36:49.2n               028:18.4E

Marmaris

Monday May 6

Back on board with James Watlington to put the boat together for the season. Alex & Wolfgang at TMS have done a great job looking after the boat – all items fixed and the boat looking shiny. We tried a new Awlgrip product Awlcare that works like a fibreglass polish on the paint – first impressions are good. James re-paints the chain markings, I sort out all the halyards. The boat is finally launched early Wednesday evening – the 330 Ton lift broke down halfway to the launch pond causing an hour delay as the mechanics changed some hydraulic valves. It is interesting how they prise the boats in. There were boats inches away from us on either side in metal cradles that they pulled out with a hydraulic trailer in order to get the massive travel lift around Monterey.             

Move over to Netsel Marina to meet David Cooper & Curtis Begg who are arriving from London. We had considered taking a spot on the town quay but the chart depths showed 2 metres despite the presence of several large motor yachts. The quay is considerably cheaper than Netsel and has water & power.

North Sails sends over a two techs to help us mount the sails. All goes well despite their speaking no English – amazing how much can be communicated with gestures. John Cooper, Duncan Hedley Coates and David Lamb arrive Thursday night and we are a full crew. A last dinner at our favourite restaurant the Pineapple and we are off at 7:00 Friday morning bound for Bodrum.