GUIDING PRINCIPLE, MOTTO AND PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS 2010
 

A guiding principle or a motto – perhaps even motivation. What is it that makes things happen? Our motto for several years has been: “You’ll see it when you believe it”. And the amazing thing is that when our goal or target has been clear to us, when we have known what we have wanted to achieve, then we have reached our goal. The way there, hasn’t always been straight forward, sometimes even going backwards, but the direction has always generally been forward. This approach also applies to working life. Situations to solve – also often called problems – always exist, but if you know what you want to achieve you also find answers.

Since last we wrote we have had a big storm, celebrated Christmas and New Year, challenged ourselves with new authors, new solutions to practicalities and carried on with our daily training.

Storm in Finike

In the night to 30^th December we had another hailstorm. No hurricane winds this time, but a lot of ice and hail coming down at tremendous speed. The deck was covered and this time the plastic in our spray-hood windows broke.

Even without hurricane winds it was blowing full storm and the waves were crushing over the breakwater.

The local population of Finike got the brunt of it as mud and all kinds of debris slid down the mountainsides and slopes into the town. The army helped with the clearing up which took several days.  Here is Mike standing next to the layer of ice which was still there several days after the storm.

The space in front of the Atatürk statue was completely covered.

The oranges were still on the trees, although a lot of leaves had fallen off.

The fountain was full…

This is what it looked like along the promenade after the storm. Apart from the compulsory single shoe, branches and other debris, the plastic is outstanding as usual. PET-bottles which we have seen all over the Mediterranean.

But, before the storm we celebrated Christmas. We had a meeting at The Porthole, our club house, and decided how to organize it all. There were seven different nationalities and 55 people. It is always nice if you can celebrate together. Firstly there was going to be a “party”, and people responsible for this were elected. As the Christmas Carols with an international buffet was such a success last year, Mike and I were responsible for this again. A group of people responsible for the traditional English Christmas dinner on Christmas Day was also sorted out. Now all we had to do was get going!

Christmas Eve 2010

We based the format for the event on last year’s. We started with singing English Carols alternated by individual performances by different nationalities. Most enjoyable. After the singing we had a very tasty international buffet that everybody had contributed to. Here is Mike baking sausage rolls. Mmmm… scrumptious!

A lot of people turned up, but as the saying goes in Sweden: “If there is room in your heart – there is room for your bottom!”

An English group sang both new and old songs. “A fairytale Christmas in New York” was most appreciated. Here is Dave from the boat “Fiona”.

Heikki and Terttu from Finland and the boat “Tiitu” sang beautifully in Finnish.

Claire from the boat “Hai Mei Guy” read a poem written by Pam Ayres. She did a brilliant rendition in the special dialect it was supposed to be read in.

We finished with the Scandinavian group. Instead of repeating last year’s songs, we decided to do a Lucia procession. The lights were dimmed… and in glides Ulla as a Lucia, Sune, Lasse and Anders as enterage ( star-boys), to the accompaniment of Ingemar on his key-board. There were several in the room who hadn’t seen a Lucia procession before.

We sounded really good as we sang what we had practiced; “Natten går tunga fjät”, “Staffan var en stalledräng” and “Hej tomtegubbar”. In the picture you will see from the left: : Lisbeth, Raija, Agneta,, Mike, Sune, Terttu, Ulla, Lasse, Anders. On the far right you’ll see Håkan and Heikki on guitar. Unfortunately you cannot see Ingemar on key-board behind everybody.

As we were sitting down full up and feeling content after eating all the food, Ken entertained us with an English monologue which brought the house down.

There is always a lot of organizing with an event like this, but the end result is always very rewarding. (You see it when you believe it)

Christmas Day 2010

The day was calm with a few clouds, but no rain. Here is a view from Hotel Finike 2000 where we booked the restaurant.

As the kitchen staff had never cooked an English Christmas dinner, the organizing group had to work in the kitchen as well. They did a fantastic job with cooking a dinner for 55 people and serving it piping hot to one and all.

Five stuffed turkeys were roasted…

Graham from the boat “Christina Lee” was “chef-ing” in the kitchen…

Ros – also a fantastic cook – was tasting…

… and making sure that everything was tickedy-boo.

A lot of other people worked hard as well, but these two were the principal cooks in the kitchen.

The hotel staff helped with the serving.

After dinner the Christmas presents were distributed and everybody seemed delighted.

Mike was “Father Chrismas” and was asking for a “Sid” in the room. Is there anybody here with that name? “Yes, me – my name is Sid!, who got his present in the end.

His brother Wilf got his too.

An action song raised the temperature in the room.

Here a selection of pictures:

New Year's Eve 2010

New Year was celebrated in the Port Hole with a Pub Night with activities such as darts, song and dance. It was a nice ending to a very eventful year.

Practical solutions

The solution for a double bed in a Monsun 31 is to lower the table in the saloon, attach an extension of c:a 30cm and then put two cushions down. Our opinion is that it isn’t very comfortable. I always ended up on the joints and the cushions slid apart. As the cushions were laying straight on the table there was also condensation underneath them. So we slept in separate bunks either side of the table… until we said: “Enough is enough! Something has to be done!”

Mike sat down and had a serious think. We needed air under the mattress or cushion, there shouldn’t be any joints for either of us to end up on and it should be comfortable. As the carpenter he is he went out to buy some material.

He came back with a plank and several lengths of batten. It is said that men have a better spatial ability than women, so I have learnt to bide my time and see what is going to happen.  Which was this.

Not bad at all. We had a bit of matting left after re-laying the deck head, which we used as pads, so that the wood didn’t scrape the table. The construction fitted perfectly and can be folded in half to fit behind the back of the bunk.

Plenty of space for both extension and bedding.

Instead of buying a new mattress we bought a zipper. This we sewed on, either side of the old mattresses and all we have to do now is to zip them together to get a big one. Voila! The bunk is ready!

Yet again:            You’ll see it when you believe it!

Visit to the dentist

Mike had problems with a tooth, so it was high time to visit the dentist. We were recommended a woman called Brindusa Sarlar in the town and booked a time.

 After the examination and discussion it was decided that Mike was going to get a new bridge and three crowns to solve the problems. There were quite a lot of visits for a few weeks, but the result was very good at a very reasonable cost. As we talked to other sailors we found out that a lot of them took the opportunity of doing dental work whilst here. I also had a check-up and a thorough clean. Another task off the list for another year.

Plans for 2011

A new year with a new season when we are hoping to sail a fair deal. Last year showed us that things don’t always turn out the way you plan, but nonetheless our plans for this year are as follows:

We are going to stay in Finike at least until April when our contract expires. If  we stay until the end of the month circumstances will tell. Then we aim to spend a few lovely months sailing and enjoying ourselves

At the end of July we are going to lift the boat up on land in Alanya Marina and parcel it up for a long stay. This time we are going to stay longer than usual in Sweden and are also planning to work. Our flight lands at Landvetter on the 2^nd August.

We take the opportunity of reminding you of our e-mail addresses if you feel the urge to offer us work!

raija@mrmsailing.com

michael@mrmsailing.com

This is all we have to report for now, but we are carrying on with more of our adventures later on – so watch this space!

And remember:

“You’ll see it when you believe it!”