Marti Marina and Gocek
Arwenofbosham
Rob and Jacky Black
Sat 15 May 2010 10:42
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36 46.2N 28 07.5E
Marti Marina (Marmaris) 10th - 12th
May
We enjoyed our stay at this marina a very low key
and friendly place with good facilities. The swimming pool and restaurant were
excellent and the sea - bathing area
was a temptation to most of us once the winds had
dropped. We made use of the laundry which was efficient and fairly priced - 15
TL for a large bag to be washed and dried
an extra 5TL if you required ironing. A regular
dolmus ran into the main town of Marmaris but we decided not to bother as we
plan to re-visit this area next year.
The party in the evening held at the swimming pool
was lovely with good food and a super musical duo a female singer
/ saxophonist with a chap on keyboard and guitar. They played great
music and it didn't take long for folk to get up to
dance. We also had a super demonstration of some Turkish traditional dancing by
some of the guests and then others joined in so great fun!
We had a longish sail to get to Gocek on the 12th
so we opted to get up early - 0130 and left at 0200. Once we had left the marina
Rob took the first watch and I retired to the foe cabin to get some
sleep.
He had an 'interesting' encounter with an un-lit
fishing boat in the bay - fortunately the boat must have heard our engine
as suddenly it's lights came on some 50 metres from our port bow!
Other than that we had a fairly mundane trip
managing to get some sailing as the afternoon went on but as usual the sun shone
the sea was sparkling blue and life was good!
There had been some confusion regarding the exact
location of the moorings in Gocek so we were pleased to receive the exact
co-ordinates from David on Mashona at the mid day radio
check. On arrival we were met by the 'Joker' boat
(that's what they call the ribs here) and shown to our spot on the pontoon. With
plenty of willing hands to assist us we were soon all tied up
and able to get ashore to the welcome embraces of
our lovely friends Sarah and Rob Bell (Serafina whom we met on the Rally
Portugal) and Lesley and Trevor Thorogood (Kishorn of Ross from Lagos now
crewing on Seraphina).
Needless to say we spent some time catching up with
them and we are looking forward to their company during the rest of the rally.
Some 30 new boats arrived here so we have now expanded to over 50 in the
fleet
loads of new people to get to know!
36 44.7N 28 55.6E
Gocek Marineturk Exclusive Marina 12th - 14th
May
The pontoon where we were placed in Gocek is a new
extension of the existing marina designed for the 'super yacht' market. At the
moment there were few facilities - a small office and brand
new
toilets and showers. There was a free bus into town
and the marina had also organized a trip to some local ancient sites which
we went on. It was a bit different to the other excursions as we were mostly
on
board small river boats. We motored down river
past the ancient rock tombs cut in to the hillside by the ancient civilization
of the Karians dating from 700 BC to 400BC the older ones are just holes in the
rocks
but the newer ones have ornate pillars and
porticos. We visited the ancient capital of this kingdom called Kuanos which at
the time was a centre for trade with an important port now completely silted up
-
the sea can be seen some 5 miles to the south. The
remains of an ancient Theatre and baths are still being excavated and there is
also a small church from the 5th century AD built during the Byzantine
period.
The culmination of the river trip was a chance to
swim on 'Turtle beach' and some people did though there was a bit of a sea mist
and the temperature was a bit low so we opted not to bother! This was followed
by a visit
to the hot springs and mud baths - we declined the
mud but I did have a lovely soak in the hot tub (rather smelly) before we
returned by coach to the marina. There was another cocktail party in the evening
and we had a chance to
meet some of the new participants but as another
early departure was required we only stayed until 2130. In addition the party
was held under a canopy of trees - a real invitation to the
mosquitoes!
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