Marmaris to Fethiye, Turkey
September 19 - October 7, 2002

September 19, Marmaris, Turkey. Lee left us this morning and is bound for London. We had a great time with him and covered about 6 Greek Islands and a portion of the Turquoise coast of Turkey. Now Kathy and I must do the cruising on our own and we are to head east. We have met a few cruisers in Marmaris and several of them are from the USA. We will join two couples for about awhile and go to Gocek, pronounced go-check, and the bay in the area. We will see all that is possible between Marmaris and Gocek. On our first day we only go about twenty miles to Ekincik Bay which is at the north end of Koycegiz Bay. It is like most other small bays in that it is very small but everyone there is trying for the tourist dollar or euro. From this bay it is possible to hire a day boat and visit a fresh water stream and go to the ruins that are upstream. There are mud baths and rock tombs chiseled out of the rock cliffs. We med tie to a restaurant quay in the SE corner, “My Marina”. This is one of the classiest and best laid out quays I have seen. It is not fancy nor large it is one where they have programmed the local flora into the site. It took an awful lot of work to create this. The site is at the bottom of a hill, about 75 to 100 foot hill, and they have built a winding stone walkway to get to the top to the restaurant. There is an inclined rail system to go in a straight line up the very steep slope to accommodate the older people or those who could not walk the path. They have built a structure to resemble a fortress at the bottom and built a wooden quay with iron rings to tie to when mooring. The view from the outside dining area is fantastic and the food is great. We had a great afternoon walking the area and a lovely evening dining at a restaurant located in a pine forest overlooking a tree lined bay.

We only stayed one night and now have moved on to Fethiye Gulf and within that gulf we are in Skopia Bay. There are about a dozen islands in the bay, which is very close to Gocek. This is a popular area for the Turkish tour boats, gullets, where they have their day trips. There are so many of these large wooden boats, they are for the most part about 80 feet long and carry about 20 to 60 people. They are rigged as though they could sail but rarely have their sails deployed. They have very large engines and operate as though they have the permanent right of way. We were entering Tersane Bay on Tersane Island when it was apparent that a gullet was trying to beat me to the narrow entrance. There are not too many places to park, though I had never been there, and I guessed that if he was hurrying it was because there would be but one place to park. I speeded up gradually, and noticed that he did the same, so I gunned it and he fell in behind me. There was room for several so we allowed him to pass. We were sharing tales at happy hour and the buddy boat from Canada, a Gallart 13.50 MS, recalled how that had happened to him. His boat, a sloop, has two engines and two propellers and he eventually started the second engine to boost his motoring speed to 9 plus knots. The gullet driver surrendered and fell behind Nick.

This island has ruins from the Byzantine period, including a church. There are quite a few standing structures that are used by the people who live in this bay. The abandoned church is a storehouse for animal feed and perhaps a barn in the colder months. If it can be covered it will be used. This is a very safe and comfortable anchorage where we spend two nights. Now we must change and see some more of the area. We have sailed to Tomb Bay that is across Skopia Bay about 2 miles. There are about a dozen tombs carved into the face of a vertical wall. The people supposedly would be dropped by rope from the top of the cliff and carve out these tombs. We climbed to the base of the lowest ones. We also were able to enter the lowest of the tombs. The people were pretty short in that the bier would be only 60 to 65 inches long. We moved to this bay early this morning so as to do our climbing before the heat of the day and then went sailing in the afternoon. We joined two boats and spent the night here. There is a so called restaurant here where all six of us had our evening meal. One of the guys, Nick from Ottawa, needed a haircut and associated with the restaurant is a “Barber Shop/ Shaves/ Haircuts/Massage”. This is in the corner of the outdoor eating place. After we finish Nick goes to get his hair cut while the rest of us chat. They do something here I have never seen before to trim the hairs from ears, nose and neck, they light a Popsicle type of stick and burn the hairs off. The barber moves the flame, small, in and out about the face constantly patting the area just singed. It looks dangerous but Nick comes out ok and we understand that is the way it is regularly done. I had fish and I am sincere when I say that I have used larger fish for bait than I was served. It was smaller than my hand. We go back to the boat for a peaceful night.

Today we sail the short 5 miles to Gocek and anchor out. This is a very small town but has a commercial shipping dock, most likely for fuel. There is an airport, Dalman, about 10 miles out of town so there is a lot of traffic. Gocek has an internet shop, 6 computers, one phone line and a 56k modem. To say it is slow would be a great understatement. I spent about 1 hour and sent the Travelog but ran out of patience before I could write any more or do any other looking.

September 25. We are up and depart for Fethiye that is again only 10 miles away. This is a great stop and the regional yachting center. We are going to the magnificent rock tombs that are all around Fethiye. While we are looking for the trail a lady joins us, smells like a carpet salesman story, and offers to guide us. It is about three blocks up the street and to the right. She does point out one of the sarcophagus on a pillar. There are several of them in this area. We are able to climb the 180 steps to the base of the largest stone tomb. This thing is perhaps 30 feet wide, 40 feet tall and only 10 feet deep. The face is carved to resemble a entryway with carved hinges, spacing and all. There are about six of these on this cliff. The town has some great shopping and a very nice small museum. This area, as well as most of the places we have been recently, is covered with antiquities. There are castles, forts, citadels, aqueducts, villages and so on. There would be enough in a very localized area to fill a museum. The marble statues are from the very small, less than two feet, to the large, greater than 6 feet. There are coins and jewelry from all of the past.

We are lucky again in that there is a concert tonight. The presidential symphony, started in the time of Ataturk. Will perform in the ancient theater. The performance is great with some Turkish pieces to start and then there are pieces from by Mozart, Puccini from Tosca, Rossini's “Barber of Seville” and Tchaikovsky. It was a 2 hour program. This is the third such program that we have been able to attend, the Izmir Symphony at Ephesus last year and Mary Poppins in Vahti this year.

After Fethiye, 29º 6.2' E , 36º 37.7' N our most eastern point of travel, we are headed west. This afternoon we are in a bay near another classic ruin. It is advertised as being a 1 hour walk inland so we will go in the morning. Well it was a 25 minute walk to a ruin on the hill behind the bay. The setting is such that there is a valley beyond the hill, for farming, and the trail to the sea for fishing. The trail is so smooth and on layered rock that it appears to be paved. There are about four large partial structures remaining.

Today we return to Marmaris and begin to prepare to come home. It is a great sailing day and we actually got to sail almost all of the way. We are back and plan to visit with the crew on Sunchaser and shop for the next few days. We are cleaning the boat and doing all of the chores that must be done prior to leaving. We are able to visit the Friday market once more and have a few visits with new found friends. It is time to take the boat from the water and hit the road. This morning, Oct 7, 2002 is the day we go on the hard at the marina. It was supposed to rain yesterday and didn't, but boy is it raining and blowing this morning. The wind is Beaufort 7, 37 knots and it is pouring down rain. It has rained off and on all morning but we moved to the lift between downbursts. We are out and now we get ready to take a ferry to Rodos tomorrow and a plane to Athens-Frankfurt on Wednesday. We will fly Frankfurt to Dulles and on to Raleigh Durham on Thursday. This ends the travelogs for 2002.

Frank