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Our Driver Knew the City Well & Took A Short Cut
to bypass the traffic jams on the main roads usedIt was time to start our long journey back to Tsamaya. Our first leg was getting a ride to the Albany airport from our friend Lisa who picked us up at 8AM. Next was catching the shuttle bus to JFK which we have used before. It leaves Albany at 9:30 and arrived at the terminal for Turkish Airlines about 2PM. From previous experience we knew that the Turkish Airline counter would not open until 3:30 PM as the flight doesn’t leave until 7:30 PM. Surprisingly that time actually goes by quite quickly. We got in line at Turkish Airline, checked our baggage which included one of our carry on bags as we have the luxury even as economy ticket holders of being allowed 2 suitcases each. This way we only then had to deal with our backpacks and computer bag for the rest of the time.
We had gone through the process of getting TSA pre-approval before and it does help. We don’t have to take off shoes or belts, no liquids have to be separated out even though we always do just in case we get passed through a non-TSA approved line. Surprisingly I didn’t even get a pat
down with my artificial hip this time even though I have in the past. It appeared that they were really busy at security so got passed through quite quickly.
Well, our “trick” of booking an aisle seat and a window seat worked on both of our flights even though both planes were quite full. On such a long flight from JFK to Istanbul it sure is nice to have an extra empty seat to stretch out more. Our concern started however when we were told that after boarding there was a delay for take-off. Normally not a problem but we knew we only had a 1 ½ hour layover in Istanbul and we have to go through passport control and security before our connecting flight. Knew we were cutting it tight, but did know that there was another later flight that we could catch.
The pilot made up 30 minutes getting into Istanbul but of course our luck was the next flight was on time! It is never delayed when you want it to be. The Istanbul airport is quite large and you have quite a distance to go to even get to passport control. Fortunately, we knew
where we were going and the line moved quite quickly. On to the domestic gate! That is of course on the other side of the world (or at least it seemed). Thankfully they had some walking sidewalks that we definitely used while still walking quite fast on them.
The domestic flight was to leave at 1:50PM and we still weren’t at the gate by 1:40 so thought it was hopeless, but kept pushing on. Fortunately, we did as we found that there was a short delay of boarding so people were still waiting to get onboard. As we said, after sitting that long on our overseas flight, this definitely gave us some needed exercise.
With us rushing to catch the next plane with a shorter layover, when we sat down in our seats we wondered if the luggage would make it. We no longer said it, and I looked out my window and saw all 4 of our bags being put on the conveyer belt into the hold. Life is good. With having been here before we knew of a very good transfer company that we had already connected with so it is always nice to see your
The Top Tells You the Flight is 9 1/2 hours Long
bottom tells prayer time and location on our flights name being held up when you get out of baggage claim for the last leg of the trip. The temperature was definitely warmer with higher humidity so nice to have an air-conditioned ride as well as a cold bottle of water given to you for the trip. By 6PM Turkish time (11AM back in upstate NY) we were at the boat. She looked great, though dirty which we definitely knew. We got our baggage onboard and we didn’t take long to hit the bed.
Even though it is warm here it does get cooler in the evenings which we found that first night. We only had a sheet and light blanket on and it was quite cold so we quickly grabbed a couple lap blankets we have on board and put them over us. We knew that digging out the comforter for the bed was going to be high on our list.
When we travel east, we seem to have a harder time with jet lag so for quite a few days we were sleeping at odd times of the day and night. Oh well, we got some jobs knocked off the list when we were awake. One
job that wasn’t on the list but rose to the top of the list was fixing the lights over where Janice typically sits to read. One light was very dull as some of the LEDs on the bulb weren’t working and the LED strip of lights were hardly lighting at all. For those of you that have been on boats, you know that there is no easy project especially when the electrical wires are “buried” behind cabinets, headliners etc. It took Bob longer than he had hoped to find the problem, but he had success and there is now plenty of light and he even improved the situation by moving the switches to a more convenient place. It is amazing how what should be a simple job becomes more than that – not only figuring out the problem but of course that means “tearing up the boat” with uncovering the tool compartment, pulling out cushions and such to get at the problem. Fortunately, Bob is very handy and even though there was some frustration he was glad to “add it to the list of things to do, so he could cross it off” (don’t we all do that?? I sure
do.
As we always bring back “gifts” for Tsamaya we also have to incorporate them onboard. Many had definite homes that weren’t problems at all, but there were a couple new things we just had to figure out. It all worked out quite nicely. We do bring back some food items from the US so before putting them away, I have to be sure that they are added to my extensive food inventory so I know where I stored them and how much I have onboard. It is a little work, but so worth it over the years.
Bob brought back from the US the navigation computer and a part for the autopilot so that needed to be reinstalled – check that off the list!
When walking around the marina one day we happened to mention that we would really like the plexiglass replaced in two of our overhead hatches as they are really crazed and not easy to see though. We had a small piece of plexiglass cut for us last fall and the person did a great job and knew his main busy was working on hatches. Lucky for us one of his crew was
working on a boat and he called the boss for us and that evening he came over to look at the job. He gave us a quote for it and we felt it was reasonable based on a price we had gotten a few years ago. He said he could complete it the next day which he did. As we say now, we didn’t know all that we were missing as the hatches are so clear now that you almost think there is nothing there. We paid him in cash (many transactions here are in cash and they definitely like either euro or dollars). This is due to how bad the economy is here in Turkey. It was the end of the day so gave him his payment and he left. The next day he surprised us by showing up on the boat again. He told us we had paid him too much! We found out in the end after figuring how much he gave back to us that the quote we heard from him was a total amount, not for each of the hatches. What a lovely surprise and such an honest man. We told him we would definitely
tell others of him as his work is excellent and he is so honest. He said he could not sleep or eat if he did not return the money. By the way, his name is Vedat and company name is V S Marine. I have a phone number if anyone ever needs it in Marmaris area.
Even though we arrived Monday night and we still weren’t on a “regular” schedule we knew that Thursday was market day here and we didn’t want to miss it. They have a smaller market on Sunday as well, but with nothing fresh onboard we took the bus in to town. It only cost 20 TL (about $1) for the 20-minute ride into town. When we left last time, the cost was 17 TL, but with the exchange rate constantly changing it was really the same cost for the ride.
As always, we love the fresh produce and are always amazed at the prices. At one stand I got 5 beautiful tomatoes and 4 small cukes – the total cost was equal to $1. Fortunately, we both had our backpacks and our recycle grocery bags so we could fill up here as well
Our First Market Day This Season! Note 20 TL = $1
I forgot to get photo of the amazing strawberries now! as the large supermarket in town. Now we just have to have the energy to make meals onboard with our strange sleeping pattern.
Here they have a canteen where the employees can eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. They have no problem with cruisers eating there as well and it is quite common to find many doing this. The dinner is served from 6:30-7:30pm. The food is quite tasty and they definitely give you plenty to eat. Sometimes I’ve even brought some of it to the boat as left overs. The price of the meal has increased to 50 TL which is a whopping $2.57. Can’t make these meals for that price. The added bonus is that you run into other cruisers that you have met which here.
One of our friends from last season, Jim, is here by himself and has sold his boat so he was packing up to leave her as he had made arrangements last fall to sell her. It is a sad time, but as he said, it was time. He typically ate his dinner at the canteen so we enjoyed a few meals with him before he left. Another night we shared a
table with a German couple that had sold everything and is living on a power boat here in the marina. We had talked to them some last year but mainly just saying hi. It was lovely to get to know them a little better. Michael had lived in the US so his English is quite good. Gerud always apologizes about her English but it is quite good – as I say, much better than my HS German.
American friends that we had connected to first on FB sailing pages and met in person last year were here now as well. We had a lovely evening onboard their lovely yacht, Pixie Dust the other night which was good as they are getting ready to check out of Turkey as their contract is up.
As recent as last night we were invited over to another boat that we first met last season. Again, only talking various times on the dock, ended up with a lovely evening on David and Pauline’s Emma III. This is always one of the bonuses of this lifestyle – you are constantly meeting like minded people from all walks of life and home ports (if they
do still have one!)
Bob has been checking out the various systems on the boat, we filled the water tank yesterday and ordered diesel to be delivered on Monday. We started the engine today and she sounds great! Our contract ends on May 12
th so we know we have to at least be gone from the marina by then. If needed there is a bay just outside the marina where we could anchor as well as a few other places around the large Marmaris bay.
I’ve been working on more paperwork – connecting with an agent to help us check out of Turkey which means a trip into town tomorrow to give her original paperwork, checking into details about checking into Greece, our next country to visit. Definitely bills to keep up with even though most are auto-pay, but some are not. I’ve been taking time to clean out cupboards, rearrange some things and get rid of a few things too. If there are things that are still useful you can just put them on a bench in shower block or there are a couple of other common places around that “stuff” is left. Fortunately, it gets recycled
by someone else as it typically goes quite quickly.
Unfortunately, the last couple of days we have gotten sick - Bob has a really bad head cold and I have a cough. Definitely slowing down crossing things off our list of things to do. Think we will have to revisit that list and now separate it out to those things that must get done before leaving the dock this next Friday and those that would be nice to do, but can be done elsewhere. Today I am in better shape than Bob, but luckily he has been able to sleep well this last night. Hopefully both of us will be 100% soon to knock off more on that list of ours.
I notice that I haven’t taken many photos since our return – guess that typically happens when you return to a place you have been before. Once we start moving on our westward trek toward southern Spain, I’m sure there will be more photos to share.
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