Fai Tira arrives in Marmaris on board the Palmerton

I arrived in Marmaris to be greeted by Rob and Jo Price.  Their catamaran “Stingray” was waiting to be my home for the next few days, until the Palmerton arrived with Fai Tira on board.  I was shown to my en suite birth that was air conditioned.  What a luxury.  After I had stowed my gear I was offered a “g and t” which went down a treat.  Thank you.

Rob and Jo at Nestel Marina with Stingray in the background.

The following day Rob and myself toured the numerous chandleries in the town and spent a few Turkish lira on bits and bobs.

Marmaris is an interesting town with little quaint back streets and houses.  The quayside supports numerous businesses selling day trips, dive trips and you can even hire a gillet for £1,500 per day.   The rest of the town consists of a large shopping Souk and a road which is dedicated to the younger crowd and has discos blaring out continuously until the small hours.  Needless to say Rob and I visited and watched the spectacle.

On our tour of the town Rob and I stumbled across this mountain bike which obviously hadn’t been used for a while but was well camouflaged.

The day finally arrived when Palmerton appeared over the horizon with our 20 boats on top.  It had escaped being captured by the pirates but had picked up tons of Sahara Desert on the way, which covered out boats from the top of the masts to the bottom of the keel in brown dust.

The Blue Water Rally’s final bash – well nearly.

Excelsior Tours (Mark and Chrisie) were asked to arrange the final farewell meal, which they did in splendid style at a restaurant.  Nearly all of the crews attended.  We had speeches and presentations. 

Here Steve and Maria were presented with the Glass Rock of Gibraltar, which was given to BWR at the beginning of the rally, by the Gibraltan government.  It was passed from boat to boat at significant times during the rally.  It was presented to Steve and Maria as a thank you for all the hard work they had put in to enable the boats to be transported.   Well done guys.

A presentation of a crab was also given to Mark and Chrisie for their hard work in managing Excelsior Tours. 

There were a number of speeches, one being in memory of the crew of Quest, especially Phyllis and Bob.

Here is Fai Tira being unloaded from the Palmerton.  It was probably the only boat on the rally to have its bilges filled up, whilst on the deck of a boat, by escaping fresh water from the rear tank.   Once in the water the backstay had to be reconnected and fingers crossed we hoped that the engine would start.  It did.

All 20 boats were unloaded in 2 days, with no damage – thanks to the efforts of Gavin and Roy, the loadmaster.

The following morning saw me heading to Dalaman Airport to meet Judy.  We arrived back at the marina just in time to meet up with the remaining crews who were there to say goodbye to Mark and Chrisie and Brian.  This was a cue for another and LAST farewell party. 

A great night was had by all.  Lots of tales told with fond memories of the circumnavigation, where great friendships had been made.

I will miss all of the BWR crews and wish them all fair winds and calm seas, with great sailing in the future.

If any of you BWR crews are passing through Dartmouth please contact me.

The next part of the adventure begins - returning home.