Sigacik
Arwenofbosham
Rob and Jacky Black
Thu 29 Apr 2010 08:20
|
38 11.52N 26 46.9E
24th - 30th April
We left Kusidasi on Saturday morning - hoisted the
main and motor-sailed north west. The wind was as usual almost on the
nose
so no chance of trying out the 'cruising chute' -
something we had been planning on doing if the conditions were right. We
saw
very little in the way of other craft a couple of
fishing boats and later as we neared the coastline a few yachts. It saddened to
see so much in the way of rubbish floating past us
in particular plastic bags! We decided to head for
the new marina at Sigacik 33 miles from Kusidasi.
There were a few sheltered coves and off lying tiny islands as we
approached
the bay and we noticed a couple of yachts at anchor
too. On arrival we stopped to lower the main sail and found the 'prop' to be
playing up again we applied the 'Graham' cure - revved
up and it seemed to clear so we proceeded into the
marina where we were met by a 'boat-man' in a rib who escorted us to a berth.
The place was almost empty but has lovely new
floating pontoons with lazy lines and water
and electric stands at every berth (though there is no power supply turned on
yet). The rest of the site is being finished off rapidly with
men working from dawn to dusk. No toilets or
showers functioning yet but the landscaping is coming on with palm trees and
shrubs being planted and glass being inserted in to all the
windows and doors - it certainly will be an
impressive place once finished and we will look forward to visiting again. We
met the two girls from the office who walked over to welcome us
and later we were presented with a 'welcome' pack
which has baseball caps and other goodies in a small waterproof
rucksack!
The small town is delightful totally un-spoilt with
some small shops and cafes all set within and
around a ruined ancient castle wall and the old fishing harbour.
We had a good wander through little alleyways and
found several cafes and a waterfront decked area quite crowded
with people eating (mostly fish) chosen from a cold
display and then cooked on open BBQs at the various restaurants.
Later we were visited by a guy called David from
Australia who was kind enough to give us the
'low-down' on where things were etc.
David has wintered his boat (Sahula) here and
although not on board all of the time did spend some months here so was a 'mine of information'.
We have had a true Meltemi blowing for several days
now and had to put extra lines out as well as more fenders on the stern. However
the sun has been out everyday and it is still
warm - out of the wind. We managed a few more
chores - in particular cleaning the inside of the boat, fixing a leak on one of
the heads and the 'fridge surround has been re- sealed.
We have also met a rather 'famous' Turkish
sailor called Ozkan who has sailed round the world in his 8 metre boat -
Kayitsiz 3, which he mostly built himself. He and David first met in
Australia and
sailed in company through Indonesia and the Arabian
gulf , through the Red Sea and all the way to Turkey.We have enjoyed hearing
about some of the wonderful places they visited. David
recommended a small cafe where we had our first 'Turkish' supper - tiny ravioli filled with meat
covered in yoghurt with some harrissa sauce dotted across the top. Later we went to the large cafe
called Universite which seems to be open
all day and evening serving wonderful hot savory
and sweet snacks and copious glasses of Turkish' tea.
They bake on the premises and so we now walk over
there every morning to choose something for lunch
or get bread for a late breakfast.
In addition it has free WIFI so we can check out
emails and of course get this blog sent off.
Hope the wind drops on Friday so we can sail up to
Cesme.
|