Summer comes to an end


Kapi Creek - 22nd September
We climbed up to these Lycian rock tombs from Tomb Bay


























A dramatic thunderstorm yesterday evening broke the long run of settled summer weather, bringing the first rain we've had since May. We were safely tied up to the restaurant quay in Kapi Creek.
The storm approaches














We watched the rain bucket down over a meal of meze and shish in the excellent company of Colin and Bronwen. They're on a week's charter out of Gocek and we met them in Tomb Bay when they moored alongside us in one of the tiny coves there. 

After the rain washed the dust out of the air overnight, the visibility is pin sharp this morning. The deck's beautifully clean too.

This morning also brought sobering news of a vicious Force 11 squall lasting half an hour in Vlicho Bay, one of our favourite bolt-holes in the Ionian. It caused the tragic death of a Frenchman who fell overboard and drowned.  It also damaged at least 100 boats.  Take a look at the pictures of the devastation at http://www.theionian.com.
We get the message - don't get too complacent, even in idyllic surroundings.  The weather has a habit of sneaking up and biting you when you least expect it.
At the height of the storm

What's not to like about Turkey?

Gocek - 19th September

We're enjoying the sheltered waters of the Gulf of Fethiye.  You could spend weeks here pottering from one little bay to another without getting bored.  Pines grow down to the shore, the water's clear and the going's easy.
Yet another idyllic place to spend the night




















Things we like about Turkey:
The people are friendly and very obliging - nothing's too much trouble
They are enterprising too - a village lady makes pancakes in the bow of a motorboat while she's ferried about by her son; a barber stopped Leighton in the street offering to cut his hair; mini-market boats ply up and down the anchorages to sell us fresh bread and produce.
It's green - perhaps because they keep fewer goats than the Greeks?
The food is fantastic with loads of fruit and vegetables in the markets. Cathy's personal heaven right now is the plentiful supply of fresh figs and pomegranates.
Prices are cheap and our pounds go further in lira, the local currency.
The pancake lady touting for business



















Beachside beauty parlour














Things we don't like about Turkey:
Enthusiasm to sell you something can stray over into pestering - Leighton found it hard to browse the chandlers without being hassled
Small biting flies, which invariably bite you on the ankles when you're trying to berth in a tight spot
Anchoring in deep water - we realise our 65 metres of chain isn't enough
Gocek is the only town we haven't taken to - too many yotties for our taste

Today we took the bus from Gocek to Dalyan to see some magnificent Lycian tombs cut into the cliff above the river that flows through the town. The ancient city of Caunos sits on a hill a short way downstream.  It fell into decline when the river silted up the harbour and cut off access to the open sea.
The ferrywoman who rowed us across the river to the rock tombs
Tombs ancient and modern






























Gateway leading to old harbour




Theatre at Caunos overlooking the Dalyan river

























 In case you think we've been having too much of a good time, there is a fly in our ointment.  Just recently our engine has been overheating unless we keep to low revs. The neck of our heat exchanger has been patched many times over and the last time we did it, the repair only lasted a couple of weeks.  We've sourced a new one that we hope will come out with Edd who visits us next week.  Meantime, this is Leighton's ingenious fix using a wooden bung, and we keep our fingers crossed we won't have to use the engine much until it's properly repaired.  

A boat called spaghetti

Marmaris Harbour - 11th September

We left Ayamonte on the Spanish Algarve on 10th May 2009, bound for Marmaris in Turkey. Yesterday we finally got here!
Leighton's page from our scrapbook back in 2009


















Not bad going for a boat called 'spaghetti' in Turkish. The Turkish word for pasta is 'makarna'. It explains why we're often asked here what our boat name means. It's a bit of a struggle explaining the concept of karma to someone with limited English!

On Thursday we rounded Karaburun Point on an exhilarating beam reach in 20 knots of wind.  Here the Aegean ends and the eastern Mediterranean begins. We say a fond goodbye to the Aegean after just over a year's cruising there. Our first night round the corner is in Lorymer. We've come to visit the Hellenistic citadel on a headland which has a commanding position overlooking the Rhodes channel.
The view from the citadel over the anchorage of Bozuk Buku

The Turkish flag flying over the ramparts of the citadel






























After a day's rolling downwind we're ready for our next stop in Ciftlik, which is reputed to be full of Russians. We're disappointed not to hear a single word of Russian, and Leighton picked up a stomach bug from something he ate for dinner ashore.  A strong katabatic wind blew up overnight to keep us awake for a while, despite being tied to a pontoon. That left us with the short hop to Marmaris yesterday.

We're now anchored in a sheltered rural corner of this magnificent natural harbour with pines growing right down to the shore and covering the hills behind. It's a popular spot for local holidaymakers to come and have a picnic and swim.  A short dinghy ride takes us to Pupa Yat marina where we can catch the dolmus into town.  We'll be here a few days for Leighton to browse round the chandlers for spares and Cathy to get a haircut and reprovision the boat.

Having now seen what the huge Marmaris Yacht Marina is like, we're very glad we decided not to overwinter there. It is miles from town and has a very impersonal feel about it. The winter liveaboard community apparently want you to join all manner of group activities every day of the week. Fine if you like quiz nights, gossip and knitting circles, but if definitely isn't for us.

Night-time Intruders!

Selimiye - 6th September

Last night on the town quay at Selimiye we had two unwelcome intruders. The first dropped down through the workshop hatch and when challenged by Leighton, shot through the cabin to escape to the nextdoor boat. It was one of the town cats and it gave us a bit of a fright. Later we heard footsteps on the deck and shooed away a second cat, a different one this time. I think we'll be anchoring tonight.

A first for us - we took the dolmus (the local minibus) from Orhaniye to Marmaris to get set up with internet access and a Turkey sim card. It was a tight squeeze for the 25km journey. The 12 seater vehicle carried 23 adults, one baby, one puppy and a 30kg Bruce anchor.  The springs complained most of the way and we ground up the hills in first gear, but somehow we got there.

The pilot is right to describe Orhaniye as a gem. It's a bullet proof anchorage with excellent holding, and we stayed there several nights. One day we tied up to Ersoy's ramshackle pontoon for the night as recommended by Suzie & Robin of True Blue.  When we mentioned their name to Mustafa, we were instantly one of the family and he ceremoniously gave us a handful of figs fresh from the garden.  We enjoyed a fish supper on the terrace, a free berth with electricity, drinking water and showers thrown in. You can't beat it. 

There's someone in Wilmington Delaware who owns a lot of boats. We've noticed several pleasure boats are flying the stars and stripes and give their port of registry as Wilmington.

What's going on? The boats are obviously local and owned by Turks. Is it a tax dodge? How do they qualify to fly the US flag? Has someone in Wilmington got a scam going? Answers on a postcard please.