Summertime Voyage

 The predicted high winds materialised, if that can happen, and we spent the day well sheltered in Datca South Harbour. The usual activities were undertaken. The following day was Lindsay and Linda’s ruby wedding anniversary. Who would think such a thing could occur to those so young at heart and in appearance. They had booked in to a restaurant at Selimiye, some 20 miles down the Gulf of Doris. It was still predicted to be blowing it’s tripe out (ancient Caledonian term) the next day but Lindsay had the stars of love in his eyes and was grimly determined to express his devotion. We tried to have an early night but sleep was hard to come by the howling in the spreaders. The next morning Lindsay stopped by early and declared his revised plan to leave the trip for 24 hours. Good decision making. Livianda looking good So the following day we set off down the gulf to Selimiye. Lindsay had phoned ahead to ensure that the restaurant had reserved places for us on the...

Our next objective was to visit Knidos, an archaeological site at the very tip of the Datca peninsula. It is the ruins of a very ancient city and civilisation going back some 3,500 years B.C. Our plan was to visit the site the following morning before returning up the Gulf towards Selimiye. We set off early and arrived late morning, mooring up to the rather tottery pontoon for a couple of hours, at a fee of 50 lira, which is a bit steep for these parts. We noticed that there was no receipt given, which is also unusual, and decided there was probably a bit of private enterprise going on! Trireme harbour Lots of old stones 2 boats came alongside us whilst we dithered with lunch. The pontoon could probably have accommodated 4 boats , but the 3 rd [ Turkish flag] left a big gap, hogging a rather excessive space. A 4 th boat with German flag arrived and tried to enter the space. It didn’t go well, since it clearly crossed the anchor of our neighbour, boat number 2, an...

We were due to meet up with old sailing friends from 15 years ago, Lindsay and Linda McKerrow, with Daughter Claire and partner Donald from Inverness and Edinburgh. They are also inveterate Mediterranean boat owners and know their way around this neck of the woods very well. They had told me they had a Bavaria 46 and had sent me the name which I had committed to memory as starting with an L and having a V and an N in it. We were in email contact and knew they had arrived and told them we were at Tomb bay. However we found out there was a large flotilla coming in that night and I thought it might be a bit crowded so I sent a message saying we would rendezvous at Kappi Creek. The discussion was fragmented by the wifi signal we had, but I assumed my message had got through. They were coming from Fethiye some 15 miles away to meet us. We set off to what we thought was an appropriate time to Kappi Creek. A short time out we spotted a Bavaria 46 with a small group of p...

Writing this blog has suddenly become a bit more challenging. The reason being that the heat seems to have compromised my little ancient Toshiba laptop. This is a real shame as it was the perfect size for use on board.  It will now only start up if it has been stored in the fridge and then only run for 20 minutes before crashing. I have been trying to use the blogger app on my phone, but this is apparently not officially supported and does not allow photos.  I am now trying to go through the blogger website via my phone, which works, but is much more tedious. However I will persevere, I have no idea if anyone is reading my drivel but while there might be a readership, the blog goes on. We had vaguely prearranged to meet up with an ex colleague, Hugh and wife Shan. They are very experienced sailors having done a circumnavigation a few years ago and have kept their boat in Turkey for the last 10 years. I got an email from Hugh saying they had arrived i...

M. Having read our books and enjoyed some relaxing swimming, we decided it was time to move on. ‘Windy’ forecast strong Meltemi winds over the following 2-3 days , with steady winds of  20 knots and frequent gusts of over 30 knots, so we decided to aim for Datca whilst the going was good. Leaving the bay, a very large turtle appeared and swam alongside. He looked laconically at us, with a hard stare suggesting that we were annoying him in some way, before he slid away. We felt duly reprimanded for our general existence. We had a fantastic day sailing, beating into steady warm winds of 15-20kn, Which then became a Southerly reach for the last 8 miles. It was like being blasted along by a hairdryer, and we arrived in Datca in late afternoon. We have now become old hands at arrival procedures  there and knew the drill. The harbourmaster is professional and efficient, giving clear instructions through blasts on his whistle and help on berthing. However for some reason he dec...

So we finally left our summer berth in Marmaris Yacht Marina and beat into a light southerly wind out between the islands in the bay of Marmaris. We were in no particular hurry and had no definite destination in mind but just enjoyed getting into the way of handling the sail controls and re-learning the ways of the boat. As we slowly beat out into the main channel the wind increased a bit and Summertime was going along very nicely. I had a look at the options for a night stop and identified a well sheltered bay just to the West of the bay of Marmaris. We made our entrance and spotted some restaurant pontoons to moor to. As we got our lines ashore a very fit, lean and wiry chap who looked facially to be in his seventies sprung aboard and ran forward to help M with the bow line. The young chap in his twenties I handed the stern lines to identified the other as his Dad. It can be difficult to guess ages out here. A life in the sunshine undoubtedly takes its toll on the skin...

30 th August 2019 We returned to Turkey to continue our exploration of the Turquoise coast. Sounds good put like that but we had a particularly tedious journey by coach to London to fly, with long term roadworks causing chaos. While the UK is a wonderful place to live in many ways, travel is increasingly painful every year with the road network under increasing strain and rail travel increasingly expensive. I am sure our wonderful Brexit obsessed politicians will help sort it out. We arrived in Dalaman after midnight. I had booked a transfer online (Marmaris Transfers) but had not paid anything, so I was a little worried whether it would materialise. Passport control and passage through the huge modern airport was a doddle and there was the driver holding my name on his card. An hour and a half in an air conditioned people carrier (£38) and there we were, at 2.30am, standing in front of Summertime. The only problem was that the helpful marina staff had been on board ...