Turkey Part 1
Nov 8th - Dec 29th, 2020
Passage from Greece
Passage from Greece to Turkey. It took us 1.3 days. And we averaged 6.1 Knots. The shortest great circle distance is 192 Nautical Miles. We sailed 229 Nautical Miles to get here.
Step 2 Done We made it to Turkey. Beam reach all the way. 35 knot winds for the first 100NM, took us to Turkey fast . Happy to be here.
If someone wonders if we were allowed to travel, since part of the non-stop passage was during the Greek lockdown? We don’t know! As time was of essence, and with the information at hand at the time we left, we made the executive decision not to wait for answers from confused officials.
Comparing AIS targets with the Radar screen. Pretty accurate. Fun activity during your night watch ;-)
Hm, not that many boats out but we all seem to aim for the same point at the same time...
This was our Predict Wind weather routing
So the winds calmed for the night, as predicted, and we were rewarded with this beautiful sunrise
Entering Turkish water after we got called up on VHF ch 16 by the Turkish coastguard. They asked us about our attentions. We got really nervous, but they were really nice and wished us a good day after we answered the questions
Bodrum
View from our restaurant, at our anchorage. All these big sailboats are called Gullets. They are very common here. You rent them with crew and everything and they sail around and show you tourist attractions in the area.
Beautiful first sunset in Bodrum. Bodrum castle is right there
Very welcoming little social event aboard Horizon with fellow cruisers that we met her in Turkey. We have almost forgot how to be social and how much fun it is :-)
I guess the old Greek flag shows that we stayed a long time in the country.
A wonderful outdoor market here in Bodrum.
New experience with minaret. There is at least one in every little town. All muezzien sounds different. They lead for prayers at very different times during the day. But they all have one thing in common, they are loud and the sound is terrible.... sorry :-(
Turkey is very proud of their clean water, and take pump out seriously. They have a blue card program for the pump out, which means that they have a record of your pump-outs. So you better pump out regularly, or get busted...
Gumusluk
Sailed 15 nm north from Bodrum to the picturesque town of Gumusluk. Love how they decorate the trees
A very comfortable dog on the beach
We climbed up to a nearby hill with a monument. We found our one "way" up ;-)
At the top with the town and Horizon at anchor behind us
Great view from the top
Back in Bodrum. Another restaurant, and another sunset
Very welcoming little social event aboard Horizon with fellow cruisers that we met her in Turkey. We have almost forgot how to be social and how much fun it is
Brother Hans joining us on Horizon
Anders brother, Hans, came to join us on Horizon, Yay He knew about this ancient hot spring on black island close to Bodrum, 32C and super good for your body... it says
Hans and I in the cave
We stayed in the amazing little town of Knidos. It is a big archeology site where they working on building up the ancient city of Knidos. Very interesting and fascinating indeed. Well worth a visit.
Knidos
Now in Palamutbuku. A really cute little fishing town. Moored at the city dock. 90 Turkish lira for a night, water, electricity and good WiFi included
"Sailing", mostly motoring due to lack of wind, from Palamutbuku to Iskele, Dirsek and all along Bozburun bay. Enjoy the show!
Very nice and protected anchorage in Bozukkale. In season very popular and crowded. We hiked up to the ancient fort Loryma. Lots of cute donkeys up here and great views.
I almost stepped on this little guy on my hike
Our anchorage in the bay of Bozukkale. Very popular in the high season with lots of Gullets, big local charter boats
This is how the locals live. No roads, no electricity and no community water. But they have solar and lots of goats :-) And they seem really happy
We sailed really close to Rhodes and the greek waters. Then we saw this Greek coast guard stationed out at the border...
Spectacular coastline, still no wind
We spent the night here in Ciftlik at the little marina. It's interesting to see how they strip down all the docks for the winter. I wonder if they do that every season?
Interesting soccer game here...
Leave cute Ciftlik behind us. Setting sails towards the Marmaris bay
Turtle Beach
Horizon is anchored right outside the river, on what is called the Turtle beach. In the season you can see lots of sea turtles here. And lots and lots of boats
The river delta is like a maze. You better bring your sea chart or you can easy get lost. You're not suppose to go in on your own. A guide approached us and asked us if we wanted a guided tour on the river. We said no, we will take our own dinghy. Then he warned us the coast guard will come and you can get a big fine. This is probably the case in high season but in late november we where not worried
It was an amazing calm evening here on the river delta. We explored the delta all the way up to the ruins of an old Mausoleum, amphitheater and some tombs
Sunset at Iztuzu Beach
Hans is taking in the scenery and the calm
Who had to drag the dinghy through the shallow water? I give you a clue; it was not the brothers...
Göcek Bay
Our anchorage, Buyukaga Koyu, in the Göcek bay. Only us here
I hiked up to the old Roman village of Lydae. Got some company on the trail
Kind of weird to find this motorcycle out here, and a contrast to the ruins
Several of these structures around this area
A Church on top of the hill, overlooking the village
Inside the same structure. Probably a way to collect water. I love the ceiling where the sun shines through the holes
Another old building. The hole in the bottom is probably a grave
Looking up towards the old Roman village of Lydae. Very rich soil in this area, good for farming
On our way cross the bay to Fethiye. Beautiful view with the snow capped mountains behind Fethiye
Overlooking the harbor of Fethiye, from the castle
The history
This was the biggest one and you could step in to the tomb itself
A lot of old really cool tombs in Fethiye. Dated back in around 350BC
From inside the tomb, Fethiye is behind
We found a turkey in Turkey
Hens on a fence
It was interesting to see the diversity in how people live. Big contrast from the newly built apartments to the left compare to the old rustic small houses to the right
Some pictures from our sail from Fehtiye to Göcek through the bay of Göcek with the 12 islands that is a protected nature reserve. This is the last week of sailing with Anders brother, Hans
Brother Hans signed off. Leaving Göcek Bay
Leaving Göcek on a beautiful sunny day, but once again no wind. Good we have big diesel tanks ;-)
We anchored for the day outside Oludeniz beach, just south of the Fethiye peninsula. There is a beautiful lagoon here where the water is a little warmer than the ocean. We took the dinghy in and I swam back to the boat
We motored up to a better night anchorage just up the bay. This is the story of the island
Fascinating island with lots of ruins of churches , tunnels and houses
We brought wine to enjoy at the top when the sun went down. Anders is enjoying the drink and the views. Cheers
Our very protected anchorage between the island of Gemilier, also called Saint Nicholas, and the mainland
Out for a dinghy ride to look at this beautiful arch
The next day we just cross the bay over to Butterfly Valley. A magnificent anchorage with very steep hills on the side. Not much sun here. Beautiful hike up the valley to a waterfall
Stayed over the weekend in Kalkan. Did some boat jobs, shopping, swimming and enjoying the beach
Sailed south east to Kalkan a small fishing village. Glad we didn't get in to this storm
From Kalkan we sailed east towards Kas. But we anchored just south of Kas, in Limamagazi. Great very protected anchorage
Looking north from our anchorage towards Kas
Hiked up to some old tombs on the hill side
Anders in the cave
Spotted this little cute lizard
This is the view from our anchorage. and the trail went along the hillside
A little tricky at time with some climbing. Nice to have the ropes to hold on to
At the top we found these old tombs
Logged 20000nm today!
Woke up to this beautiful rainbow! Just had to share it with you
Logged 20000nm today! And it happened on this very windy day with big swells. But we were lucky, it happened when we sailed through a narrow passage so it got all calm so we could pour the Jägermeister and toast It also happened when we rounded one of the most southern part of Turkey. Looking forward to the next 20000nm with my best friend and husband
And this is where it happened. In a na
Feeling blessed
Kekova. Beautiful area...
We are now in Kekova. This is truly an amazing place. Beautiful nature with lots of good and protected anchorages. Also all the ancient history sites with old tombs and castles are very interesting.
Definitely worth a visit.
Finike Marina
Approaching Finike Marina. This will be our home marina for a while. We will spend Christmas here, hope to celebrate with some fellow cruisers. We also need to haul out for a bottom paint and more at some point. This is our turnaround point in the Med. In the spring we're heading out west again.
Beautiful views from Finike marina, with the snow capped mountains
And this is our night view, with the lit up mosque