Telltale 109

A busy Spring

By the time I am writing this, it is the end of May and spring has already gone over to summer.
The last two months have proven to be very busy ones, with a lot of work on several boats going on.

Sylphe was made ready again for a new season and the damage caused by the Turkish gullet was repaired. It involved having to open the deck, remove the toe-rail, replace more wood and close it all again. Painting the hull part and the varnish and one can not see the damage any more. Of course I had a fight with the Turkish insurance company, but as it turns out they just might pay after all.

Here an impression of the works on Sylphe, including a special tent for the varnish, which really helped a lot to get an even better result.





And in the evening we even found time to have a BBQ diner, but not very often. Sorry, simply had too much work.




Cause the real big works this winter took place on Starlite, and she had to be ready as well. A complete paintjob on the outside hull and doghouse. On the inside we did major works, replaced all the upholstery, some wood work, and more cosmetics. And of course the most important stuff is not visible, as it is all the elctrics and electronics, replacing of pumps, improvement on fridges, generators, bow thruster, etc,. It simply is too much to recall and list here. So, it is better to show some pictures, to give you an idea.

Masking everything before we could start painting turned out to be a tedious and time consuming job. And we did it several times, betweeen primer and final coats.



And more gadgets for the owner, in the form of a satellite TV receiver. Giving independence that belongs on superyachts like these.




And Turkey has once again shown her power. Things can and will be made on the spot. No matter what size or material, they will simply make it. Here we are working on stainless steel. But it also applies to having special bolts made, or teflon fittings, or new windows for the hull sides, or..... you name it, we can simply still make it here.




So, inside the boat sarted to look organised again.


And when all the new plates for the ceiling arrived, Steffi was busy for 5 days fitting them all back in place.



And with the owner from Holland present, Starlite was put back in the water and we could finally see her from a distance again, although works were not finished yet. Happily afloat.



Worked continue for Steffi and me, and sometimes till late in the evenings with certain suppliers. here we are with the upholstery company, enjoying a late diner at the same time of getting work done.

So, Starlite was afloat, but what about all the toys. They turned out to be a little bit more problematic. But now they all work and the two small jetskis are seriously fun to drive (although I should not say that as  a sailor).

So, when all the work was almost done we organised a party and invited everybody who had contributed to the refit of Starlite. We ended up with some 45 people. A great achievement for Ayvalik and a team effort.




The Starlite Refit Crew had fun and achieved a good result.