Sailing

Sailing: the fine art of getting wet and becoming ill while slowly going nowhere at great expense.

Thursday 15 October 2015

Back to being Pontoon Rats



Over the next week we slowly made our way back West to Marmaris, visiting various bays and inlets, some new, some old and along the way bumping into some of the Rally participants.

We left Finike early Sunday morning feeling a bit sad to be leaving all our new friends and acquaintances.  We motored to the harbour of the small village of Uçağiz along Kekova Roads, anchored and basically crashed for the rest of the day.  The next day we explored this quaint village and some of the ancient ruins peppered throughout.  In the afternoon Breakaway appeared, anchored nearby and invited us for sundowners later on.  

It was good to chat and hear all their stories.  Barbara and Richard have had their boat for 30 years and sailed it from the US, through the Panama Canal, across the Pacific to New Zealand, PNG, Australia, Southeast Asia, where they were caught in the Boxing Day Tsunami off Phuket, then across the Indian Ocean through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean where they have been based for several years.  So there are lots of stories and much experience to gain from them.  Like all the yachties we have met they are generous with their time and help.
Breakaway under Spinnaker
From Kekova Roads we sailed about 18nm and tucked into a quiet cove near Kaş for an early night.  The next day we tacked back and forth along the coast to the pretty anchorage of Yesilkoy where we met more CA Rally participants, Reg and Nicky on Blue Velvet of Sark.  These two ex-RAF pilots have owned Blue Velvet for 8 years and done 19,000 nm on this very sturdy ocean going Rustler 42.  They are a lovely couple who are incredibly helpful and generous - More sundowners and great conversation.
Blue Velvet zooming along - once we clocked her on the AIS going 8.3 knots!
Sunrise coming out of Yesilkoy
But then some choppy seas - view from the aft cabin
Thursday was another early start for the long 40 nm along the notorious Seven Capes to Fethiye.  The passage was dead quiet and we ended up motoring most of the way.  So much for notorious.
Calm seas and blue skies along the Seven Capes
 We spent two nights at anchor in Fethiye relaxing and doing some minor repairs.  Sunday we had a great 16 nm sail tacking across the Gulf to a little anchorage of Kizil Kuyruk.  Here we did the uniquely Mediterranean mooring technique of putting lines ashore on our own.  Because the anchorages are often little coves that are very deep (a bit like fjords) it is necessary to anchor fairly close to shore and tie two lines from the stern of the boat onto rocks so that the boat is secure in a triangle of anchor points.  We did this once on the rally but had the whole fleet helping us.  This time we were doing it on our own.  

The process is quite an athletic feat.  While Bob is at the wheel I go forward and drop the anchor leaving out about 40 m of chain.  Bob reverses to set the anchor then I climb down the swim ladder (others have been known to dive off their boat but I am not quite that agile) and Bob hands me the first of the shore lines which I hold in my hand while swimming about 25-30 m to shore and tying it to a rock.  Then I come back for the second line and repeat the process of tying to another rock about 45 degrees in the other direction.  

As this was our first time doing this procedure, we had to do some fine tuning so we ended up re-laying the anchor and shore lines.  I certainly got in a lot of swimming! Climbing on the rocks was a bit tricky as they can be quite pointy (being volcanic stone) and covered with sea urchins.  I make sure I wear goggles so I can see what is underwater and swim shoes to protect my feet.  I must admit we felt pretty pleased we did this and a lot more confident to do this in the future.

Monday was the 38 nm back to the Yat Marine, five weeks after we left.  The seas were very rolly and we had some close encounters with Turkish war ships.  When we got on shore we still hadn’t gotten our land legs after 8 hours of rocking and rolling seas and found ourselves swaying in showers.
Another beautiful sunrise
Turkish warship on exercises

Rolly gray seas
So we now are tucked up at the marina for the winter where we will be amongst a handful of live aboards, easing into the rhythm of the marina, living the life of Pontoon Rats– winter boat repairs and maintenance, canteen lunches with the workers, learning more Turkish, reading and of course planning more land travel.
Sunset at the marina

Saturday 10 October 2015

The CA Cruise – Kekova to Finike



We left Kaş for Kekova Roads, perhaps my favourite place to date.  We anchored in Pölemos Bükü near the Apelai Restaurant, a rustic family run eatery, which did a fantastic job feeding all of us that evening.  There were only 4 of the family to feed about 40 hungry yachties.  Several of the group spent the afternoon peeling potatoes and acting as tournant chefs to help out.  It was a fun night with great food.
A fun night at the rustic Apelai Restaurant
The next morning we walked along the Lycian way to a small bay and snorkeled over a sunken city.  The area had been hit by a massive earthquake in the 2nd Century AD and many of the buildings sunk into the sea.  We followed the foundations and walls of building with broken terracotta pots lying on the sea bed.  Fantastic.

That afternoon we sailed up the roads with a lovely following breeze to anchor between Kale Koy (ancient Simena) and the pretty little village of Uçağiz (ancient Teimiussa).  The next day we walked up the hill to explore the Crusader castle.  The views were stunning.  The ridge top was a huge necropolis dotted with large stone sarcophagi.  The castle overlooked the entrance to Kekova Roads and was a strategic site for the Knights of Rhodes.
Bob at the necropolis
The castle walls overlooking the entrance to Kekova Roads
Olives ripening amongst the sarcophagi
The sunken city of Kale Koy
The next day we did another short sail to a quiet bay on the eastern end of the Roads, Gokayya Liman.  This was the site for the much anticipated pirate night.  Everyone got into the spirit of the night.  Just on dusk each boat crew approached the beach in their dinghies in full pirate regalia with many a ‘Ah hars and Ho Ho and a bottle of rum’.  After a delicious pot luck dinner we sang sea shanties and other ditties.  There were several from Wales amongst us and they couldn’t be stopped, singing all their favourites in Welsh.  It was a fantastic night with an orange harvest moon rising as we made our way back to the boats.
Bob hamming it up with Peggie
Pirates!
The next day we sailed to our final destination, Finike Marina.  We had a lovely 16 nm sail with 8-10 knots of wind 40 degrees off our bow.  That night we had a BBQ on the pier and a warm welcome by the marina manager.  Finike is surrounded by spectacular mountains which are snow covered in the winter but has a mild enough climate to be the Orange City of Turkey.  To celebrate the fact, the marina gave us litres of freshly squeezed orange juice with a generous dollop of vodka for good measure to start our festivities.

The next day was a bus trip to more Lycian ruins of Arykanda followed by a great lunch of fresh trout at a riverside restaurant.
The view from Arykanda
The ruined buildings of Arykanda

Another amphitheatre on a mountainside
A great setting for lunch
 The final day of the rally was a morning outing around Demre to the Lycian/Greek ruin of Myra and the church of St Nicolas, a sacred site for the many Russian tourists.  The church was built in the 6th Century.  It contains the original tomb of St Nicholas and has beautiful frescos and mosaics.
Rock tombs of Myra
Mosaics in the Church of St Nicholas
Frescoes
The last night was the much anticipated and feared Talent Night.  Bob and I had been practicing our 3 minute skit but we are no entertainers.  I am much more as ease talking about my research in front of 200 international academics than getting up in front of 40 yachties to do a song and dance routine.  Fortunately with the good bonhomie of everyone and a few glasses of wine, no one was nervous.  There were some very clever, talented and funny acts – poems, songs, and dance – and lots of laughter.  Bob and I held our own (ie we didn’t make complete fools of ourselves) with our yachtie rendition of ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen’ complete with pith helmets.

So ended our two week Lycian Coast rally.  It was a great experience for us.  It really boosted our confidence in this sailing caper.  We met fantastic people and made some good friends who we suspect will continue to pop in and out of our lives as we all sail around this big blue planet.

Monday 5 October 2015

The CA Rally – Wall Bay to Kaş



The two week Cruising Association (CA) rally along the Lycian Coast is over.  It was a fantastic experience.  We had 6 days of sailing covering about 130 nm and 6 days of land activities exploring some spectacular ancient ruins.  Now, the day after the end of the rally we are feeling a bit melancholy leaving the company of the people who rapidly became good friends.  However, typical of the cruising life, we are bound to bump into most of them again on our travels through this beautiful land.

Wall Bay was the opening dinner with a roast lamb prepared on the spit by our Turkish hosts at the restaurant.
Our dinner cooking in Wall Bay
The next few days were based at a marina in Gocek where we took a land trip to Dalyan River and the ancient ruins of Kaunos.  Although we went to Kaunos in June with D & T, this trip was quite different and we saw many new sites, the ancient harbour and Agora, a trip through the marshes with sea turtles, traditional mud baths and the inland lake with a sunken city.
Kaunos - reminds us of Ankor Wat
Kaunos harbour
Lizard amongst the ruins
Donkeys playing
Very Grotty Yachties at traditional mud baths
The 55nm trip to our next marina in Kaş was broken up by a night at Gemiler Adasi, an anchorage which magically changed from total madness to perfect serenity.  When we arrived in mid-afternoon the anchorage was teeming with tourists’ gulets, drunken rabble and loud music.  We had to anchor with a line ashore, something we had never done before, while the partiers were trying to climb our anchor chain and board the boat!  Then around 4 o’clock all the revelers left and the CA boats had the anchorage to ourselves.  We swam ashore and explored the 5th to 12th Century monastery ruins then returned to the boat to watch the full moon rise above the island – magic!
The CA fleet at Gemiler

Monastery ruins

View from the island

The gang on decks
 We had three nights at Kaş Marina with coach trips to Saklikent Gorge and the ancient Lycian sites of Patara, Xanthos and Letoon.  At Saklikent Gorge we decided to brave the icy water and go up the gorge.  It was very crowded being a holiday weekend at the end of the summer (Bayram).
Up Saklikent Gorge
That water was cold!

Patara is the best preserved ruins I have seen to date in Turkey.  It is the birthplace of Apollo and St Nicholas.  It was a major trading port until its large harbour silted up, like so many of these ancient cities on the Turkish coast.  Just a short distance from the ruins was a real beach with sand and surf!  Unheard of in Turkey.  Such a treat.
The parliament building Patara
Amphitheatre

Sheep amongst the ruins

A real sandy beach!
 Xanthos had an eerie atmosphere as it was the site of mass suicide of the citizens rather than submit to the invading Persian army in the 4th Century BC.  Many of the treasures of the city were taken by Charles Fellow to the British Museum (and his back garden?) in the early to mid 1800’s.
Xanthos amphitheatre

A rather harassed dog with two puppies made her den in the amphitheatre
 Letoon was the side for the sacred cult of the Lycian civilization and its settlement can be traced back to the 7th Century BC.
Letoon

So ended the first week of the rally – Lots of socialising, lots of laughter and tales of travel and sailing, lots of sightseeing and some good sailing – Delightful.
Songster in company with Bubbly Lady II

Songster with Ellida