Crews Letter #2003 14   Decommissioning

Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

Alas, seasons, like lines, have two ends.  Interestingly, the start end has a name of its own.  It is “the start.”   The other end is just “the end”. 

For this season, we are quickly approaching the end.

 

We now find ourselves taking Perception apart and putting things away for her winter nap.  Top off the diesel tank to reduce condensation in the tank.  Metal parts get cleaned and either polished or greased.  Canvass and lines get washed and dried.  The dinghy becomes a wash tub.  If Fred is not careful, Phyl puts him in the dinghy for a cold water wash and rinse. 

Engines are serviced with fresh oil and filter.  The outboard gets a thorough sweet water rinse inside <<saltwater cooling system only>> and out.  Then a dousing with WD40 on the outside moving parts.  Empty and refill the lower unit gear oil.

 

It is general house cleaning inside and out.  Once she is out of the water, the various systems that pump salt water in and out of the boat are flushed with sweet water and allowed to drain.  The general idea is: “saltwater is the enemy” is at work throughout the process.  We live on it, in it and with it.  But to survive, we must live in spite of it. 

 

This is the time for sorting out what is not needed and either taking it back to Texas or passing it off on some other yachtie as treasure.  It is also the time for making lists.  Things to have repaired, replaced or added by the technical specialists in the off-season.  Things to find in Texas and bring back next spring.  It was this list last year that had us carrying 297 pounds in 5 large duffle bags and one shipping box when we flew to Turkey  this spring.  The objective for next spring is to keep this list short and light.  Things to do next spring before she goes in the water and before the sailing starts.

 

Travel arrangements were made in early October.  It is no small trick to book frequent flyer travel with an American airline from Turkey.  There is no 1-800 number for international calls. 

The first question is, “Why a round trip, starting and ending in Turkey?” 

Second question, “You could book this on the Internet you know?”

“We are in Turkey now and we plan to come back here next spring.  Actually I can’t book the flights on the Internet because your airline doesn’t fly to Turkey.  And you don’t have a complete schedule on your web site for your partner airline who does.”

“Oh, let me check the schedule.”  

This takes a long time at international phone rates.

“You are right.  Not the entire schedule is available.  Please wait while I check the Turkish Airlines schedule.”

This takes a long time at international phone rates.

We end this first phone call with a plan.  It required that we go online and transfer some miles from Phyl’s account to Fred’s or vice versa.  We couldn’t transfer enough either way to travel business class.  Another dilemma in the bureaucracy of this airline.  Either of us can buy tickets for the other if we have enough miles but there are limits on combining miles to buy tickets for both of us.  We don’t have enough miles in one account to buy one ticket and not enough in the other to buy two although there are more than enough in both to buy two.  We will fly coach.

We call again. 

The first question is, “Why a round trip, starting and ending in Turkey?” 

Second question, “You could book this on the Internet you know?”

“Oh.  You are right…   But the schedule you had in business class is not available in coach.  Let’s see what we can work out.”

This takes a long time at international phone rates.

Not quite settled on the second call.

Third call:  First and second question are the same for the fifth and sixth times.

 

Three tries with three different agents and the reservations are made.  Don’t worry about the phone bill.  Of course, this American airline could only mail the tickets to our Texas address.  So much for electronic ticketing.  Fortunately, Julia and Fed Ex, for a few dollars more, could get them to us in Marmaris.

There does seem to be a mistake in the ticketing on the Istanbul to Chicago leg.  It says business class.  We probably will fail to bring this to anyone’s attention.

 

It is a sad commentary that this leader in global travel doesn’t have a global mindset when it comes to frequent flyer service.  We got an email from them this week proudly announcing that you can buy box lunches at DFW for in-flight to replace the meals they have eliminated.  They are available not only for lunch but also breakfast, dinner and snack.  They were getting lots of concessions from their employees, union and non-, as we were leaving Dallas last spring.  We can only guess that by letting the customers buy their own meals, the executives can avoid a reduction in fringes for themselves. 

Who said “There’s no free lunch”?  Of course there is if you can get someone else to buy it.

 

Next, there are the issues of where to stay while Perception is on the hard and how to get to the airport.  Phyl refuses to live in the boat when she is on the land.  “It is unnatural,” she says. “Boats should float.  There is no way I’m going to climb down a 10 foot ladder and walk a quarter mile in the middle of the night to use the land loo.” 

Fred also finds the challenges of living on the hard hard.  There is an alternative.  We can get a hotel and a car.

One of the joys of the Marmaris area is the travel agent we found here in June, 2002.  She is the one who organized our trips to Efes, the local countryside and Istanbul.  She also rents cars, makes airplane reservations, arranges local hotel accommodations and transportation to and from the airport.  She is responsive to email, telephone and eye to eye.  She owns her business and acts like it.

The people who will organize repairs for Perception over the winter also own their business and they act like it. 

The man who owns Yat Marine marina and his staff have the same behavior patterns.  We are happy to be back here for another winter.

 

A lot of things have gone very well this season.  It was a slow and checkered start.  But once we started cruising, the boat performed well.  Most of the surprises have been worked out.  Things are where you expect to find them more often than not.

The general absence of guests meant we had virtually no schedule to meet.  We only had to be somewhere on certain days twice.  The rest of the time we decided when to go after breakfast of the day in question.  We decided where we were going after we got there.

 

This is not to say that we will not be looking for guests for 2004.  We enjoy very much sharing Perception style cruising with other sailors.  Maybe next year Bin, Dubya, Tony and the boys can settle things down in this part of the world rather than stir it up.

 

Keep a Tight Luff,

Phyl & Fred

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