Merhaba,

    Just a quick note to say we are off about 5 pm this evening for a night run to Yat Lift Boat Yard in Bodrum north west of Marmaris. We are going there as it wall cost far less there, than here at Netsel, and the work will be just as good. It will take about 13 hours to get there. We will be pulled from the water about 8:30 am Monday morning. We should be there about a week at the most. In the past we’ve lived “on the hard” while the bottom work was done. Not sure this time as it’s so hot that Randal isn’t sure we’d survive the nights without AC. Our AC circulates sea water through the unit to cool the freon, and on the hard, we have no sea water. There are some budget priced pensions in Bodrum that we might check after the boat is all settled in at the yard. It might not be as terribly hot as we think as Yat Lift is far enough from the city of Bodrum, and of course, right on the water. We rented a car and drove there last Monday with our friends from Blue Cotton, Sharman and Cliff, and it was quite hot, but that was mid-day. Here the nights cool off some. (Sharman and Cliff are in Marmaris for two months doing boat work and then will return to Karpaz Gate for the winter. We’ll miss them a lot!) This week we bought a Turkcell dongle 3G for Internet access at the Yard, so hopefully I’ll catch up on my last few Israel emails and post photos about Bodrum. We need a dongle here also because the wifi at Netsel isn’t very consistent; and often not there at all.

We really can’t wait to be here when the tourists and heat depart. It should be an entirely different story. Not that the tourists are a problem, there seem to be far fewer than last year when we were here. Just about every day a cruise ship pulls up and parks just across the dock from us (our temporary spot until we return from Bodrum.) It’s not noisy or a problem. They hardly generate waves. Even with that, the town seems rather empty. Our temporary berth is at the very far end of the marina which adds about 20 minutes more walking in the heat each time we go to town. It’s about a mile to the center of Marmaris Old Town which is usually our destination. That will be great in the cool, but in the heat, it’s really wilting and even Randal carries a bottle of water. But when we get our permanent spot, we will be nearer the town side of the marina where the liveaboards are. Now we’re on the dock with most of the charter boats or temporary boats.

So anyway: that’s what’s doing. Next time I promise photos.

Ru