22 August

Ciftlik is a protected cove about 14 nM SW from Marmaris. There are several seaside restaurants here serving good food. You can either anchor off at the northern end of the bay or tie up to one of the four restaurant jetties. Most of the restaurants have laid moorings tailed to the jetty, water, electricity, toilets/showers and free WiFi.

It was a relatively short sail. Wind was forecast WNW for the Rodos Sea at 4 to 5 Beaufort. We left The bay in Marmaris at 09:00 and arrived Ciftlik at around 11:20 hrs, well before the westerly came up...we were heading west, so good not to have to beat into it.

Mark and Ed docked Take Five at the Deniz Restaurant jetty. As you approach, the various restaurant owners send out guys onto their respective jetties with flags to try and attract your attention. You pick one, and they assist you mooring. If you dock on a particular jetty it is expected you eat at their restaurant. A small price to pay.

Anyway, after securing the lines we stepped off, went for a mandatory swim and had a look around. The bay was magnificent, set amongst mountains and an island to the starboard beam. Each of the restaurants are fairly self sufficient. They have a bar, a mini market and ovens where some of the Turkish ladies bake the days bread. So very simple and amazingly great tasting food.

On the jetty next to us were a few other yachts. In particular was a Russian yacht that was running a sailing coarse. I suspect the crew were attempting to attain their ICC yachting qualifications, a mandatory requirement to skipper a boat in Turkey. So, here we are swimming around the jetty. The problem is you can’t easily get back up on it, but Stella’s transom opens up and the ladder affords an easy way to get out of the water. Why do we mention this?...

This girl swims up to our boat and asks in a thick Russian accent, “do you mind if I can use your ladder to get back on the jetty?”. Yeah, no issue we say. So she drags herself up the steps, climbs on the transom and jumps onto the pier. Well, do you remember Bo Derek in out bikini in the movie 10. It was a rerun.....all us dumb blokes tried not to look....gawd....then this guy comes along and smiles and says, you guys like fishing again in a thick Russian accent. Maybe she wants to jump in the water again one of the boys retorted. The girls just looked at each other and rolled their eyes back. As it turned out, she was the co skipper of the Russian training yacht. She came back over and asked me if I would take some pictures of her with her phone for her Instagram yachting page......an arduous task, but someone had to do it....

Jenni and Grant took the SUP for a spin, whilst Mark, Ed, Sam and myself took off for an explore in the hills which were scattered with numerous small caves. The guys who operated the restaurant warned us that the goats were not friendly, and may attack. Shit, this just goat serious....sorry about that. We thought about it and went any way, being mindful of this fact. The hills and caves were impressive yielding great views over the bay and village.’

That night all of us ate at the restaurant. Typical Turkish fare, fresh and wholesome. The setting was magnificent, under a leafy pergola facing the water....imagine.

The next morning, we are standing on the jetty and this guy, whose name was Ranoldo, almost spear tackles me to the planks of the jetty and gives me a sports massage. Everyone was killing themselves laughing...it ended up that he was a professional sports masseuse probably trying to secure some business, unbelievable, that one came out of the blue. We need a bigger goat, I mean boat, let’s head off.

Just before we did however, Grant and Jenni went up to the Turkish lady baking the bread and bought two loaves of delectable flat bread. They make this in front you over a hot plate heated by hot embers, no gas fires here.

Great recommendation Mark and Ed....