Photo: Art's first catch -- a beautiful tuna

By mid-September we had reached Knidos, which sits on a headland at the westernmost end of the Datca Peninsula, where the Aegean Sea meets the Mediterranean. From here we turned eastward, cruising for the next two months along the beautiful southern Turkish coast, acclaimed by the tourist industry as the Turquoise Riviera. Our Pilot book refers to this area by its more prosaic but historically relevant name, the Lycian Coast. Following are some excerpts from Sherpa's log.

Tues., Sept 20: Knidos to Datca (20 nm) -
The day started with very light winds, which gradually increased to a nice breeze that allowed us to sail wing-and-wing with just the two foresails. We anchored in the north anchorage of Datca, the only sizable town on the traditionally isolated Hisaronu Peninsula in the southwestern corner of Turkey. A paved road was built here within the past 10 or so years, so it's not nearly as remote or as boat-dependent as formerly. Datca itself is a small tourist town, with a pleasant vibe to it. Here we met up again with our windmill friends (see previous blog entry) for dinner.

Coming off our dinghy with gas can in hand one morning, we met a 50ish couple (he, long-haired Turk; she, blonde Norwegian) sitting on a park bench drinking (he, raki, the Turkish equivalent of Greek ouzo; she, beer) and within minutes of saying hello he'd offered to lend Art his hulking Suzuki motorcycle to drive to the gas station on the outskirts of town. When Art demurred, he offered instead to take Art so off they rode together. By the end of that encounter, we were all old friends and had been invited to their upcoming wedding!

Fri., Sept 23: Datca to Bencik (17 nm east in light, 0-7 knots, variable winds) --
We started out on a broad reach, then with the wind backing we doused the main and flew along on the genoa alone. A jenniker (a large spinnaker-type sail) would have come in handy. We sailed past a huge rock outcropping in the sea with a couple of motorboats nestled in its lee, into Bencik, a narrow fjord-like bay off the Hisaronu Gulf, with tree-covered hills right down to the water's edge. The Pilot describes the red rock landscape here as "resembling the scenery around the Grand Canyon, but on a smaller scale," though this seemed like quite a stretch of the imagination to us.

Fortunately the harbors are getting less and less crowded, almost by the day, as schools start back up across Europe. Now that it's late September, each cruising boat or gulet can usually anchor in its own private cove. "Our" little cove has a T-shaped dock with a swim ladder and a small tree-shaded clearing covered with pine needles. Except for the garbage littering the beach, it looks like an idyllic camping spot. As we prepared to anchor, a fisherman in a wooden rowboat offered to take our stern line ashore and tie it to a tree. To show our appreciation, we happily bought some candied peanuts from his small stock of wares (the peanuts coated with honey and sesame seeds are now Art's hands-down favorite Turkish treat!). He then offered to catch us a fish for dinner; what size did we want? We negotiated a price, and about an hour later he was back with a beautiful 12-inch "lambuca," which he proceeded to scale and gut -- and a delicious dinner it made!

There's a lovely tree-shaded walkway along the water's edge from our cove to a now-defunct vacation villa, where the grounds are still kept up and the old-timey lights along the path are still lit at night. The beach is lined with stately palm trees although the swimming platforms have been pulled ashore and the docks are disintegrating. A German couple on a cruising boat anchored in a nearby cove said it's rumored that the Turkish government plans to build a modern marina here. If so, we're glad to have discovered this little bit of paradise before that happens!

The following day in the heat of the mid-afternoon, a "Good Humor" boat came by selling popsicles and ice cream treats! Still another boat came by with grapes and melons for sale. The water is so warm now that Art joined me for a swim! We could be tempted to stay on here indefinitely, but already we're down to our last half-loaf of bread (and no nearby stores) so we need to think about moving on.

Sun., Sept 25: Bencik to Orhaniye (8 nm)--
We motored in order to charge the somewhat depleted batteries, staying close to shore so as to enjoy the passing scenery. At the head of the Hisaronu gulf, we entered Keci Buku (Keci Bay), continuing past Marti Marina (I've learned that Marti means "seagull" in Turkish), where the former owner had kept "Sherpa" for several winters. We anchored near an islet with the majestic remains of a Byzantine fortress atop it. When we scrambled up the 300-foot-high stone outcropping, we discovered that the islet was populated by a couple of goats and dozens of black rabbits, feasting (when we saw them) on a watermelon rind.

Beyond the anchorage, a shallow sand spit cuts the bay almost in half. At the head of the bay are Mama's Market (well stocked) and a couple of small restaurants (including one with a shelf of free books) that offer docking for boats. We dinghied ashore and walked 2 km to the town of Orhaniye, where we saw only a mosque and school but no market. The town consists of a single row of houses -- with cows, goats and chickens, as well as olive and pomegranate orchards and acres of bee hives, far more in evidence than its human residents.

Tue., Sept 27: Orhaniye to Selimiye (6 nm) --
Again we motored close to the coastline and into Selimiye Buku, another bay at the eastern end of Hisaronu Gulf. We anchored next to a small boat with classic lines flying a Swedish flag. Later we met the owner, Eva, a middle-aged woman who sailed the 29' boat solo from Sweden, motoring through the canals and rivers of Europe, exiting the Danube Delta on the Romanian coast of the Black Sea, then south along the Bulgarian coast, thru the Bosphorus Strait to Istanbul and the Sea of Marmara, through the Dardanelles, and hence south along the western (Aegean) coast of Turkey. Before setting sail, she had invented an enclosed "relaxation float" that never got beyond the prototype stage but ate up her savings. So she earns money as she goes along by giving Swedish massages in touristy locales. Her boat (a Rassy, an early design by Hallberg Rassy) is quite barebones but she's doing what she loves! She was our first dinner guest aboard "Sherpa." Before moving on, we stocked up on fruits and veggies at Orhaniye's small Wednesday market and exchanged some books at the Aurora Restaurant.

Wed., Sept 28: Selimiye to Bozborun (18 nm) --
Along the southern coast of Hisaronu Korfezi are a line of islands, and we motored between these islands and the gulf coast (it's fairly narrow but deep, like a fjord). It reminded me of Glacier Bay in Alaska, minus the glaciers -- very picturesque! At Bozborun, we anchored out rather than tie up in the crowded inner harbor. We saw two gulets under construction here and enjoyed hiking along goat trails in the hills overlooking the sea and the harbor.

In Bozborun, we met our first real American boat! (The many other boats we've seen sporting US ensigns, all proudly displaying Wilmington, DE, as their home port, are owned by tax-evading Turks). Barb and Alan set sail on their lovely 44-foot Bristol from San Francisco 20 years ago. After a temporary "illegal" building fell on their boat while it was on the hard at a marina in Marmaris, they spent two years getting their boat repaired and fighting the "Turkish mafia" (to no avail) to get reimbursed for the damage. At this point, they are clearly fed up with Turkey (and Turks), but I was more than a little abashed when Barb said she'd rather be a Turkish dog than a Turkish woman! They recommended a dentist in Marmaris and an upholsterer for the new boat cushions that we badly need, and Art borrowed a 12-volt soldering gun from them to help with some electrical connections. They run their generator for an hour a day to recharge their batteries and run their water maker (which in an hour turns 20 gallons of sea water into fresh drinking water).

Sat., Oct 1: Bozborun to Sogut (4 nm) --
We sailed around the point and anchored close to shore. We had dinner at a popular seaside restaurant with a boat dock (filled with Turkish families). There's no real town here as far as we could see.

Sun., Oct 2: Sogut to Serce (15 nm) --
We motored and sailed in variable winds. Heavy rain was followed by bright sunshine. We anchored in 50 feet of water fairly near shore at the south end of the bay sporting only a defunct restaurant. We climbed to the top of the rocky promontory, passing stone walls, shacks, and animal enclosures, all long abandoned. There's another anchorage (and maybe some moorings or a restaurant with a dock) at the north end of the bay, which we didn't explore.

En route to Serge, we were just a stone's throw from the Greek island of Simi, but to take the boat there legally we would have to first check ourselves and the boat out of Turkey, upon arrival there obtain a Greek visa and Greek transit log for the boat, and then upon returning to Turkey hire an agent to get our Turkish visa and boat papers in order again. To save the expense and bother, we've heard that many cruisers sail back and forth between the Turkish coast and the nearby Greek islands without bothering with these formalities. Another option is to take a ferry ride to Greece while leaving the boat in Turkey.

Mon., Oct 3: Serce to Ciftlik (15 nm) --
We sailed north on a broad reach with winds from the west, then switched to wing-and-wing with the main and staysail. We'd planned to get to Turunc Buku but got a late start so pulled into Ciflik (although I mistakenly thought until the last minute that we were entering Gerbekse Creek, which we'd already passed). This is further proof that we need a real chart plotter that shows our boat position visually on a chart, and that we can see from the cockpit! Although the Pilot more or less pans it, Citlik is a popular destination for yachts. There are several rather upscale seaside restaurants, each with their own dock, a long sandy beach, a large hotel (already closed for the season), and small vacation cottages.

We anchored off the beach in 50 feet of water, and rocked and rolled in the swell! We climbed up the tower overlooking the harbor (fantastic view!), and culled straps from some trashed life jackets for an outboard motor mount that Art is devising.

Time out in Marmaris (Oct 4-14)-- We sailed from Ciftlik to Marmaris in light, variable winds. We'd spent several weeks in Marmaris in the spring while looking for a boat to buy, so we feel as though we know the town quite well.

We've been cruising on Sherpa for just over a month now, and are really enjoying it. From where we set sail (in Didim) to where we are now (Marmaris), we could have driven in just a few hours. But it's quite a distance when travelling under sail along a convoluted coastline with long gulfs and a myriad of bays and inlets with coves and harbors and towns and hamlets and ancient archaeological sites along the way, all begging to be explored. With no itinerary and no commitments, we've been taking our time and rarely plan more than a day or two ahead.

This time we stayed for 10 days in Marmaris, a tourist town with a "Bar Street" party scene and dozens of trip boats lining the quay, ready to take visitors on day-trips to the nearby beaches and island getaways. More importantly, it has two large marinas and numerous marine supply stores, as well as block after block of small fabrication shops (metal work, etc.) where Art was glad to have some stainless steel parts made for the windlass (an electric gizmo for raising and lowering the anchor) and for a davit he's constructing to enable us to get the outboard motor from the boat to the inflatable dinghy (and back up) more easily. We also bought some LED lights that Art modified for our main saloon/ cabin reading lights (they're both brighter and far more energy efficient than the bulbs they replaced) and hung a string of 12-volt mini-LEDs in the cabin, which provides a pleasant light while using very little battery power.

At West Marine, we bought a little apparatus that you can attach to a winch to make it self-tailing. Somewhat to our surprise, it actually works and Art is now able to raise the mainsail much more easily. While here, Art also restuffed the stuffing box (a grease joint where the propeller attaches to the engine), which was starting to leak. This wouldn't normally be a difficult task except that, to reach it, Art has to contort himself into a space behind the engine that is just a bit smaller than he is. He says this was the first time he ever wished that he didn't have legs! :)

While in Marmaris, we hung out a bit with Ertan, a Turkish guy we'd met previously who acts as tout for a boat that takes tourists on day-trips around the nearby islands for sightseeing and swimming. We also spent time with his expat friends Michelle and Keith (she, from South Africa; he, a Brit), who live in Marmaris and help out on the boat trips. Art showed Ertan the fishing gear we have, and he gave Art some pointers on catching fish while under sail and at anchor. Specifically, he advised that the lure should trail in the wake of the boat, advice that we took and soon thereafter caught a lovely tuna (pictured above)!

While in Marmaris Art had some dental work done (a couple of new crowns and a bridge), for which he paid Dr. Dennis 850 Turkish lira, or about $500. Now he's even thinking of getting implants while in Turkey! Incidentally, we've met several British cruisers who say they get all their dental work done here because it's high quality but very inexpensive compared to what they'd pay back home.

We've also lucked out because the Turkish lira has fallen nearly 20% in relation to the dollar since the beginning of the year so, as long as we stay and spend our money here, we're that much ahead.

While in Marmaris harbor we experienced our first real storm, with winds up to 40 knots and choppy 4-foot seas! We naively failed to take action when we noticed that nearly all the sailboats in the anchorage had left, and we ended up being tossed around in a raging storm for 36 hours (two sleepless nights!) before the storm abated enough that we could move the boat a short distance to a more sheltered cove. The only other sailboat that hadn't skedaddled before the storm (a Turkish boat with nobody aboard) dragged anchor and was washed ashore by the storm; we tried to alert the Coast Guard but couldn't get through to anybody either by VHF radio or telephone. Hopefully we'll be a bit wiser and more proactive the next time gale warnings are forecast. We're told this storm is a harbinger of winter weather, when gale-force winds are not uncommon and it often rains for days on end. Up until last week, we'd had six months with hardly a drop of rain.

While anchored in a cove off the main harbor in Marmaris, we made a point of meeting the Brits aboard "Shamal," a boat that our friend Wendy had sailed in convoy with from Dubai and up the Red Sea last spring. The two boats set sail together shortly after the four Americans aboard "Quest" had been taken hostage, and killed, by Somali pirates in those same waters (in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Oman). After we were invited aboard Shamal and offered a "cuppa," I again mentioned Wendy and how much I'd enjoyed reading Shamal's blog; when our new friend looked increasingly puzzled, we all realized this was a case of mistaken identity -- i.e., another British boat with the same name! However, we're glad we met the owner of this "Shamal" since he showed us his GPS "mouse," which he purchased through Amazon for $35, and enables the chartplotter program on his computer to track the progress of his boat. This is just what we need since the Garmin GPS, which came with the boat and works fine, refuses to communicate with our chart-plotting program. (We later purchased this same mini-GPS, and had Alexi bring it from the States when we met her in Egypt at Christmastime, and it works beautifully.)

For our further adventures along the Turquoise Riviera, continue to the previous blog posting (since they're posted in reverse chronological order -- most recent postings at the top).