south by south east

We've been moving along...a few long sailing days, a few rough weather days, and of course, a few fun days to keep the crew from forming a mutiny!

Last week, we stayed in Fethiye a few more days, waited for the fruit and veg market on Tuesday and loaded up. Maggie and I went exploring for the market and found that the easiest way it find it is to follow the people carrying fruit upstream to the market. It was bigger than the market we'd been to at Marmaris or Bodrum and was spread over several city blocks, we could have easily spent all day there! The selection and prices seemed better as well, either that or because it's Spring, everything seemed bigger and brighter......it's like grocery shopping when you're hungry......bad idea. We left there struggling to carry all the apples, bananas, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, (& blackberries!) heading to the dinghy and all for just over 30 Lira (20$) Money well spent! 


We left on Wednesday and sailed back across Fethiye Korfezi, a huge bay with dozens and dozens of anchorages tucked into it's nooks and crannies, and were able to tie up "side-to" to a rickety old dock in 'Tomb Bay' so called for the ancient rock tombs carved into the hills surrounding it. The guy who owns the dock and adjacent restaurant, has been there for 12 years and the only way in is by boat.....quite an existence there! It was the last night carravaning with 'Time Warp'. The next morning, we said our good-byes, which was difficult, and hopefully it's only for a while and we can hook up again. They are heading back to Marmaris and we're moving south to Kas and Finike. We're going to miss them. Their web page is: if you want to meet them and see their journey. 


On Thursday, we motored out of our corner of the bay, light winds, thinking we were going to have a nice easy day hooking around to the next bay some 15 nm away. Once we got out of the small corner we were in, we got blasted with 12-15 foot waves, and we had to cross them at a 45 degree angle, ALL day. We were forced to motor most of the way as the wind was not in our favor. It made for a pretty miserable day, rolling against the waves and not feeling like we were gaining any ground. After about 2 hours, we all felt pretty sick, and Rachel wound up over the lee rail, losing breakfast. We made it around the corner and into the next bay, but the seas were so large, the swell got pushed into our bay as well. We managed to anchor in a calm(er) corner and all collapsed for a short nap. We'd skipped lunch, and were in good enough shape to have a good dinner that night. The bed never felt so soft (or calm!), and I think we were all in bed by 8:30, asleep by 8:32!


Friday, we wandered over to 'Saint Nicolas' island in the dinghy. There was a Catholic priest who "Santa Claus" was named after who was born just 20 miles or so down the coast from here and lived on this particular island for a time. It had some excellent ruins and a long tunnel that ran several hundred yards, tying the ancient houses and businesses together. After, we went around the corner to a beautiful sand beach with crystal water and spent the afternoon lying there, enjoying the sun and the girls were jumping in the surf with their new friends they met from Germany. They couldn't talk to each other, but they spent all day playing in the sea, making sand castles and having a ball. We left as the sun was setting and hooked into a deep corner bay with our line ashore and had another peaceful night. 


Saturday was a long sailing day and we covered some 35nm cruising all the way down to Kalkan. The day started our calm, wind in our favor and we were cruising at some 3 knots with about 8-9 knots of wind. We wandered out a little farther and by early to mid afternoon, the wind had picked up to 25 knots steady, 30 knot gusts. We struggled to reef in our sails and only had a small headsail on and were still making 5-6 knots!! It was fun, but the sea followed and built in the high wind and got very rolly with 15foot waves. Thankfully, we were going with the waves and sort of "surfed" along with them.....much better than going across or against them!
We made it to Kalkan and were happy with a free side-to mooring at the town dock, courtesy of the Turkish Coast Guard. So we slept soundly with no worries of anchors dragging or swells making the boat roll all night. 

Sunday and we motored in almost no wind for 15nm to a town called Kas. It's been funny to watch the vendors slowly gearing up for their summer season and tryng out their 'pitches' on us. Lily and Zoe still get an amazing amount of freebies from the shop owners. 
Kas, meaning 'eyebrow' is an ancient harbor in an amazing setting surrounded by steep cliffs. It was a Greek settlement up until only 1922 when it was taken over by the Turks. It's funny how many times over the centuries these different places have been conquered, & re-conquered. It explains why the Turks are fiercely patriotic and very eager to protect their land and their flag. It's a little like the patriotism America went through right after 9-11, except all the time, times 10. 


The kids have slowly and reluctantly getting back into their school routines. It's difficult with only part of a day to do school, either the early morning before we travel, or after we anchor and usually no one feels like doing anything by then. There is a lot of other lessons the kids are learning for sure......getting along with each other as their 'stuck' with each other for days on end, and the history that's all around us. It's amazing to be walking down a street in a village and suddnely there is a 1000 year old tomb or mideveal castle in the middle of town. Trying to piece together all of the history through the centuries is a challenge. Just think of the history of the US after only a little over 200 years: Reveloutionary War, Spanish-American War, Civil War, settlements, trains, cars, airplanes, on and on. Now times that by 100 and try to figure out 2000 - 3000 years of history! It just gets condensed into "Eras"! Byzantine, Greco-Roman, Ottoman, and even then, it's difficult to keep track of who was where, and when.


It's off tomorrow towards Finike! Good night!


Hems