Logbook and Photos

February still finds us hanging out in Marmaris, Turkey.  Our original plans of spending the winter in Turkey were possibly seen through rose colored glasses.  Here on the south coast in Marmaris, the weather has been great, but still cooler than we ever imagined.  We had plans to tour inland over these months, but reality is the roads inland are covered in ice and snow and most sights are closed for the season.  Oh well, we continue to have great school sessions and get work done on Tioga.  We are definitely into the last weeks of winter as the nights are noticeably getting warmer

To get from our marina into town, there is a twice daily ferry shuttle (shown in the photo above), and regular mini-bus service.  Thursday mornings are always busy as it is market day in town and we would provision for the week with all the fresh produce, olives, cheeses etc.   To start the day and pass a little time, a favourite spot of ours is a little outdoor Turkish tea cafe near the ferry drop zone and which is always bathing in early morning sunlight.  This morning we invite a group of friends to join us as we sit and drink tea at 50 cents a glass and enjoy the awakening day.

In preparation for Valentines Day tomorrow, some of the ladies on the dock organized a huge card making session for the kids.  Once all the cards were created, the ladies took the 'works of art' to the 'happy hour' later in the day.  All the cards were on display at the pub for the cruisers to buy a card for their 'loved one'.  This was such a wonderful idea as the kids earned money for their efforts and everyone received a card.  Coincidentally, Sheila received a card made by Joel, which was purchased by Chris. 

Today, a group of families makes a day trip by bus to the inland market town of Mugla (pronounced Moo-la).   'Market town' to us means that the town has a healthy economy that doesn't rely on the tourist trade.  As the elevation of the town is much higher than sea level, it's correspondingly cooler.  Here, some of the kids play with a floating piece of ice from a fountain.  Monica, on the left, is from Australia and has barely seen anything frozen other than at the supermarket!

Joel and Gerrit earn a little money over the winter cat-sitting.  Meet Willie, a very healthy 'tom' from s/v Guardian.  Willie is a heavy-weight when it comes to maintaining law and order with the (many) other cats on the dock and in the marina and we don't think he's lost a fight yet - usually doesn't even get to fighting when the other cats see Willie coming ... skidadle!

As you can tell, our boys have not been too hard done by.  Between bikes, swords, opti's, kayaks and who knows what else, they have had a wonderful time.

Marmaris truly does sit within spectacular scenery. 

Once again our winter stop involved the completion of numerous boat projects....do they ever end??   Here, Chris is doing final preparation and sanding to our teak table before the coats of varnish begin to flow.  With our Turkish visa running out on March 12th, we are in final project mode and beginning to watch the weather for a safe window to sail out of here on. 

Celebrating Joel's 12th birthday brings to light that this is his fourth one aboard Tioga.  Once again we find ourselves in the company of many other children for his big day, which typically doesn't happen for Gerrit in April.  With Joel's approval, we decide to do something different this year and have a party to celebrate the birthday of all the kids at Marmaris having a birthday within the next year!  We organize a gift exchange, play games and enjoy a fabulous chocolate cake provided by the marina.  The candles are even lit over and over again for each child to have a go at blowing them out.  It's a great time followed by a pot luck supper and generally the last get together for the families as everyones' departure dates draw closer. 

Well, here we are into March and still being blessed with a wonderful winter.  Typically the wind blew cooler air from the north for a few days, followed by a few calm days.  Then the wind would switch and it blew from the south for a few days before repeating the whole sequence.   A few times when a storm would blow from the south, we would wake up to a boat covered in red dust.  Yes, directly south of us is the Sahara Desert in Africa, and storms can carry the red dusty/sand across the Mediterranean Sea to settle on us here in Asia. 

The mountain just west of Marmaris Yacht Marina has been a great addition to our winter.  Being a natural reserve, it is tree covered and uninhabited, except for this little camp right at the base.  We all enjoyed many hikes and get-a-ways on the mountains numerous dirt trails and wonderful vantage points. 

The time has come....tomorrow we will cast our lines from the dock of Marmaris.  The weather forecast predicts a great sail across to the Greek island of Rhodes.  We have some of the regular group our guys hang out with over for a final supper together.  Later they enjoy one last movie, while the adults convene for happy hour farewells! 

L to R: Alistar, Jack, Brian, Monica, Ush, Gerrit, Joel and Cian  -  We will miss you all!

A farewell scene similar to Seville last year and all the same mixed emotions.  Happy to be underway and still the sadness of the hardest part of this lifestyle, saying good-bye.   Perhaps better yet is 'see you later' as one never knows when paths will cross again in this world that is much smaller to us now.  We really are rich with memories of the wonderful people we have met along the way. 

PS - Once underway, the idea of going out for pork souvlaki in Rhodes, Greece once we arrive is greeted well!   Being in a Muslim country, we have not seen pork in months and it's sounding good just now.  Catch you back in Greece as we head west.  Yiasu (Hello in Greek)!