Ekencik & Dalyan

After Gocek bay, we decided to go to Ekincek - a small hamlet by a pretty bay with good holding and plenty of shelter. Rosa was safe enough that we could take a trip up the Dalyan River. Other than some low-key Turkish tourism, the only business in the bay seems to be running boat trips up the River.

We found that it was impossible to get a firm idea of a good price as the boatman come round as soon as you are anchored to try to organise a full trip and quote whatever price they think you'll bear. Different prices to different people in the same trip-boat. Instead we went to the tiny office and did our own deal of 110Euros for an all day trip for ourselves and two Americans (Kent, Carol & their dog Jolie) who we roped in.

We were picked up promptly at 0900 by a nice young man called Mehmet. It took about 1/2 hour of open sea to the river mouth and then over a very shallow sand bar 1M). The delta is a salt marsh with a maze of reed islands interwoven by channels - some deep, some shallow and many dead-ends. Heikel suggests that it is possible to take a shallow draft boat up the river. I wouldn't advise it. Apart from the rumoured hostility of the local boat skippers, we would have been hopelessly lost in no time. Coming out, the afternoon swell sets up breakers on the bar with the troughs almost drying. The hire boat was a good choice!

We stopped for 10 minutes to watch the locals feeding the turtles. They do this to earn a few Lira from the tourists when they're not fishing for blue crab which are abundant in the river.

After an hour of maze of reed islands, the main channel came together. First we went through the fish trap (the gate was opened for us) and then we steamed up to our first stop - ancient Caunos.

This turned out to be a very impressive set of ruins with a first class amphitheatre, several well-preserved buildings and a stunning setting above the ancient harbour (now silted).










Shortly above Caunos are the famous rock tombs of the kings. What a sight! They're huge and very impressive. Unfortunately, you can't get close to them.

We had an excellent lunch in Dalyan with river traffic flying up and down all the time. Mehmet disappeared but then magically popped up again the moment we got on the boat.








He took us up to the hot springs and mud baths. We expected to be taken to the large commercial springs and mud baths. It turned out that before you come to them, there is a smaller, but completely natural and un-comercialised spring which Mehmet took us to instead. It's not at all obvious that it's there - local knowledge is a wonderful thing. Swimming in the hot water was lovely and it was an interesting experience getting covered in mud. Lindsay was chicken though. I wish I had dared really to throw it!

That was the end of the trip and we motored gently back down the river taking about 2 hours to get back to Rosa. The final leg over the bar and then across open sea was distinctly hairy.

Altogether an excellent and memorable day made even better by good company.

A very memorable day made all the better by good company.

Fethiye & Gocek

We needed supplies so after a calm safe night under Fethiye Adasi, we decided to bite the bullet and go into a marina. After consulting Heikell and the CA cruising updates, Yacht Plaza seemed like a good bet and the much bigger Ece Marine definitely didn't. As we came around the headland, we expected to see an isolated danger mark between two wrecks. Instead there was a large crane on a barge. It looks as if they are finally clearing the wreckage.

Yacht Classic Pontoon

Yacht Plaza was not that easy to spot. Firstly it has now changed its name to "Yacht Classic" and secondly it is so close to the entrance to Ece Marina that it looks as if it is part of it.

What a place! We went in for a night, and liked it so much that we ended up staying three.
We suddenly found ourselves on holiday, living in the lap of luxury and without spending a furtune. The new pontoon is of excellent quality with tailed moorings, free water and electricity at all berths and a friendly, helpful marinero called Mehmet. The deal is that you pay 35 euro (70YTL) if you don't eat dinner in the restaurant and only 20YTL if you do - a discount of 50YTL. It's a no-brainer to eat in the Restaurant. The food and service is excellent and very reasonable so two can easily eat for 50YTL and thoroughly enjoy it.
Showers, toilet and pool are all free and of a very high standard. If you are into Turkish baths or Saunas, they have those at a price. The only negative was the seawater which during the morning was choked with blue-green algae on the West side of the pontoon. It cleared later each day and was always clear on the East side.

Fethiye has a huge Market on Tuesdays which we thoroughly enjoyed. There are several chandlers and the supermarket about 200M East of the hotel speaks excellent English, has a good stock and delivers free to yachts.

We finally set off on Thursday to sail across the bay to the Gocek side. We had a cracking sail, flying along with up to 20Knots of wind on the beam. We initially intended to anchor in Kapi Creek. When we got there however, we found that the restaurant quay now covers pretty much everywhere you can anchor and take a line ashore. It has laid lines which are attached to a mooring chain right in the middle of the creek making it very dodgy to anchor on the opposite side. There is room for two or three boats to go line ashore at the head of the bay on the right but that was already well choked with boats.

We gave up and went round to Seagull bay. Very odd name - no idea why they call it that. First impression is that it is sand and weed so we expected to get the anchor to hold in a patch. After trying twice we realised that it isn't sand, it's soft, toothpaste-like mud with small stones in it, so the anchor just plows along and never sets. Eventually on our third try, we managed to catch the side of an underwater trench in 18M water. With 60M of chain, we got a couple of lines ashore and settled down. An hour later, there was lots of whistling and shouting. I popped up and found that one of our lines had jumped off its rock and we were drifting perilously close to a fisherman moored on the beach. The Swedish boat next to us (who we had earlier made friends with in Kas) came to our aid and put the line back more securely this time and all was well.

Next day we pottered gently towards Gocek under sail, looking for nice places to stop. There were plenty of spectacular places but nowhere to moor for free. Everything was either too steep, too weedy, covered in Restaurant quays, or chocka with Gulets and Tripper boats. Not a sign of the promised mooring buoys anywhere.Eventually we rocked up in Yassica Adalari, a small group of Island which Heikell says is a day anchorage. We found to our delight that there are now a large number of free mooring buoys.

We tried to pick one up and found it very difficult as the yellow floating mooring loop was three feet below the surface and we couldn't reach it even from the dinghy! After a lot of head scratching and stress, We ended up lassoing the buoy and then I dived down at put a rope through the loop properly. Later, watching others tie up, we realised that our one is faulty as on all the others, the yellow loop is on the surface!

It is a splendid spot - the water is crystal clear and exactly the right temperature - neither too hot or too cold. Magic!

Finike to Fethiye

Gokkaya Limani

Northwest Creek

After leaving Finike, we had a nice gentle voyage to Gokkaya Limani. The wind was even kind enough to allow some sailing. Gokkaya turned out to be a lovely isolated spot with lots of small islands, clear water, no development and a nice little cave to visit. NW creek was such a pleasant anchorage that we stayed for two nights. Even the gulets and tripper boats mostly don't come in so for once were in the company of yachts of our own size. A lot of fresh water flows into the creek so there is 10cm of icy cold fresh water on top of the toasty warm salt water. Maybe that's what keeps the tripper boats and their tourists away - but we found it wonderfully refreshing! There is a small river to explore by dinghy and some ruins to explore on foot.

Cave on SE shore of main island

The only slight brush with tourism was that each night, a tripper boat turned up at dusk to have a fairly low key disco until between 11.00 & 12.00. The first night wasn't too bad - with a big bonfire, mainly Turkish music and dancing round the fire. The second night though was some kind of Karaoke. I ended up shining our 1,000,000 Candle spotlight on them for 3 minutes until, to my relief, they got the message and shut up.

Ucagiz

Necropolis

Next stop was Kekova Roads. This is a large area of sea, completely sheltered by islands. Although there are over 50 tripper boats based on the new pontoon at Ucagiz, there was enough space for all of us. We anchored in the lagoon for a couple of days. Ucagiz is a pretty little village, still relatively unspoiled. There are several mini-markets and a fruit stall. The large numbers of tourists arrive on coaches, are herded onto their allotted boat, whisked round the sights then herded back onto their coach. They make relatively little impact on the village in the process. There is a fascinating necropolis just to the east of the village with huge sarcophagi to pore over. It is completely free and unregulated and very few people seem to go there. We wandered and scrambled around for an hour or so, speculating wildly on what it all meant. Well worth a visit.

While we were in the lagoon, we got an urgent message, via the CA, from Rod and Lu Heikel who needed a check done on the position of the cardinal buoy just off Kale Koy. We were only three miles away so we went round in the morning with a GPS and hand-bearing compass. I checked it out using the dinghy while L kept Rosa safe. It's nice to be able to give a little back after all the excellent information and fun we've had from their Pilot Books.

The man of Iron

At the Western end of the lagoon, the water forks in two. If you follow a bearing of 30 degrees from the tip of the peninsula that divides the two arms, on the north shore, is a spring. It is ice cold and apparently only a man of iron can stay in it for 5 minutes. Well, your friend and humble narrator made it.

We went on to the bay east of Woodhouse bay to see another spring which is said to be delicious. We stopped in amazing surroundings with huge grey cliffs either side of us and took the dinghy, loaded up with water bottles, up the small shallow river at the head. We found the spring but it was guarded by a large number of huge yellow wasps which were obviously gathering scarce fresh water to keep their nest cool. Sadly, your Iron man turned out to be made of putty - and we decided to beat a strategic retreat. Woodhouse bay being too crowded with Gulets and Tripper boats, we anchored in Polemos Buku and had a quiet couple of days before moving on West.

Paraglider landing on Kas Quay. Rosa to the left

Next stop was Kas. We intended to use this as a safe haven for Rosa while we visited Kastellorizon by ferry. This is the most eastern point of Greece, being 72 miles East of Rhodes. We could see the place, get some duty-free Gin, and renew our Turkish Visas. Unfortunately, it turns out to be anything-but a safe harbour. Huge Gulets are inter-mingled with yachts and the two sides of the harbour are so close that it is almost certain that anchors will be tangled and dredged up. Our chain was lifted on the first morning by a huge steel diving boat. If the boat was unattended, there is no telling what damage would be done. Shopping was good so we re-provisioned and the town itself is charming - well worth a visit. The quay area has been cleared and is used as a landing place for tandem para-sailers - very spectacular!

While in Kas, we heard about new Turkish Visa rules which seem very restrictive. This final straw and We've decided to leave Turkey permanently on August 9th when our visas run out and will kiss the ground in Greece when we arrive.

On the day we left Kas, we had to wait until 12.00 when the Gulet that had laid its chain over our anchor left. This wasn't really problem as we had planned just a short hop to Kemmer. The cove in the North West was very pleasant and we had a good peaceful night, enlivened by drinks with Peter and Aggie, an Australian couple who we met in Kas.

Next day, we did the 6 hour hop to the fringes of the Fethiye/Gocek area and moored in Gemiler Adasi. The main anchoring place behind the islet was completely choked with gulets and tripper boats so we anchored in the Western Cove. Rod Heikel says that this is a calm-weather haven only. We couldn't see why from the chart - but as we had calm weather, we gave it a try. For some reason the swell manages to turn around 180 degrees and get into the bay. It must be reflecting off the Islet or the other side. So yet again - Rod is right. With a big swell it would have been very unpleasant! At dusk, a cloud of wasps surrounded the boat. Lindsay got stung and we retreated down below to be rocked and rolled all night. Not our best anchorage ever!

Today we motored and sailed around into Fethiye. At first, it seems to be packed and/or expensive. Our first choice, Pacariz Buku, now has a large no-anchoring sign at the mouth. We eventually found a nice empty anchorage off Fethiye Adasi - a small island with lots of huge villas on it. Hopefully nobody will turn up to make us go away! Tomorrow we explore the market and town.

Fast to Finike

Poor Rosa!

Exploded Fender

Good as new

It's taken 7 days but Rosa's transom is now as good as new! Offshore Sailing at Albatross Marina, Marmaris have done a superb job. I would recommend them to anyone

OIt's a hard life - living on the hard

Living on the hard in the first of the summer heat has been stressful but it's now over and we should be back in the water tomorrow and off to Finike. There are many far worse places to be fixed though. Albatross Marina is friendly, they have excellent showers - proper ones like in your bathroom at home. No nasty knobs that you have to keep pressing. Electricity and water are free and freely available. The restaurant is good and the small shop has a reasonable selection and sells ice by the block.
A cheap Dolmus ride into Marmaris leaves at 15 and 45 minutes past the hour. and leaves Marmaris on the hour and half hour
Our insurance company, Pantaenius lived up to their excellent reputation. They were helpful, speedy, flexible and everything you would want. They were happy to pay the repair fees directly to the marina which saved us considerable expense and hassle transferring money from savings accounts
Once we got back in the water, we decided to bite the bullet and go straight to Finike to see Mike and Raija. It was a 22 hours with a force 6 predicted behind us. We flew along under spinnaker with the wind gradually increasing from 13kNOTS TO 16. As it was getting towards darkness, I thought about taking the Spinnaker down but Lindsay was down below preparing dinner so I gave it another 10 minutes. Suddenly the wind went up to 14 Knots out of nowhere. Rosa broached and heeled violently and the Spinnaker sheet broke before I could release it
After few minutes fighting with it, we managed to get it down but not before a small rip had appeared near the clew
Well things seem to go in threes, so hopefully that is our lot for a bit. We certainly deserve a break I feel
Finike was lovely. A nice, thoroughly Turkish town with little tourist infrastructure and an independent reason to exist - Oranges. Millions of them. The marina was friendly and very reasonable with good facilities. It even has a path over the breakwater to a swimming area in the open sea. Who needs a swimming pool. We had our sail fixed by a young sail maker who did an excellent job for 100YTL. The sail is as good as new and he patched up a couple of small holes along the foot of the sail too without charging
We spent a very pleasant 3 days with Mike and Raija but then it was time to head out again. We're now going to go very slowly along the coast back to the West, stopping at all those places we missed on the way down.

Interesting Times

I wasn't intending to blog this last couple of weeks while our daughter and her family were with us. We were expecting a nice gentle potter with lots of playing in the water and frolicking on the beach - hardly the subjects of riveting reading. In the event, it has been rather more "interesting" (in the sense of the old Chinese curse - "may you live in interesting times") than expected.

We picked up everyone easily from Bodrum airport. Bus fare up there was a very reasonable 17YTL per person and taxi back for 6 was only 85YTL. We left the marina next morning intending to stop at the hot springs on Black Island but got there too late. It was swarming with tripper boats and the competition was too great. A decision was made to try again at the end of the holiday. We went off and anchored in "end bay" and did lots of swimming in turquoise water. We started the next leg at 0200 and motored to Castle Island (Cleopatra beach) arriving at 0800 and had a nice quiet explore of the ruins and swam before the hordes started arriving at 1100. Then off to English Harbour with a sheltered free mooring and a nice meal in the evening.
Next morning, we set off for 7 Islands. The wind was stronger than expected and we soon had a force 6 on the nose. After a couple of long tacks across the gulf, it was getting lumpy and the kids were getting fractious so we turned the motor on and motor sailed to cape Koyun Burun. By then we had a nasty 1 meter swell which would now be beam-on for a couple of hours. I decided to go for a bolt-hole at the South West end of Tuzla Kayu instead. We sailed the last bit into the sheltered bay with the engine on idle then dropped the sails in preparation for anchoring. I put the motor in gear but nothing happened. It was turning but producing no drive. Panic! we were about 50 Meters upwind of a reef and drifting onto it fast. Luckily with a crew of 4 we got the sails back up in double-quick time and sailed off it with only a couple of minutes to spare. We then beat up to the head of the bay and dropped the anchor close to a Gulet - praying that it would hold. Thankfully it did. When I dived to see what was happening I found that we had picked up a large agricultural sack on the prop so it was just a big lump of amorphous plastic rotating in the water rather than the finely shaped lump of bronze that should have been there. It was easy enough to clear with a knife but it left me shaking with what could have happened.

Next day we spent at Cokertme lazing around. Lindsay did some rowing, Merv did some sailing and we all swam a lot. In the evening, we ate out in the Mary Rose restaurant. The pirate with a tame parrot on his shoulder sold it to the kids. The food was good and the service friendly.

With only two days to go, we headed back up the gulf in the morning, starting at 0400 to get to the hot springs at 0900. We got there easily and for once there was very little wind or swell. For the first time in 4 visits, I felt it was OK to go stern to the concrete quay with 50M of chain out to keep us off it. All seemed OK, The anchor was well set so we paid our 4YTL and went for a swim in the cave. It was magic - gently lighted, warm fresh water and the adventure for the kids of swimming into a cave. Then L heard waves slapping outside and swam out to see what was happening.
She was confronted by Rosa being tossed around on a huge wake with the attendant having jumped aboard and trying to start the engine to get her away from the quay. Lindsay took a flying leap but by then the damage was done. Two of the three fenders we had put over the transom had exploded and we had a large area of damage where she had hit the concrete hard. We grabbed everyone from the springs and got away as fast as possible - much to the annoyance of our 2 year old granddaughter.
We are not sure how the anchor managed to go slack, we tested it under full reverse before tying up, it was good and tight when we left the boat and it was well dug in when we pulled it up. Our best explanation is that the chain got caught around a rock and that the wake dislodged it before slamming Rosa backwards into the quay.
We anchored in the bay called "The Aquarium" and called Pantaenius - our insurance company. They were great - they had an excellent surveyor called Yusuf on-board within a couple of hours who confirmed that it was safe to go to Marmaris where the facilities are much better for repair. Within a couple of days we were there and up on the hard at Albatross with work commencing. It looks like it will be a few days and over 3000 euros to fix.
Still, it could have been much worse. Without the fenders that exploded we would most likely have been holed below the waterline and had a real emergency on our hands.

Back to Bodrum

Having sussed out the places we want to take our daughter & her family to next week, we've just been dossing around the area. So very little to report. It looks like we may have difficulty getting into Bodrum marina - but we have nabbed a buoy just outside which seems to be safe enough and free too!
We took a look at Mud Bay on Black Island as we think the idea of getting thoroughly caked in mud will appeal to our grandson mightily. There is a nice little restaurant there which seems to administer the cave with the hot springs being 4TL per person. It has a quay we can go stern to and doesn't seem to be crowded - especially before 11.00. The 'abandoned' hydropathic institute referred to be Heikel is no longer abandoned but is being thoroughly updated with an opening date of 2011. Very friendly workmen - one of whom speaks excellent English. Things will probably then get a lot more formal and expensive.
I'm going to take a weeks holiday from blogging next week will the family is here and we just retrace our steps. So more as we start to explore further south after 27 June.

Gokova Gulf

We needed fuel so we went over to Marmaris where there is a fuel station on the quay. It was a bit daunting as we had to squeeze between two huge billionaire Gin Palaces. Once in, they were very efficient and friendly and the price wasn't extortionate. We finally got under way at 12.30 and headed South out of the bay. The wind was a nice easterly (unusual) so we ditched our initial plan to anchor in the bay just around the headland and decided to press on to Sirce Limani.
It turned out to be a good decision. The isolated bay has a single family running a restaurant, mooring buoys (free but you're expected to have a drink or meal in the restaurant) and even fresh bread delivered to the boat in the morning. Very enterprising, very friendly and lots of character. We will be back.

The next day we did 30 miles to Palamut - cutting the corner through Greek waters around the corner of Symi. I was half expecting a gunboat to turn up at any minute but nobody bothered us. Palamut has the smallest of mini-markets and as we were intending to go into the wilds, we were running seriously short of supplies. The only option seemed to be to divert to Cokertme on the North coast of the Gokova Gulf rather than heading straight down to the Eastern end.

Cokertme turned out to be a surprisingly good anchorage and L went shopping while I sorted the boat. It turned out that there was only a tiny mini-market attached to a Restaurant. She made friends with the owner who had recently had his hand mangled by an SunSail idiot turning on an outboard motor while he was trying to free a line from the propeller - ouch! He pulled some fresh veg from his garden and sold milk & bread. Being an enterprsing soul, she spotted a fisherman cleaning some fish and haggled with him for two of them. Delicious! L insisted on putting the fish bones in the cockpit and sitting there watching the wasps. Made me shudder to look (which I think was the idea). She got her come-uppance by getting stung on the arm and had to scuttle ignominiously down the fore-hatch into Rosa.

We now started exploring more seriously for when Charlotte comes. Our first call was a bay called Golyeri which we had been told was lovely. It WAS nice in a rural sort of way - a herd of cows were grazing on the island - but there was no other sign of human habitation anywhere. Unfortunately, the bottom turned out to be impossible and we couldn't get an anchor to stick - so much for a nice lunch stop. We then went straight to the Seven Islands area leaving a chunk of the South coast still to be explored.

There are several wild anchorages in the area. For our taste, the best were South bay (wonderful turquoise water over a sandy bottom) and North Bay - calm, protected, incredibly clear water, good (if deep) holding and nobody else around. It was so nice that we stayed two days. The pilot indicates a restaurant at the head of the bay but we saw no sign other than a couple of buildings in the trees. We decided to investigate when we left in the morning - Oh big mistake!

The chart indicates shallows at the head of the bay - and I could see the mud bank under the water. But with our lifting keel, I've got a bit careless. I put the keel up and nosed gently in. The (luckily soft) bottom came up like a wall and the bow had grounded long before the depth transducer indicated anything untoward. In no time the wind blew us sideways and we were hard aground on a lee shore! Luckily it was soft silt and weed and a light breeze so we weren't in danger. We loaded the bow anchor and 40 Meters of chain into the dinghy then motored out into deep water, paying out chain as we went. We got the anchor about 25 Meters into the channel and tipped it over the side. With a bit of straining, the windlass pulled us off. Very embarrassing as a large German boat came in to watch the proceedings! This is the first time we've tried this technique and it was rather gratifying, in a squirmy sort of way, that it worked so well.

We went on to English harbour taking in all the bays on the way and finally anchored in the Northern cove. Other than a rather large number of wasps and a fisherman we were alone and had a very peaceful night. Next morning we went down to the South East end of the bay to check out the restaurant and mini-market. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be really nice with laid moorings, a very pretty restaurant and an excellent little shop where We were able to buy a good selection of Veg and some mince & chicken. Stores sorted. There is even a statue of a mermaid on a rock just outside.











Being well stocked, we sailed over to Castle Island. The westerly wind gathered strength quickly and We anchored in 20 Knots of wind with a 1 Meter swell just outside the bay. Some of it crept around the point and reflected off Snake Island making for a rather rolley evening. Safe enough, but uncomfortable.

It had all calmed down by morning and before the tripper boats descended at 11.00, the island was lovely. It's open from 0800 to 1800 costing 10 Lire per person. Cleopatra's beach is great to swim in - although the heavy restrictions about going on the beach itself spoil the atmosphere considerably. The rest of the island is interesting with a well preserved amphitheatre and a temple to Apollo in addition to large city walls, Cisterns, etc. Get there before the crowds to really appreciate it.


We decamped once the grockle arrived in force and sailed the short hop to Sogut. We had several choices but chose to moor at the Yacht Club pontoon. Very friendly and helpful with good facilities. Excellent self-service laundry with a huge machine. Profits go to teach young Turkish sailors. Sogut is a sleepy little village with a couple of markets and restaurants all set in green slopes with clear blue water in the large bay. There is free mooring along the edge of the bay with lines ashore - but there are so many boats there (many looking as if they never move) that it's a daunting prospect to tie up. The other 3 pontoons have a modest charge. A Dolmus to Marmaris twice a day (0730 & 1200) for the princley sum of 5 lire each way.

On to Marmaris

Got away from Mersincik at about 0900. Took just over an hour to get the shorelines aboard and stowed. Not slick but nowhere near as chaotic as setting them up. Lindsay pulled up an enormous tangle of fishing line on the anchor hopefully saving a seabird or two.

We motored over a glassy sea up to the end of the Dorian Peninsula and round to ancient Knidos on the other side. Although it was too early to stop there, we went into the harbour to spy it out in case we need it another time. It looks interesting and well sheltered - there are 3000 year old ruins everywhere many only partly excavated. There didn't seem to be any provisions but there was a taverna.








The wind got up and blew us easily down to Palamut where we stopped for the night. The harbour is well managed with a very helpful young man speaking good English helping us in. Electricity and water were available although we only took water. There seemed to be only the smallest of mini-markets so only limited supplies. We went out to our first Turkish meal in the evening. There is loads of choice and we struck lucky by picking the one where locals and people in the know eat. It was called Merhaba and is run by a charismatic chap called Altan. His father and Grandfather were the lighthouse keeper at Knidos and he grew up winding the lamp. He had an amazing choice of starter, main and desert for 20 YTL (10 euro) a head. My octopus salad was excellent and the lamb was succulent and tender. Everything had pleasant surprises - the salad had herbs in, his home-grown and processed olives & oil are as good as I've tasted anywhere.

In the morning we set off for Datca. We needed supplies badly and this seems to be the only option on the south side of the Dorian Peninsula. It has a large harbour. We could have anchored off but as we were only planning to stay for a couple of hours, it seemed simpler to tie up to the quay. It all worked well and there was no charge for the short stay. The shopping was comprehensive with a large supermarket at the top of the hill  and a good mini-market on the quay selling fresh fruit, vegetables and the usual groceries. It also had schweppes tonic water in large bottles. Proper G&T's again at last!

After shopping, we set off with the intention of anchoring in Karaincir. On the way, we spotted a kite-surfer who was 4 miles from land and kept falling off. We thought we heard a call for help and altered course to pick him up - being very wary as his kite was still flying and we didn't want to get it anywhere near our rigging! We were almost up to him when a rib roared past and waved thanks to us - so we were off the hook. Karaincir looked good on paper but when we got there, there was a nasty swell filling the bay. It looked like a very uncomfortable night. We decided to make a dash another 6 miles up the coast to KuruKabu. It was a good decision and we had a tranquil night at anchor.

Next day, we crossed the gulf to the lovely little town of Bozburun. This has an amazingly sheltered, huge natural harbour. We decided to anchor (holding like a rock) just off the tiny port and spent 3 days there in complete safety despite thunderstorms and high winds. The town is completely unspoilt with an impressive silver-domed mosque with a loud but tuneful muezin. For a small town it has remarkably good shopping, an excellent baker and a very reasonable laundry. We made friends with a couple of live-aboard couples and had a very social 3 days.

We needed to get to Marmaris to meet some friends so we regretfully set of on Monday with the intention to stop in an isolated bay called Gerbeske creek. We tried to hoist the spinaker but it wouldn't unfurl. Eventually, we figured out that I had got it tangled up with the small halyard we use for the anchor ball. It was too hard to deal with while under way so we left it and had no spinnaker all day. We got to the creek just before 1600 and messed around for a whole hour trying to get the hook to stick with no luck at all. We now had the increasingly familiar dash for a safe anchorage! Ciftlik was 1/2 hour further on but had bad swell and is heavily over developed with a huge concrete hotel. We took the risk of going a further 90 minutes to Kadirga Burnu. Fortunately we managed to anchor with lines ashore at the head of the bay in complete seclusion. Lovely.

Actually, it was so nice that we spent another day swimming, sunbathing and enjoying the scenery. Made a nice change to be so busy doing nothing and going nowhere.

On thursday, we did the short hop to Marmaris. Its quite a big town where you can apparently buy just about anything. We decided to stay at Marmaris Yat Marina. It's reputation had gone before it as one of the best marinas anywhere. I have to say, the reputation is well deserved. The services and shelter are excellent and very reasonable. 23Euro per night for us plus metered water and electricity at cost. The swimming pool would not be out of place in a 5 star hotel. There is reasonable shopping on site and an excellent dolmus service into Marmaris Town promptly on the half  hour.

We've engaged a rigger to shorten our forestay as the mast is sloping backwards by a degree or so. This isn't dangerous but does compromise our ability to trim the mainsail for light or strong winds. As a result we are staying here until Monday or Tuesday. After that, we set off north again to explore "English Harbour" in preparation for Charlotte's visit in a couple of week's time.

Gulets Gulets everywhere.

Having got our Turkcell Dongle and done our shopping, we left the Marina, (100 euros lighter) on a beautiful calm morning with a light Easterly wind. We had a gentle close-hauled sail to Magpie Rock and then had to beat for 3 miles through the strait between Kos and Turkey. It was only when we realised, 2 hours later that we had done less than 1/2 mile (despite flying this way and that at 4 knots) that we figured out there was a current!  We're not really used to those around here. Beating in a light wind into a 1/2 knot current is a mugs game! So we hoisted the Iron Topsail and motored round the point.
The spinnaker than carried us silently, in brilliant sunshine, over to "The Aquarium" - a sheltered anchorage behind an Island just short of Bodrum. There were lots of Gulets and a few motor boats anchored but still plenty of space. We motored through the shallow channel behind the island after re-assuring a helpful Gulet skipper that we really could get through because of our lifting keel. The water was clear, warm and turquoise. The holding and swimming were good. Excellent! Even L went in.

Next morning, a Westerly blew up and we started to get waves. We went back through the channel and when we thought we were well through it, tried to anchor. Only to be told off by a Gulet Skipper as being too close and obstructing the turn. Not wishing to piss-off the locals, we anchored, rather unsecurely, in the South bay. In the afternoon, the wind changed and we drifted far too close to the edge, bumping the keel gently on a rock. On advice from yet another friendly Gulet skipper, we went round the cape to Bitez as he predicted a coming storm.

There was plenty of space so, just to be safe, we put out 50 Meters of chain. We sat there until dusk, quietly confident that we were well protected from the elements and well away from other boats. It was then that a huge Gulet turned up and anchored on the quay which seemed to be miles away. But he put out well over 100M of chain and I was sure he was over our anchor. Next day was Sunday. We waited until 11.30 but there was no sign of him moving even though the crew were on  the boat. Eventually we got fed up and tried to raise the anchor. To our great relief it came up fine - they had just missed us by a couple of Meters! All the big Gulets seemed to put out the same huge length so we've learned a valuable lesson!

We had intended to go to Mud Bay (and smother ourselves in hot, therapeutic mud). Unfortunately the forecast was for strongish winds and it is not a good anchorage so we crossed the gulf to Mersincik. Cracking sail doing nearly 7 Knots all the way with a steady beam wind. The isolated bay is lovely - mostly sand - so we anchored ahead of the only other yacht. After a couple of hours, a huge, two-masted luxury Gulet full of German medics on a 'holistic medicine' seminar rocked up. It's alright for some - I wonder who paid for it?
The crew were full of dire warnings of a storm (un-forecast) so we made a complete pigs ear of taking lines ashore to the beach - took us two hours! We spent a secure night and after all that effort, no sign of a storm.We were almost disapointed! Ho-hum, at-least we learned to use the Kedge.
It was so nice there that we decided to stay another day just relaxing - and then another as the weather was still looking a bit iffy.
So I wrote this.
More next time.....

Made it to Turkey

Here we are in Turgutreis, Turkey - our first really foreign port. We hoisted the courtesy flag as we crossed the border under the watchful eye of a Turkish gun-boat.

Right on cue, as we entered the port, the Muezin in the mosque piped up - sent a shiver down my spine.

Check-in was a doddle. It only took an hour with all the authorities being in the same building. Nobody even mentioned an agent and everyone was friendly and helpful. Now we're on the computer, it will probably be even easier next time. Total cost 65 Euro including my Visa (Lindsay's NZ passport doesn't require one).

D-Marine in Turgutreis is excellent but very expensive. Excellent showers, a nice swimming pool and very good shelter with finger pontoons to tie-up to. Helpful friendly staff too and good security.
We had an difficult time setting up Internet access in Turkey. The good news is that no contract is required and the pay-as-you-go rate is a very reasonable 50YTL (about 25 euro) for 4Mb for a month. The bad news was that the Turkish data SIMS won't work with my 3G modem. I had to buy a dongle (150 euro) from Turkcell. It works very well but a bit of an ouch and only one person can use it at a time.
All the major networks seem to offer the same deal and have the same compatibility issue. Turgurtreis has main-outlets for all three networks very conveniently close together - but the staff have limited English so figuring out problems and probing the best deal is challenging and stressful for all concerned.

From Milos/Kimolos to Kos

We had a pretty uneventful sail across the Aegean once we left the Milos group. There were no strong winds or big waves and we haven't seen any more flooding. Some of the journey needed the iron topsail but a surprisingly large proportion was really nice sails downwind mostly under spinnaker or occasionally beam wind with the main and jib.
The engine cooling problem persisted so that whenever we finished a long sail after some motoring, the cooling water wouldn't come through. I had to pull off a pipe and put it back while Lindsay dawdled around an anchorage or port and that fixed it. One of the times we had loads of searoom in calm conditions and I was able to take the time to look carefully. Now that I can see through the transparent pipes, I could see that water was moving but there was not enough pressure to push it over the top of the siphon break. I'm developing a new theory: When the engine is hot and we start to sail, cooling water slops around in the pipes and pumps and heats the pump up with hot water from the engine. For some reason, when it is really hot it produces less pressure that when it is cold and it doesn't have enough to push teh water ove the top. Taking a pipe off allows cold seawater to run into the pump and it then prduces more pressure which pushes the water over the top. Once water is running through, it keeps the pump cool and efficient so it keeps going.
The theory fits the facts - but why would it not have enough pressure when hot? I'm guessing there are two factors:

• The pump sealing plate is worn and probably so is the impeller. The loose fit allows water to leak back past the impeller compromising its ability to develop pressure but not enough to stop the flow.
• The rubber of the impeller gets soft when hot and this probably decreases the effciency further - which is enough to drop the output pressure to teh point where cooling water won't go over the top.

I've replaced the impeller and on advice from Johnsons, reversed the plate. I have my fingers crossed that this will finally fix it.
Enough of engineering...
Our first call from Kimolos was Ios. We anchored in a lovely sheltered little bay just over the hill from the port. We stayed there for two days just enjoying the peace and sunshine. After Ios, we anchored on the south side of Skhinousa in a bay sheltered by a long islet. Again peaceful, almost wild excellent holding.

Next hop was a lovely sail to Katapola on Amorgos. This was a pretty little harbour with surprisingly good shopping and several nice tavernas - including one next to us that played just my sort of music. There is a famous monastery there but we decided we needed to press on so we didn't go up there.

After Amorgos came Levithia - an island so small it has only one house and one taverna. The wind funnels wickedly through the hills into the bay so the enterprising owner has put out mooring buoys. He turfed the fishing boats off to make space for us and only charged 7 euros - an excellent facility. The only fly in the ointment was some very rowdy Germans a few boats away who sang and shouted into the wee small hours.

We expected Klimnos to be our last stop in Greece. It's a huge harbour with good shelter. There is absolutely no sign of the Marina that was supposed to be built a few years ago, Unfortunately, it turns out not to be a port of exit so (despite having passport control, port police and customs) they couldn't check us out of Greece and sent us to Kos.

We thought Kos would be a land of lager & chips with lobster coloured louts partying all night. How wrong can you be! Apparently the south side of the island is a bit like that, but Kos town, while a bit touristy, is actually a very pleasant place with good shopping, an excellent chandler in the marina, an lots of interesting archaeology. The museum is worth a visit as is the ancient agora. In 1933, the Italians excavated an roman villa and then restored it - so that it has walls, roofs, stairs, etc. It gives a much better feel for what it was like to live there than the bare excavation and its free!

Hippocrates (he of the hippocratic oath) lived and practiced medicine here. It's said that he lectured under this plane tree (although it probaly only 500 years old).

The castle of the Knights of St John broods over the harbor - we were moored right under its walls. It's also well worth a visit - although it would be even better for a bit of explanatory labelling or guiding.

We spent 4 days in Kos fixing the engine, shopping, sightseeing and generally getting ready to leave Greece. Tomorrow is the big day! We've already checked out of the EU and are bound for our first really foreign country tomorrow.