Departed Marmaris about 9:15 for the 45 nm cruise along the mountains ‘Turquoise Coast” of southern Turkey. Had the main up for a little lift from the light SE breeze. The re-pitched prop worked great! (The yard in Tunisia had taken the highly technical Variprop apart and were unable to put it back together correctly, even after hitting it with a hammer!). SMG was 6.2 knots.
We arrived at our destination of Fethiye about 1630 where a marina zodiac met us at the entrance, disembarked a staff person onto Necessity’s deck and led us to our berth where we were secured expertly bows-to on a laid line. $92 New Turkish Lira per night, hydro, water & WiFi included. The facilities ashore are superb. We have had to adjust our washroom/shower rating scale. Fethiye is defiantly the new ten!
We are surrounded by magnificent snow capped mountains rising to 2000 meters. This is part of the Taurus range and home to the ancient Lycians – a fierce race who on two occasions fought to the last person rather than submit to foreign rule.
Fethiye contains an amazing number of shops, numerous restaurants, an old bazaar, many chandleries and a fleet of Turkish Gulets.
A gulet is an all wooden handcrafted motor sailing yacht equipped with 1 or 2 masts, built for cruising the Mediterranean Coast. Gulets were originally used by fishermen and sponge divers to transport their catch. Today they have been luxuriously re-designed especially for yachting holidays. The classic gulet has a rounded aft, low-to-the-water profile and roomy hull.
We will be exploring much more Fethiye’s charms over the next few days.