busy days...oder "ein bisschen schiss"

wow! - busy days ...yet again!
after a few sad goodbyes again we finally made it with all our luggage (we´re talking about 86kg plus hand luggage and so called "dangerous goods" like 2 self inflating life vests and a "very dangerous" epirb) to kusadasi in turkey.

it was great to find our maloo with a freshly painted belly and a newly polished hull - what a great sight!

after a very hot night on the hard (i.e. on land with the boat) we prepared her for being put in the water. Just to be sure, we took out the complete anchor chain to check up on it. being a stainless steel chain which has been tested and certified we were pretty certain not to find any problems... how wrong were we?
pitting corrosion on too many chain links to be repaired. so, because I have issues sleeping on the anchor anyway, a new chain has to be bought! - jeez, just imagine a lovely caribbean beach, a wonderful sunset, a tiny bit of wind kickin´ in ... and a stuffed boat on rocks on the morning after!

but luckily we´re in turkey, where things go fast and easy...new chain (this time a galvanized steel one!) will be delivered just half a day after ordering.

so it was time for our floating home to hit the water... finally! and after a few exciting and tiny bit scary moments of having her transported through the whole marina, she was let down and - she swam!
(i know, for the non-sailors out there this might be nothing more than a natural thing for a sailing boat... but after being on land for so long and loading her up with lots of goodies, we weren´t quite sure if she could remember that she was a sailing boat and not a caravan)

mark squeezed her into the tiniest marina berth the marineros (or "sea-men how they call them here) could find for us. since there is a flotilla coming into kusadasi, we had to give up our luxury spot) and off we went working on the motor: oil change, oil filter change, fuel filter change, pre fuel filter change, check and top up coolant... and the engine started! must have done something right ;)

so again, our minds are busy with things to do and organize - very subtle though this feeling of "schiss" (sorry, my english speaking folks...there is just no real translation for it) is flaring up but... are we doing the right thing? - will we be right? can we handle what ever will be thrown at us? will it be worth all the work and what we leave behind for 18 months? (ein bißchen schiss eben) i very much hope so... and it looks like we´re to find out now, are we?

here we are with the rest of our belongings

saying good bye to my Mami... hope to see her in St.Lucia!

a very bad surprise! 

maloo being transported through the marina

maloo on the crane - and soon to hit the water