ENVOY ABOUT A WEEK AWAY FROM CRUISING

Things are going great as we complete our second week since returning to Marmaris. Our only hiccup is that the eight new “Deka” batteries, imported from USA for our
12V house and 24V bow thruster battery banks are held up in Customs, and nobody can tell us when they will get through. Of course we still have the old ones installed, so we can cruise, and we’re going to be ready to leave in about a week. We had then intended to spend about a week cruising around here, so we could come back to get the batteries. But if they are going to be much longer than two weeks we want to cancel our order, and get our payment returned (this might not be so easy).
In the worst case we’ll have to cruise in this general area (which has plenty to offer) until they arrive - but let’s wait and see.
WHO READS THE ENVOY BLOG?
Our Blog was established in 2006 to keep family and friends updated about our Med cruising. By late 2007 readership had expanded well beyond that, and nowadays even more so. The large majority of readers are from North America, then (in order) New Zealand, UK, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, Turkey, Norway, Greece, South Africa, Russia, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Spain, Guadeloupe, India, UAR, Sweden, Slovenia, Indonesia and Roumania.
TURKISH LIVING STANDARDS
We are using a contractor, Ali Cam, here at Marmaris to organise some of Envoy’s required work, and a few days ago he invited us to his apartment for dinner.
His wife Burcu had prepared a delicious meal, and during a relaxed evening were able to find out more about typical economic life in Turkey.
Ali told us that typical wages in the marina for a six-day week are Lira 2,000 (US$1,170) per month for yard-hands doing polishing and anti-fouling, and up to about Lira 3,000 (US$1,760) per month for master tradesmen. This is net, in the hand, after tax.
The employer also pays medical insurance, provides daily lunch and transport from the town centre to work and back.
Burcu was working in a bank until recently, where the hours were 9am to 7pm, with half an hour for lunch, and she was earning Lira 1,200 (US$680) per month.
Typical rent for a family apartment here seems to be about Lira 500 (US$280) per month, while power, water, lpg, and phone would total about Lira 200 (US$113) per month. Food is fairly cheap here, especially fruit and vegetables in the markets, but meat is expensive. Burcu said a typical small family would spend about Lira 250 (US$140) per week for food and household supplies.
A reasonable quality family apartment can be bought here for about US$165,000.
This is all relevant to western, coastal Turkey. In central and eastern Turkey it is quite different, mostly with small farms providing a subsistence lifestyle and considerably lower living standards.
Unemployment rates are quite high in Turkey – probably about 15%, and Ali said the level of government benefit paid to the unemployed is extremely low, and in any case only paid to people who lose their jobs after working for at least two years.
We have observed Turkish people to be happy, cheerful, friendly, helpful, polite, curious, hard-working and honest, and during the many months we’ve now spent in various parts of Turkey we’ve always felt totally safe, and never seen any form of anti-social behaviour.
TECHNICAL
I have yet to meet a fellow-cruiser who says his boat is perfect and nothing needs doing.
Cruisers do varying amounts of work themselves ranging from virtually nothing to nearly everything, but no matter what skills they possess everybody needs help with some specialist jobs. It’s easy to see how costs mount up with jobs done by contractors here at Marmaris, as they have to build in a 16% “commission” for the marina, and 18% VAT, so only two thirds of the money we spend is “effective”.
Don’t read on if you’re not interested in technicalities!
When we return to Envoy after leaving her for the four months of Med winter we combine re-commissioning after her winter lay-up, with annual maintenance, and with any other jobs that need doing from the previous season.
Apart from a complete polish of the hull and topsides gelcoat, and antifouling, there’s been quite a lot happening, and we’re now about 80% through the total work list.
- All equipment tested except the stabilisers and water maker, and everything working except for the forward aircon
- The main Lugger engine’s dry exhaust system re-conditioned, coolant replaced,
two suspect-looking main water cooling hoses replaced, secondary fuel filter replaced, propeller shaft alignment checked
- All other below water level hoses visually checked and some replaced
- The engine room’s automatic fire extinguishing system checked and certified.
All other extinguishers visually checked. Engine room hot-air extraction metal ducting replaced
- All 21 seacocks inspected and operated. One dismantled and serviced.
After launching seacocks opened one-by-one while I checked for leaks in the seacock or downstream. In several cases pumps fed by seacocks had to be bled of air
- For all three engines and the Naiad stabilisers, vee-belts that were loosened for the winter had to be tightened and for the Wing engine and Genset they were replaced
- The Yanmar wing engine’s prop shaft pulled for inspection and lubrication of the shaft seal, then re-aligned. MaxProp folding prop lubricated. Also leaking vented loops modified, water leak in exhaust box epoxied, vee-belt pulleys removed, de-rusted and painted (rust caused by sea water leaking from vented loops), sea water circulating pump checked and impeller replaced, vee belts replaced, zinc anodes in cooling system replaced, cooling hoses checked, fresh water cooling system header tank removed and cleaned, exhaust riser removed and cleaned, secondary fuel filter replaced, roller bearing in 110V generator mounting replaced
- All external zinc anodes inspected and several replaced
- The hydraulic pump for the Naiad stabilisers modified to enable easier adjustment of the three vee-belts using a bolt that can be tightened to increase belt tension (up to now it’s been extremely difficult to get any tension on these belts)
- Re-install RIB’s start battery which was removed for charging during the winter, fully service Yamaha outboard, replace spark plugs and the complete sea water pump
- Envoy’s storage cover, which was ripped in places, has been repaired, as has the RIB storage cover
- Domestic fresh water system water strainer removed and cleaned, filters replaced, accumulator re-charged
- All batteries that were removed for winter from flashlights, clocks, timers, remotes etc tested and replaced
- Shorepower cable’s connections all re-made
- Bow Thruster propeller nut was cross-threaded and was re-machined to fix
- Windlass gearbox oil leak fixed (supposedly fixed in November but still leaking)
- The newly re-galvanised anchor chain marked for depth, and stowed
- An outdated lpg bottle replaced
- 2 armchairs substantially re-upholstered
- The swim ladder extended in length to make it easier to climb out of the water (as we and our visitors get older!)
- 70 litres of engine oil procured and stowed
- 6 x 30 litre water containers procured and stowed
LOG
Still in Marmaris and 15 nights aboard so far