First days sailing!

Today we finally managed to get 'Christina' out into Marmaris Bay and wow was it worth waiting for! We had two sails up to start, (Front and back) and she plodded along in light winds like an old Wherry on the Broads. It should be really exciting putting up the main sail, but we will wait a few more days for that. Tara's been brilliant. She loves 'Christina, and totally gets the wooden boat thing! She also loves being on the helm.... happy days!! The engine ran really well all day with no hiccups. I'm also really impressed with the new electrics onboard, the fridge just draws 3 amps and we can leave it on all the time. One problem was when we anchored the first night, the bolts holding the winch almost gave way! Luckily I noticed them moving before the whole lot went overboard! Temporary fix was bracing a large lump of wood over the horns. 

Our first night out was anchored off Marmaris harbour next to two huge gullets. We slept like babies with no noise from the marina and the boat gently rocked.... Lovely! The regattas still on in the marina and the place is crawling with drunk Russians! They party in the marquee until about 4am, (we sound old!) so it was great to get away from the "yachtees"! It was fun watching them racing though, with all their colourful spinnakers flying.

The captain...

Our second night out was anchored off Ismalar (about two miles down the coast from Marmaris). We'd got a water taxi here months ago when we were on holiday, and joked we would return one day when we bought Christina! Huh! Lol Dreams can come true....

We returned to the marina to moor up after our first voyage out and were assisted by the guys in the marina with their dinghy , although we didn't need help! And moored up easily only for one of the guys helping to then fall off the boarding platform into the water!! Fortunately he was ok and found it funny! " I like to swim" he said!!! 

We are currently sitting under our new awnings which were made by our friend Rashit!! We have one over the bow of the yacht and one over the aft deck . Rain proof and sun proof they add a lovely extension to the deck for sitting out in the evening with a glass of wine watching the world go by! He is going to make us some cushions for the aft deck too ! Once finished we plan to set sail for Simi , our first stop on the way to Samos!

Finally got the old girl to sea!

( excuse my grammar / I pads are crap for blogging). It's been raining heavy here for about 3 days and thunder and lightning so it's been interesting! We've got a few leaks on the boat so we ended up putting the winter cover on which is huge! We took it off today as the sun came out and they have forecasted good weather now for about 2 weeks. We are really enjoying Marmaris because we can get all the bits we wanted for the boat, so far, a new boarding platform, folding bikes, rubber dingy, 2 x awnings, cushions, new bed mattresses, bedding, towels, crockery, cutlery, deck cushions, kettle, sauce pans, clothes, tool box, spanners boarding ladder, engine spares, engine service, YEP... Busy. Weve made lots of friends already, an elderly British couple a few boats down have been doing this for 30 years! Both in the mid 80's!!! He's been great for passing me on all those tips you need to know. The family making the boat covers have been very good and invited as around for tea... Another guy cut some mirrors for the heads compartment waves in the morning...  

We are going to take the boat out tomorrow for the first time so watch this space! 

Arrived in Marmaris (the start)

Not sure where to start, but it's been a little manic getting here! We finally made it to Marmaris, absolutely exhausted after all the planning over the past few months. (Not for the faint hearted this venture, if you've got a dicky heart, don't do it! ). First night onboard we slept rough with no pillows and just a coat as a blanket! First morning the sun was out ( which helped!) We stood on the deck of our new boat 'Christina' and had time to take it all in, we'd finally made it! The boat was as beautiful as we had remembered and all our hard work getting here over the last few months was definitely worth it. But still more to do as she needed completely kitting out from scratch! We needed a kettle ASAP! 

We are planning to set off from Marmaris in about two weeks time so there's been plenty to do. First day was at the Bizarres getting stores, supplies and kitting the boat out. Second day we headed out to look for a bed shop. The mattress's onboard are rock hard and we're both having trouble sleeping, they don't do memory foam in Turkey! Friendly guys out here, the man from the hardware shop gave us a lift back to the boat with all our stuff and another guy in the bed shop gave us a piece of foam for our bed on the condition he can come down tomorrow to measure up for awnings!! We also bought two foldaway bikes this morning which are great fun and ideal for getting about. 

The yacht broker came to see us  this morning to finalise all the paperwork for owning and moving 'Christina' out of Marmaris and on to Greece. Quite a complicated venture! Changing the boat from a German flag to English, setting up a ships log,  proving VAT payed, copies of  skippers certificates and so on! When we sail out of here alGl paperwork has to be in place....or we can't go! 

Weathers been great again today, around 28c ! (On October 19th 2015), We had a chance to get some of the sails up as the winds were light and they didn't look too bad so we're now itching to get her out into the bay and give her a 'Shake Down'.

I will upload some images when I've figured out how too!