Sabbaticus Travel Log: Arriving in Turkey

From Kalymnos (Greece) it was a short 12NM sail to the entry port of Turgutreis in Turkey. In contrast to Greece's carbon copies, huge ledger books and manual processing for customs and port police Turkey's system is computerized and required an agent to be employed to process us into the system/country. After handing over Sabbaticus's documentation we returned two hours later, paid the Euro 185 had our passports stamped and were in possession of the mandatory Turkish transit log. Easy!

Anchored off Knidos ruins

We then departed the marina to the closest anchorage and were surprised to tune into a local radio station playing 80's music which we enjoyed during the short sail to Akaylar. This anchorage was in an attractive touristy bay and while a quiet spot during the day the night's entertainment started at 2200hrs with laser light shows and a loud band that played into the early hours. It was another night of ear plugs to ensure quieter sleep.

Castle of St Peter

The next day we sailed to Bodrum anchoring off the impressive Castle of St Peter where construction started in 1406 and finally finished in 1522. With five towers built by five different nations the castle was an impressive sight. After a couple of days in Bodrum we had had enough of the maddening crowds of tourists, heat and the nightly noise of nightclubs. The beaches in town were packed and with murky water so it was a relief to return to Sabbaticus to swim off the boat in cleaner water and watch the numerous tourist Gulet's in the harbour. Gulet's are the traditional two-masted, or three-masted, wooden sailing boats built around Bodrum or Marmaris and are now used primarily for tourist charters of which they are plenty.

We then spent several weeks enjoying sailing each day to different anchorages and seeing pine forests, clear beautiful water and peaceful anchorages. The sailing has been perfect with the breeze coming in each day about 1400hrs and lasting for 3-4 hours giving us enough time to move anchorage. Some of the highlights were anchoring in English Harbour, which the Special Boat Squadron used as a base during WWII; anchoring in Knidos outside the ancient ruins, Cokertme, and Gerbsake where we climbed the hill to an impressive ancient citadel along the ridge line.

We are now getting quite used to med mooring anchorages which are used when anchoring in small coves and in deep water which is common in Turkey. We drop our bow anchor (usually in deep water) and then reverse close (10-20m) into the shore (sometimes squeezing ourselves in between adjacent boats), John then swims ashore with two stern lines and secures them to trees or rocks on the shore. This holds the boat in close proximity to the shore and also effectively negates the boat swinging at anchor (often there is no room to 'swing'). In one bay we found a perfect cove where a local fisherman was repairing his lines for the day. He waved us in gesticulating where we could take lines ashore which was generous given we were practically on top of him. Feeling a tad guilty John swam over with a cold can of beer which seemed to appreciated.

Wasps to be avoided

While the anchorages have been picturesque some of them suffer from a dusk invasion of wasps which is annoying and painful as John found out. The wasps appear to be attracted to water and hang around the swim platform which makes for a fast exit when getting back onto the boat to avoid being stung. We made the mistake of leaving a bucket of washing out one night which was covered in wasps the next morning. Another mistake was leaving the swim ladder unlocked so when Leanne emptied the morning coffee granules overboard and held the swim ladder she fell into the water. Other than feeling like an idiot there was no harm done it was just another warm swim for the day. John failed to notice my unplanned departure which is a worry!

Bliss...

Our days now start and end with a swim, with many swims in between. The weather is just too hot to move quickly and even the water (tepid) is no longer refreshing. We have now become quite efficient at erecting the sun shade which is the first task at each new anchorage to keep the sun off the decks and the boat cooler. While teak decks might look good we are no longer fans of them - the decks are now too hot to walk on with bare feet and any spillage requires immediate spot cleaning. Despite a desire to 'follow the sun' and avoid winters we find we are now longing for cooler temps under 30 degs. Our next port of call is Marmaris where Sabbaticus will be hauled out of the water for some TLC.

Below are some photo's from the different anchorages.