If you own a boat, Marmaris is a dangerous place to be.
I'd recommend deciding on a spending limit, drawing only that amount of cash from an ATM and leaving your credit card at home before going out to the street with all of the ships chandlers along it. Otherwise it could end in tears.
We were in Marmaris for a week and to be honest, apart from arriving and leaving, we didn’t film anything. Before we arrived we had plans to visit this place and that place and do quite a bit of filming. But those plans never eventuated.
Instead we began spending our time by contacting a local Turkish guy called Chelly. Our mate Kev, who's spent a lot of time in Marmaris, recommended him as the 'go to' guy for getting stuff done in Marmaris.
After two winters of doing boat jobs we had a smallish collection of bits and pieces that we couldn't find locally ourselves due to a combination of not knowing where to look and the language barrier.
Once we'd tied up at Setur Netsel marina, Kev texted Chelly and within an hour he was standing at the back of A B Sea ready to help out. His English is very good and after showing him what we wanted and what it was used for so that he could buy alternatives if needed, he said he'd be back the following day and headed off.
We put A B Sea to bed and switched things around to a boat that doesn't move - think computers, hard drives and items that could break - and began downloading footage from our cameras. Then it was long hot showers, dinner, a movie in the princess suite and an early night.
Chelly returns
Tuesday was our second day in Marmaris and as usual it was a race to the finish line with getting our weekly video finished, uploaded to YouTube and released on time to our Patrons who get to see the video ad free and four days ahead of our YouTube viewers.
That job was completed by lunchtime and as if by magic that was when Chelly was once again standing at our boat clutching a plastic bag full of all the little bits and pieces we'd asked for. Even he couldn't find some of the original items that we'd wanted but he explained the alternatives that he'd got and said that if they were not suitable he could take them back.
Everything was great as far as I could see and I asked him how much I owed. He said "300 Lira will cover everything." I considered that a good price (AU$46) considering all of the running around he must've done and the time that he'd saved us.
Thanking Chelly he wandered off with a smile and a wave and I got stuck in to applying the small parts to various places around the boat. Tick, tick, tick… It was so mentally satisfying to finally tick off tiny little jobs, some of which had been on the list for nearly 2 years.
East Marine for boat bits
The following day, Wednesday, after spending a couple of hours managing our social media, replying to comments, emails and private messages, we donned our empty back packs and walked the short distance from the marina to the chandlers street. We've been there a few times but it never gets old. However we do now have a new method of ticking things off our shopping list.
The father and daughter team at East Marine chandlery are very friendly and welcoming and their prices are fair, so we always make their store our first stop.
The daughter's English is good and this is how they work. She listens to what you want and finds it in their store. She tells you the price and if they have cheaper alternatives she'll show you those too.
If they don't have something in stock the father is dispatched by the daughter to either go on his scooter to their storage place or go to another chandlery along the street to get the required item(s).
While waiting, the daughter will order in Turkish chai and offer you somewhere to sit and wait. The wait is usually not long before the father is back with what you've requested.
The cost of everything is totalled up, small discounts are applied where they can be and payment is made by cash or card. If what you've bought is too bulky or too heavy to carry by hand, they'll arrange delivery to your boat. That's called service.
Even with everything ticked off of our list at East Marine, we still couldn't resist going into every other chandlery along the street, just in case we spotted some nice shiny object that we didn't know we needed.
Thursday
Another long hot Hollywood shower was in order for getting Thursday started just right, after all you've got to make the most of them when you can. That was followed by a couple of hours managing our social media, replying to comments, emails and private messages. Yes it really does take that long and is a daily occurrence when you put your life out there in the public arena.
The afternoon was spent fitting the final bits and pieces that we'd bought around the boat and having another hot shower after that.
Friday
We walked further into Marmaris looking for a Turk Cell store to top up our Internet data, finding a specific bank ATM (no fees) to withdraw some cash, which is always handy to have when planning an extended stay at anchor along the Turkish coast and treating ourselves to lunch out.
Lunch wasn't expensive but it was tasty. We've mentioned before that there is a small place in Kaş town that does the most amazing chicken donna durum. In Marmaris we found a similar place and after experiencing his lamb donna durum his place is right up there with the place in Kaş. We've tried donna durum from many places but we think these two are the pinnacle for donna durum. So far.
After lunch it was back to the marina where we stopped at the Migros supermarket to stock up on provisions in preparation for the weekend lock down. From 19:00 Friday through to 05:00 Monday movement is curtailed.
Just as we were walking back to A B Sea Aannsha suggested that we take a look in the marina based East Marine store to see if they sold line handling gloves. The ones we'd bought in Spain in 2018 were starting to look a little worse for wear. Fatal mistake.
This store is in no way connected to the East Marine store with the wonderful father and daughter team. This store is right in the marina and they charge like a wounded bull. For two pairs of Musto line handling gloves and a 1 litre (1 quart) bottle of diesel engine cleaning additive they charged 1,171 Turkish Lira (AU$182).
The rest of Friday afternoon was spent writing our blogs to accompany the latest video being released to the public the following morning.
The weekend
Current restrictions in Turkey mean that you can only go out for specific reasons during Saturday and Sunday: medical, walking the dog and food shopping. We are healthy, don't own a dog and the closest supermarket was a two minute walk from A B Sea.
We spent the weekend on board A B Sea once again managing our social media, replying to comments, emails and private messages and beginning the editing process for the next week's video.
And all of the above is why we didn't film anything while we were in Marmaris. Of course I haven't told you anything about what's actually in this week's video, so if you're curious click the link below.
Until next week stay safe and healthy.
To watch the video that accompanies this blog click here.
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