Scenery along the Turkish coast as we cruised further south of Bodrum has been simply magnificent and different again from anything else we’ve encountered this past seven months. High, red and grey rock mountains covered with a thick blanket of pine or dense green scrub, exposed coast or otherwise enclosed deep natural bays. We are in love!
Our final few days with dear friends Jay and D were blissful. Pottering around the gulf of Hisaronu Korfezi, we embraced restful nights at anchor, playing cribbage, making margaritas and Pimms cocktails and devouring new dishes lovingly prepared in the galley by our guests-come talented home chefs. What may become a regular guest initiation – we sent D up the mast in the boson’s chair, which she tackled with a smile, though we were all smiling when unsighted, dad unknowingly dropped her in the sail bag on the way down. Opps! That week Dad also introduced us to some old fashioned Navy fun, building a ‘manta board’ out of some remaining marine grade plywood. Towed behind the dinghy at a mellow four knots – though fast enough when you are dragging behind gripping onto a piece of ply and diving down with snorkel and mask to fly through the underwater world. It became an extra worthwhile expedition when I spotted a loggerhead turtle resting on the sandy bottom munching on sea grass! I promptly dumped the manta board and swam around above him for twenty minutes. Tick!
Stopping in the popular yachtie bay Selimiye Koyu for a wander and
some Turkish tea, we ordered what was a gourmet Turkish breakfast for one (at
only A$11) and took four of us to finish it! So good, we returned to the same bay and restaurant a few
days later with mum, dad and our new guests John and Tess – ordered three breakfasts
between six and were full until well after lunch. If you’re wondering what a
Turkish breakfast includes, picture a cold platter of cheeses, tomato,
cucumber, olives, spreads and crusty bread, omelet or hardboiled egg with a
side glass of delicious Turkish tea. Tasty!
Apart from major resort townships
along Turkey’s southwestern Mediterranean coast, the vast expanse of this
coastline is wild, rugged and untouched. There is the odd gaudy, eyesore hotel
development that will forever scar the majestic landscape. Though whilst
cruising sleepy Hisaronu Korfezi gulf, we passed equally as many first class
resorts – some beautifully blended in with the environment, others not so much,
but none the less impressive luxury establishments. Several had trucked in
glistening white sand (sandy beaches are again a rarity in Turkey) and two
different dinghy-bound security guards chased us away when our drive-by got too
close for their liking! If you are ever in the market for an indulgent Eastern
European escape, here are a couple of properties we drooled over on the way
past: D-Hotel Marmaris and Angel's Peninsula.
Our last night with Jay and D was anchored with lines ashore in the gorgeous wooded bay of Keci Buku across from Marti Marina. After a quick recce ashore to book a table for our last supper together, we found ourselves a poolside retreat amongst the 5-star Marti Marina facilities. A marina berth here was stupidly expensive (A$200 per night for our 44’ catamaran) though we had no intention to waste away money on a berth, with a perfectly lovely anchorage a dinghy ride away. Though that didn’t stop us buying a frosty beverage to poach the facilities – the mirage pool and landscape surroundings made us feel in a Turkish oasis. A few hours were happily wasted away here before dinner. And as we’ve STILL had no luck catching a darn fish, our guests were hanging for some seafood, so seafood we ordered. Two massive sea bream were served to our table, set at the end of the quaintest pier, under rope lights and flickering candlelight. Four bottles of wine later and we laughed all the way back to the boat in an overloaded dinghy for a final late night swim. Jay and D are like part of the family and we hope to see them again back onboard again sometime next year!
Like any good hotel welcoming guests – the boat's spare bedroom was flipped
and another deep clean of the boat inside and out as we were expecting new guests
the following day! Apart from a short but treasured overnight visit from the
newlyweds Bek and Joel in Croatia, we have had the pleasure of hosting three
different sets of guests this summer (including Aunty Robyn way back in
April/May). John and his lovely Greek-born wife Tess hail from Melbourne and
joined us at the tail end of their three-month Europe vacation visiting Tess’s
family in UK, Paris and Greece. John is a very old friend of dad’s back from
their Navy Clearance Diving days. In fact dad’s special explosive ordnance disposal
diving team relieved John’s team in Vietnam in 1968. Dad was only eighteen
at the time, but they’ve remained in contact over the years and through various
reunions and Naval events. John continued with the profession to become a
deep-sea saturation diver and supervisor on offshore oil rigs in places such as
India and the North Sea. The incredible Naval,
Vietnam and diving stories, tales, nautical knowledge and ditties between these two is
captivating and enough to sink a ship (so to speak)!
John is an excellent chef and previous restaurateur, and it’s obvious he’d missed the kitchen after three months away from home, as we couldn’t keep him out of there! But we were also more than happy to sample many delicious new dishes and menu ideas he whipped up out of our compact galley. Despite being a cute, giggling lightweight on the gin and tonic, Tess was an exceptionally good sport – climbing mountains with dad, SCUBA diving for her second time and up the mast in the boson’s chair on a glassy full moon night. Though what impressed me most were Tess’s multi-lingual skills speaking and understanding English, Greek, Spanish, French and Arabic. She would make a very valuable crew member for future expeditions!
Our visit to Marmaris would serve an important purpose – as this was
where dad intended to undertake some final research before making a decision
where he would winter the boat come November. In our travels this summer, we’d
met several Aussie and Kiwi boats along the way that had wintered in Turkey and
more often than not, specifically Marmaris’ Yacht Marina. After a recce of the marina site and accompanying yacht services,
dad was satisfied this was the best option for him. On the day of booking he
was independently told by another Australian yachtie who’d been wintering here
for the past four years that Yacht Marina had recently come out as
the best marina for value (price and services) out of a large number of marinas surveyed throughout Turkey and Greece. I’m sure dad will be
happy to offer his full account and experience with the marina next Spring once
the haul out and maintenance are complete. With 1,000 dry berths available, he
will be leaving the boat on the hardstand and spending a week or so at the end
of this season and again at the start of next to complete an arm’s length list
of general maintenance and upgrade projects.
Yacht
marina is also very accessible to – though quiet and far enough away – from
Marmaris town proper, which offers an incredible wealth of yacht servicing
businesses and all other amenities and provisions one would need. Despite the
sprawling stretch of hotels to the east, old town Marmaris and its palm-lined
quay are attractive. Pictured below from our anchorage, this grey sky morning
was following the first and ONLY rain shower we have seen in two and a half
months.
Marmaris, similar to Bodrum, has morphed over the years into a bar
and nightclub party haunt to satisfy the hedonistic needs and wants of an
exploding tourism industry. Along Maramaris’ ‘bar street’ – stepping into a
thumping open air nightclub, complete with go-go dancers, fire throwers and
laser lights, reminded me quickly that this use by date is well past due. Maybe
I just needed more booze. But that night, we were content with dancing around
the outskirts of the fluorescent lights with a smooth vino, local brew and
calming apple tobacco shisha water pipe. In so many different ways, Turkey is
an eclectic feast for the senses.
The
abundance of English accents indicated the market
that Marmaris caters to. As did the long line of gulets (wooden boats) lining
the quay and whisking tourists off on the well-beaten circuit around the bay,
or otherwise off to crowd the hopelessly ‘protected’ turtle nesting beach at
Dalyan.
South of Marmaris, Dalyan was once a sleepy riverside village that Mike
and I visited a decade ago, now like many other towns along the coast, the
region has given way to package tourism and tour boats hawking its ancient
assets. We arrived here early to beat the day-tripper boats from Marmaris,
anchoring off Iztuzu Beach and attempting to navigate up the marshy Dalyan
river to the Lycian ‘Kings’ Tombs’ carved into the cliff face opposite the town
of Dalyan. The Turkey Waters Pilot Guide suggested that we could take our own
dinghy up the river, and though we were hassled by the local boat operators
(who wanted 100 euro to drive the same route), we eventually lost our way
amongst the long reeds and spider web of waterways through the marsh. Lost and
running low on fuel, we were defeated in reaching these particular Lycian rock tombs
(there would be more the further south we travelled), but had otherwise enjoyed
our little expedition through the reeds and local fishing traps.
After
calling this dependable little catamaran home for the past seven months, we are
preparing ourselves and minds for the return to a normal land bound lifestyle, unsure
how long it will take to adapt or how often we will yearn for peaceful nights
at anchor, forever changing scenery, the sun and wind on our faces. Where one’s
only cares is the weather, our next sailing destination, locating a decent
market or grocer, or a calm anchorage for a restful sleep. Mike and I are due
to leave the boat in two weeks from now, next visiting friends and family
in Nova Scotia and Whistler in Canada before heading back to work and reality
in Sydney. If we hope to come back and join mum and dad again next year – our
priority now is to work and save our little butts off to top up the bank
account! Dad and mum will stay on for a few extra weeks, with the catamaran
booked to be hauled out of the water first week of November where it will stay
on the hardstand until April next year.
The
dream is not over – just taking a temporary hiatus whilst the bone chilling
European winter blankets its way south and across the idyllic Mediterranean.
Though please stick around for a few more updates this year, including our last
few weeks in Turkey for 2013, Mike and my visit to Istanbul and dad’s
preparation to winterise the boat.
But
one thing is for certain; we cannot sing the praises high enough of this
intriguing country, the first true taste of a cultural gap since arriving in Europe. And another one to add to your must-visit list!
