Week 186: Mytiline Mariners
Prepping, polishing, painting and parties. A typical marina week as we all come together preseason.
The great news is that Karina has recovered from COVID and tested clear again on Monday morning. That freed us up to start socialising and catching up with people. There hasn't been much tourist activity, but we have managed to progress a few outstanding boat jobs, and I've been working on writing.
Spring is definitely here, and the flowers are blooming everywhere. Something I'd be able to tell even if I didn't see them because of the hayfever, which has been slowly building up.
We caught up with Peter and Sarah for a coffee and are in the throes of planning a trip with them to Türkiye to visit Cappadocia – which turns out to be a surprisingly hard place to reach. There's been a lot of googling and a visit to the local tourist agent as we work out the mechanics. It's interesting how vastly different the costs are. We can get there about back for around €500 a couple if we catch the ferry from here to Ayvalik, rent a car and drive. Or about €2,000 a couple if we try and fly there and back via Athens 🤯 If we do it, we're driving!
Karina gathering flowers. Margarita time. Ignacio on Matilda for dinner.
On Thursday night, we had one of the local sailors, Ignacio, over for dinner. He's from Chile, is taking a sabbatical this year while his girlfriend does her masters and he just purchased his boat in the marina a few weeks ago. We had fun getting to know him and had our first margaritas of the season. Always a milestone.
Tuesday bucketed with rain so we all holed up in our boats, but with that exception, the weather was quite pleasant the rest of the time. There's been plenty of sunshine, not too much heat and a light breeze. Occasionally a short burst of rain.
The big boat jobs this week are refreshing things for the season (or potential sale if anything progresses there). The toilet seats needed spray paint to touch up some spots where the paint on the seat had worn away. The woodwork outside is getting a quick varnish to keep it all in good condition. Then, there's the biggest job of all! Polishing the stainless steel around the whole boat. I've been working on the first two, while Karina is working on the polishing.
Prepping, painting and polishing.
Of course, if you start painting, it's almost guaranteed that one of the infrequent bursts of rain will choose that particular time to fall, so it's been a process of watching the skies, putting on a coat or two and then moving everything under cover.
The mansions around the island are spectacular.
On Saturday, Flying Fish and Cooinda organised a BBQ on the dock to celebrate the weather and the return of people to their boats. More and more of us are returning, and the marina is getting busier with both new and familiar faces. It was a wonderful few hours, and it's warm enough now that we even have to put on the sunscreen!
Drinking prosecco by the water on the docks
We're still waiting for the mechanical service items to be completed and a sea trial, which is now set for this coming Wednesday. With all that done, Matilda will be ready for the season and ready to go! We've no hard date for starting cruising yet, but it will most likely be early April as soon as there's a decent-looking weather window.
Until next time,
Tim & Karina