So what do you find to do all day?

So, back in Turkey after our first "holiday" (yes, honestly!) for five years. We went to check out the Caribbean with some friends. Two weeks sailing on a 'dog of a Beneteau' and then a week in a friend's villa on Bequia (St Vincent and the Grenadines). If we needed it this was the clincher to cross the pond this coming winter - blue seas, blue skies but most of all the winds. 20k-25k consistently and the most fantastic sailing.

I'm back in Kas and I've left Gill in Istanbul visiting some of the Turkish friends she met last year in Teos Marina. While she's away I've started back on the hard graft.

"What do you find to do all day?" How many times have I been asked that. Here's a typical two days.

Day 1: Get up, have breakfast, catch up on correspondence. Decide it's time to address the leaking diesel lift pump. This is the manual pump for purging the fuel line of air after a filter change. It's always leaked and it's getting worse. Eventually air will get in while the engine is running and then "poof", no engine. So, check the internet for the diesel Mercedes vehicles that used the same engine as we have (OM616 for you mechanical geeks). Find a couple of YouTubes showing how to make the change. I already had a new pump ordered and collected in the UK. Need to take off the fuel in and fuel out lines to get at the pump itself. One comes off easily but the hose is stiff and needs to be replaced - the end I've removed looks like it needs a 10mm hose. Walk into Kas. Chandler only has 8mm. Try auto shop. Yup, they have it though not marine grade. Purchase 2m so I have spare for next time it needs changing. Back to boat. Remove other end of hose from pump. Bugger - that's a tiny hose barb, actually need 8mm instead. Walk back into Kas. Buy 8mm from original chandler (at least it is marine grade this time). Back to boat. Can't get other hose connector unscrewed. Have a cup of tea to assess situation. Meet Will and get invited to BBQ in his lovely apartment overlooking Kas. Eat sausages, drink beer, chat about Caribbean. Go home to boat. Now it's dark. Go to bed.

Day 2: Get up, have breakfast. Spend 1.5 hours trying unsuccessfully to remove second hose connection. Only suceed in burring the nut a bit. Need a new approach. Have cup of tea. Talk to Steve on Whitestar across the pontoon. "Take the entire unit off to give yourself more space to work" he says. Good idea but that means draining the engine oil first which I only changed a few weeks back. Consequently I want to re-use this oil but I don't have a clean container. Walk into Kas to buy a container. Walk back to the boat. Drain engine oil. Remove pump unit, remove old lift pump by building complex mechanism to hold the odd shaped unit using mole grips, vice and adjustable spanner. Yippee! It's all to bits now. Fit replacement lift pump after finally removing tiny 'O' ring and fit inlet and outlet connectors back on. Hope it won't leak anywhere when it is reassembled. Fit entire unit back onto engine block. Getting dark again now and I can't see to connect up the hoses again. Shower, happy hour and dinner with Rose and Brian on Alixora.

So, there you have it. A pretty typical couple of days to still not complete a job that the YouTube videos said would take 10-20 minutes. Still, I've learned some new stuff, I've had fun in an odd sort of way, the job is nearly complete and as Kevin on Sailaway said "what would you have to do if there weren't these little jobs to keep you busy? You would be bored" Thanks Kevin, and I'll see you for dinner on Sailaway tomorrow evening.

The First Sailmail Blog Message

This is the first message sent direct via our HF radio to the blog. No WiFi, no 3G, just the radio. Damn clever and the way we will communicate out in the Atlantic. Yikes, it works!!

Girls' Shopping Day in Fethiye

Gill and Rose (Alixora) are off to Fethiye by car on Thursday for a girls' day out shopping. Here is their shopping list. Not for them the trendy boutiques and chic restaurants.......

Stainless steel hob cover

Electrical crimping connectors

Cabin insulation

Dinghy cover

Shade material

Dried cranberries

Ropes

Winch and jammer

Mosquito netting

It sure is a sophisticated lifestyle!

Orhaniye - an interesting fact

So last night we were invited to dinner with Turkish friends in Kas. They had a lovely pilot book showing all the best Turkish anchorages. It was written by the most famous Turkish sailor, Sadun Boro. One of our favourite anchorages is Orhaniye otherwise known as Keçibükü. We thought we would show off our Turkish language skills so we said "ah yes, it's Turkish name is kechibookoo". There was a pause and then a roar of laughter. "OK", we thought, "what have we said?" After a couple of minutes they replied "You said Goat Shit!" We should have pronounced it kechibewkew when it would have meant "Goat's bay with a bend in it"!

We should have known there could be problems after Gill said "It is very onion today" instead of "It is very cold today". Ah well, at least we are trying.

Orhaniye - Goat Shit Bay

Yup - you guessed it!

Hanımeli Cafe, Restaurant and Bar

It's a quiet friday night in Kaş. The tourists have left, Dave and Chris (Electric Monk) have left, John and Jenny (Blue Talisman) have left and Ingrid and Rolf (Mandara) have left. All back to Europe for family and Christmas. Just us and Rose and Brian (Alixora) left on B Pontoon.
In Kaş all the restaurants along the front are closed as families recover and take stock after the summer season. But hidden down an alley near the Internet cafe is Hanımeli, a tiny Turkish cafe with just three tables inside. Two are empty when we enter the other is occupied by a mixed group of Turks and Germans. In the corner the proprietress' husband is playing gentle traditional Turkish music with his friends - guitar, baglama, bass guitar and electric drum kit. We order double rakıs with water (su) and ice (buz) and chill out in the warm. Without asking, a segmented mandarin and later a slice of chocolate cake arrive. The cafe is like your grandma's front room. Photos on the wall, some old and faded mostly of Kaş and memorable evenings, advertisements for diving companies, a tiny TV (switched off), a shelf of CDs and another of LPs. Not much has changed here for 20 years.
The music warms up, the rakı flows and the Turkish men get up to dance. Bizarrely the band plays a Turkish adaptation of Happy Birthday for one of the Germans. And then it is time to leave. Iyi akşamlar and iyi geceler. Time for bed. This is what living away from home and out of your comfort zone is all about. It just happens.

Petronella meets Turkish Legend

Two years ago we met Round the World Turkish sailor Ozkan Gulkaynak in a quiet Greek anchorage. Today he posted that his new boat, Lady S, was almost destroyed by fire as he brought her into Teos Marina near Izmir. Luckily things worked out, the fire was doused and all is well. Tonight we spoke to him for over an hour on Skype and heard how his plans for Lady S are progressing. Amazingly this Turkish hero was asking US for our advice on steel boats. Humbling or what? We certainly have come a long way since our first tentative steps back in Portugal.

Ozkan plans to use Lady S to train young Turks in the art of seamanship eventually taking her to the Arctic or across to the Caribbean. An amazing guy with boundless energy, pride in his country and a boatload of plans for the future.

The Crazy Turk on the boat that took him around the world

The new and the old. Lady S and Kayıtsız III at Teos.

Vagaries of Autumn

Yesterday was a gorgeous day. Blue sky, gentle breeze and a milky blue sea. Just the opportunity for a last swim of the year followed by a picnic with most of the remaining sailors from the marina here at Kas.

By contrast today and last night have been windy and much colder. We had wind gusts of up to 35k and we were squashing our fenders up against Argo the German boat next to us.