2012-07-24 Set "sail from Ekincik and arrived in Marmaris. We are staying at Netsel Marina as Zehra thinks that is where we will winter over. Nice place, close to town but because we are a transient, they put us initially in a corner of the marina where I needed a shoe horn to squeeze myself into the dock space. It is hot and sticky, with a warm wind that fails to cool. Had freezer issues (I left door ajar I think) AC issues (cooling pump would not prime) and electrical issues (so hot the battery chargers were threatening to walk off the job.) Got it all resolved over time, but these continue to prove to Zehra that this life is "no fun" and "too much work" and "too stressful." 2012-07-25 Today, moved 50 kg weights around to get the trim of the boat correct, adjusted the lifting hook for the tender so that when we raise the tender, it does not lurch forward like it is ALIVE!, and took apart some engine room deck plates so the guy coming tomorrow to tell me why the generator is over heating can see the various parts and pieces. All in all, a fun day in the marina (i.e.: too much work) 2012-08-01 So, between the last entry and today, just been working. Cleaned the tender, cleaned the pilothouse deck and the boat deck, cleaned up the engine room and was finally able to probably resolve a cooling water issue to the gen set. The yard used plastic pipes and fitting to run fresh water from the gen set to the keel cooler. The gen set overheated so ripped that all out and put in large diameter wire wound hose. Now running much better. The yard, in the desire to not have leak coated the plastic pipe connectors with so much goop that the goop clogged the pipe. Plus, the number of connectors was so many that the differential pressure drop across them all really killed water flow. Decided two days ago to come back to Cesme, retrieve our car, stay with one of Zehra's friends for a couple of days, and then return to Marmaris. Cesme is as hot as Marmaris, but the wind has been blowing here CONSISTENTLY at 15-20+ knots while we have been here. ("Cesme" is a name of a wind in Turkish.) There are white caps in the strait between Turkey and Greece, and have observed a "cat" pitch and roll like I have never seen before. Sometimes, one needs to come ashore to recalibrate how the rest of the world lives. 2012-08-08 After returning from Cesme, did more work and then Zerrin, Zehra's sister came to visit. Today, underway for the first time in a while and while we did not go far, it is cooler on the water than at the marina. We anchored in a cove some 6 nm from Marmaris, one of many. While they are not as pretty as Gocek, this one has a small, vibrate town that we intend to explore. For those that were on the rally, saw and spoke with the Karadumans last night. They were walking near "Bar street" in Marmaris. Their rendition of their 12+ hours of bad weather sent shivers thru me. For those that do not know them, they sailed directly from from Israel to Turkey and on their final night at sea, ran into a storm / bad weather that scared the hell out of them.... But they survived...... 2012-08-13 After spending a few days at some nearby Marmaris anchorages (not as pretty as Gocek's, but with towns on the shore, one can go ashore for some "action" if one wants, or not.....), returned to the marina because the weather was turning bad (for our liking). Again found the Dirty water TLI not working as Zehra asked me why the toilet would not flush. Of course, found this out on a Saturday night, after my shower, but before dinner. Determined tank was full while TLI indicated 25%... Could not understand as we pumped 700 liters some 3 weeks ago. (toilet uses 1/4 liter to flush urine, 1/2 liter to flush #2, and for estimate reasons, I use 1 liter per flush. Shower also goes to this tank but shower head is 1.75 liters per minute and even with guests on board, at anchorages we shower on the aft deck, and in port, at the marina's showers.) (So, where did 700 liters comes from????) Could NOT get it pumped on Sunday (you do NOT want to know why....trust me) and had it pumped today. Yup, some 750 liters was pumped (tank capacity is 785 advertised) and the guys pumping me out dockside asked me why is there so much salt water in this tank....... Got me thinking...... Yup, the toilet can go overboard and the "Y" valve is position to go to the tank. But the discharge valve is also open (not now but was; just closed it) so my guess is that sea water came in, passed thru the "Y" valve (they really are not water tight) and probably filled the tank. This probably occurs more so when cruising, and did put on some 50+ hours in the last 3+ weeks. So, now the valve is closed. I cleaned the TLI, (need to investigate changing this WEMA floating TLI with a WEMA ultrasonic one) and will watch the gauge closely.. More fun on the waterways.............. This will be the last of my post EMYR rally updates. Now that we have an annual contact (the price is eye-popping!) need to shift mind set to just cruising. (BTW as a note of humor, the automatic spell checking does not like the word "cruising" and wants to substitute "cursing" instead. I wonder? How is this computer able to read my mind? :-) Lee Marmaris