On the Hard

For the last five days we have been living ‘on the hard’ while Common Sense has had her bottom scraped clean of algae, barnacles and other marine growth, followed by the application of a couple of coats of anti-foul paint. We contemplated doing this work ourselves, but the sight of several other cruisers spending weeks cursing, covered in grit and dust convinced us that it would be a fine thing to contribute a few hundred lira to the Turkish economy and get the local guys to do it.  900TL and it was done in one day (early start, late finish) by two painters.

 

 

 

 

Common Sense after her wash

 

Common Sense was in excellent shape after almost 3 seasons covering many thousands of miles – All the way down the US East Coast, a nip across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas, a run through the Bermuda Triangle and a passage over the Atlantic.  Then it has been two seasons in the Med from Nth Africa and back.  Whatever Cap’n Dave put on it before he sold it to us was a very wise choice as almost all the growth came off in a pressure wash alone.

 

 

New paint and a shiny prop

 

We had other jobs to do: Terry installed a new speaker in the cockpit to replace one that died, and put in the fittings for our new Dyneema lifelines (we will buy the line itself when we go to the US in a couple of weeks) while I polished up the propeller, filled a few minor dents in our fibreglass and fixed the knotmetre. It was exciting going back across the marina when we got dropped in, seeing the speedo functioning again.  We can get the speed from the chartplotter but having 3 of 4 instruments working and 1 showing 0.00 used to bug Terry no end.

 

Dropping back in with Terry onboard for the ride

We still have a couple of things to do – our “Fremantle Australia” homeport lettering needs to be replaced, for example -  but Common Sense looked quite splendid on the outside as she hit the water yesterday morning . We are very glad be back in the slip with our friendly B Dock neighbours, the gentle rocking of the ocean and no great high ladder to climb up and down twenty times a day. The inside is quite another matter, and one of my goals for the year is to finally have a cabin that is comfortable, homely and where everything is STOWED.

Signs of Spring are all around us here in southern Turkey, in the mild weather, the snow melting from the mountaintops, flowers and green buds everywhere, new produce in the markets. It’s time to get out and about for some more hiking and sightseeing in this beautiful country.

Snow on the mountains

It’s off to the US for a couple of weeks on Sunday to visit my mum before we sail away northwards for the next season.  10 days in Arizona in the desert then 4 or 5 days in Terry's favourite city, Las Vegas Nevada.