She Still Floats!

Aspen is in the water, floating and getting ready for more adventures.

Marmaris Bay - where Aspen and her crew are now.

There she goes!

Moving Aspen to the water is always exciting!

Captain Steve polishing the hull. Yes we could hire people to do this but that takes away from the fun?

Aspen is sandwiched between 2 mega-yachts at the Marmaris Yacht Marina

The date of our launch is written on the rudder (23/3/2012). The rudder needs some scraping too!

The admiral making sure that the workers are careful with Aspen. Yes, we will be using the little red lift and not the monster blue lift!

Our rental car uses Euro Diesel. That is the cheapest fuel and it only costs about $8.10 per gallon!

The hot springs and baths used by Lycians at Sultaniye.

The Aegean Sea along the coast south of Marmaris

"But officer I don't speak Turkish". We have been stopped 3 times so far so that our papers can be checked. Showing them a Colorado driver's license always amazes them!

The theater of Xanthos, the capital and grandest city of ancient Lycia

Columns and decorations lie everywhere.

The necropolis at Xanthos with the Lycian tombs scattered about.

Hiking among the ancients at Xanthos

Patara - another historical Lycian ruins that was the birthplace of St. Nicholas (of Santa Claus fame).

Log #82
We launched Aspen into the clear cool waters of the Aegean Sea and she floated! That is always a good way to start out on a new journey after being on land for 9 long months.

Right now there are over 2,000 boats waiting to go into the water at Marmaris Yacht Marina. Then there are another 1,000 boats in the water here. Amazing! We are at the leading edge of an incredible rush to the sea for the summer sailing season. There were only 4 sailboats launched the day we went into the water. That number will increase to a flood of boats beginning in about 2 weeks.

Now the work of cleaning the Omani dirt and dust off Aspen begins in earnest for us. We replaced 4 batteries that went dead for some strange reason. We just bought them in Australia and they were supposed to last about 7 years. We guess that is Australian time because they only lasted 1.5 years in American time! Hauling 70 pound batteries up a rickety ladder in the Marina and descending the same ladder with the old 70 pound batteries was quite a workout.

Then it was time to take the sails in for repairs. Our Jib sail desperately needed fixing and because it is so big and heavy, Captain Steve thought it would be easiest to lower it on a line down to the ground while Aspen was still on dry land. Admiral Maria was in charge of the line onboard Aspen as the brilliant captain stood on the ground underneath the sail that was dangling 20 feet over his head. Looking up, Captain Steve suddenly thought it wise to quickly take 10 steps backward and to his amazement the monster sail came rocketing to the ground with Maria holding the remaining line in her hand and looking down in suprise. Now that was exciting!

It is really good to be back onboard Aspen with even more adventures waiting on the horizon.

Sail on, sail on and sail safe Aspen…