Nancy in Gocek, Turkey
Well that was the best communication I've had with Tony in almost a week. I didnt bring my own computer to Gocek and have only been able to use someone elses to check my e-mails. Today I have it for as long as I want so here I am. Sorry, no pictures, not that I haven't taken them, I've taken lots but cannot download them into this computer.
I arrived in Dalaman last Monday at about 2.00pm expecting to go to Gocek, TurkMarina and board a 50' Beneteau Oceanis to help bring the boat back to Malta.
The reason I wanted to do this trip is that I wanted the experience on the 50 footer for possible future work as a Charter skipper.
I started by trip from Malta at about 01.30am Monday morning - took 3 flights - all with the worst landings I've experienced to date - and arrived 13 hours later. Which was alright until I got here and found that the boat was actually on the hard in the boat yard having been there for a year without anyone paying attention to her. The yard people put her back in the water around 5.00pm.
It took me until about 7.00pm on Monday to convince the marina manager that he should let me get on board. I also gave him copies of every document I had on my person to assure him that I was an extremely trustworthy person, totally credible and reliable - and VERY TIRED. I did at one point lay my sleeping bag down in a shower cubicle (which by the way are very clean in Turkey) and have a nap for about 5 minutes before a cleaning person came in and wondered why the edge of a sleeping bag was poking out from under the door. So I got dressed again in my smart travelling clothes, which I took off so that I wouldn't crease them and walked out as if nothing was amiss.
Once aboard 'the Girl' I felt so sorry for her. She was covered with pine needles and very dirty. I looked around and found a broom, swept as much as possible, could not hook up to water or electricity as I didn't have the authority to get the meter going.
The skipper arrived at about 10.30 and fellow crew got in at about 05.00am next morning. He was delayed by the Volcanic Cloud problem in Gatwick airport. Thank God I didn't decide to go that route.
That was the first day. Each day has brought worse news than the day before and we are still here on Saturday. There has been one hold up after another, but basically we are waiting for the original Registration documents of the boat to be sent from Ireland, as I write they seem to be sitting in Dublin.
Not sure who owns the boat - but she's already listed on Yacht World for sale by B.J. Marine - apparently she's in Greece, is in perfect condition, has a white hull, and is worth about 220,000 Euros.
She's actually got a navy hull(it will be when someone compounds and polishes it), her canvasses are all shot and need replacing, needs batteries, some plumbing work and a damned good cleanup. Basically she's in a pretty sad state. Even though we are not supposed to, we have done quite a bit of repair work ourselves and yesterday we had to take her Genoa to a local sailmaker to have the luff tape fixed. The local riggers ripped a whole section off when they were trying to pull it up the foil. I have taken many pictures of her in the condition we found her and while various 'experts' have been working on her.
Gocek - what a beautiful place. Its a small resort in a bay surrounded by rocky hills which become mountains further inland. Its very green - rains quite a bit, hence the roofs are pitched like England and BC and there are beautiful flowers and fruit everywhere. Not many years ago - maybe 8, it was a small fishing village, now it houses 3 good sized marinas, many hotels of various star rating, some of which are simple guest houses. Looking out from the shore there are many small islands which Kim (who has been coming here for about 15 years) says have good swimming coves and sheltered anchorages. In the bigger part of the bay about 50 boats of all sizes are anchored, all of which are in very nice condition - no rotting hulks here. It costs nothing to anchor here and there are many places to bring your dinghy ashore. I wonder how long it will be before one has to pay to do that.
The marinas are lovely, their toilet and shower facilities are quite incredible. So far all of the Turkish people we have encountered have been extremely courteous and helpful. Though perhaps not as 'expert' as we had hoped.
So life aboard is good. We have a small budget for food - I'm sure the skipper will be compensated for the extra time we are waiting - its not his fault. We are all getting on well - we have a television and a few movies - watched Dodgeball a couple of nights ago. They love my cooking - sorry Tony - someone else is benefitting from my culinary skills right now. The deal is I cook, they clean up. I never mind doing that - it guarantees I get good food to eat. Last night I wowed them with my frying pan bread (I brought yeast.)
We are very keen to get going though. There is not much to do here except walk around the small town - can't go very far as its enclosed by the rocky hills and a major road. Also don't want to spend much money, and as none of us are drinking alcohol we aren't frequenting bars.
The cafe I sit in right now is used to us coming in and buying an iced tea or coffee and sitting for as long as it takes me to type this. They always smile - I suppose a person sitting in here with an empty cup is better than nobody.
I woke this morning at 06.00am to a raucous, rumbling thunder storm which I had to see, so I put my jacket on and came out to a place onshore where I could sit and enjoy the show. I took some pictures which I will post later.
Looking forward to getting underway - signing out for now.
Latest estimate of departure date now, May 23rd is Wednesday. All being well the Irish courier company will send the documents on Monday, we'll probably get them on Tuesday and we'll leave Wednesday. The skipper figures 5 days. Lets hope he's right.
I arrived in Dalaman last Monday at about 2.00pm expecting to go to Gocek, TurkMarina and board a 50' Beneteau Oceanis to help bring the boat back to Malta.
The reason I wanted to do this trip is that I wanted the experience on the 50 footer for possible future work as a Charter skipper.
I started by trip from Malta at about 01.30am Monday morning - took 3 flights - all with the worst landings I've experienced to date - and arrived 13 hours later. Which was alright until I got here and found that the boat was actually on the hard in the boat yard having been there for a year without anyone paying attention to her. The yard people put her back in the water around 5.00pm.
It took me until about 7.00pm on Monday to convince the marina manager that he should let me get on board. I also gave him copies of every document I had on my person to assure him that I was an extremely trustworthy person, totally credible and reliable - and VERY TIRED. I did at one point lay my sleeping bag down in a shower cubicle (which by the way are very clean in Turkey) and have a nap for about 5 minutes before a cleaning person came in and wondered why the edge of a sleeping bag was poking out from under the door. So I got dressed again in my smart travelling clothes, which I took off so that I wouldn't crease them and walked out as if nothing was amiss.
Once aboard 'the Girl' I felt so sorry for her. She was covered with pine needles and very dirty. I looked around and found a broom, swept as much as possible, could not hook up to water or electricity as I didn't have the authority to get the meter going.
The skipper arrived at about 10.30 and fellow crew got in at about 05.00am next morning. He was delayed by the Volcanic Cloud problem in Gatwick airport. Thank God I didn't decide to go that route.
That was the first day. Each day has brought worse news than the day before and we are still here on Saturday. There has been one hold up after another, but basically we are waiting for the original Registration documents of the boat to be sent from Ireland, as I write they seem to be sitting in Dublin.
Not sure who owns the boat - but she's already listed on Yacht World for sale by B.J. Marine - apparently she's in Greece, is in perfect condition, has a white hull, and is worth about 220,000 Euros.
She's actually got a navy hull(it will be when someone compounds and polishes it), her canvasses are all shot and need replacing, needs batteries, some plumbing work and a damned good cleanup. Basically she's in a pretty sad state. Even though we are not supposed to, we have done quite a bit of repair work ourselves and yesterday we had to take her Genoa to a local sailmaker to have the luff tape fixed. The local riggers ripped a whole section off when they were trying to pull it up the foil. I have taken many pictures of her in the condition we found her and while various 'experts' have been working on her.
Gocek - what a beautiful place. Its a small resort in a bay surrounded by rocky hills which become mountains further inland. Its very green - rains quite a bit, hence the roofs are pitched like England and BC and there are beautiful flowers and fruit everywhere. Not many years ago - maybe 8, it was a small fishing village, now it houses 3 good sized marinas, many hotels of various star rating, some of which are simple guest houses. Looking out from the shore there are many small islands which Kim (who has been coming here for about 15 years) says have good swimming coves and sheltered anchorages. In the bigger part of the bay about 50 boats of all sizes are anchored, all of which are in very nice condition - no rotting hulks here. It costs nothing to anchor here and there are many places to bring your dinghy ashore. I wonder how long it will be before one has to pay to do that.
The marinas are lovely, their toilet and shower facilities are quite incredible. So far all of the Turkish people we have encountered have been extremely courteous and helpful. Though perhaps not as 'expert' as we had hoped.
So life aboard is good. We have a small budget for food - I'm sure the skipper will be compensated for the extra time we are waiting - its not his fault. We are all getting on well - we have a television and a few movies - watched Dodgeball a couple of nights ago. They love my cooking - sorry Tony - someone else is benefitting from my culinary skills right now. The deal is I cook, they clean up. I never mind doing that - it guarantees I get good food to eat. Last night I wowed them with my frying pan bread (I brought yeast.)
We are very keen to get going though. There is not much to do here except walk around the small town - can't go very far as its enclosed by the rocky hills and a major road. Also don't want to spend much money, and as none of us are drinking alcohol we aren't frequenting bars.
The cafe I sit in right now is used to us coming in and buying an iced tea or coffee and sitting for as long as it takes me to type this. They always smile - I suppose a person sitting in here with an empty cup is better than nobody.
I woke this morning at 06.00am to a raucous, rumbling thunder storm which I had to see, so I put my jacket on and came out to a place onshore where I could sit and enjoy the show. I took some pictures which I will post later.
Looking forward to getting underway - signing out for now.
Latest estimate of departure date now, May 23rd is Wednesday. All being well the Irish courier company will send the documents on Monday, we'll probably get them on Tuesday and we'll leave Wednesday. The skipper figures 5 days. Lets hope he's right.
Comments
Thinking of the good food we get from Nancy we might actually make it a bit longer...
Not sure why she is here, not much she can learn on this trip she doesn't know already, shaming skipper and other crew into the ground on a daily base.... ;), you should have seen how she told that sailmaker what to do, saved the owner a lot of money...
Thanks for letting us have her for a few days, Tony. She is fantastic company and hopefully soon her onwn skipper or instructor.
All the best,
Egon