September Week in Turkey
Posted at 8:29 AM, Saturday, September 16, 2006
Just had a great ten days in the sun, four days spent solo getting jobs sorted on the boat prior to guests arriving, and then cruising for a week along the coast westward and back.
The boat jobs were pretty straightforward. Slipping the boat for the first time in Kemers yard was effortless. We cleaned the bottom, checked and replaced the anodes, replaced the missing end plate for our retractable bow-thruster, installed a deck wash pump, plus a manual over-ride unit on the windlass.
To ensure it was all done prior to our guests arriving on Sunday, I flew in solo Tuesday late, arrived early hours Wednesday and got to the boat by
By
The technical services guys at Kemer seem OK. They’d already serviced the main engine before I arrived, as well as rebuilding the outboard. The other jobs we had to finish whilst slipped were completed as planned over the two days with very little input from me. Found myself idling days away either by the swim area or in the Navigator bar! Got to know quite a few expat livaboards over those days. Nice bunch.
Had Swagman back in the water by Friday arvo and then spent some time Saturday / Sunday cleaning her up ready for arriving guests.
Two guests who have their own place in Turkey, Safak and Andrew, arrived by car from Bodrum
We all slept late on Monday but were keen to cast off and set sail by
It proved to be sunny every day, with steady strength winds arriving around 11 am each day, and departing about
Safak being Turkish, insisted we eat mostly local food even when cooking on board – and was invaluable when ‘negotiating’ prices both for shopping and in restaurants.
We visited Cineviz Limani (limini means bay in Turkish) our first night out. It's a stunning deserted location close up against the high mountains of southern Turkey. Nothing ashore except trees and one small fishermans hut. Only a few other cruising boats for company at anchor. We lost no time in firing up the BBQ to enjoy fresh sea bream with salad, plus some vino.
Had a laugh early Tuesday when Safak went ashore in her small bikini to do yoga exercises on the end of the fishermans small pier. He came out scratching his head and yawning to be confonted with Safak bending over and doing her exercises in front of him. Spellbound he was - until his wife came out - looked at Savaks bum - then at the gaping fisherman - and then whacked him round the head from behind!
We sailed onward from there to the multiple islands of Gokkaya Limani, and over the next days explored the castle at Kale Koy, the sunken ruins of ancient Simena, and the restaurants of Ucagiz itself.
Here's the mob above with a local 14 year old salesperson. L to R Judith, Sue, local girl, Safak and Andrew. It proved to be good mixing up each days activity as opposed to staying on board all the time. We spent lots of time walking and exploring local ruins which seem to be all over the place, lots of swimming in and under the water crystal clear waters, and obviously enjoyed some super food on board and ashore.
Here is a shot of us in Ucagiz village. Small jetties - eh - built out on top of ancient walls.
Below is a long range shot shown below of Swagman parked up in Ucagiz Limani. I took it from the top of Kale Koy castle over a mile away with our new u-beaut SLR camera. You can clearly see the jumble of Sarcophagi on the shore behind the boat - just another example of the proliferation of ancient ruins around this region. Hard to believe these stone items were all carved by hand 3,000 years ago.
Only one drama on our way back home which added some spice to the week was the loss of our engine power!
We’d begun our return trip from Kekova to Finneke on Friday, and decided to go into Finneke marina so the girls could visit the Saturday market. On entering Fineke Marina in pretty strong winds, just as we reached a tight spot twix crowded jetties the engine without warning, coughed to a standstill.
As we'd just had it serviced, my earlier good opinions of the Kemer mechanics changed!
But despite the gusty winds, with lots of fenders deployed and marinaro RIBs pushing and shoving, we mananged to get tied up OK with no scratches to us or others.
I could not sort out what was wrong alone, so Finekes Technical Services team were called in and quickly either a faulty injector pump or the injectors themselves maybe shot. As even they can't fix either without sending them away for days, we were then faced with a choice of leaving Swagman in Fineke to get it fixed from there - or heading back to Kemer under sail alone.
No wind at night, but by 1200 Saturday a solid sea breeze was in so we set off - and almost made it unaided. Sails hoisted without a hitch - and off we rollocked off out of Fineke making 8 knots across the bay back eastward towards Kemer.
By 3 pm those winds sadly began to ease, and by 7 pm they died completely.
By then we were only 8 miles south of Kemer, but could we get there without outside help? Afraid not. Nill wind and a counter current saw us calling for a tow by 8 pm, and Kemer kindly dispatched a small Gullet to tow us ignominiously the last 6 miles.
No issues in manouvering her into her pen once back at Kemer - and 150 eu for the tow poorer - we all threw down more G&T's and got a meal in the marina restaurant before dropping into bed at 1 am.
Sunday saw Safak and Andrew off back to Bodrum, Sue, Judith and I cleaned and packed up Swagman, and we jumped a taxi at 1 am Monday morning to see us arrive at Gatwick by 6.30 am. The injector issue will be sorted by Kemers Technical people in our absence - let hope they can be serviced are replaced OK.
Overall - a great week with a bit of excitement thrown in at the end. Who could ask for more?
Cheers
JOHN