Cha-ching! Cha-ching! Cha-ching!

That is the sound we hear in our heads as we look around Yacht Marine.  The owner has figured out every conceivable way to make money.  Have to hand it to the guy, he knows how to make money!  

We keep forgetting to bring the 3G modem from the apartment to the boat each day, and the WiFi at Yacht Marine is greatly overtaxed -- there are 1,000 boats in the boatyard and 700 boats in the water berths -- so uploading photos must wait.  Bill still is not ready to name any names regarding our BIG disappointment with contractors in Marmaris as we have not yet received reimbursement, only the promise to refund the small amount of money already paid; but it does appear that the new painter we have contracted with will turn out to be a "good guy."  This is crunch season as all the sailboats want to get back into the water as quickly as possible, and all contractors are extremely busy.  Our new painter is finishing up another job and plans to start on BeBe either Monday or Tuesday 9 May.  He estimates it will take him 8 working days to complete the bottom job, weather permitting.  Yesterday I extended our contract from the original 2 weeks in the boatyard.  With the painter now starting work until next week, there is no way we will be back in the water by the original estimate of 17 May.  We now are paid through 1 June -- only an additional 300 Euro, thank you very much.

Yesterday we needed something flat to lay the bow thruster down upon while we replaced the seals.  A piece of wood laid over 2 overturned used paint buckets would have done the job, but nothing like that was to be found laying around the boatyard.  So I went to the marine office to inquire what was available.  Ended up renting their smallest "scaffolding" at 6 Euro per piece.  6 Euro for each upright metal piece and 6 Euro for the 6-ft. 2x12 board to lay between the end pieces.  18 Euro per day for what most boatyards provide as a routine matter of doing business when a yacht is in the yard.  Cha-ching! yet again.  BTW, rental of normal-sized scaffolding used when painting the boat will cost 45 Euro per day.  Cha-ching! Cha-ching!


Removing the bow thruster was a bit of a challenge, as usual.  It is supposed to simply fall out when disconnected from inside the boat.  But that never happens.  The shaft always takes a lot of muscle to remove.  Bill prevailed yet again.  After he finally got it loose, it took less than an hour to replace the 2 outer seals and the 1 inner seal and pack the grease into the rings and replace the hub.  He filled the reservoir with the special oil and reinstalled the bow thruster.  I informed the marina office that we were finished with the scaffolding -- used it for less than 2 hours for that 18 Euro.   


Yesterday morning we visited the North Sails office with intentions of asking the shop owner if he could recommend someone to service our auto-prop.  Yes, he could -- himself!  He came out yesterday afternoon and picked up the prop and the bearings, etc., that we had ordered from Brunton's 2 years ago.  We had hoped to have the bearings replaced in New Zealand, but the package had been held up in Customs too long and the boatyard there wanted us back in the water.  So we have been carrying around the bearings and other parts required for this routine maintenance since New Zealand.  When the serviced prop is returned to us and we verify that the job was done correctly, then we will post the contact info on this blog site in case any of our readers will have need of this same service in Marmaris.  Ditto for the contact info for the painter.  We do not want to mention names until the jobs are performed correctly.  Then we will be happy to recommend these guys.


Today was laundry day.  Doing laundry in this marina is a real challenge.  There is a full-service marina laundry staffed by 3 women.  They charge 5 Turkish Lira per kilo and the service takes 3 or 4 days.  Whoa!!  Not for us.  There are also 2 token-operated washing machines and 1 dryer that are self-service.  With a total of 1700 boats in this place, you can imagine the waiting line.  Oh, and the laundry area is only open 08:30 till 13:00 and again from 14:00 to 18:30, all closed on Sundays.  I stayed in the laundry room for 3 hours waiting for my turn at a washing machine.  And what I find truly absurd is that people queue for each washing machine individually.  How stupid is that!  Rather than simply putting the bags of laundry in a line and then using whichever machine becomes available next, these women line their bags separately in front of the 2 washing machines.  Several times a load would finish and then just sit there because the person was not there to empty her clothes out and let the next person start a load.  No one touches the wet clothes in the machine and this wastes a lot of time.  I don't have patience for this silliness but don't want to offend people that we might be coming into contact with in the future.  I will be very glad to be back in the water where we can use our own washing machine and not pay 10 lira per load to wash and 10 lira to dry.  That is $13.20 USD to do one load of laundry.  And this is the inexpensive part of the Med.  Cha-ching!

I checked the camera and we did not take photos of the bow thruster while it was down.  So here is a photo of the bow thruster in down position which was taken from one of our previous haulouts.  Obviously, this photo was taken after the new anti-foul paint had been applied.  The bow thruster has a 10-hp motor and is open blade (not constricted by being installed up in a tunnel in the hull like so many other boats), so it is extremely effective.  

Of all the luxuries on our Amel, this bow thruster is my favorite.

In the interior of our boat, the bow thruster motor and the mechanism that causes the bow thruster to go up and down is hidden behind a tan leather flap. 


I refer to this forward cabin as our library because it is where we keep hundreds of books.  That table is the perfect place for my laptop, which is networked with the main computer at the nav station.  When at sea the table folds up flat against the wall.  Also, the port side berth has an extension to make that side be a double berth.  When this extension is in place, the cabin is almost totally filled with bed space.  We use the extension only when grandchildren are visiting.