Getting Off!

I'm always slightly perturbed when people say we are 'on holiday's'. Nothing of our experience on the boat matches what 'being on holiday's' feels like. For a start, we need to work quite hard when sailing the boat, and are just exhausted at the end of the day (Pretty much like working, hey). We always have a permanent List (yes, it is rightly capitalised) of tasks waiting to be done, some urgent, some just day-dreaming. Holiday's also have an end, when you declare 'Oh god, it will be good to get back home again'. We have no sense of end, at least yet. Pavlov is now our home, this is it, there's no escape back to somewhere else.

Pavlov's new arch at the Inox shop

We prefer to say that we are now full-time sailors (or voyager's - but that sounds more affected). As such, we've been working very hard to update Pavlov and her systems. The last battle has been with the               windlass. First, I tried to disassemble it as per the manual, just for a normal service. Could not remove the drum. Consulted with Mathias (friend from Phoenix), who declared that 'the whole thing has to come off' and that I would thank him for making us take the long route. So Mathias enthusiastically jumped into the anchor locker and started hammering and hacking away. Several destroyed tools, many hours and a slightly bruised ego later, Mathias declared that perhaps we needed to get the 'grown-ups' in. So in they came. First the shop sent two young boys armed with small hammers to remove the damn thing. Hours of banging later, the boys phoned home to consult the technical staff, left the boat and returned with bigger hammers. More banging, no success. Then the guru's came, discussed the winch and decided that we needed to up the ante. Acid was used, poured on to loosen the corrosion and left overnight. It still took much concerted banging the next day to remove that sucker!

Pavlov's new veranda

Anyway, boat work has been pretty intense lately. You can see some of the results in the photo above. Note solar panels, crane for lowering outboard, shade panels all around the new bimini (the shade panels can be changed to sunbrella panels with windows to make a complete winter tent), new radar arch with pole for a future wind generator, and even our very own passarelle (a very kind gift from Kevin and Sara - thank you!).

Megan on our passarelle

The decks have been re-caulked, the toilets rebuilt with holding tanks, engine's serviced, things repaired. Its all been too much... so we decided that for one day, WE NEEDED TO GET OFF THE BOAT.

The Air Games entrance

So we decided to go to the beach at Oludeniz. Oludeniz is one of those British outposts, created not by expansionism and imperialism of the past, but by the inexorable colonization by generations of British tourists of the 'wannabe pink' kind. There, you will find all manner of grockle to fill the heart's content; British breakfasts, Irish pubs, Chinese take-out, coconut oil for body basting, toys to wade with, cabana's on the beach, jeeps for jungle safaris; in fact, the whole accroutement of services needed for a genuine British holiday.

Mobile wedding band

On route, we were ensnared by a wedding procession, complete with band that sucessfully improvised over a counterpoint of car horns. I loved how the photographer was intent on capturing photo's of strangers to be the wedding crowd.

Unusual wedding photographer in the bridal car

But Oludeniz also has stunning mountains that fall 2000m in a short distance to the sea, and a beautiful bay, all of which makes it the ideal site for the 13th International Air Games. This is primarily a paraglider event, but the air was full of spinning colourful butterfly wings, it was an amazing sight.

What an excellent day at the beach!