Shamballa Cruising Yacht Club: End of the Season

We have been back at the marina for almost 3 weeks now and I am not sure where the time has gone. The first week or so was spent saying goodbye to various British cruisers who were putting their boats on the hard and flying back to Blighty for the winter. In the middle of all this was the big end of season party put on by the marina. It was a great do with about 85 people of all nationalities attending. The marina provided a great spread of food with salads, veggies, chicken and lamb doner plus unlimited wine. There was a DJ providing dance music and a folk dance troupe entertained us with whirling dervishes. We all had a great time. It is amazing how energetic 60+ year old cruisers can be. Bob and I even danced – first time ever!

Folk Dancer

Whirling around

Meanwhile the days are spent taking walks around Paradise Island, enjoying the cooler weather, watching the boat yard fill up, enjoying the spectacle of the last regatta of the season, and doing boat chores and projects.

Rainbow over the Bay

Boat yard filling up

View from Paradise Island

Last regatta of the season

Taking out the hatches to prepare for sandblasting and repainting

Washing the lines

We know winter is on its way because we had 5 days straight of rain. Summers in the Mediterranean are dry, winters are wet. The thing about rain is that it reveals leaks on the boat. The thing about leaks on the boat is that they can’t be fixed until the rain stops. So we spent several days with a funnel and bucket catching the drips. Fortunately the leak, although producing lots of water (we now have several books with water damage), was easily fixed.

Catching the drips

A big event of the fortnight was We’ve Got Mail (apologies Tom Hanks). Before we left Australia Bob sent some lithium batteries from the EPIRB by surface mail as they can’t go on an airplane due to the fire risk. We had long given up hope of them arriving at the marina and bought new ones from Istanbul. When we got back from sailing there was the package waiting for us in the marina office. That only took seven months. Then the next week we received a thank you note from my nephew for the wedding presents sent to him. That only took 4 months. Love the Turkish postal system!