September cruising - 2
Mystic of Holyhead (successor to Lynn Rival)
Rachel and Paul Chandler
Sun 16 Sep 2007 18:21
We stayed in Kas for 3 nights due to the continuing strong winds. It was no hardship because we liked the place and had a comfortable berth in the harbour. Kas is very pretty with lots of small streets and old houses, loads of good bars and restaurants, and very friendly people. It used to be Greek (before the 1920s) and has a very Greek feel to it. It's a very popular place for other Europeans, including the English, to buy houses but their presence is not overwhelming.
We were in Kas for market day so Gavin was able to stock up on cheap t-shirts and shorts. Coming out his baggage allowance had been taken up with things we'd given him to bring out for the boat: more spare parts, etc! We also had a surprise visit from Jason, someone Paul knows through work, who was holidaying there. He was wandering around the harbour and recognised the boat name.
We left Kas last Sunday (9th Sept). The harbour is narrow, with boats moored both sides and we'd noticed a few people having problems retrieving their anchors so anticipated the same fate. Ours was stuck under a large anchor attached to a tripper boat on the other side of the harbour. It was in 7 metres of water so none of us could dive down to do anything. We asked the boat's crew to drop their anchor but it didn't help, even with a couple of other yachties helping from their dinghies. Eventually the harbourmaster came out and shouted at everyone, including Paul and Gavin who had the job of winching up both anchors. In the end they were able to get a line under the other anchor so we could free ours and leave.
The wind was still strong outside the harbour so we headed east and had a fast sail downwind back to Kekova, where we anchored in another lovely spot called Polemos. As we entered the Kekova roads and turned into the wind we had to motor into 40 knots of wind for about a mile up to the anchorage but once there the shelter was good. We had a peaceful night with just a few other yachts around us.
The next day we motored just a couple of miles east to the little hamlet of Kalekoy, where the restaurants have convenient pontoons for yachts to go alongside. It's a popular spot, nestled beneath a very attractive castle and on top of sunken ruins. Despite the tripper boats motoring up and down past the castle with a continuous commentary in some language or another, we had a good time there. On Monday we were similarly unadventurous and motored just a short distance round the corner into the large inland sea at Ucagiz where we anchored off and took the dinghy ashore later for a recce around the ruins (lots of sarcophagi from around 4th century BC) and supper. The days have now cooled down a bit, only reaching around 30 degrees, so we've less excuse for not sight-seeing. The nights are also much cooler.
It was time for a sail, especially as Gavin only had a few days left with us, so we headed east again on Tuesday. We had hoped to get beyond Finike but the winds were only moderate so we came back to the marina for the night and then went further east on Thursday, to an anchorage at Cavus Limani. This is a beautiful spot on the coast towards Kemer, in the bay of Antalya. We sailed all the way there in moderate winds and found what we thought was a comfortable spot, with just one other boat for company. Unfortunately the anchorage suffers from swell when the wind goes down so we had a rolly night. We stuck it out but in the early hours were joined by other yachts looking for somewhere better than where they had been. Then in the morning we were joined by two tripper boats who decided 7.30am was a good time to test out their sound systems! We didn't stay longer than necessary to have breakfast and had a good sail most of the way back to Finike on Friday.
For Gavin's last night we went out with a group of others from the marina to a restaurant just up the river in Finike. They serve excellent trout, among other things. It's now Ramadan so the bars are very quiet during the day and many of the cafes are closed until sunset. Yesterday's Saturday market was unusually quiet as well. Some local people look decidedly weary from not being able to eat or drink during the day.
Gavin left yesterday afternoon and we are now preparing for our next visitor, Bob, who will be doing an insurance survey for us. We've also been meeting up with various other yachties here and buying yet more charts. Over a drink or two we are told: "You really must visit [insert some exotic island group somewhere east of here] and we can sell you the charts". It's hard to refuse.