After a long expedition across the Mediterranean we finally arrived in Turkey and sailed to Marmaris to book our spot for the winter. After completing the paperwork plus all the entry formalities we set sail again to have some fun.
Richard - a school friend had joined us as we made our way towards Fethiye where we spent a few days. It was great to have a friend on board from the days when Richard and I use to mess around in boat near Cape Town. This time there were no fish or even crayfish but we made up for it at the local fish market where we purchased some prawns and had the local restaurant cook them for us. Too soon Richard left to return to work. We then sailed south east to wards Kekova Road. We encountered a bad storm while in the Cas harbour the night of the Rugby World Cup. The next day amidst the turmoil and wind we left the harbour for the safety of the open sea.
It was a tough sail to Kekova Road with the most confused sea I have ever sailed in but it was safe with no hard bits or boats to damage Malua. We dropped anchor in a bay and sat out two day of very heavy rain and moderate winds. When the sun came out we walked ashore and had a great time amongst the stone tombs of the area.
The sail back to Fethiye was against force 5 wind right on the nose. It was hard going and quite aginst my rule of not sailing on a schedule but we had to be back in Marmaris to haul the boat for the winter. Well one day I will learn.
We arrived back in Marmaris and set about washing the salt of the boat and preparing it for the lay-up. Having done that in Sydney only 10 months ago it was easy. I removed all the lines and halyards. Took off all the sails and packed then into the bags along with the other canvas work. The final steps were to wash down all the surfaces with a bleach to hopefully keep the mould away but fear not it will be there when we return in April 2008.