Here is a great view we get during our morning walks.
Now we do have an unexpected problem – with the water maker (see under Technical) – so our departure has been held up for a few days until about the middle of the coming week. But meantime we’re happy here in Marmaris – the weather is sunny and 27d, and we’re having time to catch up on a lot of things. We have ample time to do long daily walks on nearby Heaven Is, from where we get great views across Marmaris Bay. A couple of times we’ve also seen tortoises by the roadside.
Marmaris elected a new mayor last year, and since then major reconstruction has been taking place in this pretty resort town. The major supermarket, located on prime real estate in the town centre, had apparently been built without planning approval, so this five-story concrete building with adjacent multi-storey car park has been demolished, and a new park is being put in its place. Many roads have been upgraded, and different statues erected.
This octopus is one of the many new decorative statues gracing Marmaris
I have mentioned previously that Turkey has changed its visa rules for visitors so that now visitors can only stay for 90 days in any 180 day period. This is crazy, as it’s bound to deter the cruising community from visiting Turkey for lengthy periods, and especially from wintering over. There is a way around this. If you have an annual contract with a marina, then you can apply for and generally obtain a one-year residency. Some New Zealanders we met here have just done that at a cost of about 750 Lira (about US$416), including agent’s fees, so it’s an expensive option that previously wasn’t necessary.
TECHNICAL
An electrical contractor fixed our forward reverse-cycle aircon unit. It was simply a corroded wire in the control system.
I cleaned the intakes for our three bilge pumps and tested them OK, along with our high-capacity portable 110V pump. Good to know they all work if needed!
The Naiad hydraulic stabilisers have been tested and are running fine.
Delivery of our new batteries continues to be an issue. Now we’re told the batteries for the 24V bow thruster bank will be available about 9 May, while those for the 12V house bank are indefinitely held up in Customs, so the supplier is returning our advance payment for these ones. Actually our present house batteries are holding up quite well for their age of seven years, although they do need replacing, and we’ll do this either in Greece or Croatia. The issue with them is that when anchored, even when we use our genset for an hour so during the evening, they still discharge to about 12.2-12.4 volts (ie 50-60% of full charge) by morning. Also a battery load tester has found them to be deficient. Of course whenever the main Lugger engine is running we’re also getting all three battery banks charged, and on Envoy with a dedicated generator as well as the Yanmar wing engine that can be used as a generator, it’s not a major problem.
I re-commissioned the water maker, which is normally simply a matter of flushing out the membrane storage chemical solution with seawater, and changing the filters, but it didn’t work properly – the salinity was too high. Seawater contains about 35,000ppm of salt, while drinking water should be something like 50-100ppm. The upper limit for drinking water is 500ppm, while we were getting closer to 600 and this level makes your lips feel slightly salty.
A water maker technician checked the system over and found nothing wrong, leaving only the possibility that the two high-pressure membranes we bought new last May have failed. He changed the arrangement of water hoses to test each membrane individually, and found that both are not performing. Why? – we don’t know, as they should last several years – it’s another of Life’s Unsolved Mysteries. The membranes we have are difficult to get and very expensive at about Euro 1,730 (US$2,250) for the pair. So we’re going to change the system from two membranes to one larger membrane of a type which is easier and cheaper to replace. The conversion will include the high-pressure membrane tube, its Kevlar outer casing, and a new controller, but then future replacement membranes will be only(#!$?) Euro 425 (US$550) to replace and are widely available ex stock. So this is happening early in the coming week.
Now we do have an unexpected problem – with the water maker (see under Technical) – so our departure has been held up for a few days until about the middle of the coming week. But meantime we’re happy here in Marmaris – the weather is sunny and 27d, and we’re having time to catch up on a lot of things. We have ample time to do long daily walks on nearby Heaven Is, from where we get great views across Marmaris Bay. A couple of times we’ve also seen tortoises by the roadside.
Marmaris elected a new mayor last year, and since then major reconstruction has been taking place in this pretty resort town. The major supermarket, located on prime real estate in the town centre, had apparently been built without planning approval, so this five-story concrete building with adjacent multi-storey car park has been demolished, and a new park is being put in its place. Many roads have been upgraded, and different statues erected.
This octopus is one of the many new decorative statues gracing Marmaris
I have mentioned previously that Turkey has changed its visa rules for visitors so that now visitors can only stay for 90 days in any 180 day period. This is crazy, as it’s bound to deter the cruising community from visiting Turkey for lengthy periods, and especially from wintering over. There is a way around this. If you have an annual contract with a marina, then you can apply for and generally obtain a one-year residency. Some New Zealanders we met here have just done that at a cost of about 750 Lira (about US$416), including agent’s fees, so it’s an expensive option that previously wasn’t necessary.
TECHNICAL
An electrical contractor fixed our forward reverse-cycle aircon unit. It was simply a corroded wire in the control system.
I cleaned the intakes for our three bilge pumps and tested them OK, along with our high-capacity portable 110V pump. Good to know they all work if needed!
The Naiad hydraulic stabilisers have been tested and are running fine.
Delivery of our new batteries continues to be an issue. Now we’re told the batteries for the 24V bow thruster bank will be available about 9 May, while those for the 12V house bank are indefinitely held up in Customs, so the supplier is returning our advance payment for these ones. Actually our present house batteries are holding up quite well for their age of seven years, although they do need replacing, and we’ll do this either in Greece or Croatia. The issue with them is that when anchored, even when we use our genset for an hour so during the evening, they still discharge to about 12.2-12.4 volts (ie 50-60% of full charge) by morning. Also a battery load tester has found them to be deficient. Of course whenever the main Lugger engine is running we’re also getting all three battery banks charged, and on Envoy with a dedicated generator as well as the Yanmar wing engine that can be used as a generator, it’s not a major problem.
I re-commissioned the water maker, which is normally simply a matter of flushing out the membrane storage chemical solution with seawater, and changing the filters, but it didn’t work properly – the salinity was too high. Seawater contains about 35,000ppm of salt, while drinking water should be something like 50-100ppm. The upper limit for drinking water is 500ppm, while we were getting closer to 600 and this level makes your lips feel slightly salty.
A water maker technician checked the system over and found nothing wrong, leaving only the possibility that the two high-pressure membranes we bought new last May have failed. He changed the arrangement of water hoses to test each membrane individually, and found that both are not performing. Why? – we don’t know, as they should last several years – it’s another of Life’s Unsolved Mysteries. The membranes we have are difficult to get and very expensive at about Euro 1,730 (US$2,250) for the pair. So we’re going to change the system from two membranes to one larger membrane of a type which is easier and cheaper to replace. The conversion will include the high-pressure membrane tube, its Kevlar outer casing, and a new controller, but then future replacement membranes will be only(#!$?) Euro 425 (US$550) to replace and are widely available ex stock. So this is happening early in the coming week.
LOG
30 nights aboard since arrival.
1 comment:
Laurie. Can you text/email me (+6421959999) (brookearchbold@ihug.co.nz) your best contact mobile number or email. Thanks Brooke
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