We had a great holiday with our eldest son Paul and his family in Majorca where we were joined for Sandra's birthday by our other son John and his family so we had a wonderful day. We enjoyed a restful 2 weeks barbecuing and swimming in the pool and just generally messing about with the family.
It was still very hot when we returned to Marmaris so we were glad of our new sun awning which had been made and fitted whilst we were away. It was nice to be back and there were lots of friends around the marina so there was lots of catching up to do.
We finally left Marmaris on the 4th September and motor sailed in light winds to Gocek where we anchored for a few days. There were very strong winds further east and we caught the tail end of them but Gocek was well protected; however friends who were at Kekova experienced over 50knots of wind. We noticed the area is much busier than the same time last year.
We had a great sail from Gocek to Fethiye. It was the start of Ramazan so there was lots of beating of drums and ‘wailing’ from the local mosques at dawn and dusk.
We found that we had a problem with our water maker so had to go into the marina for water it also gave us the opportunity to clean the boat. We then spent the next few days sailing and anchoring in some of the small bays before sailng to Kalkan. We found a good bay in which to anchor as we did not wish to go into the harbour which has a reputation for fouled anchors. It was quiet all day but then a catabatic wind set in and blew all night but it wasn’t too strong so we did manage to get some sleep. We left the next day and motored (yet again) to Kas which is a lovely town. We anchored in a bay opposite as the harbour is full of large gulets and dive boats so it is a place to be avoided. We met Paul and Pauline on Karrawong who we have not seen since Rome so we had drinks with them and heard what they have been up to in the last 2 years. It is one of the wonderful things about this lifestyle – meeting with people along the way that you have met previously!
From Kas we sailed to the Greek island of Kastellorizon which is an absolute gem. We anchored in the harbour which is typically Greek and then did some shopping for things like pork and bacon which are impossible to buy in Turkey. We thought the harbour would be very quiet at night once the day trips had left but the bars and restaurants were very busy and we enjoyed a meal ashore.
We left Kastellorizon and motor sailed to Kekova Roads which has some spectacular protected anchorages. We anchored in Polemos bay and there were only 2 other boats. The next day we walked over the headland to the sunken city of Appelae. Some of the city is still on the land but much of it has sunk following earthquakes, there are also numerous Lycian tombs scattered about both in and out of the water. It was quite a walk very hot and dusty but well worth it.
During the afternoon the wind increased and we could hear thunder in the distance so we took our big sun awning down and we were pleased we did as the wind became strong and we ended up the only boat in the anchorage.
We moved the next day to Gokkaya Limani and found a good place to anchor but it became quite busy with gulets which came in for lunch and a swim but they left late afternoon. We stayed for a couple of days in this lovely spot before moving on to Kale Koy which is a fantastic place with an old castle and sunken sarcophagi.
We left Kale Koy for Ucagiz and motored across the sunken city on the opposite side of the bay but we couldn’t see much. The large bay at Ucagiz is a beautiful spot and very well protected. We were joining some Cruising Association yachts here to cruise in company down to Kemer. They started arriving later in the day and we all met up in a local restaurant for drinks and a meal which ended in a raucous singsong.
The next day we met for a tour in a glass bottomed boat however the boat didn’t have a glass bottom. We still had a good day with a barbecue lunch and swim in a beautiful bay with crystal clear water.
The following day we sailed to Finike marina where we had drinks on board Moonshadow Star then a meal in a local restaurant. We thought the weather had been too good to last and the next day saw a change and we had a terrific thunderstorm with the usual accompanying winds which caused waves and a swell in the harbour. Our planned barbecue was cancelled so we had a quiet night on board. The next morning saw us on a bus to visit Arykanda via Lymra and the orange groves. The ruins of Arykanda are in a fantastic setting high up in the mountains like Delphi but much better preserved. This year they have just uncovered a Christian church with two beautiful mosaic floors. After climbing to the theatre and stadium we left for a lovely lunch of grilled trout by a stream and waterfall.
In the evening we had our postponed barbecue but we weren’t hungry and were too tired to fully enjoy it.
The next morning we left Finike and motor sailed to a lovely anchorage at Civeniz which has very steep sided mountains running straight into the sea, it was quite breezy but we managed to anchor ok. The rest of the CA boats arrived and managed to find themselves places to anchor we then had drinks and supper on board Ming, which was very enjoyable.
The final day of our cruise took us to Kemer and our winter berth;

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