37:20.400N 027:28.583E
Muskrat
Chris and Alison
Thu 27 Jul 2023 18:49
With the temperature stubbornly staying at over 40’c (ok readers, I have been suitably chastised complaining about the heat out here when the UK is suffering wind, heavy rain and lower than average temperatures) but it is very difficult to do anything productive in this heat and almost impossible to visit sites of interest, if they are open at all during the hottest part of the day, so we sailed back to one of our favourite anchorages, Iassos, a quirky little village that we visited last year out of season and thought it was closed because the summer season hadn’t started. This year in the middle of the summer season it was still quirky, and closed. There was one “supermarket”,small shop, that sold a very limited range of items but no fresh veg or fruit, there is a bakery and a couple of small restaurants, neither of which looked particularly inviting to a visitor. Just after we had anchored, a large fish farm frame was being moved from the shoreline, where it had been constructed, into the sea so it could be towed out to one of the many fish farms out in the gulf. To do this, a small boat takes the frame to a large tug anchored off the shore to attach it for towing. The wind started to increase with some strong gusts coming over the hills around the bay. As this happened the frame started drifting towards us in the gusts. Luckily the driver of the small boat noticed just in time and used all his engine power to drag the frame away from us in time. When we visited the site of ancient Iassos last year we were amazed that such a large site was hardly mentioned in guides at all. The ruins have been partly excavated by archeological teams who return each summer to unearth more of this fascinating site. The temple of Zeus, the city wall, the agora and a small theatre are being excavated. This year when we returned the archaeologists were back again and had unearthed more of the agora and had been up to the city’s main residential site to start excavating there. Last year we unearthed a mosaic that was just lying under the earth untouched. This year it had been covered over with felt and then covered with stone to preserve it so we couldn’t see it again. The site is still enchanting. With only a few days left before we have to go to Didim for Muskie’s new rig and Copper Coat, we sailed to Kazikli iskelesi, an enclosed bay that we hadn’t visited last year. We picked up a buoy that belonged to the restaurant and decided to stay for a couple of nights to get some desperately needed supplies from the “shop”. We got ashore and in the burning heat (sorry I mentioned it again) walked the short distance to the “shop”. It turned out to be a roadside stall selling ice cream, biscuits and cold drinks! Just as well we were planning to eat at the restaurant anyway! Again, it felt like we were out of season as far as holiday makers and visitors are concerned. We almost had the restaurant to ourselves, it was eerily quite. Didim will be an attack on the senses when we get there. Iassos More unearthed stonework at ancient Iassos Visiting the site of ancient Iassos The fish farm drifting close to our anchored position. Sent from my iPad |
