What goes around

9-13/10/2019

Kekova Roads

We carried on East from Kas to an area called Kekova Roads. Another ancient site with a narrow gulf protected from the open sea by a long island, and a sheltered sea lake further inland. This is a refuge known as Olu Deniz, calm sea in English.

This inland sea lake is used by Gulets for winter mooring as a haven from winter storms.

The now familiar “mooring wind” blew up as we were coming in to pontoons in the village. The wind strength tends to increase just before evening which almost inevitably coincides with the desire to moor up for the night.

We had a slightly hectic entrance into our mooring with a cross wind of some 30kts just as we arrived,

Ucagiz, poor but pretty

but with a bit of assistance from the German guys on the boat next door we were fine. As soon as we were in, the wind vanished – typical.

More Sarcophogi

Splendid castle at Kekova Roads

The village of Ucagiz (Three Mouths as there are three ways in) is small and obviously a bit down at heel. It seems the area has been designated by the authorities as “not for development”. I am not sure of the wisdom of this.

We went ashore for a drink – and the rain started so I had to hot foot it back to the boat to shut the hatches.

When I returned M was deep in conversation with the daughter of the owners of the family restaurant we were in. This girl had grown up in the village, gone to Istanbul to University where she studied International Trade, then returned to the village to help the family. We had a discussion about Turkey, the EU and Brexit. She confirmed that nobody in Turkey could understand why we should want to leave the EU, but it confirmed that the British are seen as eccentric and bonkers.

Goekkaya Limaani Kekova Roads

Gifted Saltire

Her English was excellent, as was her German and French. Apparently all higher education in Istanbul is delivered in English, a fact of which I was unaware.
She was due to go to stay with family friends in Munich to improve her German. An impressive young woman who I am sure will do well. She talked sorrowfully about the changes to the village and to the traditional way of life there. She warned us about theft from the boat, saying that so many incomers had arrived with all the tourist Gulets. It was sad that everything now was about greed and money. She felt that the tiny village had been ruined by the vast array of pontoons laden with day boats and trippers, especially since they were mostly owned by businesses based in larger towns who charged over-inflated prices, with little benefit to the villagers. All a bit sad and we could understand her frustration.

We donated and old Scottish Saltire for the restaurant's flag collection.

Summertime at Asirili Adasi

We carried on further down the Roads to Goekkaya Limani, a splendid anchorage tucked behind an island, which was beautifully sheltered, good holding and tranquil.

The shooer of boats

Good cave on Asirli Adasi

It was then we realised that the “shooer of boats” we had come across previously was there. It looked like he had already had words with his nearest neighbour, who was actually well away from him. He had made a redoubt from multiple fenders and was stationed on his prow with his binos, through which he observed the adversaries. Nowt as strange as folk.

I am sure this could work

We spent a couple of nights at anchor and then headed further East towards the town of Finike. We had a gentle sail downwind and turned into Finike bay.

There are several large fish farms in the bay that seem to be moved about by tugs. I don’t think these are lit at night which would be a hazard for a night entry.

We berthed in the large Finike Marina, which is part of the Setur chain. All was good but it was clear we were beyond the reach of the charter and tourism market. All the boats berthed were

privately owned, and many smaller and older than the standard stock of yacht encountered further West.

Suddenly a submarine surfaced (its a rock)

The Marina is trying hard to appeal to the owner/occupier market, and there is an active ex-pat community there. There is a small bar/social club where events are organised.
Apart from that however Finike itself is not really set up for visitors. There are very few restaurants or bars, indeed it is difficult to work out where the town centre is and it just seems to consist of sprawling housing. Not a town we would hurry back to.

The weather was settled, but looking ahead there was more strong westerly winds forecast that we would have to motor into if we stayed in the East too long. So our plan to go further East to the Antalya region was abandoned and we headed West again. We felt a bit sad at this turning point, the end of the exploration, but heading back seemed the sensible decision.

We essentially retraced our steps to Kekova Roads, where we anchored at our new favourite anchorage, then on to Kas and Kalkan.

There was some anxiety as to whether we would be able to get a slot in the harbour in Kas but we were welcomed into a vacant berth besides a large Gulet hosting some Germans on holiday. The crew were helpful and welcoming and we were soon ensconced, with electricity connected.

Unfortunately it is becoming increasingly clear that although the batteries seem to charge up well, they are not holding the charge adequately. In some ways this makes decision making clearer, that we need a full new set. There was a temptation just to replace the one that would not charge adequately, but they clearly all need to go. I suspect that the remaining batteries have been damaged by being hooked up to the failed one.

We were just settling down for the evening when a young lady crew member from the Gulet appeared with a large plate of food for us. How nice, this is entirely typical. The Turkish people we have come across have been, almost without exception friendly, and generous. Or maybe we and the boat are getting to the stage of disintegration that we look in need of charity.

WWF Research Ship

The next morning we set off again for Kalkan. On arrival I was a bit anxious that the harbour would be full as it had been last visit. To my surprise it was fairly empty. The harbour master duly indicated a vacant berth and brought us in, As we were approaching I realised that there was a significant para-military presence on the boat in the adjacent berth. There were about half a dozen big blokes in uniforms and kicking boots all over it. The Coast Guard.

I signalled to M that once we were in to go below and pump some water into the holding tank in case they wanted to do a poo inspection.

As we got nearer I could see the Harbour Master was not happy. He is a mild mannered chap who was very helpful before, but he looked anxious and was sweating.

“It is Coast Guard day” he said. You need to replace your Turkish Flag. I started to discuss why this was needed as it was a relatively new flag, but this worsened his agitation. “No, No” he said, the Coast Guard say it is damaged and you need a new one”. I looked at the flag and indeed there was damage. An eagle eyed Coast Guard officer had spotted a small abrasion at one corner. These guys are good at this. I asked the Harbour Master what documents they would need. He looked almost tearful, “I don’t know” he replied.

M went off hot footed to buy a new flag before the big guys decided to come aboard and do a full tank strip down. She returned with a new flag (8TL) , and heroically, the honour of the Turkish State was preserved.

Paraglider

Lands on harbour car park

A small Gulet came in and the skipper hurriedly wrote out a crew list and passed it to the Coast Guard. Clearly getting all the paperwork in order is as much an issue for the local boats as for visitors. I guess that “Coast guard day” is a good time to get a berth as all the Tripper boats who don’t want their credentials examined vacate the harbour.
The Turkish guy on the boat next to us was having a much harder time. Every document was being inspected, the big guys were up and down his gang way and there was quite a lot of voluble discussion and head shaking going on. And he needed a new flag as well.
It was then I realised that this new neighbour was in fact the “shooer of boats” previously referred to. What goes around, comes around.

Man walks baby on harbour wall

We found a pub that was due to show the Rugby World Cup games the next day. Scotland were due to play Japan in a crucial match. Conversation was struck up with an elderly gent from Sussex. He noticed me doing a UK news update on my phone via the pub Wifi, and enquired if the Prime minister had been assassinated yet. I replied that this had not taken place, yet, but that it might be wise to ensure that everyone listening was clear we were talking UK, not Turkish politics.

He was on a trip alone having become a widower and was revisiting placeshe had visited with his wife in the past. He was a good conversationalist and I was full of admiration for his continuing to enjoy life, despite age and adversity.

The following morning the weather was propitious for a further hike West past the Yedi Burunlar, and that the following day would not be. I therefore decided to forego the rugby and off we went.