Esenköy (Katirli) - Mudanya

Pyxis
Karen & Richard
Wed 29 Jun 2011 22:58

Wednesday 29th June – Esenköy (Katirli) - Mudanya

40:23.028N 28:52.317E

 

Having turned in quite promptly, we were awoken at 12.30 by the sound of the fenders grinding against the harbour wall and tugging on the guard wires.  A slight swell had worked its way in and a slight breeze was blowing us onto the wall.  So it was time to get up and reset the fenders.  Fortunately deploying the two big balloon fenders off the toe rail and easing the warps to float us further off the quay did the trick and peace returned.  The quay itself was still quite busy with people of all ages promenading, cycling or sitting on the roofs of the fishing huts.  It seemed strange to see people walking around at that time of night enjoying an ice cream cone.

 

This morning the sky was grey and the wind on the nose so we went for a walk around town.  Around noon the wind had dropped away and it had brightened up a bit.  The forecast showed the wind against us again tomorrow so rather than just sit around we decided to move on anyway – although there was no wind to help us, at least it wasn’t against us.  Outside there was still quite a swell from the south west against us but fortunately there was some current helping us and we made good progress.  As we rounded Boz Burun the swell eased and came astern of us, the sun came out and we had a pleasant run across Gemlik Körfezi. 

 

We headed first to Zeytinbaği but found the moorings in the harbour full; it looked like a rally was in as we recognised some of the yachts from the rally that came into Yalova, so we went on a further three miles to the new yacht harbour at Mudanya.

 

The yacht harbour there was very full too with permanent berth holders but a very friendly local on one of the yachts whistled us and beckoned us into a vacant spot.  The berthing here was a little different – rather than an anchor or a lazy line to hold the boat as it berths stern-to, there is a buoy about two boat lengths away from the quay that you tie a long line to from your bow and then back into the space. 

 

The way the motor boats do it is that they motor up wind to the buoy and tie-off.  They then use their twin engines and bow thrusters to spin themselves on the spot around the buoy and reverse into the berth. 

 

It’s a bit more fun with a yacht.  With a small cross wind to contend with, Richard reversed along the upwind side of the buoy and I made a grab for it with the boat hook about mid-ships (there was only one chance and it was important not to miss).  I looped a rope through the ring on the top and held the bow (the stern was now almost at the bow of the neighbouring yacht).  The cross wind and our prop kick brought the stern level with the berth and we reversed gently in as I eased the warp out; it worked fine for us in light winds but I wouldn’t like to try it in a strong cross wind. 

 

As we tied off at the stern we found that despite using one of our longer lines, our bow line was just too short so we had to pull through an even longer line once we had settled to drop back the last metre.  As the berths here are used by permanent berth holders and there is some ballast by the wall, most of the berths have permanent steel passerelles fixed on the quay wall which fold down for use, so we had the luxury of a proper passerelle rather than walking our plank.

 

The area around the yacht harbour is fairly modern (concrete) apartment blocks, quite built up and on a steep hill.  Half the harbour is given over to small fishing boats and around one side the locals have small rooms built into the wall (like beach huts, and very popular).

 

We went for a short walk but the harbour is a bit of a hike from Mudanya itself so after wandering around the immediate area we wandered back to Pyxis and settled on board for the evening.

 

Mudanya: Yacht harbour

© Pyxis 2011