5th -26th May - Fethiye to Bodrum
Spellbinder
Thu 27 May 2010 15:27
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Icelandic volcanic ash grounding aircraft
caused the start of Spellbinder's 2010 crruise to be delayed. George, Philip and
Charles were disappointed as flights from the uk were cancelled, negating the
first two weeks planned for the Turquoise Coast. Spellbinder eventually slipped
from Fethiye marina on 9 May with Henry, Anne and Martin onboard, on a course
for Seagull Bay, south of Gocek in Turkey.It was spitting with rain under
an overcast sky as we motored in a force 1 to our first anchorage. A large
seagull, picked out in white painted stones on the shore, confirmed we
had the right destination. A rickety jetty and a tumbledown restuarant,
with goats roaming the hillside made for a delightful setting in the SE of the
bay. After being buffetted by an afternoon blow, characteristic of this coast,
we decided the next day to move the short distance to 22 fathom cove with better
protection.We secured to a stone quay, using the picking up lines provided,
helped by the young man from the adjacent boat restaurant, and agreed to have
supper with them. Tables were set up on the quay,and the food cooked over wood
fire ashore, and we enjoyed a delightful evening under the stars in the company
of other boat crews from France and Germany.
The next morning we set off for Ekincik bay, north
of the Dalyan estuary. With light winds from the south this was another day
under engine on calm sea. We anchored in the wide bay in a beautiful setting,
with good holding and plenty of room.We decided against the tourist trip to the
Dalyan river, and were rewarded the next morning by the sight of a turtle
swimming round the boat. We motored on to a pretty anchorage in a small
bay in Kumlu Buku, south of Marmaris, where we took a walk on the
beach and enjoyed an eye wateringly expensive drink at the so called yacht
marina. After a peaceful night onboard we set off to walk up to the ruins of
Amos, overlooking the bay. A hot walk and a bit of a climb were rewarded with
fine views and some interesting ancient ruins. Our next stop was at Bozuk Buku,
a large bay in wonderful surroundings by the ancient ruins of Loryma. We were
lucky to find a spot amongst the many yachts in the bay, and we
anchored in 16 metres as the gusts blasted down from the hills.The next day
we explored Loryma, marvelling at the energy and ingenuity of the people that
built it 2000 years ago.
The next day, 15th May, we enjoyed our first proper
sail of the year under main and genoa on the way to the Greek island of
Symi. We moored in the small harbour, on a deep inlet on the east
coast, dropping our anchor on one side of the harbour, and then backing into the
quay squashed between all the other boats. But Symi was lovely, with
its pastel coloured houses rising abruptly above the harbour, the small
museum in the old town and above it the acropolis and its church. We dallied 3
days in Symi as some bad weather passed through and then enjoyed a good sail
under reefed main and genoa to Datca on the peninsula of its name.
Here we anchored in the south bay, and saw a
replica of the giant stone lion that the British, with the sultan's permission
(honest) had recovered and removed from the fabulous site of
Knidos.
Our next stop was the Greek island of Tilos. We
anchored in the bay of Lividhia, south of the harbour run by a lively, lady
harbour master who had laid picking-up lines
on the west side with free electricity and water on the jetty, according to a
helpful, appreciative Scot. Watch out for the inter-island ferry
occupying the inside of the jetty during the day - overnighting yachts need to
move!
We took the morning dolmush up to Megalo
Horio with school children, mums and shoppers; standing room only, all
chattering away. There, we climbed up the mountainside to the crusader
castle of the Knights of St John, and surveyed the bays and
countryside, as they would have done. After the scramble down, Sophia,
at the little museum told us about the pigmy elephants who swam to the island
millions of years ago, she also recommended the cafenion where we went for
greek coffee and water, and some advice about lunch. A short dolmus ride took us
to Aghios Andonios bay, where we enjoyed a lunch of fresh fish and shrimp
straight from the boat of the restaurant owner, cooked by his wife and served by
one of his four daughters.
The next day, 21st May, we had a lovely 4
hour sail back to Turkey and the ancient site of Knidos, at the end of the
Datca peninsula. A rather challenging anchorage, with fine sand over rock made
for a concerned evening in a fresh wind blowing down the bay. We managed a
lovely walk out to the light house overlooking the ancient trireme harbour, back
onboard, to be entertained by a spectacular thunderstorm in the middle of
the night. The next morning we took advantage of a space and
moved to a better spot, before setting off to explore the awesome ruins of a
city once inhabited by a population of 70,000 some 2,000 years ago.A long
morning was followed by a good lunch on the waterfront, and later a second go at
the ruins. A peaceful night followed.
On 23 May we were to enjoy our best sail so far on
a beam reach F5 for the 30 miles to the bay of Cokertme 20 miles east of Bodrum.
We anchored in the north cove with a line ashore and spent two nights swimming,
walking and exploring and were lucky to find a mobile greengrocer truck
supplying a small hotel on the bay having walked 3km up to the village to find
there were no shops there. Cokertme is a beautiful bay with tavernas and jetties
one of which we had dinner at, enjoying the friendly welcome of the proprietor
and the relaxed atmosphere. From Cokertme we motored all of 9 miles to the small
bay of Pabuc and were pleased to discover a sandy beach at the south end with a
gently sloping, mainly sandy bottom with good holding. Here we enjoyed more
swimming, beautiful surroundings but not the close attention of a gullet that
considered we had bagged his place. A re-anchor and line ashore avoided an
international incident and a probable disturbed night.
On 26 May we reached the smart but expensive marina
at Bodrum to do a crew change with sad farewells to Anne and Martin but a
welcome to Charles and Ros. The opportunity was taken to visit the site of the
original mausoleum, once one of the seven wonders of the world, and the
wonderful Museum of Underwater Archeology housed in the imposing castle built by
the Knights of St John who, sadly, used most of the stone and marble from the
mausoleum to build it. The mausoleum frieze,like so many other artifacts from
the sites we have seen, is in the British museum.
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