Time for a Pit Stop

It’s always good to have the safety and protection of a marina but after staying in Kaş marina for 2 weeks we were ready for a nice quiet, clear water bay. We untied our lines and set off 14nm along the coast to Yeşilköy, an anchorage that we stopped in last year on our way to Finike.

The bay is surrounded by high hills and mountains giving good shelter, there is a small shingle beach area and a ruined stone house. The sea bed is weed with some sandy patches, luckily the water is so clear that you can see down to the bottom to pick your spot. Paul was on the helm while I stood on the bow directing him until we reached our target, in a golden shot style, to drop the anchor into the sand which would give us good holding.

The anchorage was quite busy with day boats enjoying the calm water when we arrived but by the evening they all left and we had the bay to ourselves. Time for a bit of bottom scrubbing to remove some of the winter growth and hopefully speed us up a little. With the water now 26°C this was not too much of a chore.

After a couple of days here we lifted the anchor and continued a further 30nm along the coast. It was a hot sunny day, the sea was calm and there was a gentle force 3 breeze, just enough for us to get the sails out for the first time this summer. Even with our slightly cleaner bottom we were making slow progress but it was nice to not have the engine on.

We eventually arrived at Akvaryum Koya, a bay overlooking St Nicholas island, named after the saint commonly referred to as Santa Claus. Sorry to disappoint anyone who believed that he came from the snowy North, apparently he was born at the nearby village of Patara, he lived and died just down the coast at Myra and the island is allegedly his original resting place.

The pretty bay is full of mooring buoys owned by the one restaurant here. The staff come out to direct you to a buoy and help you moor. There is no charge if you eat in the restaurant and they will come and pick you up in their tender, I was told to whistle when we’re ready.

In the afternoon, a steady stream of pirate boats arrive with their party music blasting, they only stay for a short time to have a swim before moving on to the next bay. By 5pm it’s all very quiet.

In the evening, whistles could be heard around the bay with people calling for a lift. We met up with some friends and whistled to be picked up, the taxi man was very busy back and forth to all the boats.

The friendly family run Karacaoren restaurant was a little scruffy and old fashioned but had a shabby chic feel. Built completely in wood, the ground floor has fishing nets drying and ropes hanging, with the restaurant on the 1st floor where you can take in the view.

The menu hangs at the entrance and is based on a simple selection of main courses (variety of fish, lamb and chicken dishes mainly) which are each then served at a fixed price including a meze starter, salad, chips, and a water melon dessert. We each chose some lovely fresh dragon fish from the ice box which was then cooked in a wood-fired oven.

Another very clear water bay demanded one last early morning swim before setting off for the bright lights of Marmaris. It was an overcast and misty morning, the wind averaged 10-12 kts but coming from directly in front of us and also bringing significant swell. We could tack and ‘zigzag’ our way there but that adds extra distance and given that it was already a 45nm journey, we needed to keep our speed up to arrive before dark so we had the engine on all day with the main sail up to steady us in the swell. The anchor went down in the anchorage at Marmaris just as the sun went behind the hills. Perfect timing for a sundowner.

As darkness fell we could see the bright lights and lasers along the shore and evening party boats were all lit up as they went out to remote bays where they can play their loud music until the small hours.

You may recall that Marmaris was our port of entry into Turkey last year so I have previously written about it. We are revisiting it again as we have some maintenance work arranged. We had arrived a few days early as there was some stormy weather forecast and stayed in the anchorage until it was time to go into the marina to have ZigZag lifted out of the water.

There was a long list of jobs to be done and as soon as we were on a stand in the boatyard, work commenced. It was like a formula one pit stop!

First was to completely remove all of the old antifoul, one person started scraping it off with a scraper that was only approximately 3in wide. The storm had passed and it was now very hot, I don’t know how he managed to work all day for 3 days scraping in such heat.

Various different tradesmen descended on us throughout the day to quote for work to the engine, Saildrive, rudder, seacocks and fridge, we wanted all of the underwater parts serviced while we were out of the water. Thankfully we had been recommended an English born project manager who has been in Marmaris for 10 years and knows his way around, to coordinate all of the work.

We went off for breakfast while they were all working out what was required, well it was Paul’s birthday.

We had been advised that the work should take 2-3 weeks, as we couldn’t stay on the boat while it was being done, we booked an apartment in the town with views of the castle and sea front (if you looked past the restaurant rooftops, extractors and chimneys). Time to relax a bit whilst the work is all done for us?