Last few days in Marmaris

Layer 1 of the repair   

The glassfibre man came on Monday morning (4 April) to start the repair in the port lazarette. He ground out the area and then worked in woven glassfibre saturated in resin. That, it seemed, was his work for the day and he disappeared off. This, he explained, would be the routine for the next 3 days because each of the 3 layers would need a day to set properly. We therefore concluded that we should look at Thursday as being the most likely day for us to be able to set off.

To give him access to the area we had completely emptied our port aft lazarette and so all of the gubbins from that was left on top of the port lazarette. Fortunately the weather has been warm and sunny so it won’t get wet; it just looks untidy.

The rest of the day was filled with lots of little ‘bitty’ work. Nicky dilligently attended to her varnishing. She has now finished the oars (I think that they have had 8 coats) but is still slowly working her way around the high wear areas of the galley and chart table, sanding and then applying lots of layers of varnish so that they are properly protected for the season.

I decided that I’d make a mount for the Wifi aerial rather than rush into getting a new stainess steel one made. This bracket will allow the aerial to sit on the pushpit using the stainless base plate that the aerial was supplied with. I thought we’d try that for a while and see if that height of aerial works well. If experience proves that to get best performance the aerial should be higher then we can can order the appropriate length of stainless steel mounting post to be made. My thoughts were shaped by looking at a yacht further down the pontoon which has a similar aerial mounted at about head height and another, much larger yacht, which has one mounted even higher on one of the mast spreaders. The instructions suggest that pushpit level is fine so we shall see.

Most of the rest of my day was therefore spent making this plate which needs to be wedge shaped so that the aerial will be vertical. With the carpentry completed the plate has now been fed into Nicky’s varnishing sequence so that it will be sealed and protected from the elements. She ungraciously named it ‘Reg’s leprachaun’s loo seat’.

I just had enough time to get the electronic charts updated with the latest amendments before it was time to shower and then head over to the restaurant. We had a very jolly evening with Tony and Helen from Iolanthe who are also planning to sail anti-clockwise around the Aegean this season. It was excellent to share experiences in the areas we have each already visited as well as comparing our research and thoughts about the areas that neither of us have yet been to.

Layer 2 of the repair    

The outstanding job I hate most, polishing the stainless steel, has been carefully being ignored and I’ve been sucessfully inventing new tasks so that I can put it off even further. Tuesday morning’s distraction was cleaning out the cockpit lockers and checking that all of the flares are in date, which they are.

The glassfibre man turned up again, ground layer 1 of the repair down a bit and then applied layer 2. After a quick glass of water he left us to go and work on another yacht. That meant that were were free to head into Marmaris.

We took the mininbus from the entance to the marina which costs just a few Turkish Lira and gets us right into the middle of town. Working our way around the many chandleries and nautical suppliers we amassed a rucksack full of goodies. 60 metres of 6mm line to change the lazyjacks, filters for the watermaker, fuses, cable ties, silicon lubricant spray, varnish, paint brushes and 11 metres of toilet waste pipe.

We left the toilet pipe at the shop to pick up later and headed into the area around the mosque to find somewhere to get a sandwich for lunch. There was an excellent little local food shop selling excellent toasted rolls crammed with salad, grilled chicken and the option to add some very fiery chillies if you wished.

With our ‘batteries’ recharged by the lunch stop we started a mega food shop to top up the store cupboard items and to get fresh for the next few days’ meals. The fruit and vegetables are excellent and very reasonable; we will eat very well. As a result we had more bags than we should have had when we got back onto the bus, particularly with the big roll of toilet pipe. Despite the signs on the bus prohibiting large rucksacks or suitcases we were allowed to travel and so made it back to BV by late afternoon. By the time we had stowed everything and done a quick check on e-mails it was time for dinner.

Wednesday was a hard working day. Nicky applied the next round of varnishing before joining me in changing all of the waste pipes for the forward heads. With the holding tank system we needed all of the 11 metres of pipe we’d bought in Marmaris plus a short length that we already had on board.

The old connections didn’t come apart easily and most needed cutting to release them. The pipes are, of course, bent around all sorts of angles and pushed through holes in bulkheads and so getting them out was equally tricky.

However, we persevered, progresssively measuring, cutting and fitting new lengths in place of the old.

Part of the faff associated with the job was emptying the lockers just to get at the pipes. The saloon was full of the mattresses and bedding from the forward cabin and the bunk there was covered in our spares which are normally stowed on top of the holding tank.

Layer 2 sanded back   

Part way through the afternoon the glassfibre chap turned up and started sanding back the second layer of the repair. He then took a phone call and left. We presumed that he would be back before the end of the day but he didn’t return and so the final layer will hopefully be applied on Thursday. Our departure date is, as a result, slipping. Friday is also set to be pretty stormy and so we may be looking at Saturday as being a better option for departing.

New pipes in every locker; the new forward heads’ waste pipes in position   

It took all day and I temporarily lost the grip in both hands from fighting the pipes into position but finally we completed the replumbing of the forward heads. It was, as we had predicted, a pig of a job but having got into the task it was definitely the right thing to do because some of the pipes looked as though they were from the original build; well overdue for replacement. We cleaned up the holding tank area and rebuilt our bunk but couldn’t face starting a deep clean of the forward heads. Instead we showered and then relaxed with a well-earned beer before dinner.

Thursday therefore should have started started with a major clean of the forwards heads. However, before we tackled that we inflated all of our lifejackets with the foot pump as the first stage of servicing them. We needed to leave them to check that they maintain their pressure before we could repack the jackets fitting new automatic inflation devices, gas cylinders or automatic lights if they were due a change.

I drew the short straw for the task of deep cleaning the forward heads which allowed Nicky to progress the varnishing towards the final coats. We want to try and get the varnishing finished before the weather turns because varnish doesn’t dry well in humid conditions and can go cloudy. With the forward heads sparkling again I was able to refill the lockers whose contents had been cluttering up the saloon. Working on a yacht seems to be a bit like that sliding square game where there is only one space but you still somehow have to move all of the pieces around.

Layer 3 all finished and drying   

Mid-afternoon the glassfibre man turned up and finished the repair. He painted on several layers of white resin paint to seal the area. This will definitely take at least 24 hours to dry before it is hard enough for us to re-pack the lazarette again. That should have been a bit of a disappointment but the weather for Friday and Saturday is looking like it will blow quite hard. As I write this the marina staff are rigging all sorts of extra lines to help stabilise and secure yachts and so they seem to be expecting the worst. Staying an extra night or two definitely seems to be the sensible option. The only downside is that I’ll need to come up with lots more excuses to put off polishing the stainless steel. Now, maybe we need another trip into Marmaris?....

Marmaris, Turkey