Hurricane Kemer

I started the day by going on a bike ride with Ellen, from Norway, around town.  We don’t have bikes yet so I borrowed her husband’s.  People say “It’s just like riding a bike” meaning you can just pick it up again without a problem.  While the riding part is true, the stopping part was what got me this time.  What they need to say is “It’s just like riding a bike… when the bike is your size and not too big”.  I know that doesn’t roll off the tongue quite the same, but it’s a valid point.  Her husband’s bike was too big and when I went to stop and hop off, I was too short and I got stuck on the seat so when I tipped over, I landed on my knee and the bike landed on me.  My knee was fine and there wasn’t any external damage to myself or the bike, but my ego got a nice sized bruise. 

I learned where the grocery stores are, where the good restaurants are, which pharmacy has people who are educated, and the basic lay of the land.  It was a very informative and successful trip into town.  There is a fitness center at one of the hotels that for 25TL (Turkish Lira) per month we can use and it’s at the end of a great path along the beach.  I decided that bikes are a must here otherwise it’ll be a lot of full day walking trips.  When I choose a bike this time though I am going to go for a Katie sized model.

When I got back to the marina, Dad had gotten an e-mail from Bill Stellin, his Yoda that suggested the marina, and told us to take advantage of all the signup sheets in the front office and to attend the happy hour and lunch specials because they are the hot setup.  Well we had signed up for the activities – we are going on a hike on Sunday, attending the Halloween party, and are going into the big town to visit the equivalent of Costco and Home Depot.  We attended happy hour last night (which was where I met Ellen) and we made a point of going to lunch today…

The weather forecast called for rain today.  Everyone was talking about it and it had been dreary and drizzling all morning.  Before lunch it rained some, but not enough to close everything up and be worried.  Dad and I walked up to the Navigator, the marina bar/restaurant, to try out the lunch special and as soon as we sat down it began to rain, hard. 

I wish I could tell you what the lunch was called, but I really can’t.  He said it and I have no Turkish background yet so I can’t even figure out how to sound it out… hopefully that will change.  I can describe it though.  It looked like, for lack of a better word, meat turds.  I know it doesn’t sound appetizing at all, but it was basically ground beef with spices that had just been molded to be mini meat loafs.  It was cooked in tomatoes and peppers and those were around it in a red sauce served in a bowl.  In another bowl was a dollop of yogurt which was too tart for my liking, and in another bowl was a cuscus pilaf, which reminded me of a type of Mexican rice but made of cuscus.  Served with fresh bread, lunch was filling and very good.  It was a little on the expensive side, but our concept of the Turkish Lira is still being formed so we’ll figure it out soon.

Well as we ate, the lightning began around us and it rivaled a Florida lightening storm.  It was some pretty extreme stuff.  The rain came in waves and the wind began to pick up.  This was when I remembered that we were experimenting and leaving the main hatch open… as we watched the wind we realized that it would be blowing these buckets of rain right into the open hatch which is where we keep the computers among other things that take awhile to dry.  At this point Dad and I put on the subpar coats we had with us and braved the elements to get back to the boat.  Soaked we carefully walked the gang plank and got down just in time to dry off the sprinkled laptop and various books and maps that were lying out.  Knock on damp wood, nothing was damaged and we got here and closed up before any more water came in.  When it blows like that the side windows tend to leak too so I have a damp pillow and again we got here right before it really started getting wet.  We were soaked to the bone so everything is now hanging in the shower to attempt to dry it off. 

This is a view of the wind when it finally stopped raining long enough to poke our heads out and take a look

Dad tying up some lines and anything else that was lose on the deck.  This was between rain bands.

As we were hanging things we realized how much the wind was blowing and Dad switched on the radar to clock 40 knot gusts coming through.  The boat was almost heeling… in the marina… tied up.  This is a new experience for me I must say.  The one thing that wasn’t good was we could feel the front swinging around a lot.  Dad thought the guy had put two bow lines on the front, but there is only one there now?  He may have only put on one, but if they don’t fill the “space” between us and the boat next to us (there isn’t a whole lot of space there) then we may ask to move over a bit and use the mooring line that is there too.  Just as a little extra security.

Just like in Florida, after the big blows and some scary stuff, the sun came out.  Literally 30 minutes after we got back to the boat, it cleared up and the sun was out.  It looks like there may still be another band coming through so we are going to stay put and keep things closed for awhile.