36:11.5N 29:50.5E

Once the weather settled we headed for Kalkan roughly six hours sail away.  Unfortunately we only managed a couple of hours sailing before the wind dropped to nothing and we needed to put the engine on.  We were entertained by a Turkish warship patrolling the area and having hilarious conversations on the radio with various yachts that seemed to think the warnings about a live firing exercise in the area may not apply to them.  Mike took the initiative and called the ‘warship’ to let them know our heading and intentions which seemed to be one of the few sensible conversations of the morning.  We pictured the ships radio operator either pulling his hair out or bent double laughing as he repeated the same thing over and over to yachts heading the wrong way.  We were asked to sail close to the shore which meant a very choppy and uncomfortable ride as we passed the notorious Seven Capes.  We hoped to be diverted by the afternoon’s entertainment of loud bangs and bright flashes but there was nothing to be seen or heard.

Kalkan is a delightful, picturesque harbour.  Very small but big enough to warrant a Customs post and very sleek looking Customs boat.  No sign of any other officials so we consulted Customs and found out that no Harbourmaster so no fee.  Excellent!  Mike then charmed a Gullet skipper who very kindly let us plug into his electricity. 

We were here to meet up with Lynn and John who have a villa nearby.  Villa Jacaranda is stunning with glorious views over the bay and we watched the sunset drinking Pimms and feeling very civilised while learning a lot about places to visit and where to find things.  Lynn very kindly offered her washing machine so we left with sparkling sheets and towels to a standard no marina washing machine has achieved so far.

Earlier that day I had taken a load of clothes washing to the man in the marina laundry hoping I could persuade him that two washes for 10 Lira was the same as a wash and dry for 10 Lira.  He wasn’t having any of it and suggested I may like to have everything ironed as well for half a Lira an item – or I could iron them myself for nothing he said.   We are weaning ourselves off ironing (!) so I declined the offer.  When I return to collect the clothes he asks again if I would like to iron them showing me the very smart iron that I could use.  Again I decline.  He then empties the drier and pulling each of Mikes polo shirts out says, “This ironing and this ironing and this ironing........” and again shows me the iron.  Clearly I am a slack and useless wife who does not care for her husband properly.  Suitably shamed I laugh nonchalantly and tell him I would love to try the iron.  He then leaves so I show everything what the iron looks like and fold it in a tidy pile.  Then he comes back so I did the last couple of things properly.  It was a pretty good laundry though so I may have to go back.

We were lucky to be there for market day so stocked up with glorious fruit and veg.  We are trying our hand at making some Turkish dishes and so consulted the butcher on the ingredients in his meatballs.  Expecting to discuss various combinations of onion, garlic and cumin we were a bit flattened when he picked up  a packet of ‘Meatball Mix’ from the shelf.   Whatever the Turkish for ‘E Numbers’ is there seemed to be an awful lot of them.  The search continues for a meatball recipe but we are having fun making our own up and the lamb is so good that they all taste nice regardless.

Lynn and John had told us where to find the fish shop, we would never have stumbled across it on our own.  As usual there was a crowd of men sitting on white plastic chairs drinking tea one of whom jumps up as we approach.  ‘Fish?’ we say seeing plenty of signs but no evidence of any actual fish.  ‘Fish’, he says reaching into a fridge and pulling out the most stunningly fresh Sea Bass.  Just the job, and it was as delicious as it looked.

As I mentioned Kalkan Harbour is very small.  This means that yachts and Gullet’s, try as they might, cannot help but lay their anchor chains across each other and this provides hours of entertainment best watched with a fresh orange juice in hand from a bar.  Even if you get your chain down without fouling someone else’s and are lucky enough not to have another one laid on top of yours there is every chance that someone will yank yours along with everyone else’s when they try to pull theirs up.  We were pretty confident that after two nights ours would come up with another couple of boats attached to it so we had our ‘Anchor Thief’ rigged and ready for action.  This is a natty little hook that we had bought Mike for his birthday after an elbow shattering experience a couple of years ago when we picked up someone else’s chain.  Lynn was on the quayside ready to photograph the hilarious scene that was bound to ensue and off we went, slick as you like and the only boat to leave without a problem so far that day.  As is probably clear this is more luck than seamanship on our part and it is only a matter of time before I report picking up a cats-cradle of chain from the sea bed somewhere.

On to Kas, another delightful small town.  We took an early morning walk to the, extremely well preserved, small amphitheatre just outside the town with lovely views of the bay.  Sitting under an olive tree was a lady doing some needlework with a basket of her wares.  In no time at all and with seemingly little effort on her part I’d got one of these scarves on and yes, I did buy one (Not the one in the picture!).  Quite an achievement on her part because I never wear such things nor dangle them over tables but it is lovely and, if nothing else, will remind me that I haven’t quite got the hang of not being a gullible tourist yet.

Still not a lot of wind so we motor again to Kekova Roads which many people have told us is one of the most beautiful places here.  And it is, so down went the anchor and we stayed put for three days but that’s all for now, here are the pictures.............