Our first six days of cruising were spent in Turkey, between Marmaris & Bozburun. Today in Bozburun we completed the exit formalities to leave Turkey tomorrow and cruise over to Rhodes in Greece – only about 20NM. Since we left Marmaris everything has gone perfectly well and according to plan….almost. We anchored in a beautiful bay near Bozburun and switched off the engine for a swim and relaxing afternoon. When I went to start the engine later it wouldn’t start. The engine was slowly turning over so I figured it wasn’t the starter motor. I went to the start battery bank and put the multi-meter probes on the battery connections; the readings were very inconsistent, eg 7.5 to 13.5v. Then I put the probes on the battery terminals themselves and got a consistent 13.5v. The connections didn’t look bad, but one was slightly loose. I cleaned and sprayed them all with contact cleaner, tightened them up and hey presto – all OK and the engine started with sighs of relief all round. The only thing I don’t understand is having done that, the volt readings were still inconsistent on the connections, however problem solved, and when our friend Doug Gooch (electrician) joins us in August, he’ll be able to explain that.
In 2007 we towed the dinghy around most of the time and paid the price – growth on the hull and general deterioration. We’ve now had the dinghy’s hull sanded back and repainted so we want to keep it in good shape. This means lifting it aboard, at least after a few days towing – not a real major, but takes about 20 minutes and can only be done in calm conditions. For the sake of safety we replaced the lifting lines with 12mm spectra (Kevin’s suggestion). Apparently 12mm spectra can lift over a tonne, so more than adequate for our 300kg RIB, and we feel happier about that. We’ve also noticed an increase in our cruising speed by about half a knot when not towing the RIB – not important in a planing boat, but when you’re averaging about 6 knots, it makes a difference.
So for we’ve been covering old ground – as I post this we're 8NM from Rhodes and new territory.
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Ahoy there! Sorry its taken a while to tune in but have just now enjoyed scrolling back through your adventures. Sounds great so far... and Happy birthday! We're keeping in touch with Alice and John- hoping an Imagine job comes up soon for Ali too. I hear she's meeting up with Amy sometime soon. All's well here in the Waitakeres ... rain! Cheers to you both. Deirdre
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