Sunday 8th November 2020

Once we had breakfast we went to explore Bodrum. We parked our dinghy at a café that Paul and Lori pointed out to us. We really like Bodrum, its has lots of tiny small streets and alleys with lots of little shops and a beautiful waterfront. The big castle right in the harbor is unfortunately closed for restoration at the moment.

We went to stock up on data, because once again it had magically disappeared entirely with one of our children looking rather guilty. On our way in one of the tiny back alleys our eyes caught a little shop with a round pastry in its window, that somehow reminded us of custard square. While we where intently gazing at the shop window, the vendor ushered us in to try. We soon found out it was not custard but melted cheese – a cheese baklava. We decided to share some and have a chai and a rest. We always get a thrill out of these special experiences. I guess we are real foodies too and even the kids enjoy trying different foods. The vendor was really excited to have us in his shop and even took a photo of us and enquired where we where from. With our bellies full and warm we headed back to boat.

Paul and Lori had invited us over for coffee / tea and baking and for a debrief of our passage. Lori is such a good chef and baker. She made a huge batch of yummy cookies, which I couldn’t resist and promptly ended up looking 5 months pregnant afterwards again with my food intolerances. Paul and Lori had been to Bodrum before, when they checked into Turkey, so they gave us a few more tips for the veggie market and where to find the supermarket. We needed to stock up on fresh food and vegies.

The next morning we headed to town with our shopping bags and granny trolley to have a big stock up. These are the times when I when I wished we had a car and I could just put all the groceries in the boot and unload them at the house. Here we have to be really mindful how much we can carry – we all look like donkeys and then everything has to be loaded into the dinghy and from there into the boat. It takes usually half a day to just get groceries. On our way we found a small workshop and got a YouTube sticker for our boom. We had been looking for a sticker vendor for ages, so that was a lucky coincidence.

In the afternoon Tim ordered us a Diesel Heater from China, because we can’t afford the German brands. We have all our fingers and toes crossed, that they arrive safely and without any major import charges. Hopefully the fitting will go well and the heater will keep us warm over winter, as we can’t really afford to be in a Marina for long periods of time.

Afterwards Tim checked the boom. It had been making a weird noise that worried him and sure enough he found that a pin in the book had been replaced by the previous owner with a screw, which had damaged the surrounds. Luckily Lori and Paul had an agent friend in Bodrum who know people, so we asked him for help to maybe get it seen to.

All the while for the last 3.5 weeks I have been busily creating Nina’s Christmas present, a crochet blanket with really beautiful, happy colours. I call it the Happy blanket and today was the day I finished the last stitches on it. I was so thrilled with the result. It is my first bigger craft project and turned out so well, if I may say so myself. Nina loves it and while I want to give it to her straight away, I folded it up nicely with a tissue with a Lavender essential oil on it and put it away for Christmas. There is something about waiting for something you long for, rather than having instantaneous gratification. I am hoping that she will treasure it for the years to come and perhaps even find comfort cuddling up in it when I am not around, once she is off to uni or moves elsewhere.

It was washing day again the next day, followed by cockpit cleaning and deck scrubbing with the washing water. It never ceases to amaze me how much dirt comes out of the teak and how nice it looks once its cleaned and dried in the sun. I guess in the olden times that didn’t scrub the decks every day for nothing. The white fiber glass gets all dusty and dirty and we have collections of dog hair everywhere, so it feels really nice to have a thorough clean out regularly.

Once I was finished cleaning Tim checked out the motor handle. It looked a bit scruffy from one side, that is exposed to sun and salt and he was wondering if could maybe get it off and spay paint it. Turns out that was another Pandora’s box opening, like the boom. Once the plastic cover came off there was a whole lot of rust and corrosion under it. We always consult the Bavaria’s owners Facebook group and Tim asked our fellow cruisers if anybody had any rust preventer stuff on the boat. We got lucky. David had a few bottles of boat goodness and Tim set to work to clean the rust off and treat the unit with several bottles of god knows what. Next day he got some black spray paint and before we know it with his kiwi ingenuity and our fellow cruisers treasure stores our Motor Handle and unit looked like new.

The Technician came in to to look at the boom and returned the next day. This one was not such an easy fix and they had to get something specially made to get it fixed. So 200 Euros later our boom was safe and fixed once again. In moments like this we are so grateful for our patreons, who support us and our journey. It means when unexpected expensed like this pop up we don’t go into panic mode, because we know there is a little trickle of funds coming in from our video work. Repairs and Maintenance like this mean that our journey gets shorter and shorter. The $6,000 solar and battery bill from 2 months ago is still at the back of our minds and we are just grateful that the living expenses in Turkey are so reasonable, so we can make up some of the additional expenses in what we save on living expenses.

The kids did 3 assessments for school too. Math’s, reading comprehension and writing. And in the evening we all assembled on Imagine for a Pot Luck dinner. The next couple of days where dedicated to catching up on blog writing, editing, answering e-mails and other admin. We went to town again to buy a big sack of dog food with our handsome granny trolley. I took the kids one day to pick up a few bits and pieces on the veggie market and in the supermarket and Nina and I had an excursion to the wool shop we had discovered in Bodrum. Its becoming a bit of an addiction with both Nina and I having wool stores for several projects. Nina had just done pairs of slippers without a pattern. I just can’t belief how clever she is with her hands. I asked Luca if he wanted a crochet blanket too, and he was not really excited about it. But I decided I am going to make him one anyway. Maybe one day he will enjoy cuddling in the blanket his mum made him. So in the morning I choose a pattern and found yarn in the shop to match it.

Nina really wants to sell her crochet goods, but its too hard with us just being in contact with very few people and postage is so expensive. If we where in New Zealand I would set up an etzy shop for the 2 of them. Luca loves drawing and is so clever with his hands too. I guess for now they can perfect their skills making gifts for the people we meet.

When I was out with the kids we walked to the bakery we had spotted a few days ago with the yummiest European baking, delicious cakes and pastries. We walked past the first time, but I couldn’t resist this time. We picked out one piece each for afternoon tea and it felt very special and indulgent to have this treat with our Turkish tea on the boat.