Do you know where you are going to?

Serafina
Rob & Sarah Bell
Tue 11 May 2010 11:28
36:44.9N 028:56.6E

Monday 10th May

Hot sunny start to the day and so after a leisurely breakfast we launched the dinghy and motored over to the marina at Fethiye from where we strolled into the town.

Not much to see really as it is all so recent but we went in search of the museum, which we never found , but we came across a large school where some pupils had climbed up onto the railing s on top of the wall surrounding the playground and were busy picking berries, possibly logan berries from the branches of a tree. Ever inquisitive Lesley and Sarah joined in and we were rewarded with some nice tasting fruit whilst the children practised their English.

Made our way to the wonderful fish market which was the main purpose of our visit. Here you can wander amongst countless vendors and select and buy fish, which they then gut and prepare for you. You then choose one of the restaurants in the little square who happily cook your purchase and supply salad, garlic bread and tea or coffee for just over £2 per head. Lesley bought us a barracuda and a sea bass which were both very tasty indeed. Only minor setback was that we totally forgot to photograph any of this.

After lunch we moved on the few yards to the extensive indoor fruit and veg market where we stocked up on essentials.

Made our way back to Serafina out in the bay and set off for Gocek. The anchor came up covered in a thick cloying glop which took a lot cleaning off with the deck hose. Trevor had decided that we needed to have another stab at swinging the compass, so he did this whilst I cleaned off the anchor. Trevor?s efforts were rewarded this time with a near perfect result mostly because we had now repositioned the fire extinguisher fitted by Najad in a cupboard just inches above the Gyro compass.

Wind got up for a while and we had some great sailing across towards Gocek, witnessing a near disaster when a 50 ft German yacht tacked ridiculously, immediately in front of a Danish Malo 38 and promptly stalled in the wind. The inevitable accident was avoided by some calm seamanship at the very last minute by the Dane.

We were then called up on the radio by some Dutch friends of Trevor and Lesley who had just sailed down from Marmaris today in order to meet up with us for a day or two. They had met 40 knots of wind along the way which had livened up their day. We both headed for Port Gocek Marina and were directed into stern-to berths on the same pontoon. Fantastic showers here, but due to a minor clerical error this was not the marina we were supposed to be in. Still no problem for now as this one is close to the town whereas the one where we are joining the East Med Rally on Wednesday is miles from the town.

Had a light supper and then went and enjoyed some late drinks on board Chica which is the 42 ft Hallberg Rassy belonging to Trevor and Lesley?s Dutch friends Rick and Cobi.