It was a very hot day and by the time we had negotiated all manner of craft moored in the picturesque bay of Ilici Bükü to set our anchor for the night, we had worked up a decent sweat. To our surprise and delight, an enterprising guy selling ice creams from his boat was spotted nearby and a sharp whistle brought him alongside for a round of ice creams. The heat is toning our appetites down and often we do not eat through the middle of the day. Once all was settled on board, we cooled off by snorkelling along the rocky shore. However we had to be a little cautious because there were some crazy skippers going far too fast in the crowded bay. The beach was small but was clearly frequented by the locals as well as the yachties. Very large cruisers and Turkish gulets were anchored a little further out of the bay and they too were using their flash tenders to ferry guests ashore to kick some sand. As the heat of the day passed, so too, the day trippers dissipated and we were on our own for the night....just what we wanted! By the light of the moon, we dined on a chicken and capsicum dinner, washed down with plenty of local vino.
It's Saturday now and Sue's birthday! We did our best to spoil our birthday girl and that's not hard to do, as Sue is so appreciative of everyone and everything. We all joined her for another swim to shore which was simply glorious. Breakfast followed with a serving of summer fruits and yoghurt followed by eggs, a spicy Turkish concoction of goat (?) meat ( bought at the market) and sweet, sweet tomatoes, all laid out on our beautiful new Turkish tablecloth, chosen by the guys. We relaxed and let Sue enjoy all her greetings from home and then timed our departure for when the next load of day trippers were arriving.
Another beautiful sail further south on a stiff breeze delivered us quickly to Palmarina Yalikavak marina, which was strongly recommended by John and Myra. Unfortunately we were directed to a berth on the first finger directly in front of the entry, thus providing us with no protection from the strong meltemi. We managed to moor snugged up against the adjacent yacht, but as we had been given a mooring line attached to the same mooring block as that yacht, Trilogy was screwed to starboard and was not sitting straight in the pen. On the port side was a small space and we were directed to maintain our position, as there would be another boat squeezed in, and thankfully that was a smaller yacht.
We were keen to do the laundry, but alas, that wasn't to be. We lugged it beyond the marina to a recommended laundry as the marina laundry was closed, but the lady was far too busy to meet our time frame. This is a huge marina, which accommodates the super yachts and their owners! The word billionaire is appropriate here with shiny, gleaming, ritzy, glamour, gold and plush appropriate descriptors. The shopping strip had beautiful goods matched by beautiful prices, but it was fun to wander and window shop. Peter chose a Versace dress for Sue, but Sue thought better of trying it on! We celebrated Sue's birthday with a beautiful seafood dinner at Sait Restaurant, seated at an outer table protected from the wind and sea, by a glass barrier. Expensive cars kept cruising past, heading along the break wall to the Billionaire Club. You certainly can feel the wealth in Turkey at places like this. The wind kept up through the night and the guys needed to be vigilant. It was evident that the forward mooring concrete block had moved.
Next morning the wind had dropped enough for us to leave Trilogy in search of coffee and croissants, which wasn't to be, even though the signage had been promising. Cappucinnos were available but definitely no croissant. Then it was off to the Billionaires Beach, for a swim and cocktails in the horizon pool....very very nice, but the 'special' cocktails were oh so very very expensive. Lucky we stopped at one each! We wrapped ourselves in thick white fluffy towels embossed with the Moët logo by the pool and relaxed for a while in the glorious sunshine, but the incessant meltemi was picking up again.
Back at Trilogy, it was clear that the concrete mooring block had dragged further and that the weight of the two yachts exceeded its capacity. Trilogy was at high risk of being damaged and we quickly prepared to depart, but that proved to be a big challenge in the ever increasing westerly. The lesson learnt is never accept a marina berth that is exposed to the meltemi. Finally free of the marina, we felt relieved and headed around the point to the protected harbour at Gümüslük.
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