B M I E P

Thursday 19th January...

Linda - After last week's fun and excitement with Angela, it was now time to get back to normality (AKA.... Boat Maintenance In Exotic Places!).

This began with the heads (AKA the loo). You might recall that every year Dean removes the outlet pipes and bashes them about on the quay because they begin to get clogged up and lined with calcium. I suppose it's a bit like your arteries and cholesterol. It's a job that has to be done I'm afraid. I really don't know how other boaters cope, as they are not all as mechanically able as Dean. 

But first he had to fix the small leak from the toilet pump. It's always been an ongoing problem. This time he really gave it a festidious overhaul, replacing one of the seals too, but it's still not perfect. More work to do on this issue. 

Working on the pump

Closer look

Here's part of the system dismantled. Dean uses some muric acid (drain cleaner) to help remove the calcium inside. 

This shows' the extent of the calcium build up inside the pipe. It's caused by the sea water flush mixing with pee. It's quite hard so a good bash about on the pontoon and it breaks up.

Looking down the pipe, see for yourself 😯

On the toilet pump motor Dean found that the shaft was damaged, and is attempting to make it smooth again in this next photo. He attaches the pump to one of the boat's batteries so that the shaft will spin fast against his sandpaper.

We've been getting quite a lot of rain over the last week. Over two of the dry days Dean polished Thesee's smooth deck sections with his fancy polisher. Now they are gleaming, and every time we go outside he reminds me to admire the sparkle 😍.

Can't quite capture the gleaming beauty on a photo though

Hard work bending down for long periods

Nearly finsished, you can see the gleam now !

The stormy skies from last week have begun to clear. We were treated to this amazing view of the mountains one morning. All this is fresh snow from last week's downpours.

Wow, what a snowy view 

The highest peak

So it's rather chilly at night. Last week Angela was keeping warm with the hot water bottle in bed. After she had gone home we decided to use it ourselves. On the second night we went to get into bed, only to find that the hot water bottle had split and leaked all over the bed. Well only on Dean's side luckily, ha ha. Good job it didn't split for you Angela! We decided we would try and find another, and as luck had it we found one straight away in the local Migros supermarket. This new one has a lovely soft fleecy cover. At night it feels like your favourite pet has snuggled up in bed too 💜

Maybe we should give it a name?

One of my jobs this week was repairing one of our fitted bed sheets that we had made before we started the big journey. It's started to go threadbare, but it cost a lot of money as it was custom made to fit our strangely shaped bed, so we wanted to try and repair it. Thanks to Angela for bringing us the sewing essentials to do this job. It also gave me an opportunity to use the sewing machine, instead of Dean!

Dean - One of the jobs on the list is to back flush the cooling system on the engine. I connect a small electric pump to the water exit by the exhaust and pump a special liquid backwards through the engine. The pump and the liquid goes in the tub, it's then sent through the yellow hosepipe, through the engine and back into the tub through the larger brown coloured pipe.

It foams a lot so I have to keep taking the foam away

While I was at it I decided to re-paint the engine mounts as they were looking a little grubby. Looks better in real life!

Thursday 26th January...

Linda - The first month of 2023 is rolling by and the daylight is starting to get a little longer. This week we were fortunate to get a number of sunny days on the trot. So good in fact that some of the boats went along to Kekova for a couple of days anchoring. We didn't go with them because for one thing, we don't have any sails up at the moment, they're still in the aft cabin keeping warm and dry. 

Boat work continues, we're steadily working through the list as well as enjoying ourselves. The keep fit and yoga has restarted which means getting up early three days a week. Dean's main jobs were a continuation of deck polishing, blowing up fenders, and he's currently in the process of sanding & varnishing the cockpit table. 

Over to Dean to explain...

A job I've wanted to do for a while but also didn't want to do. If that makes sense! After years of trying different treatments on the cockpit table I had finally made it look quite reasonable. However I was offered some special varnish that sounded quite good and easy to use. I cleaned the table off and applied the first "primer" coat. Bugger....something went wrong and it looked terrible. 

So I have spent the last two days sanding the varnish coat off, the trouble is the table is teak veneer and quite thin so I had to be carful not to sand through the veneer. We're back to bare wood again now with a couple of thin patches...bugger. I'll start again on Monday and hopefully all will go well. If not I'm sure you will all hear me cursing from sunny Turkey. Wish me luck.

Applying the special stain layer

This layer isn't supposed to look shiny !!

Something has gone wrong

Will need sanding down to bare wood

After the sanding down, beautiful again

Top section sanded

Not a great deal happening in the marina at the moment, although we did get 12 people at the Friday night happy hour. Things are looking up. Saturday was market day again, we found a new place along the canal for lunch and their kebabs are the size of half a crusty loaf! 

Oh and today Dean finally sold the old mainsail and genoa to one of the harbour staff. We are pleased to see them go, now we have room in the cockpit once more. 

Thursday 2nd February...

Linda - Brrrrr, the temperature has dropped considerably, especially at night. 

On Wednesday morning we even had SLEET. 

The keep fit session was cancelled which gave us a chance to do some indoor jobs like cleaning the bilges. I'm not sure if this was what I dreamed of when Dean talked of sailing away into the sunset!! It could have been worse though, it could have been me doing the cleaning! Fortunately I am only the lackey. We also tried to steam clean the bed mattress.

Steam cleaning, without much success

Dean has spent a lot of time helping our friend David with some repairs. He owns quite an old catamaran and the hydraulic steering ram was leaking. He managed to get some new seals brought over from the UK but we needed a special "C" spanner to remove the end caps, long story short, I managed to make a "C" spanner and we set about replacing the old seals. One of the hoses had to be re- made, David found a hydraulic repair man about 5 miles away and after several cycle trips in the pouring rain the job was complete.

Replacing the seals

You can just see the home made "C" spanner at the bottom of the pic

Saturday was sunny. After our trip to the market we stopped off again for lunch along the canal.

Lunch stop

Dean bought some boat goodies, deck shampoo, teak cleaner, teak treatment, stainless polish and hose for the raw water cooling side of the engine (next year's job.... our motto is 'See it, Buy it').

Friend Kevin brought us some small springs from the UK. You will of course remember that we need these for the repairs to the door handles.

Springs

And Dean got the local sailmaker to make him a new clew strap. This holds the clew of the mainsail down onto the boom.

Old strap, New strap

Sleet on the deck windows

...and on the pontoon

...and passarelle

....and side windows

Cleaning the bilges in the forecabin

... and this is underneath our bed, strange that I find it difficult to work with out a headtorch!

....where the bow thruster batteries are

The big job at the moment is the cockpit table. After Dean had rubbed it down again after last week's cock-up there was a dry day which enabled him to re-stain the table and add the first coat of clear varnish. He intends to give it several layers of clear varnish but needs to do it on dry days, and at the moment the weather is very unpredictable,  hence this job may go on for a while.

First coat of varnish

Another friend of ours, Bev, had a birthday this week and we were invited out for a meal to celebrate. Eight of us went in a minivan to a steak restaurant a couple of miles along the beach front. And we got to wear tinselly hats and silly glasses too! They don't sell wine but you can secretly take your own... so we did.

Birthday party

The next blog post will be called 'It's all about meeeeeeee'

Angela's New Year Visit

Friday 13th January...

Linda - The New Year celebrations turned out to be rather non-existent. The get together that had been planned didn't happen because a couple of the yachties caught Covid, and the room was double booked. On Thesee, Dean and I stayed up to welcome in the New Year, and pretty much kept ourselves to ourselves thereafter because my sister Angela was arriving on the 5th.  

The weather was still good. We hired a car from our local agent in the marina and drove up to Antalya to meet her at the airport. Being a little early we stopped off beforehand at one of the shopping malls, where I bought a pair of jeans to replace my ones that have shredded at the knees. We've been on the lookout for a new coffee machine also, still no luck at the moment. 

At the airport we had just parked up when Angela's plane came in to land giving us a great view, and although I did my best hand waving, turns out she was on the other side of the plane! By the time we arrived back in Finike it was early evening so there was enough time to play a game of 'Sequence'. Thanks Angela for bringing us more supplies of Bacardi and Quality Street. 

Here comes big sis

Looks like Dean is losing

We kept the hire car for another day because the weather was good. The three of us plus our friend Sarah took advantage of the good weather and Dean drove us just around the coast to Karaoz. We've been here before on an organised walk and were eager to visit the beautiful little cove along the headland again, in fact we all took our swimsuits hoping for a January swim in the sea. The walk turned out to be about six miles in all. It was a fantastic day, and yes we did get to swim at the cove too. The water wasn't as warm as last time we were here, but it was so tempting we couldn't resist. After a swim, picnic, and drink stop at the nearby hut, Sarah led us back to the car on the 'proper' Lycian Way hiking route along the undulating coastal edge. Here's some photos of our day out...

Half a motorcycle here

Small quirky cafes 

We followed the road, 

Dean and Sarah leading the way.

A wonderful sunny day

Great views

Sister selfie

Heading down to our favourite cove

Here we are

Dean the first one in

Dean and Sarah swimming

Angela thinking about it

My turn to brave it

It was actually quite pleasant

once you were in

Picnic after the swim

The cove is so beautiful

Forgot the picnic knife

Back at the car we stop for a fresh orange juice 

Friday evening we took Angela to the Happy Hour in the marina. Seven attendees this week, things are looking up! Then dinner at the restaurant next door, they sell wine too, it was a good night. 

We stayed local over the weekend so that Angela could sample some of the delights of Finike, and also see what we get up to, starting with the Saturday market and then the Sunday BBQ. This machine in the marina dispenses pet food biscuits for 1 Turkish Lira. 

Angela gives it a go

At the market, not very busy

Today's purchases including Baclava

and Angela's Turkish Delight

Baclava for pudding

Saturday afternoon Angela and I took a stroll up the marina pontoons, all along the breakwater, and then up the hill to the local mosque. For dinner we went into town to a newly refurbed restaurant but it was disappointing and expensive. No alcohol so we each had a non-alcoholic cocktail.

At the end of the breakwater

Made the climb up to the mosque

With fabulous views

Our three different cocktails

On Sunday the three of us strolled along the beachfront promenade, then back through town stopping at the nice little cafe on the riverside. For our BBQ sharing dish later, Angela and I made an Apple Pie and Dean supplied the Ice Cream, it went down a treat. 

Local fishermen

On the beachfront

Cafe on the river

Strolling along the river

BBQ Lamb steaks for us three

...with peppers too

Monday we were back on the road again with the hire car. This time it was a day out in the nearby town of Demre. First stop was the Myra rock tombs and ampitheatre. We parked just opposite in a scraggy car park area, the local orange juice seller insisting we buy an orange juice from him. It was very delicious and squeezed right in front of our eyes. 

Approaching Demre we pass one of the mosques

Decorative column ruins at Myra

Some carvings still in good condition after all these years

The ampitheatre

...and the rock tombs

Close up

Carvings still visible

Side view

Angela enters the ampitheatre

Dean imagines what used to go on here

Angela takes a throne

Looking down

More carvings

Near the stage

Greek inscriptions

Larking about

At the fresh orange juice car park

Five minutes away by car we arrived at St Nicholas Church. We came here recently with Alan & Yasi, now it was Angela's turn. This time we went inside the Church because it was free for Dean & I, having purchased our residents museum cards at the Myra ruins for 60TL each (about £2.60). Angela's entrance fee being 120 TL so quite pricey considering most of the site is being renovated.

St Nicholas Santa Claus meets Angela!

The real St Nicholas

Inside the Church

Excavations showing original floors

Mosaics

Painted ceilings

Presumably once St Nicholas's tomb

More mosaics

Another tomb?? Now confused

On the way out

The garden

View of the Church

From there we found a small cafe nearby for lunch, which turned out to be a good choice, nice food, and lovely helpful staff. After we had eaten we headed to the beach, actually trying to get a look at the once started but never finished marina, but there was security so we couldn't pass the road. Instead we stopped for a walk on the very long and stony beach. It was a lovely day so we sat down for a while building megaliths and skimming stones.

In the square at Demre

Ang on the beach

It's deserted

Megalith 1

Dean skimming stones

Megalith 2

There was more sightseeing to be done. I never knew there was so much to see in Demre. A couple of miles away was Andriake Antik Kenti (ancient city) and museum. Unfortunately for us it was closed on Mondays so we popped down to the quayside instead. The place was full of gullets ashore for the winter and they were even in the process of hauling another one out. Strangely it was a pretty place with a small inlet and new bridge which crossed to a fabulous sandy beach with donkeys.

Gullet propellor

The small inlet

Looking across to the sandy beach

This tractor just finishing one job

Next very large gullet waiting to come ashore

A diver in the water

At the new bridge

Donkeys roaming free

There's always a dog around accompanying us

The very large gullet gets hauled out

It was quite a sight to watch

Finally ashore after quite a while

And so, after quite a few evenings playing Rummikub, eating Quality Street, and drinking Bacardi & Coke, it was Tuesday. The weather had begun to turn for the worse, but we managed a couple of hours local sightseeing at Limyra Antic Theater ruins in the morning before the rain started.

Approaching the cenotaph for Gaius Caesar.

He died in Limyra on 21st February 4 AD

Gathering the information

Gaius Caesar, grandson and prospective heir 

to the Roman Emperor Augustus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaius_Caesar

The cenotaph is surrounded by this small moat

Here comes the stormy weather

Angela approaches the Ptolemaion

It used to look like this

Sadly not anymore

The river now runs over the ancient street

The Church outline now underwater too

Nice stroll long the riverside

These days moss grows between the stone blocks

that was once the Roman street

There were four days of bad weather due. By Tuesday night it was raining heavily. We still managed to get off the boat and go to our little social club, where our friends on SV Mai Tai were showing a film which they made 20 years ago. It was packed with all sorts of useful sailing information from their time in New Zealand. It was like a movie night, we took popcorn!

Wednesday's weather was dire. We decided it was pointless trying to go out anywhere, so Angela and I continued with a jigsaw that we had started the day before whilst Dean caught up on paperwork. The jigsaw was quite tricky even though it was only 500 pieces, and in the end all three of us were at it to get it finished. Sadly a number of missing pieces, but here's a photo. 

It was Angela's last night here. Still raining heavily, we were able to get off the boat and go for a meal in the local restaurant in the marina which we discovered last week. It's very cosy and warm. 

Thursday came and we set off from the marina around 9.30am giving ourselves plenty of time to get to Antalya for Angela's flight. The weather was atrocious, we even drove through cloud in the mountains on the way. The rain relentless, Dean took it steady driving. Lots and pools of water on the roads, but fortunately no floods to cause a problem. We also passed two small landslides at the side of the road. Approaching Antalya the sea looked menacing, with some occasional thunder and lightning. 

We arrived with plenty of time to spare, which meant that we could visit the Antalya Mall for coffees and a snack before dropping Angela at the airport. 

Time for Ang to say goodbye to Finike 

On the way to Antalya 

we were above some of the clouds

Antalya Mall

Thankyou for coming to visit us Angela, 
it was lovely spending time together again 
x x x