Telltale 112
More Motorboats and Dogs
Comes summer 2009 in Turkey, but I am still far too busy at the yard to
be
able to spend any time on Sylphe.
I had promised, months earlier and quite optimistically, that I would
have Sylphe ready in May for a sailingtrip in the south of Turkey with
Ronald and Henne, and their respective wifes and kids. But of course
Sylphe was not ready, at all. In order not to let them down -after all
they flew in from Europe, had a villa booked and everything-, I ended
up
renting a Bavaria 44 (!!!!!! can you believe it) in Fethiye. It was
fantastic to see them and spend some quality time with them. The kids
(all around 10 years old) were of course thrilled with the whole
exercise. It was still early in the season and the weather did not
really cooperate, there was still snow on the mountains in the
background (see picture). But the bay of Gocek offers that fantastic
setting and
having the whole (normally tourist-infested) area to ourselves was a
treat. The private beaches were now really private.
It
was only a few days, but it was memorable for me: Thanks
Kleinveld-families for allowing this to share it with you!!
And this is how empty the Gocek bay area can also be:
And after a few days of sailing we had 4 new captains-in-the-making:
The new Zeelander was put in the
water in the beginning of August and we docked her in the marina just
right next to Sylphe. It was a nice contrast, ultra-modern and than the
classic.
So, the summer of 2009, did I do any sailing???? NOOO, not on Sylphe, I
used her only one day and that was only for a trip of 5 miles to drop
anchor, lie in the sun and return to port.
But I did sail quite a lot on motorboats. The Zeelander company had
produced two prototypes, before they designed the final boat and they
were just lying around. They were complete though, so I got them in
the water and used those on sundays. We sailed quite often over
from Kalamis Marina to the off-lying islands to have lunch there. Nice
looking motorboats, 43 foot, powerfully powered with Volvo engines and
the perfect picknick boat. And that is exactly what I used them for. Me
using the boat, resulted finally even in being able to sell one of
these to a Turkish rich guy. Everybody happy.
And Istanbul from the water still makes a great skyline with all that
concrete:
By this time everything slowed down a bit. Life became
normal, work was going well, although still hectic with a lot of
visitors from Holland, all work related. Thank god, I had a big house
as they all stayed at my place. The house looked like a hotel for weeks
in a row, with continious visitors.
And than Pasha came....the dog. The story how this came about is too
ridiculous. In the small compound where I lived there was a stray-cat,
who came for breakfast every morning. Being quite wild and shy at the
beginning, he relaxed as he realised I gave him food. Life can be soo
simple. So, we became friends. The problem was he had fleas, so off I
went -together with Cem- to the pet-shop to buy a flea-colar for him.
But
there things went wrong.......there was
this Golden Retriever at the
petshop, 1,5 year old and looking just a bit too cute. So, I took him
home. Easy as that.
It solved the flea problem of the cat, as I never saw it around the
house again.
Pasha is now a serious companion, he goes with me everywhere, which is
still not the easiest in Turkey, as most people are afraid of dogs
(remainder of the Moslim religion). But he is real fun to be with. I
will not go in detail about the sleeping arrangements we have....I
leave that up to your imagination.
Roland
www.sail-in-style.com
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