Monday 21^st May saw the return of the sun and some gentler winds. 

Our goals today were originally to sail out of Orhaniye and west along the length of the Gulf of Hisoronu to the port of Dacha (which is listed as a port or entry / exit for Turkey), and there formally clear out  Tuesday and head for for the Greek Island of Kos.

Robin Leigh hauled anchor around 0800 and pottered over to say they too had decided to head over to Kos Marina, but as they’d already formally cleared out of Marmaris, they aimed to spend the night at anchor somewhere along the gulf coast and slip over directly.

We’d enjoyed each others company, so agreed to liaise again in Kos, and maybe leave both yachts there for a couple of days whilst we all jumped a ferry to Rhodes, shared a hire car to explore, and find a small hotel for the night.

We left Orhaniye maybe an hour later. 

Our anchor took some retrieving from the sticky mud bottom.  The gale had buried it deep.  But with Sue motoring back and forth we soon saw it plucked free, washed off, stored, and we were away under sail.

We gently tacked our way out of Orhaniye Bay into a light northerly winds, which gradually backed to the west and built to a steady 10+  knots as we lifted out into the gulf proper.  The new genoa proved its worth yet again as we then built up to speed and enjoyed storming back and forth tacking across the gulf heading westward.  We were doing 7+ knots boat speed, easily powering past the many smaller charter yachts travelling in the same direction.

By midday we’d covered half the distance to Dacha, and the wind had backed further south and built to 20 knots.  Still sunny, but a chill in the air.  It may have been just as fast to stay under sail but to guarantee we got in to Dacha so we could clear customs etc same day, we dropped sails and motored the rest of the way.

Dacha is a sleepy little port with two bays each with its own ‘harbour’ – one north facing, one south facing.  It’s not uncommon that ancient Turkish ports had this kind of set up – I guess to ensure whatever direction the wind came, their sailing ships could be protected.

We slid towards the south ‘harbour’, but did not go into the quay to tie up.  In front of the town was a teanquil bay anchorage, well protected from the southeries.  We dropped anchor there. 

No surprises to find Asihia and Ginny anchored there also. 

Went with them to try and clear the three boats out of Turkey, but ran into a spot of bother with the Harbourmaster.  Did I say they were all lovely chappies?  Not this skinny little sour faced asshole.

Not sure what we were doing wrong, maybe because we were cutting out an agent by trying to do it all ourselves, but he first spent nearly and hour shuffling papers about before attending to us – and then found fault in just about every document we all presented. 

And eventually (as I did not have any kind of ‘Competence Certificate’) he finally refused to clear Swagman and let us depart Turkey, legally at least!! 

Bit pissed off after making sure our Permit was correct back in Marmaris to have this negative  brush with officialdom, but once he’d made his mind up, seems he would not budge.  There is spot on the Turkish exit document for ‘Certificate of Competence Reference’ and he wanted it filled in, and that’s that.  Fact that we've never had anyone ask for it before, or that legally we don't need such certification under UK or EU or international law made no difference to him. Prat.  

Anyway, all too hard for me. 

We’re cruisers, we’ll find another way. 

So spent what we thought was our last Turkish evening with the guys off the other yachts at a shore side restaurant and again enjoyed ourselves, and aimed to simply sail away from Turkey to Greece early morning without passports or anything stamped.

Dacha is a pretty little place – bit like a Turkish sleepy hollow.  A few charter yachts arrived later in the day, but shore side / town activity seems more flavoured towards Turkish holidaymakers than foreign ones and was priced accordingly.  Food (approx £8 per main) and wine (approx £7 per bottle) was very good quality, and obviously good value.

Had a quiet night with no wind at all. 

Awoke to a mirror flat calm and watched the sun rise over the distant mountains. 

As we’d said our drunken goodbyes the night before, Sue and I hauled anchor at 0630 and crept out of the bay to head off towards Kos.  The others are going to Simi.

We motored most of the 45 miles but as we approached Kos the wind did come in and gave us a chance to sail, and it was whilst studying the charts we suddenly realised the port of Bodrum (still in Turkey) was only 9 miles close by Kos – so changed direction to go there instead. 

If this time we try to exit using an agent, our logic is we may be able to get clearance completed OK and maybe head over and meet up with Robin Leigh in Kos a day later - but able to reclaim our 300 euros!

It’s our first time into Bodrum.  A tight marina.  Narrow winding entries twix closely moored yachts.  Lots of older boats, no charter yachts in sight.  Have heard it is relatively expensive for a night but what with our need to get our passports stamped out (or risk being accused of overstaying the 3 month Turkish visa limit when we next visit Turkey), plus getting the dinghy invoice stamped so we can reclaim the 300 euros of VAT, it seems worth at least trying.

Anyway, we're now in and tied up (this blog has taken a few hours to complete whilst underway and now parked) .  The agent is away already to try and get it all done for us, and I’m using Bodrum’s wi-fi to update this page.  I’ll let you know how it goes – and now aim to get away tomorrow for our entry into Greece.

Cheers

JOHN

PS Update.  All done.  A few euros poorer but legal.  A win.