Still hot in the Turkish Riviera
Thursday 4th August...
Linda - First of the weekly blogs. And the main news is that we have been stuck onboard for a week, because last week Dean tested positive for Covid! We'd only been in Finike for a few days, so I have no idea where he picked it up from. Of course, it didn't stop him from doing the monthly maintenance to the boat, including repairing the stiff tap in the forward heads.
Repairs to the tap.
Not quite naked maintenance.
The marina told us that we must BOTH stay on the boat for a week, even though I was negative. They changed their minds when I sent them a shopping list, and decided that I was allowed to go out but had to wear a mask. It was a bit of a shock to find out that the rule to isolate was for 7 days. You can imagine Dean's reaction to that. We did get a free pump out though from the marina.
So we've been basically stuck inside the boat with the hatch closed and the air con running full blast. It's still horribly hot outside, too hot even to sit in the cockpit for any length of time, and overnight temperatures are around 27 degrees.
Today was our first day we could go shopping together and without a mask, although we still wore one in the shops. Some views around town and in the marina.
The second river in town
Not been this far before
Couple of boats anchored outside the marina
Photo of Thesee looking aft from the bow
From Thesee's bow looking out of the marina entrance
...and looking towards the shore
Thursday 11th August...
Linda - This week's news from Finike...... Friday night was happy hour at the Red Lion. You may think that's a pub, but in fact it's not really called the Red Lion. I don't actually know what it's called. It's just a bar in the marina and about the only place around here that you can buy a beer or a glass of wine to drink on the premises. I guess the yachties have christened it the Red Lion in desperation. It was a good night though with about 20 of us attending, and the staff will even order pizzas deliveries, and let us eat them on the premises. While we were drinking there was a dolphin swimming around in the marina! No photos, but will hopefully see it again.
Saturday was market day, and so we took the fairly long walk to see what everyone has been raving about. It was a lovely walk along the canal, and quite straightforward so we didn't get lost. Some statues on the way and a lot of footbridges along the canal with an abundance of wisteria in full bloom.
Statue of a traditional Turkish dancer
Entering the market hall
A few tomatoes here
Now the potato stall
Well we wouldn't rave about the market, it's certainly nothing like the huge market we visited in back in Fethiye. However, we did get some fruit and veg including a nice cauli (the only nice one we've seen to date) and some radishes too.
Back in town and at the entrance to the river we spotted a MASSIVE turtle loitering in the water. It must have easily been a metre long. We watched in awe from the bridge. There are so many turtles here, there is even a designated turtle beach where they come to lay their eggs.
River entrance
Turtle watching
The MASSIVE turtle
Dean has been very busy with his new project. He's ordered some new solar panels and is getting the local fabricator in the yard to make an arch which will attach to the pushpit rail on Thesee's stern. Sounds easy, but believe me, endless hours have gone into this project. There will be more to come on this as the job progresses.
Sunday we decided to go for a bike ride. We cycled out of the marina and straight into the park. Following the paths through the park we crossed the canal and then after more parkland came to the river. Still cycling we crossed the river bridge, which then lead us onto a small beach promenade, and it went on for ages passing numerous beach cafes. It was really nice. There were lots of people on the beach and in the sea, but the beach goes on for miles and miles so no problem finding a space if you want to sunbathe.
Once the promenade finally came to an end we found a designated cycle lane along the road. I was a bit worried about using it as there is a fair bit of traffic, but the roads are wide and surprisingly the traffic doesn't really bother you. We must have cycled along it for about two miles. In the end we decided to stop and turn around before we got too far and too worn out. Soon after we turned we stopped at a beach cafe for a fresh orange juice. It was so relaxing we ended up having a fresh orange juice, then a coffee, and an ice cream too. We'll definitely go back there again. It was so cheap 60 lira for the lot. That's about £3.
Heading back into Finike
The cycle lane
Back in the park
On the beach, turtle preservation signs
The beach goes on forever
At the water's edge, great sand for sandcastles
In the park, the local gym
Lots of equipment to choose from
This one is my favourite
Pretty butterfly lights
So we had a good morning on the bikes, and it wasn't as hot as walking as you get the breeze.
More man jobs carried out this week, some successful, others not so good. We have six fans on the boat, two are in the forward cabin where we sleep, three in the saloon, and one in the aft cabin. Dean fitted them years ago and now they're coming into their own. In this heat we have been using the fans all the time, especially at night when we turn the air con off. They're a little noisy, so Dean took them apart and put a bit of foam rubber inside to support the motors in order to stop the vibrations. It worked a treat.
One of the fans in the saloon
This fan part dismantled during the works
This next job didn't go as well. Incredibly we found a shop in town which sold red fabric dye, so we bought some to tart up our ensign. The red colour has faded really badly and looks terribly old. Our brainwave was to dye the red part. We laid the ensign out on the grass by the sail washing area and Dean painted the red dye onto it, then we hung it up to dry. The job didn't go to plan and the red dye seeped into the white parts on the union jack and looks a mess. also the big red part dried really patchy. Oh well, it was worth a try, and not to worry anyway as we have a new one on the way, currently en-route to us with Phil and Cristina. Their friends bought it with them from the US when they visited recently. The new flag is made from a different material and WON'T FADE.
Painting
This week we've also been on the search for fabric shops. We want to make a dinghy cover because we can't find anywhere that sells them, and can't even find a shop selling a tarpaulin that would do the job. Also the bag containing one of our man overboard safety devices is tatty and degrading, and we wanted to make a new bag for it. Problem! No-one in Finike sells fabric it seems. We've been everywhere in town with no luck finding anything suitable for either. Dean has however dug deep in Thesee's hideaway spots and found something that will suffice for covering the dinghy, for now anyway.
Decorative mosque in town
Outside view
Oh and I mustn't forget Dean did some teak cleaning on the cockpit seats, and teak sealing on the toe rails and hand rails. Yes he's been a busy bee this week, lots to catch up on.
Teak cleaning
Temporary dinghy cover, not too bad really
And so onto today, we took a walk up a LOT of steps at the back of the marina. They lead up to the big mosque and I wanted to have a look. There's a lot of kittens around at the moment too.
Half way up the steps looking back down to the marina
Tiny kitten, and very skinny
The mosque this morning
We had a look inside the outside
View over the marina from the mosque.
Thesee is on the left pontoon
Looking across to the mountains
A sailboat just leaving
We found another cafe on the way down,
with brightly painted steps
And a surprise present for me
on Thesee when we returned
Honestly there must be thousands of fish living in this marina. Every morning they are lively and splashing about on the surface. Here's a photo just looking off the back of the boat.
Thursday 18th August...
Linda - This week started by repairing some of the seat covers in the saloon. The seat cushions are held in place by velcro patches on the wooden seat below. The velcro patches rub against the cushion covers and every so often we have to do some small repairs. Fortunately, we have an old black Aldi shopping bag which just happens to match the underside of the cushions perfectly. Whilst I was doing the sewing, Dean was outside washing my pink canvas shoes. They were VERY dirty, but look brand new now.
I think I may have mentioned before that we have a small leak in the dinghy floor. Actually it's in the long tube that makes the floor into a kind of 'V' shape. Dean has tried to repair it but it's in a very awkward part and the repair didn't work. Someone gave us the idea to put a cup full of latex paint (emulsion) inside the tube and swish it about so that it would coat the inside and dry to fill up the minute hole that was causing the problem. Well, nothing to lose we gave it a go. First Dean had to go and find some suitable paint, which turned out to be quite easy. Dean filled a big beast of a syringe with paint and squirted it in through the blow up valve. It was a two man job trying to make sure the paint went where it should and not all over the place. I'm afraid no hands left to take any photos. Then we turned the dinghy every which way possible to agitate the paint inside the tube, and then left it to dry. Well, next day Dean went to check it, and bingo, the tube was still inflated!
I have to show you this photo of a kitten we saw in the marina. He was SO tiny, the smallest we've seen so far, and he reminded me of our old cat Tibby, with the same markings. There's always some cats that hang around outside of the showers and laundry area. I always talk to them when I pass and give them a little bit of fuss. They aren't hungry though, as here in the marina there is a machine where you can insert a Euro coin and it dishes out a load of pet biscuits. There always seems to be some food available.
Tiny Tibby cat
You can see how tiny in comparison to the chair
Well Dean decided to give the flag painting another go. He painted the red part again, then next day he painted over the white stripes. Unfortunately this turned out to be a disaster as it seeped through to the other side and turned almost everything red, including leaving red stripes on an old towel. It's a shame because the flag is good quality material and would be perfect if it hadn't faded so badly.
Second coat of red
Now the white stripes
Friday night was Happy Hour again at the Red Lion. But strangely only 6 of us turned up. I think a lot of people are still on the move at the moment. This week we had chicken skewers, hamburgers, and chips, all made on the premises, instead of sending out for a pizza.
Saturday was a really hot day. Our thermometer went up to 41.5 degrees on the afternoon. We had to take ourselves off for a swim to cool down in the sea just outside the marina. There is a small concrete platform with a couple of dodgy ladders to climb in and out of the water. The brave people dive in of course, but I'm not brave and I can't dive either. Still, I was brave enough to get in even if it was only for five minutes.
Too hot for me
Monday was a BIG day for us. It was our temporary residency appointment in a town called Kemer, which is about an hour away by taxi. We arrived 15 minutes early at the Immigration Office for our 10am appointment, and had to wait over 45 minutes to be seen. It was very busy with a fair number of people waiting and only 3 officers dealing with everyone. Then we had to go to the tax office (a couple of minutes by taxi) to make all the necessary payments. Strangely, they quote some of the bill in Turkish Lira, and some of the bill in US Dollars. There was a small delay there too because their machine was broken. I have no idea what machine they were on about, but we didn't have to wait too long.
We paid up and then we had to go back to the Immigratiion Office with our payment receipts to be handed in. It was 11.30am by this time and they wouldn't see us, saying we had to come back after 1.30pm (after lunch we presume). How ridiculous, and our taxi driver was not pleased because he had another job at 1pm to the airport. He had to leave us there, and another driver would come at 4pm with another couple and we could go back to Finike with them.
Having two hours to spare we took a walk around the town. It's very much a holiday resort, quite nice, lots of the usual type shops. A lot of holidaymakers around and the beach was busy, and the restaurants sell alcohol too! Not like Finike.
1.15pm and we went back to Immigration, only to find there was already a long queue forming. Disheartened, we decided to go and get some lunch as we were starving by this time. We went back at 2.30pm, of course still very busy and we had to wait 50 minutes to be seen (which was only a two minute job, handing in our receipt and receiving one piece of paperwork).
We did get talking to a lady in the queue and she said she had never seen it so busy. She thought that maybe a lot of Ukrainians and Russians are applying for residency. At 4pm our driver arrived with another couple so we had to wait for them to do their thing before we could all go back to Finike. It was about 6.30pm by the time we got back.
Countryside on the way to Kemer
Nearly there
Fish restaurants in the marina
Hotels by the park and beach
....and statues
...and camels
...and winged horses
....and hearts
.... and lovers 💖
.... and food
Lots of food
Colourful huts selling their goods
Fountains
Can you spot me?
We both slept well after our long day out. It was a pain, but on the other hand we did get the opportunity to see another town. However, Dean did comment that it was a good job we didn't have a little Saffy dog left all alone on the boat all day.
It's been a busy week and it didn't stop there. Yesterday, Dean washed all the boat down, plus the canvas including the main sail lazy bag and the bimini. He has also removed the bimini canvas, and taken it to the washing area to give it a good scrub. You see, we are having new rigid solar panels fittted, and Dean is getting an arch made for them. We have given up with the damaged flexible solar panels, and the company who is supposed to be replacing them is completely useless. Long story.
Anyway, the new arch has been started, with Dean keeping an eagle eye on what's going on. They are making it here in the boatyard next door to the marina. I would think this will be the subject of next week's blog.
First stages of the arch taking shape
Cross bars for the top
We spotted this bride and groom on the quayside.
She must have been BOILING
To finish off the week, Dean has removed the old flexible solar panels and now we have 12 holes in the bimini where they were affixed. But don't panic, Mr C has everything in hand, and he has already cut out 24 small canvas circles and glued them each side of the holes. Speedy Gonzales.
The old panels being dismantled from the bimini
Dean gives the bimini windows a good clean
with his special tools and cleaner
Some of the little circles awaiting their new home
Next week I will start a new blog post as there are only 3 weeks left until we fly back home.
The next blog post is called 'Thesee gets a new solar arch and panels.
Pleased to see that Dean is wearing a mask to repair the tap. The goggles though? And not much else? Thank goodness for the vaccines, eh? Lots of love, Von xxx
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