'Holy Moly' - it’s Cleophea!

The reason behind our sleepless night in Yesilovacik

One morning in Aydincik at the end of May a gentle bump on the hull accompanied by a cheerful ‘Ahoy Makarma!’ brings us on deck. We’re getting some rest after a sleepless night in Yesilovacik caused by the racket of a freighter loading a cargo of sand along a conveyor until 3am. A familiar boat is easing into the berth on the quay alongside us. It’s Cleophea - with Swiss friends Mike and Corinne onboard.

Cathy & Corinne celebrate our reunion in Aydincik

When we said goodbye to them in Tasucu, we didn’t expect to see them again so soon. Our tiredness forgotten, we leaned over the rail to exchange hugs of welcome. Over lunch later, we needed no persuasion to drop our plan to head directly back to Finike and instead to coast-hop with them as far as their home port of Kemer. We like Mike and Corinne a lot - we last sailed with them through the Corinth canal. And Cleophea is a pretty steel ketch that goes much the same speed as Makarma, making her an ideal buddy boat.

Cleophea under sail during a photoshoot of both boats

So together we retraced our steps to Bozyazi and Gazipasa, arriving in Alanya old harbour on Saturday afternoon.  Alanya is package tourist hotspot and all afternoon we were entertained watching a fleet of gulets decked out in various themes - Captain Hook; Pirates of the Caribbean; Viking warrior - all playing the music from Titanic, come and go.  Not much sleep that night trying to tune out the mindless music blaring from the Robin Hood and James Dean discos.

Pirate gulet steaming out of Alanya harbour

Delicious dinner at the Panorama cafe overlooking the harbour

The antidote came the next day with a trip up the Manavgat river. A bar at the entrance reduced the depth to 0.5 under the keel and the outgoing current was surprisingly strong. You wouldn’t want to come in here with a strong onshore breeze.  As we motored 3 miles up to the bridge that prevents yachts from going further, the only sound we could hear was birdsong. 



It reminded us of the upper reaches of the Guadiana river - keeping to the outside of the bends where the river is deeper, chugging between banks lined with cane-breaks. Except here a gulet would steam past from time to time loaded with trippers.

We rafted up alongside a rusting white ferry beside a small boatyard for the night.  It was a tranquil evening and even the strains of pop music floating across from a hotel on the far bank did little to disturb the peace.

Rafted up in the river for the night

After a glorious broad reach in a steady 15 knots of wind across the gulf of Antalya we anchored in Moonlight Bay outside Kemer for a farewell dinner with Mike and Corinne. As we watched the full moon rise out of a perfectly positioned notch in the hillside, we reflected on a delightful week’s cruising in company.