36:49.05N 28:18.32E

28^th April.  And so she is launched.  Carol looking particularly glamorous in work clothes and orange Marigolds after last minute antifouling over the patches where the pit props were although, interestingly, this year they didn’t let us walk along under the boat while it was moving and the workmen did a lot of it for us.  We have also noticed that they have taken to wearing hard hats so Health and Safety must be creeping in.

We were launched at 8pm, pretty much sunset so there wasn’t a lot we could do other than tie her up and have a quick supper.  On to the next day and we started the work that you are not allowed to do when up on legs (Health and Safety again – heavens, must be trying to get into the EU).  This means getting the sails back on and doing the work on the mast.  Last year this had been a real struggle, especially getting the batons back into the mainsail.  This year, it was a cinch.  The critical piece of advice was to do that bit with the sail lying flat and the blinding flash of the obvious was to find a suitable implement to assist.  Suitable implement turned out to be the handle of the fish slice. 

The sails have gone but still the mounds of stuff persist.  Take note however of the line of Martini glasses.  They were put there on day one and have not moved.  Following a particularly pleasing encounter with Vodka Martini’s at a friends farewell to the Army party recently we decided that our quest this summer would be to create the perfect Martini on board.  The ideal ‘glasses’, ie plastic, were found in Sainsbury’s and Lester e-mailed the recipe.  We bought the necessary Duty Free on the way out and found Olives and cocktail sticks (toothpicks) in the marina shop.  An elderly Tupperware shaker (lid missing) and tea strainer stood in for the more elegant cocktail shaker that would normally be used.  We invited Bob (Wizard – remember him?  Least we could do after the late night picnic he had provided a week ago) and celebrated our launch.

So, back to work.  Batons in, sails now need to go on........

And Mike has the opportunity to put his ‘new’ shoulder to the test.  Perfect, and we remember again just what a struggle it would be if he couldn’t move properly like this.  And, we remember again just how grateful we are to everyone who helped us here in Turkey when he had the accident and then in Oxford when he had surgery.

When you are first put back into the water the crane operators ask you to check for any leaks (or floods) of water before they let go, just in case you have left a seacock open.  All was well.

Next morning Mike went to the engine compartment to do some checks and found the bilges there full of water with an ominous drip sound coming from the back.  The seal round the propeller was leaking.  Oh great.  Immediate call to Bryan, ex Sunsail engineer who knew Tashi Delek of old.  He now has his own business in Marmaris and did all the work that we couldn’t do looking after the boat when we came home early.  The good news was that we wouldn’t sink – very quickly.  The better news was that we didn’t need to be lifted out of the water again (£700); the bad news was that it was still quite a lot of spondooliks for quite a complicated job and the worst news was that someone would have to go over the side, into the still freezing cold water, to check the alignment of the rope cutter on the propeller once the job was done. 

That someone was Mike; who has been shot at, mortared, avalanched and ambushed; who will happily sit in a tent struggling for oxygen on a mountain and face gale force winds on the ocean – but he loathes cold water and isn’t that keen on swimming although he can do it perfectly well.  This was complete misery.  But he did it, twice.  And the rope cutter was back in line so no further swimming.  Phew.

So we went into Marmaris for a rather fabulous lamb kebab at a restaurant that Bob has known for a long time.  It was glorious.

And, to finish.  Hazards afloat – sometimes there is nowhere to dry your hands.