Hello folks, that time again. Love it or hate it, I return to your mailbox to report on the continuous blue skies and luscious and inviting blue water. Right now it is 6am, the sun is coming up over the hills red as red as we motor out of the Gocek region heading West back to Marmaris. The forecast is only reading up to 10 knots but as a general rule it comes from the direction in which we are headed, and also as a general rule there are usually more knots than they forecast, so an early start is a prudent move.
This sailing holiday lark is pretty hard work, so I don’t seem to have had time to get my first blog out of the starting blocks, and we have now been away for 2 weeks from home. So here goes, try to remember events
We are very fortunate to have our Brazilian friends Vagner and Babi in our house, and I am not sure how well received we will be by Rita on our return, it sounds like they are having a whale of a time. We left on June 24th, and flew straight through to Istanbul, where Joe’s school friend Bob Penny arrived 10 minutes after us, flying from Germany. We took our taxi ride into Sultanahmet to give Bob his first Turkish taste, we settled into the Armagandi Hotel in the old city called Sultanahmet, and then attacked the Grand Bazaar, a walk around the Mosques and then to our favourite gastric experience for dinner. On the way back to the hotel Joe discovered a water pipe café, so we choked and laughed our way through a water pipe, before gratefully attaching ourselves to our pillow after our 30 hour journey.
Next day up and away, down to Dalaman where the complimentary marina taxi collected us, and we could be reunited with Wrighteau again. Thrilled to report that this year she was as we left her, although turned around, but the solar panels were all in tact this time. As we had Bob arriving at the same time as us, and he only here for 3 nights on Wrighteau, we had the yard put on the anti foul paint, they were good value compared to prices we saw advertised in NZ. But it was a frantic time getting the sails up, and bimini and dodger etc, the things that we usually milly around doing over 2 or 3 days we crammed into one afternoon and next morning, though not all tasks completed. When we put the boat into the water we were horrified that our aged starter battery was dead dead dead, so that wasted a bit more time buying a new one. So 2pm, ships ahoy, we travelled to Ekincik. Along the way we encountered a moving island. Well Joe convinced himself it was an island and Bob quite sure that he was looking at a submarine, odd thought. It was to become evident that indeed it was a submarine, points to Bob. And then another. And this brought to my attention the unfortunate fact we had ventured into the military banned area, as we and many other boats have done for years. Got a few little panicky butterflies, but the sub didn’t turn around and chase us, so we got away with a warning. Then onto the Gocek area. Bob had only one more night out on the water now, so we had a big choice of where to take him, we chose Redgip’s floating restaurant, he calls it Amigo, he has lazy lines laid and we go in front first because it gets shallow quickly. It is all rough and ready, Redgip was away in town shopping, but he could be just as likely out hunting goats or pigs for the evening meal. We sat at a table with the only other diners, a tiny boat with an Australian family on it, it was a lovely night, with Wrighteau sitting right beside us eaves dropping it all.
We had a lovely sailing day the next day, though the wind was so slight we didn’t make much ground. Bob helmed and Joe and I were working for it with all the tacking up a small channel until it really died down and we stopped at Boynuz Buku for lunch and into the marina, as Bob was to leave us at 6.30am. We enjoyed the little town of Gocek, and after a night cap at the Sailors Corner we all fell to bed.
So Bob away first thing in the morning, and our boat still in a shambles, we just walked away from it, and went to the marina beach, where they have imported loads and loads of lovely sand, spent much of the day just recovering.
Our next stop, Sarsala, a beautiful green treed bay, with a quay and friendly rustic restaurant. We had nice neighbors, nice meal, and another nice rest. We settled next around to Deep Bay where we gradually knocked off some things on our to do list to get the boat back into order, still no energy to write a blog. Deep bay is as it suggests very deep, and it is dotted with mooring buoys around the edge, making life quite easy.
We had been told how our favourite place Yacht Classic Hotel in Fetiye had expanded so we were looking forward to seeing the changes. It turns out we were lucky to get in, their pontoon is now a Moorings Yacht Charter base so it is often pretty full, and sunsail charter boats come in still too. But our spot secured we set off to see all the changes. Winter here must have been a frantic bomb site, a pool filled in, and more pools dug out, some more cabins built above the pools with their own lap pool in front of them, and another little thatched bar which you can swim up to for your cocktail. It was nice to be back there, the remaining staff all recognized us, and we saw a boat we enjoyed time with last year there. On Saturday we found the Car Cemetery pub to watch the big important Aus v Lions rugby game with Mike and Ross.
I had problems with my turkcell internet connection, and after a bit of a run in with a rude assistant in Gocek, we so seldom meet a rude Turk, but this one took the cake) I took all equipment into Fetiye, and the assistant there was awfully helpful and sweet, but she couldn’t solve my problem and sent me to the computer man, Casper. I have had reason to use a computer dr twice in Turkey before and have found them outstanding and outstandingly cheap, today another good experience. I walked up the stairs and said “do you speak English?” and he simply replied “I can fix it” It was providing him with more of a problem than he could deal with right then, so he said come back in 3 hrs. We had time to go back to our favourite Jimmy in the vege market. We walked through to the fish market to buy our fish for Jimmy to cook for us, a nice big Sea Bream, wild, not farmed. Jimmy cooked it beautifully and it was a lovely lunch. We had more time to burn, so we walked around the town and along the waterfront which they were working on last year, they have made such a beautiful job of it. The Turkish people are often very proud of making pretty and fresh areas to walk Back to the computer, and sure enough all fixed for only NZ$40.On the pontoon we saw a yacht come beside us, it was all looking a complete shambles of a berthing, but with some help it was secured. Later on chatting we were to discover that its skipper and owner is Trish, who is 85 yrs old, and had lived on her boat for 30 something years. She was such a character and it was a privilege to meet her. We actually watched the final of the Wimbledon Mens on her computer, and the buffering at inopportune moments cause much anxiety and hilarity too.
We also had another sporting event in Fetiye, the Aussie v Lions game, big and important, we watched it at the Car Cemetery, a dark little pub with sky tv. We watched that with Mike the pom and Ross the Aus, I think you can get the picture. We were most proud because with a NZ coach on both sides we could not lose.
So all that done, back out to Gocek, and we decided time to stay away from all temptations, we picked a buoy up in Deep Bay, where a couple of other chores were wiped off our slate. We really have got to the point where we are back to our normal cruising mode, and can move around the boat with ease. However I must say it was with not so much ease as we came out at 6am as I said at the start of this blog. Coming out of the closed harbor I was thinking it was more breezy than I thought it should be, but when we got down to the point the seas were quite enormous, although it is true that the point always produces these rough seas. But we were already getting 10 knots which was not forecasted until later in the day. Finally the big seas were replaced but lumpy sloppy, and we had a good run, albeit on the nose and motoring. When we reached Marmaris point it was rattling 26 knots, this is with a forecast of 10 knots, so how would you know.
The final challenge was getting into Marmaris yacht marine. We have a year contract here, and I had even phoned from Gocek to book a berth for a couple of nights. They are having big problems here. Firstly people don’t seem to be going out sailing this year, in fact it is true that we have not seen many boats about. Usually looking out from Deep Bay the harbor would be dotted with yachts criss crossing back and forth, and even the gullet numbers seem to be way down also. Coming up yesterday we say about 6 gullets go opposite from us, and one yacht, nearer Marmaris we probably saw 6 yachts moving out. But other than that it was rather a lonely trip. So back to the marina, the short story is that the marina is full. The other problem is that a huge number of Brits especially, come back and plant their boat in the marina and go back home for 1 or 2 months, which we find really irritating. They have either oversubscribed the marina, or they need to change their charging incentives, to make it more attractive for these yachts to lift out while away, or Joe came up with the best idea, to have one pier for boats not staying for more than a week. Anyway, there are many boats on the outside of the marina, where it is really rough, so we are at least glad not to be there, but we are in a back corner beside workshops, tied side on. We had a couple of things to sort out with Wolfgang our yacht service man, and then we enjoyed the pool. Today we have a couple of things to do in Marmaris, and perhaps Mustafa will find us a berth. The other annoying thing in this marina is their dishonest little habits sometimes. We were going past empty spaces, and they told us they had just gone out for the day, and then last night walking around we saw a yacht come in, and when we asked if he had been out for the day, he had been out for a week. I made mention of our situation to the marinara, and he just stuck out his bottom lip sarcastically and imitated tears dropping from his eyes. We are going to make enquiries into other marinas we think. (((as a footnote, we have been moved into a perfect spot, so all seems to have been forgiven)))
So if Mustafa finds no other berth, we might find our way out to the bay and drop our anchor before setting off in the Westerly direction tomorrow.
So finally your first blog draws to an end, and I hope it finds you all well and warm
This sailing holiday lark is pretty hard work, so I don’t seem to have had time to get my first blog out of the starting blocks, and we have now been away for 2 weeks from home. So here goes, try to remember events
We are very fortunate to have our Brazilian friends Vagner and Babi in our house, and I am not sure how well received we will be by Rita on our return, it sounds like they are having a whale of a time. We left on June 24th, and flew straight through to Istanbul, where Joe’s school friend Bob Penny arrived 10 minutes after us, flying from Germany. We took our taxi ride into Sultanahmet to give Bob his first Turkish taste, we settled into the Armagandi Hotel in the old city called Sultanahmet, and then attacked the Grand Bazaar, a walk around the Mosques and then to our favourite gastric experience for dinner. On the way back to the hotel Joe discovered a water pipe café, so we choked and laughed our way through a water pipe, before gratefully attaching ourselves to our pillow after our 30 hour journey.
Next day up and away, down to Dalaman where the complimentary marina taxi collected us, and we could be reunited with Wrighteau again. Thrilled to report that this year she was as we left her, although turned around, but the solar panels were all in tact this time. As we had Bob arriving at the same time as us, and he only here for 3 nights on Wrighteau, we had the yard put on the anti foul paint, they were good value compared to prices we saw advertised in NZ. But it was a frantic time getting the sails up, and bimini and dodger etc, the things that we usually milly around doing over 2 or 3 days we crammed into one afternoon and next morning, though not all tasks completed. When we put the boat into the water we were horrified that our aged starter battery was dead dead dead, so that wasted a bit more time buying a new one. So 2pm, ships ahoy, we travelled to Ekincik. Along the way we encountered a moving island. Well Joe convinced himself it was an island and Bob quite sure that he was looking at a submarine, odd thought. It was to become evident that indeed it was a submarine, points to Bob. And then another. And this brought to my attention the unfortunate fact we had ventured into the military banned area, as we and many other boats have done for years. Got a few little panicky butterflies, but the sub didn’t turn around and chase us, so we got away with a warning. Then onto the Gocek area. Bob had only one more night out on the water now, so we had a big choice of where to take him, we chose Redgip’s floating restaurant, he calls it Amigo, he has lazy lines laid and we go in front first because it gets shallow quickly. It is all rough and ready, Redgip was away in town shopping, but he could be just as likely out hunting goats or pigs for the evening meal. We sat at a table with the only other diners, a tiny boat with an Australian family on it, it was a lovely night, with Wrighteau sitting right beside us eaves dropping it all.
We had a lovely sailing day the next day, though the wind was so slight we didn’t make much ground. Bob helmed and Joe and I were working for it with all the tacking up a small channel until it really died down and we stopped at Boynuz Buku for lunch and into the marina, as Bob was to leave us at 6.30am. We enjoyed the little town of Gocek, and after a night cap at the Sailors Corner we all fell to bed.
So Bob away first thing in the morning, and our boat still in a shambles, we just walked away from it, and went to the marina beach, where they have imported loads and loads of lovely sand, spent much of the day just recovering.
Our next stop, Sarsala, a beautiful green treed bay, with a quay and friendly rustic restaurant. We had nice neighbors, nice meal, and another nice rest. We settled next around to Deep Bay where we gradually knocked off some things on our to do list to get the boat back into order, still no energy to write a blog. Deep bay is as it suggests very deep, and it is dotted with mooring buoys around the edge, making life quite easy.
We had been told how our favourite place Yacht Classic Hotel in Fetiye had expanded so we were looking forward to seeing the changes. It turns out we were lucky to get in, their pontoon is now a Moorings Yacht Charter base so it is often pretty full, and sunsail charter boats come in still too. But our spot secured we set off to see all the changes. Winter here must have been a frantic bomb site, a pool filled in, and more pools dug out, some more cabins built above the pools with their own lap pool in front of them, and another little thatched bar which you can swim up to for your cocktail. It was nice to be back there, the remaining staff all recognized us, and we saw a boat we enjoyed time with last year there. On Saturday we found the Car Cemetery pub to watch the big important Aus v Lions rugby game with Mike and Ross.
I had problems with my turkcell internet connection, and after a bit of a run in with a rude assistant in Gocek, we so seldom meet a rude Turk, but this one took the cake) I took all equipment into Fetiye, and the assistant there was awfully helpful and sweet, but she couldn’t solve my problem and sent me to the computer man, Casper. I have had reason to use a computer dr twice in Turkey before and have found them outstanding and outstandingly cheap, today another good experience. I walked up the stairs and said “do you speak English?” and he simply replied “I can fix it” It was providing him with more of a problem than he could deal with right then, so he said come back in 3 hrs. We had time to go back to our favourite Jimmy in the vege market. We walked through to the fish market to buy our fish for Jimmy to cook for us, a nice big Sea Bream, wild, not farmed. Jimmy cooked it beautifully and it was a lovely lunch. We had more time to burn, so we walked around the town and along the waterfront which they were working on last year, they have made such a beautiful job of it. The Turkish people are often very proud of making pretty and fresh areas to walk Back to the computer, and sure enough all fixed for only NZ$40.On the pontoon we saw a yacht come beside us, it was all looking a complete shambles of a berthing, but with some help it was secured. Later on chatting we were to discover that its skipper and owner is Trish, who is 85 yrs old, and had lived on her boat for 30 something years. She was such a character and it was a privilege to meet her. We actually watched the final of the Wimbledon Mens on her computer, and the buffering at inopportune moments cause much anxiety and hilarity too.
We also had another sporting event in Fetiye, the Aussie v Lions game, big and important, we watched it at the Car Cemetery, a dark little pub with sky tv. We watched that with Mike the pom and Ross the Aus, I think you can get the picture. We were most proud because with a NZ coach on both sides we could not lose.
So all that done, back out to Gocek, and we decided time to stay away from all temptations, we picked a buoy up in Deep Bay, where a couple of other chores were wiped off our slate. We really have got to the point where we are back to our normal cruising mode, and can move around the boat with ease. However I must say it was with not so much ease as we came out at 6am as I said at the start of this blog. Coming out of the closed harbor I was thinking it was more breezy than I thought it should be, but when we got down to the point the seas were quite enormous, although it is true that the point always produces these rough seas. But we were already getting 10 knots which was not forecasted until later in the day. Finally the big seas were replaced but lumpy sloppy, and we had a good run, albeit on the nose and motoring. When we reached Marmaris point it was rattling 26 knots, this is with a forecast of 10 knots, so how would you know.
The final challenge was getting into Marmaris yacht marine. We have a year contract here, and I had even phoned from Gocek to book a berth for a couple of nights. They are having big problems here. Firstly people don’t seem to be going out sailing this year, in fact it is true that we have not seen many boats about. Usually looking out from Deep Bay the harbor would be dotted with yachts criss crossing back and forth, and even the gullet numbers seem to be way down also. Coming up yesterday we say about 6 gullets go opposite from us, and one yacht, nearer Marmaris we probably saw 6 yachts moving out. But other than that it was rather a lonely trip. So back to the marina, the short story is that the marina is full. The other problem is that a huge number of Brits especially, come back and plant their boat in the marina and go back home for 1 or 2 months, which we find really irritating. They have either oversubscribed the marina, or they need to change their charging incentives, to make it more attractive for these yachts to lift out while away, or Joe came up with the best idea, to have one pier for boats not staying for more than a week. Anyway, there are many boats on the outside of the marina, where it is really rough, so we are at least glad not to be there, but we are in a back corner beside workshops, tied side on. We had a couple of things to sort out with Wolfgang our yacht service man, and then we enjoyed the pool. Today we have a couple of things to do in Marmaris, and perhaps Mustafa will find us a berth. The other annoying thing in this marina is their dishonest little habits sometimes. We were going past empty spaces, and they told us they had just gone out for the day, and then last night walking around we saw a yacht come in, and when we asked if he had been out for the day, he had been out for a week. I made mention of our situation to the marinara, and he just stuck out his bottom lip sarcastically and imitated tears dropping from his eyes. We are going to make enquiries into other marinas we think. (((as a footnote, we have been moved into a perfect spot, so all seems to have been forgiven)))
So if Mustafa finds no other berth, we might find our way out to the bay and drop our anchor before setting off in the Westerly direction tomorrow.
So finally your first blog draws to an end, and I hope it finds you all well and warm