Netsel Marina  Dock A

Marmaris, Turkey

Merhaba,

It had to happen.  As of this past Wednesday Randal and I are “empty boaters” again.   Rick and Mary were eager to get back to their own boat Orca.  They had left it at Yat Lift in Bodrum back in May and had immediately flown  to England to join us for the passage through Europe.  Orca needs some work and they need to do it as they’re thinking of joining a group to winter off Egypt or perhaps they’ll winter in South Cyprus.  They’re not sure but need to prepare their boat and themselves.  And it’s also for sale,  so their plans are really open for whatever may come.  Their wish is to sell Orca, buy a larger boat, and keep cruising.

So anyway, Tuesday night they packed up their stuff and Wednesday morning we loaded it into the car Randal had rented for the drive.  I worried that everything would all fit but it did.

   Since Wednesday Randal and I have been working on DoraMac.  We’re going through everything we have and deciding if we need it on the boat for the winter, want to take it home in September, or give it to charity.  Most of the charity choices are Randal’s “no longer needed or don’t fit” clothes.  Mine went to the charity shops before we left  Ipswich.   Same with books we will not ship home.  I’m washing and rearranging cabinets and closets. 

Mid-morning today we both took a break.  Randal went off for coffee with the guys and I walked to the Culture and Art Center to see the new exhibit.  They are oil paintings.  I prefer watercolor, pen and ink, or sketches.  But while in Ipswich at the John Russell Galley I learned to back away from big oil paintings so I could actually see them.  I do like them better that way.  The painting at the Culture Center were a little too pastel for me.  But I looked at each one and took the time while lovely music played in the back ground.  Then I had a quick cappuccino in the Center’s coffee shop while I read my English language version of the Daily News and Today’s Zaman.  Both will come in handy when I defrost the refrigerator and freezer just before we leave for home.

This afternoon I washed a set of flannel sheets because when we return in December, we’ll need them.  They’d been stored in the cedar storage area and needed a quick wash and airing.  I also organized all of our dive gear into one place.  And pots, pans and plastic storage containers are being weeded and rearranged too.  The boat will certainly be shipshape!   

Ru

DoraMac

DoraMac on A dock. We are tied “stern-to” which makes neighbors close enough that when they sneeze, I can’t resist saying “bless you.”  Living in a house on 100 acres of land will certainly be a change.

Ships stores for Orca; Bulgarian wine, beer and aquavit from Germany or maybe the Netherlands.  All of that plus luggage fit into the car.  Randal had bought a couple boxes of wine too but we’ll be home for 3 months and “not so expensive” boxed wine doesn’t age so well in a hot boat.

Half way to Bodrum we stopped for a coffee break at a road side restaurant.

Orca is “on the hard” so we handed stuff up to the bow and then Rick handed it down to Mary who was in the foc’sle stowing it away.  Down the hatch, literally! Then we went to lunch at a small restaurant just near the boat yard.  Afterwards Rick and Mary walked back to their boat and Randal and I drove back to Marmaris.  They know they have an open invitation to come back any time.    Satilik means for sale which their boat is.

A visit to the Culture and Art Center Zὒlfikar AYTUḠ  Dὒnyam = My World September 10th to the 18th There was a wide variety of styles though I believe they’re all by the same person.

It is a lovely space for housing exhibits.  No one was about so I just took photos.  Sometimes it’s okay and sometimes not.  But I did it quickly so the photos are not great.

I had a thing for Dervishes onec upon a time.  Randal and I saw them whirl in Konya during our 10 day motorbike trip in July of 2011.  That trip will be a highlight of time in Turkey and also of our time cruising.

My camera colors may not be exactly as they are in the painting…. Hard to capture it exactly

Upstairs in one of the classrooms are some future artists.  I had wanted to take a class last year but my Turkish is far too limited and it met 3 times each week for 5 weeks which just wasn’t possible.  Maybe I’ll find something this winter.

The coffee shop is just behind the stairway on the first floor.