Marina Rats In Marmaris

We seem to be natural marina rats. Although hanging out in marinas is not why we're out here a good marina does have its allure. And Marmaris Yacht Marina, in some ways, is a fantastic marina. The shear number of boats is amazing. There are probably 1500 boats on the hard and another 1000 in the water.

Marmaris Yacht Marina

 There are super yachts, power and sail, everywhere we look. The place has a "control tower" at the end of every dock just to keep track of things. There are at least three travel lifts, the largest being 550 tons, the largest I've ever seen. There are all the amenities one would expect and the usual services. In general the quality seems high and the cost of the marina is reasonable even by North American standards. By Mediterranean standards its very cheap.

Dawn off load in the rain

Obviously our ship did come in, just a day late. However, the timing coincided perfectly with the arrival of some heavy weather and 40 knot winds made unloading impossible for a couple more days. Finally we got a call from our Turkish agent at one o'clock in the morning to "come to ship in 15 minutes, we unload you in 30 minutes". So we staggered around and got dressed, it was still raining, and then thought about it a little. Hmmm, off load from a strange ship to a strange port a boat which hasn't been started or had systems checked in a month and proceed across a strange bay to a strange marina without charts at night in the wind and rain. Sounds like some flight operations I've heard proposed by people who weren't doing the flying. So I called them back and told them we'd be available when it got light. Thank you. Come morning it was still raining but we got the boat off the ship without undue difficulty, just the usual worries, and made our way the few miles over to Marmaris Yacht Marina.  Deed done.

Wanna buy some Jerry cans?

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Sevenstar Yacht Transport to anyone contemplating shipping their boat. . They were honest and responsible and their load masters we're very concerned about taking good care of the boats on board. No one we know has had any problem with Sevenstar and there are  real horror stories  about some other shippers.

Marmaris sunset

So we're here getting things sorted out for the cruising season to come. The weather is generally lovely with sunny days in the seventies and cool nights. We're actually sleeping under blankets, not something we've done on the boat in years. We've had a few days of rain, it is springtime in the Med, but its very nice. We have several good friends from past years who are here getting ready for their season and the yachtie community is as friendly as ever. The social scene is great fun. We're  getting to know Marmaris and liking it.

Local veggie chow

Boat systems took a little hit after being secured on a ship in the heat of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. The exterior was dirty but not as completely grungy as I had expected. Our refrigeration and inverter died on the first day. The fridge just needed coolant added, we hadn't had to touch it in six years, now it's working fine. The inverter may or may not be fixable. Maybe we'll find out today. We had developed a leak around the mast deck seal but the massive use of silicone sealer has prevailed and the leak seems to have been defeated. Our sails are in at the very nice UK Sails loft getting a going over. I have constructed an amazingly cool passerell (a boarding plank and the symbol of the Mediterranean based boat) to get on and off the boat when we're Med tied, which is always the case in these parts. 

Janet's nemesis, the passerell

 

We've got a few more jobs to do but things are proceeding well. So for now we take a shuttle bus into town and prowl Marmaris. We eat local. We are never short of baklava. We listen to soulful Turkish music on FM and we have a happy hour with friends almost every evening. It's all very nice and,  although we are not yet "cruising", the fun has begun!

Love to all,

Bill & Janet