S/V Indian Summer 1

The news coming from home gets worse, more people are contracting  this disease and the death toll is rising.  Small business is suffering and hospital workers are being separated from their loved ones while they fight this virus on the frontline. The world seems, for the first time ever, to be really united in conquering this illness and the general population seem to be adhering to the new regulations. yes I read of people still going out and visiting people etc but from what I see via my mobile/iPad most people are doing the right thing and staying home.

We are still stuck in Kas in  Turkey, a delightful small town full of cobbled streets, whitewashed buildings hanging onto the side of the cliff and cute little cafes with their multicoloured chairs and tables lining the waterside. These tables are now a being repainted in anticipation of a delayed tourist season along with the hammering of nails and smell of varnish coming from the gulets (local wooden tourist boats) around us in the harbour.  Everyone here seems very positive and upbeat – with smiles still the order of the day.

So what are the benefits of this worldwide crisis?  Ian and I are now on weekend lockdown on our boat but with Corrie and Jennifer next door, Darryl and Jan on our other side we can still chat.  The cafe owners opposite wave and say hello and seem completely unfazed by the situation. The cats still come and visit and life seems to ramble on at a very sedate pace. Every morning the sprayers come and spray the areas people touch like the railings, the benches and the rubbish bins. The police and immigration people who reside about 50m away wave to us and say ‘hi’ every morning even though they know we are now illegal. It’s quite surreal and we feel very cut off from the cities back home that are hospitalising patients daily.

While we are here we are getting on with all sorts of boat jobs that have been hanging around for months.  A few days ago we suffered a large gouge in our sugar scoop (the step you climb onto when you board the boat) as the boat was pushed under the concrete quay by a surge. Ian spent a few days re-glassing and gel coating the affected part and now it looks like new.  We are also replacing our flooring with wood purchased 2 years ago in Penang. Ian has set up the tressels on the quayside and even the bar owner across the road must have been impressed because he even brought  him over a coffee yesterday!  We have also got all our cupboard doors trimmed and revarnished and the next job is new antislip outside on the deck.  I scrubbed the vinyl walls with vinegar which were showing signs of mould and now Indian Summer is looking very grand.

Other cruisers come by in the evening and sit on their motorbikes on the quayside or bring their own chairs while us and Corrie and Jennifer sit on our boats and we have a social distance sundowner –  it’s fun and we enjoy their company.  We have now moved to the other side of the harbour where we are all by ourselves for  week or so – to be honest we are not sure what is happening, things change daily here and we have no idea how long we can stay. We are keeping our heads down and trying to remain inconspicuous.

There is no hoarding of food here, plenty of everything and no crowds in the shops. We do wear a mask when we go out as it was a requirement a few days ago. I even saw a guy in the supermarket with a full on gas mask covering his whole head yesterday – I had to turn away so he couldn’t see me giggle! Plenty of wine and beer and thankfully plenty of toilet paper!

They have introduced a disinfectant tunnel before entering the market, and seem to be following the regulations very carefully.  Mike and Proud visit with a bottle of red in the evening,  or we walk over to the marina to see them.  Life is still going on, albeit at a very sedentary pace.

Today we were told we can no longer stay in the harbour.  The local gulets (boats) need to come back and there is no room for the 4 cruising boats here.  The option is to go down to Kekova, a small town about 10 nm south of here where we hope we can anchor in peace. With a total lockdown every weekend where we cannot leave our boats, we are not sure whether we are able to stay in  the anchorage or have to go into a marina.

Over the last few days, things have become a little strained. Our neighbour Darryl was fined A$900 for diving on his anchor during a lockdown which seems unfair as he was only securing his boat – but the rules are that we need to stay in our boat so….. fined he was.  We are still getting our daily bread from the police during lockdown but feel a bit unwanted now, and with our tenure in the harbour coming to an end it is time to move – find somewhere secure and safe.  Mike and Proud (Proud Cat) are staying here in the marina but we don’t want to stay here in Kas so we are heading south where we may get a bit more freedom. Let’s hope this situation changes soon and the world goes back to some kind of normalcy..

Take care out there and stay safe ❤❤