7.9.2023 – Thursday – We made plans for the next four days and today we were going to a bay called Talianaky just a few miles northeast of Didim marina. In the guide it looked attractive, well protected from the north winds, good holding and restaurants ashore. As we entered it we saw no restaurants and a huge building site making a lot of noise.
We could have continued a few miles further to Paradise bay which is supposed to be nice but for some reason we decided to stay. So swim, nap and meals on board and a quiet night.
8.9.2023 – Friday – We started by going to Paradise for a midday stop and it was really a nice place. A small bay surrounded by hills covered with pine trees and just one Leopard 4800 catamaran and a local tourists motor boat.
A discussion was started, should we stay here for the night or continue to Kazikli Iskelesi less than two miles away and promising the well sought after restaurant? The second option was chosen by flipping a coin and off we went. We anchored at 2.7 meters and lowered the dinghy to go to the restaurant.
From afar it seemed to be neglected but it was open and as the sole clients we had a mediocre lunch and went back to the boat. The dinghy’s outboard gave us trouble, starting but shutting down at low RPM. Later in the afternoon we walked to the other side of the bay, where we could see a lot of fishing boats, hoping to find a mechanic but the language barrier was in the way and we were not successful. We’ll try at the next destination – Asin Limani.
9.9.2023 – Saturday – Motoring 18 miles to Asin Limani, we entered the port before midday. We wanted to med moor on the village dock but were told that the places that were vacant belonged to boats that would be coming back at 1700. We did take a mooring, went to town to do some shopping and untied the lines to go out and anchor near the entrance. Very quickly we found out that our anchor caught something. It was a very big grapnel anchor. We worked hard to separate ours from it and only after a charter boat skipper came with his dinghy to help we were free.
Our savior
We thought this anchor did not belong to any of the boats and was just lying on the bottom waiting for a victim.
The main attraction of Asin Limani is the ruins of the ancient town of Iasos located near and on the hill on the east of the bay. We went there around 1700 and enjoyed the site. Here are a few pictures I took there.
An interesting place!
Back at the boat we had visitors. The boat we used her place at the dock came by to complain that they had to hire a diver to find the grapnel which was theirs and that the rope connected to it was ruined. In a friendly way an agreement on a compensation was reached.
Tomorrow our granddaughter Shira and her fiancé Josh will be joining us for three sailing days.
10.9.2023 – Sunday – We had to decide where to receive our guests; I thought Kuyucak bay would be best and Gili wanted to go to the big bay of Guvercinlik. Once we entered it and saw the huge hotels spreading along the north side of the bay we did a 180 turn and continued to Kuyucak. I waited for Shira and Josh on shore and took them to Two Oceans.
The young ones
There is a hotel on the northern beach of the bay called Cristal Green Bay. We planned on having our dinner there but they refused us claiming that the place was full. Gili quickly made a salad and spaghetti which for me was much better than hotel’s food.
11.9.2023 – Monday – We motor-sailed to Gumusluk, a place we visited long time ago and remembered as a nice one. All along the way we passed big touristic housing projects covering the hills down to the beach. Google says that in 2019 Turkey had 50 milion tourist visiting the country. A nice surprise on the way was the appearance of a few hunting dolphins, one jumping vertically to an impressive hight. We entered Gumusluk hoping to find a berth with water and electricity and luckily found one to the side of a Hanse 495 monohull. A big bellied guy approached us saying: You pay ten million Turkish lira” . One euro is 30 TL so it was clear the man was either drunk or stupid or both, and obviously not the responsible man for the jetty.
When the one in charge arrived he first told me that the water supply was out of order and that the fee would be a bit over 100 euro. we decided to agree under protest. After lunch I had my nap and when I woke up I saw three guys with tool bags on the neighbor’s boat. “Are you a mechanic?” I asked the one who seemed to be their leader. It turned out that he was. I lowered the dinghy into the water and the man got in to check our misbehaving outboard. After an hour of work, including dismantling and cleaning the carburetor, the spark-plug and changing the old fuel in my tank the motor was purring just fine.
Later in the evening the “in charge’ guy came with the good news that water was available; one worry less.
The eastern shore of Gumusluk is full of fish restaurants, there were at least a dozen. All of them have the standard fish farm products plus Calamari and Red Mullets. Only one had a big, ugly Monk fish and another – two John Dory fish.
12.9.2023 – Tuesday – This was a windy morning with northerly at 20 knots. We started pulling up the main and found that somehow one of the halyard ropes ropes (it has a pulley and two ropes) found a way forward and entangled around the upper crosstree. Main down and we used the jib only. As requested by the crew we made a stop at Akialar bay in the middle of the way which was calm and pretty. Finally a place with clear water! A few minutes after our swim gusts of 20 knots came and we resumed our original plan to go Bitez, east of Bodrum for the night.
Out of Akialar the wind got stronger and stronger with gusts up to 29 knots. We chose to use both engines for the 6 miles to target. We entered the northeastern part of Bitez bay, where the wind was much lighter and dropped anchor at 3.5 meters on a sandy bottom. A made a short visit to shore for a few things we needed. A restaurant on the beach caught our eyes.
Dinner on the boat – the best cuisine by Gili.
13.9.2023 – Wednesday – Today’s target is Cokertme, 23 miles away. We woke up to a flat calm day, no wind at all. Once out of Bitez bay the wind appeared and slowly became stronger, until it reached 20 knots. We were sailing wing and wing,having great time. In order to keep Shira feeling well we decided to make a stop on the way and the chosen place was Orak Adasi, an uninhabited island between Bodrum and Cokertme.
We entered the southeastern bay and saw three motor boats tied stern to the shore. We were looking to anchor free from land and found clear sandy space at a depth of 10 meters. Normally I do not anchor so deep but for the short period we planned to stay there it was fine. I let out about 50 meters of chain and the anchor held well. It did not take long for more boats to come in, the first being a powerful modern motor yacht.
After a nice swim in super clear waters – we could see our anchor down at 10 meters – we went out, raising the main and opening the jib. Out of the shadow of the island we found out that the wind became even stronger, reaching 25 knots straight from behind. We had to do a few jibes until reaching Cokertme.
We motored to that small nook, found two yachts over there and aimed to go between them and tie our sterns on shore. As we were preparing for that operation a motor boat, with the name “Captain Ibrahim”, a well known eatery in the bay, came by and its driver offered to help us. Of course that made sure we would go to his restaurant in the evening but it was a big help. The man also promised to arrange a taxi to the airport for Shira and Josh who are going to leave us tomorrow.
Dinner was good although a bit expensive, but one has to consider the extra service one gets which made the whole thing worth while.
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