Enjoying life back in Fethiye

 Thursday, 13 February 2014

Only a tiny bit of snow left up there

The flights back to Turkey from Houston were uneventful.  No crying babies anywhere near us and no turbulence or delays.  A Turkish friend was supposed to pick us up at the Dalaman airport but his grandmother died that day, so he could not make it.  He was gracious enough to arrange a car service to bring us back to Fethiye.  Transport was smooth and quick and there was no lost luggage and no hassles with Customs.  Luggage was checked through to Dalaman so we did not have to deal with claiming it in Istanbul and moving it to the domestic terminal and re-checking it again.  Customs in Dalaman sends every bag and carry-on through a scanner; their only questions were about the Jordan series drogue in one bag and the new spare manifold for the Onan generator in another bag.  We explained what those were and no duty was required to be paid.  Weather was clear and totally still when we arrived back at the boat.  We man-handled the four 50-pound duffle bags onto the deck of BeBe and down inside the saloon, along with our two overweight carry-on bags and our two overweight backpacks.  Got it all unpacked and about 75% stowed away before we fell into bed exhausted.  And then the rain started.  Very thankful that it waited until all that luggage was down inside the boat before the skies opened up.

Juxtaposition of palm trees by the seaside and snow on the nearby mountaintops

No windows!  So, of course it will rain!

Taped up; ready for rain.

The rain cleared long enough the next afternoon to allow us to walk to the nearest supermarket and buy a few essentials to re-stock the empty fridge.  Then more rain for another day.  Cleared up bright and sunny so I went to the weekly Tuesday Market and stocked up on veggies while Bill met with a 'glass' guy from Marmaris.  I returned to find the windshield panels removed from BeBe.  Yep; we are getting new windshield panels.  Both windshields were beginning to show the first cracking of crazing.  You know it is only a matter of time before it would be impossible to see clearly through those windshields.  Might as well replace them now as it would just cost more later.  We had been told years ago that these panels were Lexan, but the 'glass' guy expert assured Bill that the original ones are Plexiglass rather than Lexan.  The Lexan would be clearer but would scratch easier.  So Bill told him to replace with exactly what was there originally.  Salt water scratches everything badly enough; do not want something that will not hold up well to salt spray.  

It is a 2-person job to mount the windshield that opens.

Looking at an Amel 54 docked next to us I noticed that their windshield panels are tinted.  Bill called the 'glass' guy, who fortunately had stopped to eat lunch in Fethiye before returning to Marmaris, and told him that we wanted the new panels lightly tinted.  He returned to BeBe and we selected a color tint.  Also removed the side panels.  Those did not need replacing because those were not crazed by the UV damage over the years, but it would look strange to have tinted windshields and clear side panels.  So all four panels are being replaced.  A couple of hatches are slightly crazed but we opted not to replace those yet.  The crazing on the hatches is not bad enough that it bothers either of us; so that can wait a few more years.

One filthy once-white fender.

While we were gone they changed the boat docked next to us.  The one there now is another Amel 54.  It has a stainless steel trim down the center of the rub rail.  When we left there was a narrower boat docked there and the fenders were not even touching the other boat.  Now our fenders are squeezed too tightly.  Look what that stainless strip did to our fender!  I am so glad we removed our new fender covers.  Would have hated for that black mess to have gotten on our new covers.  Hopefully I will be able to scrub off the black markings.  

Market day = $8.36
Biggest splurge were the 2 avocados and
flat green beans.  Just beginning season
so those were expensive.
2-liter bottle cold-pressed, unfiltered
homemade olive oil = $9.16

Today was a very enjoyable day.  We walked all over the old town area and shopped.  Did not buy much of anything except one of those poor-quality rolling shopping carts to make shopping the weekly produce market easier, but we enjoyed comparison shopping for possible new dishes and assorted things.  Ate a delicious typical Turkish lunch in the 'local' area; hit the supermarket again; and returned to BeBe very late afternoon as the clouds began to darken.  

The main purpose of this shopping expedition was to find something to cover the empty windshield spaces.  Because there is 90% chance of rain predicted for tonight and tomorrow.  
Figures, doesn't it?  Was sunny until we removed the windshields, so now it will rain.  We quickly taped up plastic to cover the openings.  So we have done what we can.  If that stuff gets wet, then it just gets wet. The new windows should be installed early next week.

Windshield installation

That will pretty much end all the updating or improvements we have wanted for BeBe during this eighth year of cruising.  The boat is now 11 years old and it was time to do those few things we have had done since last July.  The only thing left on our wish list is new anchor chain.  That presents a bit of a problem because the pitch of the links on the chain sold in Turkey will not fit out windlass gypsy.  Our gypsy fits the link pitch of the chain sold in France.  We have no plans to visit France and there is no way we are paying to ship 100-meters of chain to Turkey or any other country.  The option is to replace the gypsy with one that will fit the pitch of the links of chain available here.  We are mulling that over.  Still have 2 1/2 months to make that decision before we depart Turkey for the final time.

Snow covered mountaintops around Fethiye Bay

When we arrived back in Fethiye just 5 days ago there was snow on the mountaintops all around the area.  It was beautiful with the calm huge bay and green trees at sea level and the white mountaintops in the background.  Today most of that snow is melted.  That happened quickly!  

More snow around Fethiye.  This has been an
extremely mild winter.  Normally much more snow.

This winter has been extremely mild.  One could easily be lulled into thinking it is time to start sailing again.  (But we will wisely wait until mid-April and be certain that winter is really over.)  We remember freezing our tushies off in Cyprus in February and March 2012 and that was considerably farther south than here, so surely it will be getting cold a few more times this winter.  

View as we walk into town. Most winters there is
much more snow up there.

But for now this weather is perfect with 64F daytime and 50F overnight.  Perfect.  Rain and all.








Tuesday, 18 February 2014

New windshields and side windows.
Ignore the dirty streaks on coach roof; have not yet
cleaned outside boat since we returned.

The new windshields and side glass panels were installed yesterday.  We are very pleased with the quality of the workmanship.  Very, very pleased.   We had been hesitant to have the windshields replaced because the port side panel is a bit tricky since it opens upward. The port side windshield in front of the helm required cutting a channel into the Plexiglass that then holds a gasket.  This gasket keeps the water out when the windshield is in the closed position.   Hope these panels hold up as well as the original ones did for 11 years.

New tinted windshields and side windows

Here is a link to the website for the company that did this work on BeBe.  The owner is the man who did the work.  http://ibsplexiglass.com/  This company is located in Marmaris but he will drive to reasonably close locations like Fethiye when he is not too busy, like during the winter season.  His English is excellent.

Uh-oh!  We have no windows!
Not really.  This is looking through the new windshield.  So clear!
We  are going to enjoy these new tinted windows.