WE'RE OFF!!

On Saturday I walked past the dinghy only to hear a loud "ppppfffffsssss". Our trusty Mailspeed Marine dinghy had finally exploded along one of its seams. This was just typical as only two days earlier I had put its new green anti-decay cover on. A quick inspection showed the problem to be terminal so we hurridly ordered a new one.

So, after waiting for four days for a new dinghy to arrive it finally appeared in Kaş. I moved it onto the boat and blew it up whilst Gill went to try to start the normally tortuous check out process from Turkey. Ten minutes later we hear that the Port Police will be round an hour later and we must be ready to leave there and then. Panic ensued.

We made it though and as we left all our great European and Turkish friends were there to wave us off. Very emotional it was too. Gifts were received and our bicycles which went on general release at the end of B Pontoon were snapped up in a trice.

Anyway, we are now anchored in a large bay just west of Kalkan. We had a good sail most of the way, tacking westwards along the coast. After our tea tonight, courtesy of Joy the Turk, will be up tomorrow probably to do our first overnighter of the passage, aiming for Simi before the strong winds come in.

The main thing is we have broken our ties with shore life and are on our way. Antigua here come.

Bittersweet Times

Yesterday was a day of emotional ups and downs. Finally after months of work Petronellla was launched and spent the day bobbing in the holding bay whilst nasty winds bounced her up and down. Shortly after midday the crane arrived and her mizzen mast was re-stepped. Thanks to all the marina stalwards who turned out to help and watch the fun. Yesterday was also the day we said goodbye to our great friends Curt and Jeri who are returing home to Squim in the US (oh, all right then, Sequim) for the summer, returning in the autumn (oh, all right then, the "fall"). Curt, we will see you in the Caribbean, Jeri hopefully in Sequim.

Unfortunately my work rebuilding the raw water pump was not too successful with water pissing into the bilge when we switched on the engine. Ah well, it's not the first time and today when we brought her across to B Pontoon (aka "The Party Pontoon") it appears it might just be the face plate that is leaking. We'll see when this wretched wind dies down.

Here comes the travel lift. Fingers crossed.

In we go

Splash

Back in the water at last

So after the day's slightly stressful events we were all off to Çan MoCamp the campsite just outside the marina gates. Çan's place is a throwback to the 60s, the sort of place you would have loved to have spent your 20s in. Chilled out, good music, full of backpackers, couchsurfers and volunteers. Çan had heard we are due to leave and offered to do a deal for us and our friends. We were greeted by a 4' high model penguin with a scarf over its face to mark the first anniversary of the Gezi Park disturbances. The penguin became the symbol for the protestors lat year (something to do with CNN running a programme in their Penguin series on the subject I believe). Anyway, the wind finally died, the beer flowed and the campfire crackled. Then it was time for more goodbyes. This time to our Turkish boat assistant, Zerrin, and her husband Mete. No more dressing up in overalls, aprons or chain saw massacre antifoul gear for you Zerrin. Very sad to see them leave with not a few tears shed across this cultural divide. This is one of the few downsides of the cruising life. You build great friendships often over a fairly short period but before you know it one of you, or both, is leaving for somewhere new. Sure, there will be new people to meet and fun to be had but that doesn't mean you forget the good times you had in Kaş either.

Çan's place

Groovy steps with welcoming penguin

Mete

Çan himself

Gilly and one sad/happy Zerrin

Campsite staff get the dreaded Gilly stare!

Andy plays out the evening

Sobering Thoughts - Old Age and Missing Yachtsmen

We are back in England visiting my aging parents. Far from our easy life in warm, hospitable Turkey we are seeing how hard and sad it is to be getting old. Dad is struggling to manage daily tasks and Mum is finding it hard to look after him. Brother Philip is 100 miles away with his own difficult life to lead and I have feelings of guilt. Do they really want me to live my own life as they claim or should we abandon Transatlantic plans to stay with them here? I know I will return to Petronella but that doesn't make it any easier.

Last week we finally told them of our Transatlantic adventure. They were quiet and asked us about our plans. Were we and the boat competent to make the crossing? When would we next be home to see them? We have to do it though because if we didn't there would be more regrets and even resentment from me. And then the sad, sad Cheeki Rafiki story. Here in Hampshire in the heart of the yachting world it has hit hard. Four experienced crew in a tested boat. What might have happened and how might we have dealt with it? There are, I think, some circumstances that you cannot plan for. Maybe this was one such event? There is a risk, all you can do is try to minimise it and plan as carefully as you can. So sad for them, their families and my home town of Southampton where the boat was normally berthed.

You Just Gotta Love Turkey

So, time to leave Turkey yet again from a local Turkish airport near you. Tunahan's Taxi to the airport, check in as usual, drink all remaining liquid before X-Ray, find a can of tonic we had forgotten about and have it confiscated. Just the usual stuff.

On to passport control. I went ahead as Gilly was still packing away her hand baggage (now devoid of tonic). Passport and Turkish icamet presented and I manage a passable entire conversation in Turkish. Excellent stuff - I have learned a bit after all. Then, to my amazement the passport control guy asks me to go through, present my boarding pass at Duty Free and buy him two bottles of Turkish rakı. Once purchased I am to return to his little booth and hand over said booze. Before I know it I have agreed and he has thrust 80TL into my hand! Purchase complete I innocently hang around the passport control area waiting for his sign to approach the booth and complete the dodgy deal. Handshakes all round and all goes smoothly but by this time our flight is flashing 'Final Call' so we scamper over to the gate and board our flight chuckling all the time at this bizarre parting shot from Turkey.

Exclusive - Petronella TransAt Teamnames Announced

After a rigorous selection process involving First Aid training, Competent Crew assessments, compatibility exercises and Skype interviews, Team Petronella can now reveal the names of both the sailing and shore support TransAt teams.

Skipper: Gilly (I love Kaş) Douch
First Mate: John (Jack Sparrow) Douch
Second Mate: Jenny (Penny) Douch
Second Mate's Mate: Marcus (The Mullet) Haydon
Head of Shore Support: Emma (The Wombat) Douch

Congratulations to all those selected.

Fair winds and following seas for your forthcoming family adventure.

Meanwhile all external jobs have been completed on Petronella and stores purchased for the initial Mediterranean leg of the passage. Skipper and first mate will now rendezvous with the rest of the crew for a weekend of team building and R&R back in the UK.

Aches and Pains

We've both been in the wars a bit recently. A couple of weeks back I was angle grinding and felt a bit of 'paint' fly into my right eye which was protected only by glasses not safety glasses. Two days later it was still sore so off to Kaş hospital. There the doctor removed some of the foreigh body but not all. I had to go to Fethiye the next day to have rest removed by the opthalmologist. It turned out to have been a piece of hot steel which had burned my cornea and took several days to recover. A lucky escape and goggles are now de rigeur for grindy jobs. We arrived at Fethiye at 07.15 and the job was complete by 08.05 for next to nothing. Amazing service yet again - thank you Esnaf Hastanezi.

Jack Sparrow

Earlier Gill had fallen head first into the deep bilge whilst painting it and hurt her shoulder and now she has crocked her arm taking the top off the fridge one time too many. Oh, and her back hurts too.

Yesterday, to cap it all, the missing filling in one of my wisdom teeth turned out to be decay instead so that was yanked out. I now look like a hamster but again all done with little or no fuss and very little cost even though several stitches were involved.

It really is time to get launched and sailing again. Friends are leaving every week and we have a long way to go this year. Roll on the end of May when we are back from the UK and we can finally set off.

Hard Work Continues....

It's been a bit quiet on the blog lately but that's because we've been working our butts off to get Petronella ready for the water again. Some of the jobs completed are...install AIS, prepare and paint deck and topsides, install second solar panel, sand down galley and revarnish, refurbish cockpit (thank you Zerrin), close two through hulls, replace bobstay tanks, purchase new danbuoy, repair top of mizzen mast. On it goes day after day.

Zerrin teak oiling the cockpit furniture

Mete sanding the topsides

Zerrin and Gill embark on yet another sanding session

But finally there is light at the end of the tunnel. Another few days and the painting will be finished. Then on Friday Gill's sister Ali and husband Mike are out for a week. Two days later we are back to the UK to see my parents and our girls. Then it will be back to Kaş for a final few days before we set off westwards back to wards Gibraltar and thence on across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. Woot, woot as Jenny would say.