26th October 2020

We decided to head back to Fethyie to do more formalities for our residency application. It turned out we had to change things around a bit, so Tim spend the morning driving around getting papers signed and changed. It turned out that we had to cancel our previous applications and redo them all, as they could not be amended. So I spend the afternoon gathering all my yogic tools of deep breathing and acceptance with the added pleasure of red wine that Tim cautiously served up and honeyed sesame seed coated peanuts from the market while I struggled through the website once more, saying several expletives on too many occasions, but managing after several hours to complete the task and now we have all fingers and toes crossed that we get the nod from the Turkish government to stay a bit longer. While its a bit of an inconvenience to deal with those formalities in foreign countries and we are often depending on receiving help from others its a small price to pay for the pleasures we can experience on our adventure and compared to the troubles we had in Greece, the formalities in Turkey felt like breeze.

The next day it was market day again and we braved the hustle and bustle to acquire 2 warm track suit pants and 2 leggings for me for all up $21 for a comfy winter on the boat and Nina also got a warm pair of tracksuit pants. Luca and Nina are both growing so fast, we can almost see them growing in front of our eyes! Then on we went for the veggie and fruit scramble to finally collapse in one of the pop up eateries to recover from the masses. This time one kid felt queasy and one faint… Tim went to have a tidy up at the barber afterwards and we got a few bits and pieces from the supermarket before heading back to the boat.

Tim started the generator, so I could print the documents required for the residency application. In the evening we invited Freddie and Birgul around for dinner to thank them for their help. Birgul is Turkish and is helping all of us so much. We would be a bit lost without her and sometimes I feel sorry for her, because we all ask for her help.

The day after that Tim and I went to shore to get a tax number and pay for our residency application. Its always an adventure and interesting to head out with the stack of paperwork and passports weighing heavy in the backpack to figure out how things work in a foreign country. We had to fill in more forms, go to a cash machine to get money to pay for our applications and then we where done. In the afternoon I filled in our budget, trying to keep track of all our expenses, always anxiously looking back at the overspending in the past months due to big repairs and investments on the boat and marina expenses in Greece. I really hope we can be under budget in the next few months, having all fingers crossed, that nothing major on the boat breaks and all of us stay healthy.

The following day was a very rainy day again with thunder and lightning and I decided to make some cinnamon buns. Tim suggested we do a movie afternoon with our floatilla and invited everyone around. We made some popcorn as well and all the others brought things as well – lollies, veggies and dip, fries and dip and even chai tea and settled in to watch Captain Ron – an old movie about a family on a sailboat. Gatherings like that are always special, as it gives us a sense of community away from home, our friends and families.

Our outboard motor had been playing up in the last few days, so Tim had dis-assembled and re-assembled like he did a few times before, hoping it would fix the problem, but this time not so. After pulling the motor apart for the 4 time cleaning and assessing every miniscule part and it still not sounding right Tim decided to go to town to see if he could find someone who could look at it.

The other day at the market we met a couple, a NZ lady and her Turkish hubby, who moved here this year with their 2 sons for them to learn another language. He offered his phone number if we needed help, as he used to live here, and is local. So Tim asked his help and he picked Tim and the motor up and took them to the Senai, which is the “industrial area” in the towns. He found a friend there who took it apart and got it working properly, while Tim and his new friend went out for a toasty and tea. Tim took a taxi back and came back in the dinghy a happy men. We are so grateful for all the people who help us along the way. It can feel quite vulnerable and lonely when things break and go wrong or when you have to do things and you don’t know where to start from in a place where you don’t speak the language.

Later that day we learned there was an earthquake up in Izmir and a mini Tsunami. Tim felt the earthquake a bit when he was in the Senai. In Izmir buildings collapsed, Marinas and boats where badly damaged and lots of people died. Our friend Birgul who is with Freddie on his boat has a house in Izmir and her daughter lives in it. She was very scared as the shakes where so violent with things falling off all around the apartment. But she was safe and we where so glad. We felt so sorry for the effected people and where double grateful to be safely tucked up in Polly that night.