Gocek in the Gulf Of Fethyie is good for the soul. It is a peaceful, beautiful, delightful and relaxing place to be. Following our goings on of the previous few days, we decided to spend some time tied up in a marina, with a few creature comforts to boot. Time to calm down and reflect on what had happened over the past week or so.
Provisions were taken on board in readiness for the impending visit of my cousins Gary, Susan and partners Deb and Martin. They arrived late Wednesday evening and following a leisurely breakfast in Gocek, we headed out into the bays. A very pleasant sail brought us to a favorite bay of ours (see picture), where we managed to get a spot tucked up into the sheltered corner with 2 lines ashore. Of course having crew on board meant that Dorothy was able to prevaricate long enough to ensure that cousin Gary took the first line ashore to ensure Aurora safe and secure. Second line on, and what was intended as a lunch stop, turned into an overnight stay at anchor looking up at the stars. New crew settled in well to life aboard a 42 foot boat. It is cosy to say the least. The following morning, a decision made to sail off came unstuck with Aurora once more playing silly sausages. The warning alarm sounded, indicating that the batteries were not being charged from the alternator.Engine stopped (again!!!). During the winter I had had the alternator serviced , so was none too happy at this turn of events. As it happened, I also had my spare alternator serviced at the same time...so....spare alternator located in its nice little box in one of my 'spares' cupboard.!!! Cousin Gary being an all round good egg and master of many trades, checked the connections, made a change to one of the wires and on went the spare alternator. The engine fired up and the batteries were charging ... Crisis averted and we were able to head off to our next port of call. Tomb bay, aptly named of course as there are a number of rock tombs in the cliff face, a beautiful mooring with a splendid jetty with restaurant attached!
The following day, heading out with 25knot winds, a few hours of sailing with possibly too much sail hoisted ensured plenty of smiley faces and white knuckles from hanging onto the side. Gary had a turn at the wheel...Martin flatly refused ...claiming he was saving all his strength to winch down our very large genoa. A job he did with gusto and not a single complaint... Not too far into the afternoon, the wind speeds were increasing and discretion being the better part of valour, it was decided to seek somewhere to hide. Luckily, we happened across a mooring buoy in a bay called 'Deep Bay' (no prizes for guessing the derivation). My expert crew managed to apprehend the buoy and tie us on in record time. Patting themselves on the back they then watched another crew fail miserably half a dozen times to perform the same manouevre. Another night in the bay having a very pleasant time with a game of cards and a bit of star watching concluding the evening.
Winds came up again in the afternoon, even stronger than the day before. However, skipper largely spoiled the fun by heavily reefing the sails. Similar sailing speeds but without all the hooting and a hollering. What followed, does not go down on my list of proud moments at the wheel category. Coming into Kappi Creek, winds whistled across the beam. Rather than tell the marineres where I would like to moor my boat in such conditions, I tried to reverse into a space unfit for the conditions. As a result, we got very chummy with another boat already moored up as my keel just caught the line from the front of his boat. We had to be pulled out of the mess I had created as the winds continued to push us where I could not extricate ourselves. Free from his line, I reversed to our intended spot upon where my trusty crew proceeded to throw both stern lines in the water...rather than to the nice gentleman who would attach us to terra firma. Fortunately, Gary had taken the lazy line and attached us ....I was trying to stop us drifting into the shallows...at which point a line wrapped itself round the propeller and stopped the engine. Hmmmm...a jump to the back and the line re-thrown, caught....and attached. All good. Phew. Lovely evening in the restaurant chatting with our friend Mehmet the owner who had taken a real shine to Debbie.
Last day of the visit, a great sail over to Fethyie and the lovely place that is the Yacht Classic hotel. Showers taken...visit to the pool...bar...and restuarant to conclude a lovely lovely week. A few giggles, some great sailing and great company.

On the motor (as the promised winds did not appear), we motored 80% of the way from Cockertime to Dacca. The slight breeze behind us until a bit of wind in the early afternoon, helped us make 6 knots and a pleasant trip to Datca. Datca is new to us this trip and it has nipped up the list of favorite places to tie up. The town quay is delightful and Erman (the tying up chap) is very smiley and helpful. The night of our arrival coincided with Galatasaray (Turkish football team in Istanbul) being crowned champions of the Turkish football league. It is clear that there are an awful lot of Galatasaray supportes in Datca as the whole town appeared to be in the main square , with brass bands, flares, loudhailers, the whole shooting match of noise. I found it hard to understand really, in UK terms, it would be like having a massive party in Clacton-On-Sea to celebrate Arsenal winning the league...it would not happen, lets face it. A couple of days spent in Datca, replenishing stocks and buying a few essentials, fresh dates...wooden spoons etc etc.
From Datca, we made our way to an isolated bay called Serce Limani. Again (and very frustratingly) the promised winds did not appear, so another day on the motor, albeit a much shorter day than our previous venture. Serce Limani is quite a place as I have mentioned in previous blogs, a natrual harbour with an entrance of maybe 40 metres at most,opening out into a turquoise lagoon. There is nothing of antiquity in the lagoon as you might expect , it being such a protected natural harbour. Reading of its history, the reason it was not used as a harbour are the vicious swirling winds at the entrance, which for modern boats with an engine, is no problem, but for ancient sailing vessels with possibly a few oars for extra mobility, the resulting entry to the harbour could frought with problems.
Reading the weather forecast, we decided to hold off making the 50 mile trip across to the Gulf of Fethyie to the following day to catch the promised winds. Wednesday morning, we were up and off and sure enough, no wind at all. On the motor again, sea flat calm, we made steady progress. Early afternoon, I noticed a Turkish warship in close proximity. I switched on the VHF (I know it should be on all the time!)...there was a lot of traffic on channel 16, which is the channel everyone listens to as this is the 'call up' channel. Listening to all the calls, I heard a call somethong like "This is Turkish warship.....Unknown Sailing vessel...heading 090...speed 5.5 knots...can you hear me" . Now this fitted our description as close as damn it. I called back and identified ourselves and enquired if there was a problem. "This is Turkish warship...what are your intentions?" . I told him that we were headed to the Gulf Of Fethyie, to which he said "This is Turkish warship...Can you go any faster?"....at this point Dorothy suggested telling him, no , we cannot go any faster....but thank you for asking. In hindsight, this would probably have been a good thing to say because what actually happened was...I increased our speed and in doing so, blew the hose we had previous problems with. So....water in the boat yet again....engine off...sea cock off...in the middle of nowhere, no wind , no engine and the flipping Turkish warship captain giving me earache over the VHF. "This is Turkish warship...you have stopped"...well lets be honest, not much gets past the Turkish navy!!!. I explained my tiny little problem, to which he said "This is Turkish warship...can you put up your sails and proceed please"......"Sailing vessel Aurora here...I would love to put up my sails, but there is no wind (in brackets Grrrrrrrrr)"...the sea was like a mill pond but with a large swell (a result of a storm to the South). "This is Turkish warship....can you fix your problem and proceed please as you must vacate the area"..."Sailing vessel Aurora...I need to fix the problem".."Turkish warship...how long will you be?"......by this time I was none too pleased with my chum in his Turkish warship....on top of which, the hose was refusing to reattach to the engine. On inspection, it was worn and mishaped. Eventually, hose reattached, engine restarted...."Sailing Vessel Aurora here. We are under way again" "Turkish warship here...you must leave the area at once...course 220 degrees."......220 degrees !!!!..completely the wrong direction , back towards Greece (Rhodes town)...eventually, after 2 hours motoring and in the wrong direction, we were 8 miles off Rhodes and I radioed the "TURKISH WARSHIP"..after 1 mile more, he said, you can head North ...oh and by the way...do not come this way tomorrow as we will be shooting and messing about (not his exact words). After almost 12 hours on the engine, we made landfall again, barely 10 miles along the coast from where we had started, not one of our better days at sea came to a close , moored up next to a host of boats who had had the same experience with the "TURKISH WARSHIP".
A day spent moored up, tested the repair made at sea, all looked good for the next day and the promised winds. Woke up next day 0600, check the repair...drip... drip... drip...oh heck! Back to square one, what to do next? All sorts of scenario played out. At least we were safely moored up. Dorothy suggested that there are spare parts on this boat for every conceivable eventuality, so off we went, checking all the little homes we have for our spare parts. I did recollect having come across hoses at some point but I had not remebered if we had this specific part. No sign of the 'bit' we neeed as we came to the last large white plastic case (I do not exagerate...the very last case)...opened up the case....not one spare...but two...with the original part number embossed on their sides. Oh happy days. After much cajoling (definate design flaw here) , the new hose was firmly attached and pressure tested. ALL GOOD! Setting off 2 hours after intended, heading out into the bay, the wind was gradually increasing as we went along. The sails were set as the wind whistled off the aft beam, 40 nautical miles later on the same tack, averaging 7 knots, a change of tack ...and the final 10 nm into Gocek...a splendid sail which made up for the travails of the previous couple of days. Mooring up at Skopea marina in the sunshine, the crew of Aurora felt much happier than of late. Time to relax as we wait for visitors 2 days hence.

A short sail of a couple of hours brought us from Cleopatra's beach (I doubt it myself), but let not the facts get in the way of a good story (and money making opportunity)...ask the good folk of Loch Ness.....to the safe haven of Karcasasogut. Here, we were able to stock up with some essentials, having singularly failed in the provision of beer previously. It was also a chance to catch up with my great nephew, partner Lauren and great great nephew Archie. Staying in Marmaris for a week , they were able to join us for the day as Marmaris by road was only 20 minutes by taxi across the ithsmus. Arriving early in the day, it was possible to get out for a pleasant sail before a swim stop in a spot called English Harbour. This amazinly secluded little inlet, by all accounts was used by the British in the second world war, where they hid a selection of torpedo boats with which to annoy the Germans. Apparently the Turks at the time were neutral and turned a blind eye to these goings on. In fact, Turkey declared war on Germany in 1945, just when they realised , the German army was going down the tubes so to speak.
Dropping Alex,Lauren and Archie back in Sogut, they were able to get a taxi back to Marmaris in time for Archie's bed and Alex's trip out to watch Leeds V Derby....never mind Alex , there is always next year. Aurora headed back to English Harbour where a peaceful night was spent in idyliic surroundings (complete with recently purchased beer).
Following morning, we sailed furthur along the coast and picked up an anchorage in an ever increasing blow. At this point, we were able to pickup an internet connection as we had been too remote the night before. A quick check meant a change in plan as 6/7 force winds were due the following day and we did not want to be in this particular corner of the gulf for 2 days unable to get out. Setting sail for the North coast of the gulf meant we could get a good sail, and so it proved with Aurora beating against the wind at 8 knots.
Approaching the shelter of Coekertme, the engine on and the sails down as we had slipped a little down the coast a little, things got a little bit ticklish. That was not a good aroma emanating from down below.This noticed as Dorothy went below to switch off the inverter, only for her to disappear in a cloud of smoke. Whilst I bang on about water in the boat, well, fire in the boat is even worse. Fortunately, the sails were safely away, so, Dorothy back up top and I went down to investigate. Water was being sprayed about as a result of a hose becoming detached, the water spraying onto hot electrics provided the smoke...but no fire. I switched off the engine and got into the engine compartment (now a tiny paddling pool) and managed to close off the main sea-cock (hole in bottom of boat). We hoisted a bit of sail in order to get to water shallow enough to drop the anchor. Dorothy began waving at anyone who might see us as there were quite a few boats about. As things calmed down a little as the situation was now under control, a guardian angel appeared in a rather large rib. Turned out his name was Appo and was the part owner of one of the beach restaurants. A quick chat and he offered to tow us onto one of his mooring buoys. After a bit of a struggle against what were now strengthening winds , we were safely attached to a mooring buoy having narrowly avoided a rather nice and expensive Lagoon catamaran. And breath. Investigation below, showed the impeller (only 1 and 1/4 seasons old) had disintegrated. This is a tiny (but very very important) rubber wheel which sucks in cold water from the sea and dispenses it round the engine to keep the engine cool (and running), operating too long without said impeller and the engine goes bang. As it happens, there are a good supply of said tiny rubber wheelson board and before I coud do anything, Appo was in the engine compartment, fixing a new one. Note to self...new impeller each season. Once fitted, the engine leapt back to life running at its normal temperature. (phew)
We decided to stay put the next day, get all the water from the boat and check no other damage had been caused by the destructive little rubber wheel. So far so good. We bounced about on the mooring buoy all day as the promised winds ripped through, despite us being in the lea of a hefty looking set of hills. A walk into the hills 2km up to the local village gave us something else to think about.
Now Sunday and we are headed back out of the gulf of Gekova, a beautiful place and one to which we will return I am sure, if only to see Appo again and visit his glorious restaurant. Setting off at 0600 with the aim of getting to Datca before the close of play. Engine running smoothly as I gaze intently at it.

That Cleopatra existed, there is little doubt. One of the most famous queens in ancient history, the queen of Egypt certainly existed. Her beauty is legend, she almost certainly was 'a bit of a girl' ;-) She had a fling with Caesar (and a child apparntly) and when she got fed up with him, she took up with Mark Anthony. Up to this point, all looked rosy for Mark Anthony, a devilishly smart general but maybe not a friend you might wish for (ask Caesar about that), however, when he took up with Cleopatra, he sort of took his eye off the ball somewhat and ended up losing the trust of his army/navy who largely defected off to Octavian (soon to become emperor Augustus) who promptly gave him a proper thumping. Mark Anthony took a dim view of this and summararily topped himself. Such was the charms of Cleopatra. The point of this blog is the fact that here in Turkey, there are numerous claims that she 'was here'. There are Cleopatra's baths (more than one), Cleopatra's steps and so on. Bearing in mind that Cleopatra lived in an age before Easyjet and Ryanair, she certainly got about a bit. Which leads us to today. Sitting in the gulf of Gokova, we find ourselves in yet another 'Cleopatra was here' place. Here we have a stunningly beautiful setting, overlooking 'Castle Island' which by all accounts, contains 'Cleopatra's Beach'. It is said she spent a good amount of time here, and who could blame her if it were true, the scenery is something else. By all accounts, the sand on said 'Cleopatra's Beach' has been scientifically tested and it is said that the constituents of the sand are alligned with the type of sand you might find in the Sahara desert (just outside Cleopatra's house) and not from around here (as it happens there are few beaches here as the mountains largely rise straight up from the water) . The story JUST maybe true that she had the sand shipped all the way from Egypt, in order that she could sit on her sun lounger on a nice sandy beach, sipping her sundowners. If it is not true , then it jolly well should be.
The picture associated with this blog is of what was once a substantial residence on the island, and almost certainly patronised by the queen herself if all the stories are true. This always makes he smile....all those years ago...wouldn't it be great just to see how it was, Cleopatra nipping off to her beach for a swim.
As you can imagine, the local tourist industry is in NO DOUBT whatsoever as to the authenticity of this story and as a result, an armada of tripper boats appear each day. The bay we had to ourselves last night is filling up fast :-)

Following our very unpleasant night and morning at the mercy of storm "Bugger" (all storms need a name)...arriving into Bozburun harbour was a blessed relief. We made contact with the man mountain Gurkan (who normally makes light of our customs requirements) and spent a pleasant day sleeping off the night before. Now, I am not one to complain ( I leave that to Crew No 1), but the wind apps that I am using on this journey are beginning to get my goat. We decide wht to do based on the forecast for the next couple of days. Sadly, the forecasts so far have been wildly inaccurate. Indeed , storm "Bugger" did not appear on either of the forecast that I looked at ...grrrrrr. Having said all that, when you speak to the locals, they all to a man comment on the fact that the weather has gone kind of crazy for the time of year. It is certainly much cooler than in our previous experience at the time of year. Whilst I understand, it does not help us plan i.e to sail with the wind. At times the wind has been blowing 180 degrees in the opposite direction to what was forecast.
More (much more) importantly as far as Crew No 1 is concerned, the sea temperature is eye wateringly cold when it comes into contact with certain tender body parts. The air temperature is quite cool as I mentioned and the constant winter rains I guess have made for a cool sea.
The winter rains here in Turkey, have , by all accounts been pretty spectacular. The results of the winter rains from a scenery point of view are quite marked. Normally by this time of year, the hills and mountains are starting to take on the scorched brown appearance we are used to. However, this year, the whole coastline looks like it has got a pleasant little green hair crew cut, and I must say, it looks quite spectacular in a different sort of way from usual.
Our progress from Bozburun took us to a town named Datca 20 nm north west. It is always good to get to a new area and Datca did not disappoint. Excellent mooring on the town key with those little luxuries that make life on board more agreeable....Electric...Water...Toilet Pump Out, indeed a glamorous life we lead. Datca is clearly a Turkish holiday desination, and as such, was beginning to pull itself together in readiness for the new summer on its way. A point of note, Datca provided us with the best Turkish baklava to date. This is worth mention as baklava forms a great part of the afternoon cuppa whilst on board Aurora.
From Datca (one night stay), we headed West towards Knidos , predicted wind on the beam (Good sail)....actual wind 90 degrees out ...on the nose (No Sail :-( ), so a day on the motor, we arrived at Knidos, the 2,500 year old remnants of a thriving maritime haven and well worth a read about if you have trouble sleeping at night.
The following day we headed to Bodrum (ancient Halicarnassus)..a brisk morning sail petered out to a flat calm only for the wind to pick up rather briskly as we arrived in Bordrum. The anchorage under the castle of St Peter was very pretty indeed, sadly the wind was now blowing so hard we decided against the ticklish problem of getting the patchwork quilt (aka Dinghy) to join up with the outboard. An afternoon and night on board is not the worst thing that can happen. The anchorage proved to be well within range of the blessed BOOM BOOM bars, who rather kindly dispensed their 'music' until 4am the following morning. As far as I could tell, they played the same song for almost 6 hours!! ( I must be getting old)...in addition to this, a swell developed and a pretty miserable night was had by all. A calmer morning (a bit) allowed us to get the dinghy up and running and we spent a very pleasant few hours wandering around Bodrum. Certainly the busiest place we have visited in these parts. And of course , walking the streets, you are constantly been offered bargain Polo, La Coste etc etc , genuine fakes we are assured. Busy busy busy...decision made, back onto Aurora and find a quiet bay somewhere. This we did, and spent a blissful evening and night with the sea mirror calm and only a couple of yachts for company.

First week of the 2019 season !!! Arrived Marmaris late into the evening of 30th April. As usual, we trasferred by taxi because of the late arrival. As usual, we booked a car for three passengers , as this is the smallest vehicle you can have...and not unusually...our driver turned up with a luxury 14 seat mini bus. Try as we might, we can only occupy 2 seats at any one time, perhaps they are suggesting I go on a diet.
Arriving late with a plan to get Aurora back into the water the very next day, it was decided to spend a night on the boat whilst she rested on stilts in the boatyard, no lights, no water and a rickety ladder to ascend to our beds. Dorothy-Anne took all this adversity in her stride as you can imagine, not a word of complaint, neer a grumble, a real stalwart. It may be the industrial strenght cotton wool i had in my ears, but all was quiet. On the upside, our man in Marmaris (Ali) had arranged for the boat to be cleaned inside. Normally what happens ,is, we leave the boat in pristine condition in October before we leave only to return to a jumble sale of a boat after Ali's men have done winter works. Not on this occasion, and we were very happy that this was the case. As it happens, 2 nights were spent on the boat on the hard, indeed , it was possible we might have had to spend an extra night on the hard...at this point the decibel levels increased from my trusty crew...and as it happened, Aurora was launched on time. However, the launch did not pass without incident, which is becoming a bit of habit following last years debacle. Aurora was plopped back into the water using the huge hoist they have in the yard. Once in the water, the lift team give you a little time to ensure that the dreaded sea water is not making its way to the inside of the boat....as I have pointed out previously "Water outside boat GOOD...Water inside boat VERY BAD"...this set of checks passed off with the thumbs up , in fact I am thinking of getting one of those big sponge thumbs to wear for such a happy time. Next up...operation start the engine for the first time since October last year....GREAT...engine starts...OH NO!!!...water not being circulated round the engine cooling system, and possily worse, a broken impeller now spreading its broken bits and bobs around the water said cooling system, not good...SO!!!.....turn off engine immediately. At this point, I notice the rudder will not turn an inch. This situation is not enviable I have to say...boat not running...and even if it were I would only be unable to steer it in a very wide circle. A quick phone call to my man in Marmaris (Ali) and my knight in shining armour A.K.A Emin appears. The engine problem was due to an air-lock...and now I have seen how to remedy this situation, in future, I will be able to solve this problem myself. However, the steering mechanism proved to be a tougher nut to crack and it meant Emin returning the following day with a goodly supply of grease and a set of very big spanners. If the said spanners and grease did not work the Aurora would be out of the water once more...and we would be looking at a costly repair and £500 extra dosh for the lift fees. luckily...the cheaper option worked and the rudder is now performing the function it was intended (thank heavens). Next winter, however, may result in more work being undertaken to sort out the problem once and for all. As Emin said...."it's not very bad now....but it's not very good either", it's safe...thats all that matters.
Aurora was now fit and ready for her temporary berth prior to our departure. All the other pre-departure checks and works passed off without incident. We caught up with many of our fellow annual returnees, which is always nice. 3 days were spent with Dorothy working in the library (someone has to pay for all that grease and spanner wielding) and me getting all the bits and bobs done prior to departure.
Finally, at 06:00 on the 6th May we set out...the boat was fine for the short passage (6 hours) to aincient Lorrymer along the coast from Marmaris where we find ourselves now, looking up at battlements 2000+ years old.
The weather has been unsettled since our arrival and looks like continuing for the next few days. Aurora is going to recieve further episodes of being tossed about like a cork in a bucket.
A postscript to this blog, we spent THE most uncomfortable night we have ever had tied to the restaurant jetty in Lorrymer, truly awful, with much messing with ropes through the night in an effort to stop Aurora being bashed into the jetty to which we were tied. A couple of hours sleep were afforded and we escaped at 05:45 as light broke....and fortunately Aurora was still in one piece...despite our best efforts on leaving...almost resulting in us getting over familiar with our neighbours. Disaster averted, we headed out into mountaineous grey seas, where we made slow progress head into the wind. Apart from the howling wind and the noise of Aurora bashing into the waves (some of which halting our progress completely)...the boat was very quiet with not much conversation being had. I could tell Dorothy was contemplating the benefits of boating, which at the time did not appear to be many....a couple of hours of slow progress before changing course lightened the mood a little as we finally managed to get the sails up and proceeded to the safe harbour which is Bozburun, not our intended destination, but as they say in these parts "any port in a storm"