October 2005

Marmaris Yacht Marine

There were still a number of boat jobs to be done, mostly small, with finding a watermaker membrane and getting our heaters serviced being the big ones. These were accomplished with some challenges along the way, but they were done. Lots of shopping, stowing and even some tossing out, filled up the rest of the month.
Cruisers were starting to come into the marina, so we had a good chance to catch up with some old friends before departing Marmaris, and eventually Turkey.
And now, our next adventure begins.

Departure from home - Leaving MYM

The boat jobs were finally done, or as done as they were going to be. All the "last" shopping was complete, and the boat was groaning under her loads of extra paper products, olive oil, canned tomatoes, and mayo (are you surprised?) With some sadness, but lots of anticipation, we slipped the lines at the dock, our home for the last year, on October 21. We anchored outside the marina for the night, giving us a chance to make sure the boat was in "cruising" rather than "marina" form. Early the next morning we headed for Fethiye, some 50 miles away.

We had planned to stay in the marina in Fethiye, but they had become even more ridiculous than ever about rates, wanting the equivalent of about $90 US for one night. So we anchored, planning to use the dinghy to catch a half-day in the town. As luck would have it, our dinghy engine was leaking gasoline, so we had to find a repair shop before doing anything else. We found one, and they took our motor away at about 2 pm, promising that the "one-hour" job would be finished by 5 pm. So we did our chores, and waited back at the main dock starting about 4:30. What a hopeful pair! By 7 pm, with no contact whatsoever, we concluded that we would have to row the dinghy back to the boat. Not expecting this, we had anchored some 2 miles away, so the row was pretty exhausting, and not much fun as it was dark by then. We were pretty discouraged, although a healthy rum punch did something to alleviate the gloom.

The next day, after chasing around Fethiye all morning, we finally got a working motor back. By noon we were under way again, with the pedal to the metal to get us to our next anchorage, before dark. We only just made it, dropping the anchor about an hour after sundown - another rum punch was clearly called for.

The following day, we motored over to Kastellorizon, (Greece), with the hopes of finding dark rum, Hellman's mayo, and some good strong cheese. Because we were doing this without any paperwork, we were a bit nervous, but in fact no one paid us any attention. The mega-disappointment was that we were 0 for 3, finding only some mild Edam cheese. So then it was onwards to Kekova Roads, an old favorite from our trips to and from Kemer, where we anchored for the next two nights.
Then it was time to head for Finike Marina where the rally boats were to gather prior to making the passage to Port Said in Egypt. It was only 20 miles or so from Kekova, and we arrived early afternoon. Like all the rest of the rally cruisers, we anchored outside the marina until our "2 days free moorage" started.

On Friday, October 28 we motored in to the fuel dock where we took on enough of the expensive ($1.66 US per litre) Turkish fuel to get us to Egypt, then tied up at the marina's docks. Gatherings and parties had been planned, so we were eager to join the group.

10 01 The Yacht Marine ladies who helped make our lives work so well