My present location is in Marmaris Yacht Marine on the south west coast of Turkey. It is a large marina with approaching probably 1000 yachts and Gulets. I am booked in here now until April when the cruising season usually starts.
There is a very good social life with the large number of live aboards that are here. A very good restaurant and two workers lokanta's where a meal is between £1.80 and £3.
We are no longer millionaires as the government have knocked the 6 0's from the currency. It is now 6 YTL instead of 6,000,000 TL
Lady Coppelia is currently on the hard having a lot of work done while I sit
here on the yacht and play generating this web site.
She is being repainted and antifouled and having serious attention paid to the propeller shafts and stern tubes. This is the first time that I have seriously investigated them and found them badly worn. The bearings had to be re-white metalled and machined out. New seals were required but could not be found quickly. So, as is typical in Turkey, they just got on and moulded new ones in Istanbul. The propeller shafts were badly worn but I was able to turn then end to end and overcome this problem.
I always thought they were water lubricated but now find they are plain bearings and packed with grease. So there should be no troubles in the future now I know how to maintain them properly.
If anybody has more information on this type of stern tube please let me know.
The anchor always came up wrong and knocked lumps off of the paint work. After much work I now have a shaped stainless steel plate to protect the hull.
Jobs done on the yacht this winter are:-
New domestic fresh water pumps.
Covers for the dingy, anchor winch, wheelhouse windows, stern line reels and fore hatches.
Reconditioning of the propeller shafts.
Painting the hull.
Larger hull fitting for the generator and air conditioning.
New hull fitting for the generator exhaust water.
Modify the generator exhaust.
Sandblast the keel and rudder and treat with antirust paint.
Varnish the wheel consul and paint the deck head in the wheelhouse.
Fit a new wind speed and direction indicator.
Renew deck around diesel and water tank fillers, de-rust tanks and redo connections to fillers.
New steel edging strip to port bilge keel.