15th to 16th May - Gocek to Marmaris
Posted at 3:58 PM, Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Yet another pleasant day sail a further 40 miles westward along the Turkish Med coast yesterday.
Hauled up our anchor and motored out of Gocek bay maybe 0930. Seas were mirror flat as Sue cooked up bacon and eggs whilst underway. Just so good.
Remained under engine for maybe 30 miles until the breeze built and went round far enough to the south to allow us to sail at a decent speed, and we finished off the leg creaming into the bay which shelters Marmaris at 7 knots around 1400.
Marmaris has a couple of popular marinas, a further two small marinas, plus an active town quay. We chose to stopover at Port Marmaris which is right in the heart of town, as opposed to D Marin which is a ferry ride away.
Port Marmaris is relatively large - home to many charter fleets as well as some special yachts. Lots to drool over. And a few to wonder about.
I loved this motor yacht. Guess the owner was inspired by Salvador Dali - brilliant. Up close it's so bumpy I'm pretty sure its a home build, but from a distance it looks like its made of sugar iceing..........even has a garage between the twin hulls which house two similar looking dinghies.
The town itself is obviously set up for tourists, so we joined them last night and hit the streets. Had barely gone 10 yards when we bumped into two pals we made last year on the East Med Rally - Bob and Sue off 'Meg'.
They in turn were waiting to meet a couple of pals so we swopped stories over a quick beer in the marina and they udated us on who else spent the winter parked up over in D Marin where they keep their yacht. Seems the winter berthing price D Marin offered last fall attracted over 1,000 cruisers in - including a large contingent of ex rally people.
Those who like the area might get a bigger bargain this year - as it seems Port Marmaris are about to offer their ' special price' to attract many of them back.
That's Turkey.
We ended up trying something different - a Chinese. Spring rolls to die for. Sadly the rest was absolute crap. Next time 12 spring rolls it is, and sod the fat bits.
We'll be aiming to clear our of Turkey from here tomorrow am. Have yet to decide (wind direction will be the decider) if we are heading for Rhodes or Simi to clear into Greece. The forecast says we will have medium southerlies - making Simi best choice - but we'll see what the Gods bring when we wake up.
Oh. Also got Skype working for the first time via wi-fi. Brilliant tool and so cheap. Sue rang just about everyone she knows - well we think she did.
It was one of those nights when the wine was more appreciated than the food - so we can't remember exactly who we did call - or indeed - exactly what was said. Never mind.
Cheers
JOHN
{ add comment }