What an idyllic place to spend Cathy's birthday. A scattering of houses, a sandy beach, a herd of goats and turquoise blue clear water. In the afternoon reality bites when a stiff onshore breeze blows up. Luckily we find a more sheltered spot to anchor nearby where we could celebrate with birthday cake and candles.
The next day the forecast is showing gusty southerlies for forty eight hours. After one long night on anchor watch this week already we feel like tying up to something solid while it lasts. Cesme marina is run by Camper & Nicholson, a British company that runs upmarket marinas not usually used by budget conscious liveaboards. But it’s the most conveniently situated on our way north. Having phoned ahead to find out the price for two nights’ stay, we decide to go in.
On the way in Leighton starts to look worried. ‘I’m not sure our £5 million indemnity insurance will go very far if we bump into one of those superyachts,’ he observes. The marinero guiding us in from his inflatable RIB wants us to back down a narrow corridor between two pontoons. We look at him in disbelief. A long keeler like Makarma doesn’t go astern obediently like your average white boat, especially when it’s a bit breezy. ‘We’ll need some help then,’ we reply. A second marinero turns up in another boat, and with a RIB on either side to nudge us the right way, Leighton manoeuvres Makarma back into a snug berth alongside the pontoon.
We find ourselves between a black and white gin palace that you’ve probably seen in a Bond film and a sleek yacht with Raymarine satellite domes and monogrammed fender socks. Expensive boats line the pontoons and exclusive boutiques and glossy eateries line the shore.
We haven’t put a foot on land for three days. Better smarten up before we check in at the office. We head for the showers. They have Philippe Starck power showerheads and Dyson airblade hand dryers (brilliant for drying washed knickers we discover later). When we’re all brushed up we head off to town to track down the Rumeli ice cream parlour which is reputed to make the best ice-cream in the north Aegean.
In a small museum inside Cesme's impressive Genoese fort we learn that the place took a bit of a battering when the Russian fleet on orders of Catherine the Great attacked Cesme harbour in 1771. Russian fireships destroyed the entire Ottoman fleet which was trapped inside. Good thing the harbour's changed a bit since then and in our secure berth inside we don't even have to worry about the weather.
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| View of the marina from the Genoese fort |
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