Being back in Antibes was a nice change from life in Turkey - being a bit more westernised, and the realisation that we are back "home" acted as a nice security blanket for us. Walking the streets of Antibes at this time of year was a little different, the Drinkers Club, Crew House and Hop Store are all still there (and always will be), as are the guys walking around trying to sell shit hats and trinkets. But the familiar faces of friends and people you meet are absent. Most are still on their boats doing charters through the Med, others were not so lucky and have gone home jobless.
The next few weeks are being spent in Monaco in preparation for the season ending Monaco Boat Show. Once that is done and all the dust settles, all eyes will be on the Caribbean season where the first half of 2012 will be spent.
These photos are from a day spent in Nice, I only took my 50mm f1.8 lens with me, with so much travel going on I haven't used it too much in the last 12 months as it isn't the most versatile lens around. Nevertheless using it this day made me realise how much I missed using it and just how fun this little guy is.
Ears: Conor Oberst - this song reminds me of my Lilo days at the start of the season; gosh I miss those days.
Is a town in Turkey, it's pretty cool and I dug it. We went for ice cream and it was nice. After a few days we went home to France.
Ears: Thursday (this album was released 10 years ago and is still better than 99% of the stuff released today - probably why it is still on my high rotation list).
The worlds greatest, and most risky, handball court!
1. This and the following sequence are of a dog that reminded me of my old mate.
Finally dropping off the guests was a huge relief and gave us a little bit of time to enjoy Turkey and to take a breathe after the month that was. Taking a few days to get from Finike to Bodrum meant some exploring, sailing, swimming and wakeboarding made even more enjoyable by our newfound freedom of not being in guest mode.
Anyway this is only a short post, the photos will enlighten you more.
Own Life!
Jono
Ears: Okkervil River (quite a fitting song for this post)
There are 31 days that, for ease of communicating the fact, I simply didn't exist for throughout July and August. During this time it was 18hr days (give or take) with the owners and there guests on board cruising around the Turkish coast. Heading south from Kusadasi and eventually dropping the guests in Finike we basically went explored every bay and cove this coast has to offer. Other "major" towns of note in order of appearance included Bodrum, Marmaris, Fethiye, Kas and Kaleucagiz (actually most of the spellings aren't right because most of these places have those weird squiggles and dots under and over the letters, but you get the picture).
Overall is was a really cool place to see. Even though this place is as Arid as Mars, there were some amazing landscapes, some that reminded me of the Whitsunday's and others like Pittwater just north of Sydney.
There is a thing called "Island Time", which you do experience on many Pacific Islands (hence the name) where life is so slow and relaxed that there really is no need for a watch, you wake when the sun comes up, have lunch when you cast a minimal shadow, and go to bed when twilight is over. I have experienced Island Time quite a bit where you live your life around what the waves or wind is doing. I have also discovered "Boat Time" which is similar, but not because it is relaxing, you basically live your life around what the guests are doing, taking them to beaches for swims, wakeboarding or kayaking - there is no need for a watch, and after a few days, even what day it is has long left the brain.
When I decided to do this, my heart and head were always on getting on a sailing yacht and not wasting my time on a motor yacht. Sure after tips it probably doesn't pay as well, and as there is less crew,, the work is a bit harder, but actually having the sails up and sailing these things does get the blood flowing and makes it worth it. Of course being asked to steer the boat down the coast for a few hours on a beam reach in 15-20kts with all the sails up was no biggie - even if we did have Andrea Bocelli playing on the sound system with the guests all lapping it up in the sun.......... yeh no biggie!
Ears - HVZEL (played this song a lot the last few weeks - not sure why, but I rate it)
Most of these shots were from my crappy little point and shoot camera, so apologies for some average stuff, but you get the idea!
Finally getting up the rig - 64m high is a pretty big drop!!
