Moving Aboard
Moving, like traveling, is hard. No matter how delighted you are to be heading into new environs or exciting adventures moving never goes exactly to plan. I generally expect a few hurdles and obstacles along the way. It requires both adaptability and flexibility - even when feeling thoroughly spent. That said, my final flight to Istanbul with my excessively loaded duffel bags ended up being a week later than planned and when the day finally arrived it was two hours delayed. It involved cars, trams, shuttles, planes and limo vans, and after 19+ hours I finally rejoined Tom and arrived at my boat!
That was last Monday. It’s the following Tuesday afternoon here now and it’s time to update you as to our present plan. Since arriving again in Istanbul we have been busily checking things off our ever-growing lists: buying oil, filters and pads for the engines; purchasing hardware for our pasarella (gangplank), the boat hooks and our flags; measuring and finding storage containers and/or tie downs for extra ropes, life jackets, deck furniture and cleaning supplies; setting up our portable printer (that was quite a feat) and printing all of our documentation from boat license and insurance, to our waste management system and oil and food disposal (required by the Coast Guard). We’ve also set up our dingy, our emergency beacon, our onboard Wi-Fi booster to name but a few. Most of these things require Ubers across Istanbul to at least two different places (often more) which are about an hour from the marina! It’s a minimum of three hours to run errands. And y’all remember my feelings about Uber here in Istanbul. It often feels like you’re taking your life in your hands!
We are SO ready to leave here. This marina is less than ideal. There are no hardware or boating stores nearby and several days have been spent just traversing the city. There is a grocery store within walking distance, and I have been taking near daily trips back and forth to stock up on staples before departing. (This is an adventure because I can’t find most of what I would normally buy, and much of what I do purchase isn’t always what I thought it was!)
Our list is still extensive but we are down to the final few essentials that must be done before we leave Turkey. Tomorrow we should receive our departure documentation which clears us out of Turkish waters. Thursday we will be meeting with Nordhavn’s Turkish captain and doing sea trials in the local area. Friday, weather permitting, the three of us will be leaving Turkey for Greece. The past two days have been heavy rain and stormy seas so keep your fingers crossed.
Because of weather, our passage plan has yet to be finalized. It’s possible we will head directly to Athens (roughly 380 miles and approximately 55-60 hours) rather than hopscotch from island to island each day. Night cruising is something I’m not yet comfortable with so it will be good to have a local captain aboard if that’s what we end up doing! Later this evening I’ll be walking to the grocery store again to buy more provisions which we can simply heat up and eat while underway. I’ve NO idea what to feed the captain! Hopefully he’ll be happy with anything.
It will be strange having another person living with us in this tiny home. Moreover, Tom and I have each asked different people if the guy speaks English and we’ve never gotten a straight answer. My understanding is he speaks several languages but none of them are English?! Should be an interesting few days.
So that’s the current plan. Wish us luck on our first voyage!
Blog footnote:
Photo captions may not appear if reading on a cell phone.
If you are having difficulty commenting, try ‘comment as a guest’ and include your email address (no url necessary).