Wednesday 26 February 2014

On the Hard


For the last five days we have been living ‘on the hard’ while Common Sense has had her bottom scraped clean of algae, barnacles and other marine growth, followed by the application of a couple of coats of anti-foul paint. We contemplated doing this work ourselves, but the sight of several other cruisers spending weeks cursing, covered in grit and dust convinced us that it would be a fine thing to contribute a few hundred lira to the Turkish economy and get the local guys to do it.  900TL and it was done in one day (early start, late finish) by two painters.

 
 
 
 
Common Sense after her wash
 
Common Sense was in excellent shape after almost 3 seasons covering many thousands of miles – All the way down the US East Coast, a nip across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas, a run through the Bermuda Triangle and a passage over the Atlantic.  Then it has been two seasons in the Med from Nth Africa and back.  Whatever Cap’n Dave put on it before he sold it to us was a very wise choice as almost all the growth came off in a pressure wash alone.
 

 
New paint and a shiny prop
 
We had other jobs to do: Terry installed a new speaker in the cockpit to replace one that died, and put in the fittings for our new Dyneema lifelines (we will buy the line itself when we go to the US in a couple of weeks) while I polished up the propeller, filled a few minor dents in our fibreglass and fixed the knotmetre. It was exciting going back across the marina when we got dropped in, seeing the speedo functioning again.  We can get the speed from the chartplotter but having 3 of 4 instruments working and 1 showing 0.00 used to bug Terry no end.

 
Dropping back in with Terry onboard for the ride

We still have a couple of things to do – our “Fremantle Australia” homeport lettering needs to be replaced, for example -  but Common Sense looked quite splendid on the outside as she hit the water yesterday morning . We are very glad be back in the slip with our friendly B Dock neighbours, the gentle rocking of the ocean and no great high ladder to climb up and down twenty times a day. The inside is quite another matter, and one of my goals for the year is to finally have a cabin that is comfortable, homely and where everything is STOWED.

Signs of Spring are all around us here in southern Turkey, in the mild weather, the snow melting from the mountaintops, flowers and green buds everywhere, new produce in the markets. It’s time to get out and about for some more hiking and sightseeing in this beautiful country.


Snow on the mountains

It’s off to the US for a couple of weeks on Sunday to visit my mum before we sail away northwards for the next season.  10 days in Arizona in the desert then 4 or 5 days in Terry's favourite city, Las Vegas Nevada.
 


Tuesday 11 February 2014

Home ... and Home

Aries docks at the Dome

As many of you know, we spent much of December and all of January at home in Western Australia, in Perth and Bunbury.  It was so good to see all our friends again and to spend time with the kids and other family.  Heartfelt thanks yet again to the Cowans for the chance to house-sit our summer ‘home away from home’ and to dear Pauline for putting up with us for weeks on end – we hope we paid our way in gardening, cooking and odd jobs! Special thanks to Jo for the loan of her car – sorry about what all the berry-eating parrots inflicted on it!  As always there is a long list of people to thank for sleepovers, meals and a general good time: Leonie and Steve for great company and a way higher star rating than Noovoh;  Kathy and Pete for a great day on the water (with dolphins!) and gatherings with friends; Ann and Robin for a warm welcome complete with pizza oven;  Colin and Sol;  the South West Cruising  Club; all the crew at the NAB; Jenny and Robbie and the kids for fun times down on the farm; Lea; Pat and Julee, Jo and Bill and all the kids for a great family Christmas, Marg and Mike; Robyn, Christina and all my old friends from school; future cruisers Jeanette and Neil; Jan; Dawn; Pat and Terry; Sue, Olga and Sally; Penny; Pauline and Jerry; Melissa; Blin and Kim; Lisa and Aaron; Lizzy for chauffeuring us and Mart for a great evening at Green Street Bar – and everyone else along the way.  It wasn’t just the 26 hour journey back to Turkey that wore us out!
 
Lizzy, Keith and Martin, Christmas

Apart from the people, it was lovely to get back to the beach and the bush, especially down south.  Our beaches really are sensational – clean white sand, clear water, plenty of aquatic life, surf and no crowds.  The down side is hearing the theme music from “Jaws” every time you go in the water.  The other negative is the outrageous cost of everything – a meal out is at least five times the cost of something similar in Turkey, for example – which reflects high salaries and high property values of course, but was a bit of a shock still.


The beach goes forever

Before we knew it, it was time for the long trip back to Common Sense. 11 hours to Doha, six hours from Doha to Istanbul, an hour from Istanbul to Antalya, two hours on the bus from Antalya to Finike – 26 hours including layovers. And strangely enough, stepping aboard felt like we were coming home.

Robbie and Jenny at Lone Crow


 Martin stocks the beer at Green Street