Telltales 55
February 2005
2005 is well under way, and we are definately enjoying Turkey, its hospitality, services, people and their freindships, but not this winters climate. Although temperatures have not been to a freezing point here in Ayvalik, we have seen more rain in the last weeks than in the 5 years combined on Sylphe. Wet, wet, wet and wetter.
You will all recall the images on all news stations of Istanbul being beaten by a winterstorm, resulting in the closure of schools, airport and roads. It never got as bad as that in Ayvalik, the advantage of being 500 kilometers more south. But I can imagine that the people that are wintering in the even more southern (and more popular) winterdestinations in Turkey are enjoying even better conditions. Do not worry, however, the heater is keeping us warm and cosy. Still a joy to look at it and feel its comfortable dry heat. A proud, beautifull part of the yacht.
Since we spent almost a year in Turkey in 1999 for the restoration of Sylphe, we have fond memories of this country, its possibilities and their people. A couple of our dearest friends live in Istanbul and made sure (back in 1999) that we never felt alone and alien. And they just continued that attitude in 2004/5. As soon as we were docked in Ayvalik, Sabri came to visit us immediately, followed a week later by us passing the X-mas days with them in their house in Istanbul. Seeing many familiair faces again. A joy. The hospitality is great, the company wonderfull and the food as always rich and plentyfull. Later Sabri and his wife Guher spend a couple of days in Ayvalik with even more of their Istanbul friends.
Some of you may recall that Sabri is the owner of a beautifull 1925 Abeking and Rasmussen built yacht. 14.25 meters on deck and a real slim racing machine. Unfortunately she lacked some of Sabri's attention over the last years and is in real bad shape. On the verge of losing the yacht to rain water and wood-rot. A brief inspection of frames, deck and other constructional parts convinced me, however, that the yacht can easily be brought back to a part of her original glory. So, plans were made, a budget and time frame, resulting in Gisela (thats her name) will be sailed to Ayvalik in the coming days/weeks to receive a complete new deck, part of the coachroof, and more. With the help of local carpenters and painters and under my supervision we will try to bring her back to glory and pride. We will keep you posted in the next Telltales with pictures and more. I look forward to having such a challenge and joy again. Building (restoring) these yachts is magic and I keep fuzzing with Sylphe, for the same reason probably. Now I can do it again on another yacht. (see www.giselayacht.com for more details)
As far a fuzzing around on Sylphe is concerned. The winterstop is used for the largest and main maintenance. Varnish, sanding and more. The mast of Sylphe will have to come off in the next weeks to be redone with varnish again. But more importantly, the winterperiod is basically our only time of the year that we actually enjoy the interior of Sylphe. The rest of the year we are on deck, eat and even sleep outside. In the wet wintermonths we are confined to the cosy interior of Sylphe. The wide and spacious saloon (certainly compared with other classics) was a result of our choice, back in 1999, to choose a real classic interior with only a longitudinal settee in the saloon, both on port and starboard. Next to the chart-station and a pilot-berth and plenty of windows, this gave us an enormous amount of light and space in our "livingroom". We were always very happy with it, especially as we spent most of the time with only 2 people onboard. However, the saloon did not allow four people to sit around one and the same table, as there were only two smaller tables on either side of the saloon. Something we did miss in the long run. (playing cards became a problem, basically) Or maybe, we simply wanted to redecorate our home, like all you folks do at home as well, once in a while. So, sketches were made, the tape-measure was taken out and much deliberation and sleepless nights later, we took the saw and started cutting the port-side sette into pieces. To make way for a U-shape settee (space for 5) around a large square table. The problem was that we did not want to block the central passage leading forward to the galley and the cabins. To achieve this I wanted to move the settee even further to port abd thus creating more space for the table in the middle. The problem is the hull shape, as it comes up steeply on the sides. Still I managed to gain 15 centimeters and this proved to be just more than enough.
Sylphes interior is made of cherrywood. Of course, I wanted to keep the same wood and colour for the new wooden parts of the settte and table needed. So, I tried to re-use most of the existing panels and frames. But I simply missed some wood, as the settee is bigger than the old one. So, I disappeared again to Istanbul and back to Tuzla. The place where we lived and restored Sylphe 5 years ago. It brought back many good memories walking around there. Shipbuilding with capital letters. It was already a very busy place in 1999, but it has exploded. Without exageration, Tuzla has become the number one place for ship-building in Europe. More choices in yards, suppliers, chandlers and still then.....even more than you can imagine. More over, Turkey is still one of those countries were labour is cheap, so if you can not find a standard fit, you can have it custom-made. Anything; steel, bronze, wood, paint, pumps, electrical stuff... You name it and they will supply it instantly, and cheap. Service with capital letters and no longer available in Europe, simply to expensive or you have to wait months for custom made parts. Here you have them the next day. And that brings a smile on my face and that of the supplier (business after all). So, within minutes I had found the cherry wood, both in solid wood as well as in the veneer version. The joy is of course that you can physically pick your own plank amidst a large pile of cherry planks. Deciding on the "signing" of the wood, the thickness, the width, etc.
Back on the boat, I fitted everything and started measuring and customizing the size of the table. I dedcided to put it on sliding rails, so that it can be moved further back "in", leaving even more space in the middle of the passage. Or forward to leave more space, in case one needs to sleep on this bunk. Now, we have a beautifull square table, seating 5 people for diner. Idea executed and well done.
An extra "advantage" of this new settee, was that the dieseltank (that was under the bunk) no longer fitted. So, a new one was ordered with a different shape and size.... and fitted within a week. We now have even more dieselcapacity..... and still we have won some serious storage space in the rest of the settee. All worked out great. Now, I am just wondering if we can finally get rid of the faint-in-the-background dielesmell that we always had. After all, all filters and fuellines were already replaced last year. But still, if one had been away for some days and you returned to Sylphe, you always smelled diesel. I never noticed it, as you get even used to it. But I blamed it on the "old" dieseltanks and leaking fittings. So, now I am anxiously smelling everytime I come back on Sylphe, even after a 5-minute shopping trip. I guess I will need outside judges to give me the final result.
And Marit....has been busy with complete new upholstery for the saloon. Around the table we needed new cushions, but seen the fact that the existing dark blue fabric was no longer available, we had the chance to go for a complete new look on that front as well. So, all new cushions, matrasses and colors. Ayvalik has enough choices for materials and fabrics and soon Marit had found the right guy to make it all. The old ones were reasonable square and simple, but lacked some seating comfort in the wintermonths when we spent hours sitting on them (or lounging on them while you watch television). Not enough support for back or legs. So, the opportunity to do it all again and better. Choosing the density of the foam is the most important, so we had some test sessions. Finally, when the choice was made, we even decided to mix different densities in one and the same cushion; i.e. more support for the knee part (even raised) and softer for sitting on part (your bum). The backsupports were cut round to give even more relaxation. And all made of a beautifull deep red fabric. All in all, the looks of a complete new saloon and we can now stretch out on this settee in front of the TV on these longer winternights.
As you can see, we are surviving,
AHOY
Roland and Marit
S/y SYLPHE