36° 15.71N 029° 24.83E
We sailed to Ecinçik, and then next day on to Skopea Limani near Goçek. We went across to Deep Bay where we picked up one of the new mooring buoys we had read about; anchoring is theoretically prohibited and you must tie back to an official post, not a tree or a rock. We could see the orange mooring post on the shore, but it was more than 50m away – the buoy was meant for a much larger boat. Anyway after a cup of tea and waiting for the wind to drop David launched the dinghy and managed to pull and push Vigdis towards the shore using oars and tie it back using out 50m mooring reel to the post. We had a nice swim and pleasant evening.
Next morning dawned wet and cold. We resorted to socks and slippers: not exactly what you would expect in Turkey in late May. It thundered and poured with rain all day, so we stayed put. We had hoped our new solar panel would keep the fridge running, but there was no sun!
On Sunday, a fast afternoon sail to Fethiye Ece marina. There were scores of yachts out, enjoying the afternoon breeze. We had just tied up in Fethiye when the rain started again. Two cups of tea later we were able to get off the boat to go and check in and get provisions.
On Monday, we left Fethiye about midday after another downpour. We sailed slowly towards Karacaören, which is an anchorage tucked behind a reef. There was a Sunsail flotilla in, but the restaurant lad helped us tie up to one of their buoys, and tie us back to the shore. It was idyllic, and later in the restaurant we had “lobster in the oven” – which turned out to be crayfish. The owner put on something of a performance serving the food and also played his violin to entertain everyone.
Today, Tuesday, we left at 08:00 to catch the forecast wind – which didn’t materialise. We motored for 3 hours, before we were able to sail very slowly on a broad reach to Kalkan’s crowded harbour. Kalkan is now taken over by tourism: restaurants, bars and shops selling tourist tat. It reminds me of any number of other places we have visited from Sicily, through Greece to Turkey.
Tomorrow we hope to sail to Kaş.
Some pictures here.
