We arrived back to Sailaway early evening, our trip had not been without incident, it was great to see Baylis and Plant re-united after such a long period. Our dear friends Ian & Adrianne had done a great service with Plant although we are convinced Plant will loose their Northern Irish accent she had developed? They had also removed the large cover from Sailaway, making it extremely easy to get ourselves and our four large cases and hand luggage aboard. We only unpacked what was necessary for over night, all else was left in the cockpit over night. After dinner, our job list was created for all that know at this time, we retired early to get stuck into the unpacking first thing.

As mentioned, our trip had not been without incident, our most interesting yet, perhaps a message:

1. We arrived at Dalaman from Newcastle as planned, we made for the carrousel to collect our luggage, first the trollies, I wanted two? The trollies were issued manually, wether this was official or not, still this is Turkey. We paid for two trollies but the guy only issued one, he clearly though we were tourists. He asked how many cases we had and continued to insist that we only needed one, no talk of getting have the cash back. The value, totally irrelevant, the issue to me was "who the hell does he think he is, we want two!" I became excited at the opportunity to use my Turkish for the first time, with voice raised and hand gestures the issue was soon resolved and the second trolley issued. I probably wore him down with my rubbish Turkish, we walked towards the carrousel muttering "we are home dear!"

2. The Customers Officer took interest and asked us to place our gear into the x-ray equipment, we always plan for this with documentation, medical and invoices for purchased items. The older Officer took the lead, and told us to open all four large cases, we clearly did. His focus was not on the purchased items but the volume of medication we were carrying, the conversation developed further as the prescriptions we declared. They detained us and called for a member of the medical unit to verify the fact that they were for personal use - they clearly suspected Ann as a dealer! The official arrived in due time, we discussed medical condition ect - he initially suggested I should be shot as they would a distressed animal. Only joking obviously, in no time at all he issued the instruction to let us pass and wished us a good time, the old boy was not happy, probably chasing promotion? He walked off, the rest of the staff chuckled and also wished us well.

3. We walked out into the open an hour and a half late, our driver could not be found, I called the number we had been provided with by Lycian Travel, Kas, never again. I rang our driver who answered by name but insisted that he was not our driver? We had a little run in with the owner last November when he declared that a member of staff had not not charged us enough, but I thought we had sorted it out like grown ups - clearly not? We were now left to the mercy of the taxi rank, I was extremely surprised to find very little difference (less than £10) between the finally agreed price and what Lycian wanted.

 

We rose early the next morning and concentrated on formulating our "major job list":

1. Unpack our belongings, store and log our spares - every thing must have a place.

2. The winter had been the wettest on record apparently, from videos and pictures of some of the storms we were shown it was quite believable. A number of the local vessels had been damaged as the storms hit, a number blown over as they sat on the harbour walls creating damage to themselves and nearby cars ect. Our friend Mat (Marcon) had his dive vessel destroyed, his business (Atlas Diving) now ceased and he is now working for another dive school, the poor guy was only married in November?

Unfortunately the high humidity had left us with damp issues, our first real experience of such issues, the damage easily resolved just work to do. The marina was still some what stained red from the top soiled washed down from the mountains.

3. Sailaway has three fuel tanks, two large 200ltr tanks and a single "day tank" which gravity feeds the engine and heating. The day tank has a very useful sump with a drain to removed water and the such, offering some protection to the fuel filters. The drain valve had seized last year, I like the facility so I wanted to sort it.

4. The fuel filters required replacement, standard maintenance.

5. Engine & Gearbox oils/filters required replacing, standard maintenance.

6. Refurbished Fuel Injectors. - Last year we had noticed more smoking, the engine being over 25 years old we originally put it down as aging and all injectors appeared to be "alike". We had carried a spare set since Sardinia, worth a try we thought, the results were outstanding, she has at least another 25 years left in her, the engine that is?

7. We had returned with chromed, electric light units, our old twenty year units, were marked and tarnish. I also had brought the latest technology led bulbs, significantly better than our existing four year old units.

8. Paint, paint and paint, after all she is a steel vessel!

9. Stainless work to be polished, teak to be oiled - standard maintenance.

10. Toilets and toilet system, maintenance to valves, leaking seals ect.

11. Toilet/Holding Tank - I replaced both inspection hatches as they had began to leak, I also fitted a level system as it had been overfilled twice. To over fill with leaking inspection hatches is not nice as you can imagine!

We had plenty of work to get stuck into, we wanted to complete as soon as possible and begin travelling, we estimated two weeks, it took three to the day.

 

 

 

Log Entry Saturday 2nd May - Dinner in town with, Ian, Adrianne and her mum, Margaret.

We finished work late and made our way down town to meet up at "L'Amour" restaurant, we had difficulty finding it so we waited in the square down by the harbour for there arrival. There are clear indications of the season beginning just little tourists at this time.

We made our way, being led by Adrianne, catching up on the gossip began immediately obviously.

The restaurant was an excellent choice, great food, we chatted and laughed till late hours, well for us anyway? As we sorted the bill, two other boating couples from the marina arrived with friends, we chatted a little longer before finally leaving - good night had by all.

 

Log Entry Friday 8th May - After being back for a week, we have our first trip into town.

We had become a little too focused on our jobs, we had barely been off Sailaway for a week, we had been feeding ourselves from the marina Migros store - Ann had not even been to Bimm's yet! Today, Friday, is also market day, the fruit has been particularly poor since our return, probably seasonal but there may be more alternatives at the market? We walked into town to get one or two bits and pieces sorted, we need our air tanks filled to clean below the waterline. The town had changed noticeably, different cafe's, restaurants, even a couple of new hotels/pensions.

The harbour had recovered completely no sign of the damage created from the storms.

The market meant the town was busy, plenty of choice as usual but quality poor and prices high due to the seasonal issues.

We sat in our favourite cafe stall, with our favourite spinach and cheese pancakes, Ann disappearing occasionally and returning with some other goods.

 

Log Entry Tuesday 19th May - We clean Sailaway's hull.

As diving was against rules in the marina as you had to pay the services to dive, we had originally planned to clean Sailaway over in the bay, at anchor. An opportunity arose to seek permission with the marina staff to dive at our berth - it was granted, great news as we could now complete it at our leisure. I was a little apprehensive as I had just completed a second coarse of antibiotics for a chest infection, still see how it would go was the plan? I always get dressed in the water, this relieves a lot of the pressure on my knees as in the water, tank ect are literally weightless. It was to be my chest that was to be the issue, I was only able to process enough air to last around 30 minutes before, pain and dizziness began to set in - so the clean was to be under taken in two phases, a little frustrating

 

The first dive I concentrated on the propshaft, fin and skeg and checked out the anodes, a task made a little more difficult due to the obscurity caused by the high volume of fresh water in the marina.

The second saw me work on the fin and hull, the red soil, washed into the marina created a red cloud when disturbed, still I did the best I could under the circumstances, it would be completed properly when able.

Ian & Adrianne join us too, so our intensions were declared, and were debated to some level of detail, discussing options, places to visit and options, as our intensions, however vague, were quite solid at that time I thought?

A great afternoon, great conversation, food and great humour as usual!

 

Log Entry Friday 22nd May - Farewell II, this time at Ian & Adrianne's!

Another great afternoon, the same gathering as yesterday, the debate continued, although so wrapped in the conversation, no photos taken regrettably. The time disappeared, Adrianne supplied an excellent spread, centred on wild boar meat. Mick produced a DVD of Amble, Northumberland from where they originate, we lived there on Sailaway for many years. It was compile by a local guy and dated some time back - interesting.

Another great afternoon, we will miss theses people, but will stay in touch, that is clearly if we do not return?

 

Log Entry Sunday 24th May- We bid our final farewells, we leave for Fethiye this evening.

 

We were to overnight this evening to Fethiye, arriving mid morning Monday, we had agreed to meet up finally with Adrianne, Mick & Pepi for a coffee at Mehmecans in the marina. We would then have an early dinner, fuel up before it closes at 1900 hours and leave directly.