36:49.25N 028:18.44E14 April 2011, Marmaris Yacht MarinaWe (Carol, Mike and our nephew Ben) arrived at 2am to a freezing cold, wet and very windy boatyard. Tashi Delek was up on legs and stuffed full of all the things that are usually on the outside such as sails, fenders, dingy, ropes and more. We had had several contractors working on her over winter who had moved everything round to gain access with the result that it was all pretty chaotic. Before we went to bed we needed to find our beds. We knew where they should be but where the mattresses, sheets, blankets, pillows were was a bit of a guess. Bob and Rachel had kindly left a picnic and flask in the cockpit so we were able to top up our blood sugar before we set to work. 
This was Bens first experience of sailing but he had gamely signed up for a month including all the work in the boatyard to get her ready. As it turned out his help was pretty crucial to our getting everything done while dealing with some setbacks but more of that later. Hereâs a quick look at a couple of things we did over the winter.In February we visited family in the States and Canada. Firstly Mikes sister and brother-in-law in New Jersey where we enjoyed catching up with them and their friends. We were honoured that Philip chose our visit to open a 40 year old bottle of Chateau Latour that he had been given as a wedding anniversary present. It was stunning.
We took the train to Washington to exact our revenge on our nephew Adam and his wife Jessica and their friends Ross and Lauren who had sailed with us last year. We had a tremendous time. Washington is fabulous and we enjoyed seeing so many sights that are familiar from the news and from history. Rather than show numerous pictures of us in front of the Washington Memorial, the White House, the Pentagon, the Watergate building, Arlington Cemetery and so on here is a picture of the original Muppets. Note that Kermit used to be sage green compared to the much brighter and cheerful chap he became later.
From Washington we went to Canada to see Will and Annie, Josh, Dan and Isla who were all on fine and boisterous form as usual. We headed for a few days skiing and watched Josh and Dan go from cautious snowploughing to confident whizzing within a couple of days. We could not keep up with them in the end as they shot off but stayed perfectly in control.
It was very cold, up to minus 25 Celsius with wind chill some days, but not too cold for the huskies and it was a fantastic experience to sledge through the woods pulled by these lovely dogs.
It was the perfect temperature to build an igloo in the back garden and then invite Grandpa and Carol inside. Quite a feat in numerous layers of clothing and a down jacket.
In March we took the truck to Nice to see Ben and Jemma and their families there. Oh and to take a 3 metre spinnaker pole, several boxes of chandlery and Â300 worth of Marks and Spencer tinned food that we could pick up when we sail there in the summer. The M&S food had actually cost us Â90 due to a voucher that Margaret had and some unexpected 3 for the price of 2 offers. While in the truck we tried a meal of tinned mince, peas and Smash instant potato. It tasted better than it looked and with a bit of spicing up will be perfectly acceptable mid-Atlantic. Fortunately the M&S tins are all rather more appetising meals than mince.
The truck means sleepovers for the grandchildren with chocolate fondue for pudding and then pancakes for breakfast in bed while watching cartoons on television. Bliss apparently. 
Other days we ate at either Ben or Emmaâs. Jamie Oliverâs 30 Minute Meals recipe book was very much in use although the 30 minutes tended to be considerably longer with all the help we had.
It was Carols birthday while we were there and a surprise trip to the mountains was arranged for a BBQ and birthday cake. It was a glorious setting and a memorable day.
Back to Chester to make all the final arrangements and hope that we didnât get caught up in an ash cloud this year. |
