Starting the season

Despite the volcanic ash cloud which disrupted some of K8’s plans, Visits flowed in steadily. We were eager to blow away the dust from the yard, and concentrate on exploring the blue cruise coast line which we had heard so much about. The photos in the literature do not do it justice, as it is all about the experience too which can not be portrayed in a still image.

Provisioning

Provisioning alone is an experience to behold – the market runs every Sunday and Thursday in the centre of Marmarais town. Farmers from neighbouring villages set up stands with their wears and tout for business as potential customers wander about. You can buy the freshest fruit and veg, but only the local produce that is in season, there are spices piled in colourful sacks and wicker baskets of dried fruits and nuts. You can taste all the local goat, cow and sheep cheeses and gorge yourself on a million different olives. Some of the vegetable were new for me and a stand holder took me under his wing and cooked a wonderful stew on a gas camping burner right there as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Friendships were forged over a quest for understanding the Turkish for coriander and a place to buy some.

Visitors

Our visitor are arriving and sadly leaving, but all I hope are taking a little bit of Turkey and the magical Kealoha experience with them. As we visit different places we are making new friends. The coast line seems an endless discovery of little bays and historical ruins. The people we meet are so full of knowledge and very proud of their history. We have got to know a number of Turkish Gullet Captains and International Cruisers in their own boats who are eager to share their knowledge of the coast line with us so that we can get the most out of it together with our guests aboard.

None the less, nothing replaces your own experience of each special place. A few weeks ago we went to Gocek town for the evening; a friendly waiter served the guests with drinks on the quay side and upon learning that they were cruising the coast on a yacht, insisted they take freshly made stone oven bread with them free of charge. We devoured it with some home made Hummus and salad for a light lunch. Last week we went to a restaurant with guests in Selimiye and some German Crew kindly entertained all the diners with a jamming session on a banjo and saxophone. A few days later while crossing the bay of Marmarais in the tender, we were joined by a curious loggerhead turtle, which swam with us for a few meters before departing to the depths of the bay. He must have been 1.5m large, I wonder how old he is and what he has seen in his life?

Work through the winter

While the winds howled and the rains lashed down, winter work on Kealoha 8 remained as relentless as the Turkish winter. Punctuated by balmy sunny days you could not believe that it could also be so cold and hostile. I often wondered how the oranges and lemons managed in climes that were 1 degree centigrade sometimes.

Like the hardy citrus fruits, Thanks to a team of some exceptional local specialists, Kealoha 8 was refitted inside and out during the months of January through March and by April she was smugly gleaming in the yard awaiting transportation to the launch pool.

Friends and pricing benefits

For ourselves, the crew, Turkish refit doubled up as a Cultural lesson and one day, while seeking some obscure small but crucial piece of equipment, we befriended a well dressed local gentleman in a suppliers shop who offered us a lift in his car to another outlet where we could source the piece we were seeking. The gentleman turned out to be the buyer for the Turkish Navy and we gleaned a valuable lesson in how to manage price negotiations with different sources. A very large bladder is a key point as it involves several cups of chai (thimbles full of tea) before you can arrive at a mutually acceptable agreement. Also do not judge books by their covers, craftsmanship is understated generally in Turkey and the shop with the biggest front and most advanced advertising statements does not necessarily tick the boxes. The little shack at the dark corner end of the road probably supplies the gleaming shop that catches the naive crews’ eye!

Launch on time

Kealoha 8 sat snugly surrounded by perhaps 2000 boats. Thanks to our exceptional team the ship and the work aboard was completed in a timely manner though from my inexperienced eye, I could not see how the marina were going to get Kealoha and her mast into the lift pool for the date that was emblazoned on her rudder. But true to their word, the marina played out an extravagant game of shuffling boats (sometimes into the small hours of the morning) and K8 kissed the Mediterranean with precision timing and precision driving by the travel hoist driver.

Sea Trials

Sea Trials ensued – our sails were put on by one of the fantastic teams we have a lot to thank for at 9pm on a Sunday – where else do you enjoy such a dedicated attitude – including a sparkling new stay sail. After a seemingly mammoth amount of paperwork in order to be let out of the marina (one of the few down sides) We slipped the stern lines carrying a posse of 10 stoic work partners out, to put Kealoha 8 through her paces. It really did not take long for every one of them to break into a smile, enjoying over nine knots in a moderate breeze.

We knew then that Kealoha was just itching to get on with the exciting season ahead.