Cyprus To Turkey

Talking Turkey: Rosie's Review Part 1

Click here for a map of the journey.

Already nearly 3 months have passed since we made landfall on 14 July at Park Kemer Marina, Turkey. The intended destination had been Finike but the wind was against that plan. The passage from Cyprus was not entirely without incident, early one morning a freak wave crashing over the poop deck rudely ruined my slumbers in the aft cabin and soaked all the bedding, as well as splashing into the heads (toilet) and onto the chart table. Meanwhile Jim and Barney had been landing two large tuna (total 16kg). There was too much for us to eat, so we had to give some away to other yachties in Kemer. Situated with a magnificent backdrop of high mountains Park Kemer Marina gave a very favourable impression. The staff were very friendly, the facilities the best we had seen for a long time, laundry was cleaned promptly for a very reasonable sum, and the well-stocked library provided us with a whole new range of reading matter. The marina was very busy with tourist-laden gulets leaving every morning and arriving back in the early evening.

We would have stayed longer but with friends in Finike who we had not seen for some while, we moved on. Our first anchorage was in Cineviz Limani, which was very attractive with wooded hillsides and sheep grazing on the shore, that is until we started to have our evening meal and the wasps arrived. We beat a hasty retreat below decks, putting up all the screens with record speed! It was lovely to have a few days to meet up again with Henry on "Chyka", who we had not seen since Australia in 2004, Kathryn, Martin and Will on "Suleika", and Karen and Wes on "Caprice" and toss down a few glasses of local beer and wine, whilst catching up with yachtie tales. Then it was time to head for Antalya by car as son Alex was soon to fly in for a fortnight's stay. The three of us wandered the narrow streets of Kaleici, the old town area of Antalya, until we found Avi Pensiyon. This suited our needs well being an old but modest Ottoman house with traditional bedrooms, the mattresses on raised platforms, but with modern air-conditioning (necessary in August). We were also able to use the swimming pool at a nearby hotel, an oasis of cool in a hidden courtyard. There was just time to settle in, then to go out for an evening meal at one of the many restaurants nearby. After dinner we set out for the last performance of the Aspendos International Opera and ballet Festival for 2006 held in the Roman amphitheatre. This huge amphitheatre was built during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (AD 161-80), then maintained by the Byzantines and Seljuks and more recently restored after a visit by Kemel Ataturk. It certainly is an impressive location for such an event, we thoroughly enjoyed the evening's performance of Carmina Burana by the Antalya State Opera and Ballet, even though the stone seating was a little hard. And so, from the sublime to the ridiculous, off to the airport where we found we could not even enter the airport building to wait for flights to arrive. Never mind, once Alex had arrived and we were on our way back to the pension, the mosquito-afflicted wait in the car until 04.45 was forgotton. We spent a very pleasant couple of days in Antalya, looking at the sights and sampling Turkish customs such as drinking endless (well almost) cups of tea from our own samovar in the local park. The boys and I visited the traditional hamam (Turkish Bath) in the Old City. This building, some 600 years old, was worth a visit in its own right, with individual wooden rooms to change in (from clothes to a towel and wooden clogs) and hot rooms with high domed ceilings dotted with small round glass skylights. Donned in our towels and each provided with a tin basin we desported ourselves on the huge marble platform in the centre of the hotroom, or seated ourselves round the edge of the room periodically throwing water (from individual washbasins) over ourselves to cool down. In turn we were led off to another room, for individual treatment. My masseuse was a large lady who proceeded firstly to vigorously exfoliate all skin surfaces. Next came the application of foaming soapsuds and an all over massage with a good rinse before being wrapped in a series of towels. A glass of hot apple tea was then provided with rest and recuperation in the foyer. We chose to continue with an all-over oil massage. Barney, the massage expert, claimed his (given by a small man) was not the best, but I was thoroughly pleased with the experience and claim to have never felt so clean.

On the way back to Finike diversions were made, firstly to Termessos, arguably the most spectacularly sited ruined city in Turkey. This was built as a fortress by the Termessians and, because it was so inaccessible, was accepted by the Romans as an independent ally in 70BC. After a steep climb up to the site we scrambled through the ruins of hamam, temples, marketplace, gymnasium, and up to the amphitheatre with a spectacular panorama of mountains behind. On the way down we marvelled at the many rock tombs cut into the rock walls of the mountains. As darkness fell we continued on to Yanartas and with the aid of torches we toiled up Mount Olimpos in search of the Chimaera, and in due course came upon the spontaneous methane flames which have been issuing from rocky patches scattered over the hillside for thousands of years. The flames provided a magically eerie sight, but more down to earth was a small group of friendly Turkish army lads who were using the flames to cook their evening meal!

A few days later, back aboard, we left the marina and embarked on the new experience of anchoring with a stern-line tied to shore. With the two boys onboard this was relatively easy to achieve, Jim deploying the anchor, Barney on helm reversing and Alex swimming with the line to shore and tying it up and me trying to look busy with taking photos. Our next stop was Gokayya Limani where we spotted our first Mediterranean turtle. Only Barney was quick enough off the mark by swimming to see it at close quarters. Next onto Karaloz where Barney scored again by catching an octopus! This was eaten as a starter on the boat prior to an excellent campfire onshore where we cooked baked potatoes and chicken kebabs. The next day we went into Kekova Roads, looking at the sunken city then climbing up the hill at Kale Koy for a lovely view from the castle at the top and on the way down inspecting the nearby sarcophagi. We anchored that night in Woodhouse Bay and, leaving Jim onboard the next day, went walking the Lycian Way. Along the Way we passed olive groves, donkeys laden with pods harvested from carob trees, a snake slithering by a shady rockpool and lizards scuttling from the sunny path. The weather was scorching, and after scrambling over rocky terrain for what seemed like hours, we were about to give up the hunt for the freshwater spring when Barney announced he had found it. Brrrr! Only the boys went for the total immersion, and at that for a very short time. Later we were to find at other places that these cold springs came out under rocks directly into the sea, so that a swim alongside shore could be an interesting and variable thermal experience. A few days later from our anchorage in Polemos, we dinghied to shore and walked to the ruined sunken city of Aperlai. There we swam over those parts that were submerged, taking our ease on our return with a few beers at the Aperlai Restaurant, right on the waterside. Our relaxed state changed to top alert when we spotted a large octopus and indicated it to Mustapha the boss; he leapt for his trident and into his boat and within minutes had speared it, dashed it on the ground and removed its beak and innards. Had we been staying the night in the anchorage we would have eaten octopus again, but it was time to move on. We found a bay, unnamed on the chart, and perhaps for this reason free of any other yachts. After gathering wood, we made another blazing bonfire on the rocks where we had more yummy baked potatoes and kebabs. (We discovered much later when reading regulations in Gocek that fires onshore are not allowed! Ooops, sorry). And so we came to Kas, a very attractive town with many shops, restaurants and other useful facilities. We had a few very enjoyable days, making use of several of the restaurants before the boys departed. Alex took the opportunity to paraglide from the mountains behind the town down to land right by the harbour. In spite of the delights of Kas I retain very mixed feelings about our time there. These were due to the fact that the harbour in which we were "med-moored" was at its busiest. During the week we stayed there our anchor was pulled up 4 times by gulets anchored opposite, another gulet coming in alongside hit our outboard knocking a piece off (which Barney retrieved smartly from the water), and the day before we moved on a yacht laid its anchor over our chain so that as we left we had to get them to pull up their anchor first. What a relief to escape!

We had been on the move almost constantly since leaving Australia in July 2005, with the aim of reaching the Mediterranean by early summer 2006. Barney had come onboard in Indonesia, Cass had been with us from Malaysia to Cyprus, and Alex joined us for 2 weeks in Turkey. Suddenly we had achieved our objective and come to a halt with no specific plans, and, with the children all gone back to UK, we were left with a sense of anticlimax. Our house was still occupied by tenants with no signs of wanting to leave, so where to go and what to do now? Well, our charts for heading westwards were somewhere back in UK, the weather was hot, it was "summertime and the livin' was easy", so by default, we pottered slowly along the Turkish coast to Gocek via Fethiye. More than a month evaporated in leisurely pursuits - sampling the local cuisine, reading, crosswords, tapestry, swimming. With the advent of September the weather was noticeably cooler and we prepared for the arrival of friends by cleaning the boat rather more assiduously than usual, and by exploring the "12 islands" area near Gocek in advance. Being relatively sheltered, this is a very attractive area for all manner of cruising boats. Again, we found anchorages crowded, sometimes noisy, and had more close encounters, with our anchor being picked up. (What a contrast to the peace and solitude of the Red Sea!).

By the time Paul and Marilyn arrived in late September things had quietened down so we spent a very pleasant time with them. Our day sailing enabled us to go exploring the Lycian tombs cut into the rocks at Tomb Bay, walking amongst the pine-clad slopes near Sarsala Iskelesi, as well as taking a few dips. It was fortunate that Paul and Marilyn had decided to stay in a hotel and just join us each day, as in the morning of 24th September we experienced a violent and prolonged thunderstorm in the anchorage. With winds of over 50 knots and driving hail it was one of the worst episodes of weather we had encountered during our 6 years at sea. Several boats dragged their anchors (ours included) and there were collisions, though fortunately not with us. The next day, Jim's Birthday, was a complete contrast, with blue skies and sunshine, and he was allowed to relax as skipper. We joined a gulet for a lovely day cruise of the "12 islands" with lunch provided, and swimming at various anchorages. At the "Aquarium" the water was so clear we could see masses of fish gathered around the underwater ruins. Later in the week we hired a car for sightseeing, stopping in Fethiye, the deserted village at Kayakoy and the lagoon at Oludeniz. Each evening we ate onshore, enjoying the local dishes - chicken kebabs, lamb stews cooked in claypots, fresh 'balon' bread which collapsed when knifed! With our friends' departure it was time to think about heading for Marmaris to haul out for the winter season. This was on the early side but our 3-month visas were about to expire and we also had a wedding to attend in Belfast. We stopped at a few anchorages en route, luckily sighting another octopus whilst swimming at Kizilkuruk Koyu, and a small pod of dolphins rounding the headland towards Ekincik. The 5th October found us moored at Yacht Marine near Marmaris and 3 days later we were hauled out and close-packed with other boats on the hard. A week later we were on our way - back to visit England for the first time in 2.5 years.