at noon, fun fun!
cheers, roger
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Love, Dad
05/01/2011, marmaris turkey
so today i got up early and got going on my fuel transfer problem early. i knew there would be something i needed and it was sunday and my last repair day before leaving. we also needed to work a provisioning trip in as well. i ran into a wall right away on the pump of course i did not have the correct size barb for one side of the pump fitting, crap. around this time the slappers offered to "take" us to breakfast if they could get a ride to shore as on top of everything their dingy engine would not start. after breakfast and provisioning seth and i got started on the autopilot while the girls headed to shore to take photos from the castle overlooking the harbor.
seth and i went to work very methodically on the autopilot, the one thing that kept nagging in my mind was the ruder sensor. his boat and old autopilot did not have one but the new one seemed to require one. it was not obvious if it would even be possible to install one as his rudders are in a wet locker and driven by cables from his wheel. i was hopeful that since his boats manufacturer had provided this autopilot for him (free of charge as a backup) there was a way to make this work via some setting! alas once we got everything installed we got "no rudder sensor" error no matter what we did. seth kept asking how this new autopilot could be better if it now required a rudder sensor and an extra box. i started to try to explain modular design but realized it was all bs and a result of lazy engineers!
this was all quite disheartening as he was now going to have to find the old version of the autopilot and then undo everything we had done, argggg. to make maters worse the last thing i did on the project was drop his crimpers overboard (you can see my crimpers hanging out of my jacket pocket in the photo) and i was now going to have to abandon him to go to fethiye to meet karli's dad and step mom2. 3 steps backwards crap!! after reaching this impasse i still had my fuel transfer pump to fix. fortunately i had brought my 2 cycle gas tank over in the hope this was the problem with seths dingy, it was so we headed to shore looking for this and for old autopilots. i did find the part i needed at west marine (which turned out to be the only store open) for only 1.25 lira less than a dollar??? and we did see several old used autopilots but the stores where closed.
by the time where where done with this and had picked up the dodger and paid the $600 bill for this and the sail i was too tiered to do the fuel pump. we headed out for a "final" dinner in marmaris before leaving first thing in the am (presuming i can get the fuel transferred and nothing else breaks).
cheers, roger
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04/30/2011, marmaris turkey
well amazingly enough promptly at 730 seth called on the radio, even more amazingly this occurred as i was walking past our vhf. he mentioned his main vhf had failed and he was on his hand held but i did not think anything of it. he arrived shortly in our dingy and after coffee we got going. we had to start off with cold coffee as it would seem the microwave has finally packed it in. i wonder if they make 110/220 volt microwaves not likely.
we wasted no time getting me up the mast. karli was the up down girl and seth was the in/out sail guy. they where both working full time as i shouted direction from half way up the mast. finally after going up and down a bunch with seth pulling the sail in and out we where able to get the sail bits to all come out of the mast. the real damage was a result of having to keep using the sail after the initial rip and for a while i thought i was going to have to cut the sail up further to get it off. karli enjoyed controlling my fate with comments like "how much do you love me" when i was ready to come down. after the sail was off karli made us egg burgers for breaky and then karli and i headed in with the laundry and sail to see what the "damage" and schedule on the sail repair would be.
i was pleasantly surprised to find out it was only going to be 300$ to fix every thing put in a new panel and redo the whole leach they even included new tell tails not bad. they where going to be able to finish by today or tomorrow as well so we could stay on schedule for the trip to fethiye and it got better they offered to do the side doger panels same day as well. that was to be the last of the good news as i left the shop karli reported seth had called and the slap dash had been STRUCK BY LIGHTNING the night before (hence the no vhf radio this am). i called him back and asked if he was sure he was hit. he said he found the mast head vhf antenna on the deck and none of his electronics where working including his solar charging. wow talk about bad luck. i promised to head over with the voltmeter to debug.
fortunately we had ordered too much lunch so we where able to arrive at slapdash with food and the voltmeter. we verified that all seth's ray marine instruments and autopilot where toast but his chert plotter had survived. his solar charger and battery monitor where also toast but we where able to bypass the charger and the panel was still ok so we got the battery charging. the good news was seth had a backup autopilot the bad news was it was a newer model and definitely not plug and play. we headed into town to see what we could find. first order was to head in and see if we could find a replacement charge controller so we could get his charging system back going before he fried his batteries. we where able to find a charge controller for only 50$ at west marine but had sticker shock on all the other instruments they seem to be about twice the price in the US or around $2000 for just the wind and depth instruments.
after i got back from slapdash the banging of our mast roller furler inside the mast with no sail was so loud i decided we needed to go to shore for dinner immediately. karli had been napping, i dont know how she was able to do it, probably total exhaustion from visitors/reunion partys. we went by the sail place after dinner on the off chance the might be done. they were and even let us take the sail without paying. we got back and got it up before crawling into bed and passing out.
tomorrow we will try to get the new auto pilot installed on slap dash and my fuel transfer pump swapped out as we will need to leave the next day. yikes so much for relaxing.
cheers, roger
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04/29/2011, marmaris turkey
so this morning as i was having my coffee on deck i got a call from seth calling my attention to the transport ship slowly coming into port. it was a massive thing and i got the binocs out and verified that slap dash was indeed still there perched on top of what looked like two containers. yikes, i could see why they where a bit concerned. we ran into the load crew for the transport boat at breakfast and they overheard us talking about the off load and corrected me and my statement about "dropping the boats into the water" they pointed out the "gently lowered them". we chated a bit and the really hard core long shoreman chick was ended up congratulating karli on doing the trip we just did, a bit surreal but karli did look pretty hard core as well with here sailor beenie alis had knitted her on the pirate passage. by the time we had finished breakfast the weather was getting better so we decided to take al out to palapa for our day sail.
as i got the anchor up i noticed it made a few clicking sounds but everything worked fine but i was thinking i sure hope we dont have a problem and get stuck somewhere only a few hours before al needs to get to the airport but all worked well. we motored slowly around the bay looking for a secluded anchorage to stop at for lunch we finally found a little pinnacle of rock of a "secluded" bay that seemed to be very popular with tourist boats. while karli worked on lunch i took a stab at getting the main sail down. we had torn it back in the red sea and we where running out of time to get it fixed before heading down to fethiye to meet up with karlis dad and step mom #2. i think we may have been a bit ambitious in our planning. unfortunately i discovered the sail was seriously f---ed and i was lucky to get it back into the mast. we cut the cruise short and headed back to the marmaris anchorage as i was going to have to go up the mast.
as we headed back into the anchorage i could see slap dash was just about to be lifted off the mother ship. so i put us into position to photo the event. karli got a ton of pics and some good video so stand by for this on her site soon. it was pretty cool to watch the slap dash lowered into the water and then seth drive it away from the mothership. they followed us over to the anchorage and after we where both anchored i promptly dingied over and delivered two cold welcome beers too them.
after i had dropped al safely on shore for her flight i headed back to palapa to get ready for the slap arrival event. i again invited stu and sandy but stu was busy working on the bottom of the boat and suggested we meet on shore for dinner after drinks. alas the weather would not allow that but i digress. after picking up the slappers (their dingy was on the deck with a few new holes where the pvc was separating from the fiberglass bottom) we got the party started. the initial plan was just drinks on palapa but as mentioned the weather did not cooperate. just after getting back to palapa we where treated to a ring side view of a major lightning storm. the good news was both our boats where getting a wash down they sorely needed. the bad new was there was no way we where going to shore to join stu and sandy. the lightning was very entertaining with one blast right on top of us so close we had to double check we had not been hit! we all commented it would totally suck to make it all the way to Turkey (by ship or by sail) only to be hit by lightning!
even without stu and sandy we had the party got going at full steam in no time. i managed to fish some chicken pene and frozen burger buns from egypt out of the freezer and made us all chicken burgers which saved us from total debauchery. highlights of the event included, 360 flips from the overhead hand rails, sing along to the "fun loving criminals" song complete with pistol props. of course to add to the entertainment i fell of the stern step will trying give seth room to smoke while i was trying to pee. i remember being under water thinking crap, i know i am not going to drown but why did i have to fall in wearing my jeans! seth got the ladder down before i had popped to the surface and i had a nice hot fresh water shower. karli got some great photos and even a few videos will see if any of them are suitable for posting!
we gave the slappers the dingy to take home but not before karli made seth promise to come by first thing in the am to help us get the sail down! we will see if that happens!
cheers, roger
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04/28/2011, marmaris turkey
after making coffee we shuffled everyone to shore in a couple of dingy rides and made plans to meet up for breakfast. sandy had shown up the night before we had quite a crowed. the slappers and stu and sandy where all excited about the imminent arrival of the transport boat which had been promised for late tonight or tomorrow. unfortunately it was still cold and rainy so karli and al headed out shopping while i found and internet cafe and had a beer. the "transport" people all headed off to the brokers office to deal with all the import paperwork. they where initially to be charged 1200 euros to bring their boats into the country (it cost us 200 Lira + 75$) but they finally got this down to $500.
eventually karli and al finished shopping and the transport guys finished up and we all ended up at the cafe having beer talking boat stuff. after a few hours of this al excused her self for a nap and we headed out to palapa for our own rest. alas by the time we got to palapa and got organized it was time to head back to meet al for dinner. she had made it pretty clear she wanted just us this evening even offering to buy us dinner to help facilitate this. the good news was the rain had stopped and we found a nice place on the water where we had this great lamb stew and olives wrapped with sardines as an appetizer, mmm mmm. we had a nice local bottle of red as well, thanks to the cool temperature and lamb. two thumbs up on the dinner very good
after dinner we dropped al off and headed back to palapa. we thought briefly about joining the slappers for a post dinner drink but where just too tiered. we have so many people here to catch up with its hard to know what to do next, quite exhausting! tomorrow we will try for a day sail with al weather permitter. supposedly the ship with be here and unloading so heartsong and slapdash may be boat people again!
cheers, roger
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04/27/2011, marmaris turkey
today we awoke to cold and rain, not fun, it would have been the perfect day to just not get out of bed but we had made plans to meet al on shore. i got out all the fowlies i could find or ski garb as karli refers to them. she had made a point of asking if we would ever need this crap before agreeing to come and i had assured her no, we would never go any where that cold. well that was before the pirates and the middle east screwed up our schedule. good news this was still a novelty to karli so you can see her happily posing (pre dingy ride).
we headed to shore walking down the street looking like homeless sailors, basically what we are :) after another english breky we got al suited up in my fowlies and all piled into the dingy for "movie day" back on palapa. we got on board got the heat cranked and watched some movie which i considered a chick flick. we managed to kill most of the day with this and then karli and al decided to go for the afternoon nap program. while karli and al napped i caught up on some email.
as i got on line i noticed a couple emails from seth who last i heard was in the maldives getting ready to head south to south africa. he had emailed to tell me that he was skyping a friend of his was on shore and could see our boat. i mentioned we where probably going to stay put for a quite bbq as the weather was really kicking up. he gave me this line about about his friend heading off first thing in the am and being all along and a fellow sailor i agreed to go join him for a beer on shore. as i headed out karli commented "try not to turn this evening into another crazy party on palapa night", i told her no worries how much damage can one Canadian sailor cause...
i got to the rendezvous point to find no one matching the description in the cafe and as i turned around in the street who did i run into but seth and jamie. i was quite shocked to say the least thinking they where on their way to south africa. as my brain started to function i realized that counter to their claims the slappers had shipped their boat along with everyone else in the maldives. after a few f----ers comments i let seth buy me a beer or two. at this point the only real option was to take them out to palapa for dinner to surprise karl (and al) so much for the quite dinner.
i gave jamie one of my coats but seth was soaked by the time we arrived on palapa. jamie snuck up behind karli and gave her a big hug and the surprise was complete. we gave seth a towel to were as a sorry. by this point it was so rolly we all adjourned to the cockpit in spite of the wind and rain. karli had put the ultimate Caesar salad together which i finished off for her and made a large pot of rice to go with the bbq chicken we where making. by the time everything was done the swell had calmed down but it was raining like you read about so we headed back below.
we had a great loud fun dinner showing al again what our crazy life is like. of course we broke out the rum and some of our last ausi wine for the occasion and traded pirate and other stories. al hung in there for a good while but eventually had had a enough of us and retired to her cabin. the rain refused to let up so we "invited" the slappers to spend the night in the salon. seems like a repeat from the christmas mom number one visit where we again found our selves with 5 people on palapa. who know what will happen tomorrow i have given up guessing!
cheers, roger
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04/26/2011, marmaris turkey
for some reason i awoke just in time for this gorgeous sunrise over the town, very nice! alas it would turn out to not be super great weather. we dingid ashore first thing to make sure karli's step mom al was not left waiting for us. after a bit of wandering around we found the hotel in view of palapa and just a few 100 meters from where we had docked the dingy.
this place definatlye struck us as more touristy than kas and even fethiye. unfortunately we arrived a bit early for al she was still basically in bed when we made our way up to her room at 830am. we really are not use to the late night program and al had arrived after midnight and was still on london time. we enjoyed an "english" breakfast at the cafe next to her hotel while she got ready and then took her on a long tour of the town.
my primary goal was to find a fuel transfer pump as we where down to our last jerry jug on deck with 150 liters trapped in the stern. we discovered a whole slew of marine stores, AMAZING, every thing you could ever want to have. the fuel pump was no problem and i grabbed one up for 200L at the first store i went into. if i where to get struck by lightening and have to refit my boat this is defiantly the place i would do it! i even picked up a sales flyer for the local west marine, yes the real deal. did not make it by there but will have to check it out soon!
after a nice lunch on the waterfront we ran into stu on the promenade rolling his roller bag along. he had been told the transport ship with many of our friends boats on it could arive as early as tomorrow. we made plans to meet up with him for dinner and took al out to the boat for happy hour. she does not drink and seemed surprised with our excitement as we would be able to stretch our wine/rum supplies even further.
we got a call on the vhf from our friends on chocobo who where an hour out so we invited them over as well. this was to be the first of our many overwhelming group events that we subjected al too but she hung in their with her uniquely sarcastic and english sense of humor. we managed to get everyone to shore for dinner to meet up with stu which was a bit of a feet as the wind and swell in the anchorage was coming up and the weather was looking quite sub optimal.
dinner was great at a little kebob place on the corner. the chocobos and stu where in major party mode and we did our best to keep up but had to take a pass and head out to the boat when they headed off to bar street. tomorrow we are planning a quiet dinner on the boat with al but you can never tell who you will run into and what will actually happen!
cheers, roger
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