Cruising Turkey’s Southern Coast - May 2004

We began our summer 2004 cruising with a stop in Kekova Roads, followed by a couple of weeks in Fethiye Bay.  The weather was most cooperative, though there was little wind for sailing.  It was definitely cooler than the year before, and the water stayed much too cold for us to be swimming.  We had a great potluck on the beach with some old and new friends, and got in lots of walking around the bay. 

In particular, in Kekova we met Aussies Don and Agnes on their lovely steel ketch, HoneyMoon.  They had just come up through the Red Sea, and we were able to share some of our knowledge of the Turkish coast.  We were destined to meet up with them many times over the summer, beginning with our time in Fethiye.

We also got to know Mary and Dennis on Teka III a bit better this year.  They have been on their 20-year old Beebe-designed ocean cruiser for some years, bringing it across the Atlantic themselves in 2000 (it was Teka’s third crossing!)

These two couples are both great organizers, and they coerced us all onto the beach at sunset for a true cruisers’ potluck.  Our Canuck-style (pressure-cooker) baked beans turned out to be a big hit - both then and the next morning!

We headed for Marmaris in late May, where we did a few boat jobs at the marina.  One big plus was we discovered that with some serious elbow grease, as well as 3M’s Finesse II polishing compounds, we could bring much of the cabin sides back to a decent shine.  We had been very discouraged about the state of our gelcoat, and were very pleased that we would be able to avoid a paint job in the near future.

We partied in the marina with friends, as always, with one memorable pot luck night aboard TT, where the general craziness was only exceeded by the greatfood.

Dennis & Mary on Teka III	Teka III	Fethiye at dawn	Party time on Toucan Tango	HoneyMoon at anchor

Just before leaving Kemer, we had received news that friends from home, Greg and Nancy McKinstry, were going to be on a small, exclusive cruise ship that was to be in Bodrum June 3.  We had hoped to be in Bodrum to meet them, but the meltemi winds had already started by the time we got to Marmaris, and we knew we wouldn’t be able to get there in time.  So we decided to rent a car and drive to see them.  It was a beautiful trip through the mountains, and we had a terrific visit with them.  It was the first time we’ve seen friends from North America in a couple of years, and it was a real treat. 

17 Bodrum town, from above	18 Greg & Nancy McKinstry

We toured Bodrum just like tourists, even climbing up to the castle, from which the view over the town is exquisite.

Early in June, we left Marmaris to come back to Keci Buku, our “home” from the previous summer.  Due to some intermittent windlass problems, we stayed there longer than planned this year, but it was a lovely place to “have” to stay.  The water was great for swimming, and the jellyfish were non-existent. 

TT’s dinghy, with new chaps

We finally installed the finished chaps on the dinghy.  The fit turned out very well, and we felt quite proud.  It only took us a year to finish it all!

With a new windlass control in hand, we set out for points north.