Anniversary

The mussein call is echoing over the bay, i'm sure he's jamming with the guy in the next mosque. I'm nostalgic tonight, it is now one year since we bought the boat in Fethiye. In that time, we've come to love and appreciate this little town. This morning, on our early morning walk, we climbed the road that steeply rises behind the town, and walked along the steep granite crags that surround Fethiye. The view from up here is stunning, the sleepy little town with its blue roofed mosque is surrounded by the bay, which is also surrounded by snow-covered mountains.

We've come to appreciate the beauty and rhythms of life here. The 'grockle' is thin enough that we see past it. The narrow cobblestoned lanes behind the town hark back to much earlier times. Seeing old Lycian tombs carved into the rock on our walk reminds us of the history embedded here.

As we prepare to leave this safe harbour, this nest that protected our transition to gypsy sea-life, I feel thankful that this place has been so welcoming, so secure. We have pulled off quite a transformation to our life style within its confines. We now live a life dependent on weather and endless boat maintenance. Our house surges with the tides, we vibrate to the weather. Some days, I'm a plumber, others an electrician. We now wear many hats, have become startlingly self-sufficient. We buy our own medicinals, including syringes and prescription drugs.  We make our own power from sun, wind and fuel,  and filter our own water. We plot our courses, gather our weather data, move through foreign bureaucracy. Today, I added Michelle to our crew list.... which means I can now legally marry her off. We depend on ropes and wire. We spread our canvas to dry.

Its all a new life, and Fethiye has helped to give it birth. For that, I'm am nostalgic and will miss this town when we leave. We've just been out to celebrate the one year anniversary of Pavlov and raised a glass to her. We also raise a glass in praise of this little town.