Thursday, 11th of September and we had a great sail today from Pandeli Bay on Leros down to Kalymnos. On arrival at the quay we were waved in by a fellow in a high-viz vest who then helped us to tie up. He then requested €5 for his troubles. We later had our thoughts confirmed that he was not the official quay master but just running his own little scam; you have to give him points for initiative.

After we settled in and replenished our food and water supplies we went to Stukas taverna to catch up with our friend Pantelis, we enjoyed a drink on the terrace and then decided to treat ourselves to dinner as this is our last evening in Greece for this year, but we will be back!

Its Friday 11th September and time for us to check out of Greece.. Francis set off with all of our passports and papers to do the rounds of police, customs and port police (in that order) while Chris waited for the diesel truck which was supposed to deliver at 9.00. After waiting for 1.5 hours Chris tracked down the real quay master and he made a phone call which resulted in a truck arriving 10 minutes later.

Francis returned with all our passports containing exit stamps and all paperwork had been done, including paying the five Euro 'departure tax', so we are clear to go. Kathy and Charlie went to the Kalymnos sponge shop and bought a genuine sponge and Kathy also presented us with a beautiful basil pot plant (middle-top photo) so we now have fresh basil wherever we go. We'll think of you every time we harvest a couple of basil leaves.

Time to wave goodbye to Greece as we make our way over to Turgutreis to check into Turkey. Again we had perfect sailing conditions and Clio scooted us across in good time. After a couple of phone calls and some fun trying to speak to someone who speaks English, we had ourselves an agent to take us through the process of checking us and Clio into Turkey.

After tying up alongside we went along to the air conditioned customs office 20 metres away. After visiting the duty free shop and acquiring some very reasonably priced alcoholic beverages we happily waited in the cool while papers and people came and went. After an hour (the custom guys were on their lunch break) and down €130, we were legally entered into the land of the Turks. We got away from the marina as quickly as we could to prevent having to pay the very high (compared to Greece) marina fees, unfortunately so common in Turkey.

We then anchored out in the bay while we took Chloe ashore to get our prepaid wifi and phones charged up with Turkcell credit. On the way back, we also found a very good Turkish ice cream shop and had to indulge. After getting back to Clio we decided to get away from the town and went back over to the beautiful Catal island to anchor for the night. We had a quick swim and snorkel and checked the anchor.
Kathy prepared a delicious meal of pasta salad for us (bottom left photo), as Kathy and Charlie are vegetarians we are enjoying the experience of a meat free diet and it is good.

All the day trippers gradually upped anchor and headed back to town and the loud music that commonly surrounds motor boats faded away.... until a gullet arrived full of young people and loud music. They went ashore and built a couple of huge bonfires and partied loudly into the night. After they left, we enjoyed a quiet 5 minutes. Then a boat with cleaners arrived that had switched on their stereo loud enough so they could hear it 75 m away where they were cleaning the previous party area until around 2 in the morning. We were also expected to enjoy their music.

The wind is due to pick up this afternoon, Saturday 12th September, so we head for Guemuesluek bay, half an hour's motoring away, to shelter for the night. The little bay is a well-known aquatic tourist trap, with many well-reviewed restaurants. When we entered the bay, it already looked very full. Most of the boats were on buoys, which makes anchoring harder as their swing circle is very small and easily interferes with the much larger swing circle of anchored boats. We did not want to use a buoy as you're expected to dine in the restaurant it belongs to. All buoys were taken so we waited until a very big motor cruiser pulled up anchor and left. It turned out to be a waste of time: after several attempts to get the anchor to dig in we gave up as the bottom was too muddy and weedy for our anchor to grab hold. We left Guemuesluek and sailed along the coast to Akyalar, about two hours away. By the time we turned into Akyalar Bay, the wind had increased to over 20 knots. . After turning down the offer of a buoy from a man in a dinghy, we anchored out off a strip of resorts and restaurants that seem to quickly fill up most of this part of the coast West of Bodrum. The bottom turned out to be sand and good holding so we were secure for the night and waited for the still increasing wind to drop off the next morning. While 'sundowning', we were visually feasted on the sights of a man on a chair on plank with an outboard attached to it (top-left photo). Who needs TV?
The day before Chris had strained an arm muscle so Francis made a sling from one of the old sheets and the arm was tied up to rest for the day.

After a good night's sleep on Sunday 13th September, the sling has done the trick and Chris has two functioning arms again. With more good wind we headed off to Bodrum to explore the castle of St Peter and the underwater archeological museum. As one of our friends recently had to pay TL850 (over A$400) for two nights in the Bodrum marina, we chose to anchor for free on the roadstead of Bodrum, with many others.

Chris, Charlie and Kathy were taxied ashore by Francis in Chloe and enjoyed very much wandering around the Bodrum Castle (top-right photo) which construction begun in 1406 (ended in 1522) by the knights of St John and was built on the old Turkish and Byzantine castles. Bodrum Castle was taken by the Turks in 1523 from the knights without a fight. In 1895 it became a prison for 700 prisoners and 50 guards. During WW I it was bombed by the French battleship Duplex in 1915 and became a museum in 1964. The castle is very impressive (you have to pass seven gates to reach the inner castle) with the museum situated in the different towers and rooms. In our May blog entry of this year we mentioned the boat with glassware that sunk while entering Serce bay in a storm. We marveled at the very fine glassware from that boat that was exhibited in the castle. A very rewarding visit indeed.

After the castle we went in search of a fruit shop and a baker. We walked through the maze of tourist shops and Chris tried asking for directions from two different adults with no luck as they spoke as much English as we spoke Turkish. We then found a small store with two young teenagers (wo)manning it so Chris tried again and success they spoke very good English and pointed us in the right direction.
Sadly we again saw many Syrian families begging on the streets with seemingly very little support so Chris was soon relieved of all her change and a couple of notes.

When we found the fruit market we had fun with the vendor who claimed to be German but with a Turkish mother; he was definitely more Turkish than German. We stocked up on delicious fruit and tomatoes. Along the way we just had to go into a store selling dried fruits, spices and came out with 300 grams of Turkish delight and a box of dates. We called the Cloe water taxi service and we were transported back to Clio. By then it was two in the afternoon and we were not really in the mood for another very noisy night so close to Bodrum. So we decided after some discussion that we should head for Knidos now. So up with the anchor and we had a great downwind sail with up to 20 knots of wind almost all the way. On arrival at Knidos we were not sure of getting a spot as the place was full of charter boats ramped up 5 boats deep and 5 boats long, as well as gullets tied to the land and yachts and catamarans in the rest of the small port.

Francis circled around a couple of times and we figured we could squeeze in near the shore. As Chris started dropping the anchor, the chain bunched up and it jammed and would not go down. After struggling for a bit with a bunched up chain we moved out into clear water where Chris finally got the chain free and we went back to try again. This time it went straight in and Clio's anchor was holding fast.

We finally settled and enjoyed an excellent potato bake for dinner and Chris had a couple of hard earned glasses of wine, together with Kathy and Charlie. And the blue lamp made dining al-fresco in the cockpit even more enjoyable .
Skipper was not happy about Clio being so close to the rocky shoreline so decided to spend the night out in the cockpit just in case the wind turned and she swung too far that way. Although she came close at one stage during the night with only 60 cm of water under her keel, we managed to make it to morning without having to make a move.

The next morning, Monday 14 September, we put Charlie and Kathy ashore to explore the Greek and Roman ruins of Knidos. When being dropped off Kathy jokingly told us not to sneak away in Clio, leaving them behind. So when Chris and Francis moved Clio to a better spot, they must have looked on with some trepidation as we upped anchor and started to move the boat. To prevent the skipper having to wake/sleep another night in the cockpit, we found a much better spot in the corner of the port and secured her with a stern line to the shore, this time with 2.5m water under the keel and a very securely dug in anchor. Knidos port is such a beautiful spot and during the day most of the boats vacated and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. Time for sundowners (bottom right photo)!