Spring 2013

After a very long winter back in UK it felt good to be in the Turkish sunshine again. When I arrived on 4th May Matapan was still in the boat yard with some painting on deck still to be done. She was ready for launching later that week and slipped back into the water in the late afternoon sunshine. True to form Matapan would not go backwards in a straight line and as the water around the launch area is very shallow, we held our breath, hoping she would not go aground. Luckily we got safely into deep water and got her back to the berth at Ece Saray marina.

After a few more days of painting, cleaning and tidying Matapan was habitable again and I moved back on board.

My first visitor this season was my step sister, Sue.  She is not a sailor, so this was a very new experience for her! The first challenge was, of course, to actually get on board..... not an easy task, especially when confronted with a small ladder to climb and a narrow bow sprit to balance on before climbing over the pulpit and negotiating all sorts of deck gear - at night! No problem for Sue - though a little wary and tentative at the start, within a day or so she was getting on and off Matapan with style!!

Though the weather was a lot better than in UK it was not quite settled yet so we planned a number of trips and activities and chose, according to how sunny or cloudy  the day was! Over the next few days we visited windy Chalis beach, Olu Deniz, the deserted village of Koya Koy and on Sue's last day we did a day trip, by boat, to Gocek and visited the sunday Market there. In between, we lazed on the boat or by the pool at the nearby hotel. We also enjoyed some lovely meals at the fish restaurant, Iskele and the marina MOD café. It was a great week and it was lovely having Sue on board.

 

 

 

 

At 10.00 am on Monday morning I went to wave Sue off as she boarded the transfer bus to Dalaman airport. As always, when  visitors leave, I feel really sad and know now that I have to busy myself through out the day and not dwell on the fact that it feels so lonely on the boat, for a while. Just as I was walking back to Matapan I met a couple from a neighbouring boat and they invited me to sail with them across to Wall Bay, returning the next morning. We had a cracking sail in over 20 knots of wind and enjoyed a lovely meal in Wall Bay that evening. As Mike often says, some days are diamond and some days are stone. What had started as a stone day had ended as a diamond day. Many thanks Paul and Carla on Royal Oak!