Turkey - West Coast - July 2004

Just before leaving Keci, we made a trek with Jay and Linda, from Hell’s Belles.  We walked for many miles inland from Keci Buku to an old waterfall that is one of the local tourist attractions.  It was very attractive, set in the midst of a pine forest, with pools at its feet that one could wade in.  Though many buses arrived while we were there, the park seemed to swallow them up, and the crowding didn’t seem too bad.  Goats on the road along the way provided some good entertainment, and we found an excellent place for lamacun (pronounced la-ma-june) which is a light form of pizza that the Turks often have for lunch.  That and a beer were more than welcome after our morning’s hiking.

Finally it was time to go, and although the meltemi had started by this time, we caught a break and left for Kargi, a small bay south of Datça.  A low swell all night enabled us to leave Kargi early, which we hoped would allow us to around the point at Knidos before the winds got up.  The weather was beautiful, but there was 30 knots on the nose by the time we got to Kos Channel.  Not much fun, but we toughed it out, and finally made Aspat, our favourite bay near Bodrum.  A couple of days there, and then a few miles around the corner of the Bodrum Peninsula to Yalikavak.  There is a huge marina in Yalikavak Bay, but it is very expensive, and there are 3 very nice coves on the northern shore of the bay.  We anchored in “Number 2” (the charts and pilots don’t seem to name them), and enjoyed a quiet time there once the day boats were gone.  (And they all did - there were some 20 there around noon, and NONE by sunset!)

We were cruising in company with HoneyMoon by then, and we all decided to go to Paradise Bay, a small cove in Gulluk Korfezi (the gulf on the top side of Bodrum Peninsula) that had been highly rated by many who had been there.  Well … it may have been lovely and pristine at one time, but we arrived to find a large fish farm (mussel farm?) blocking the entrance, and a pervasive odour was enough to make one cry.  Besides that, the water was completely murky, and even at 3 metres of water, the bottom was hidden. 

So, we moved a bit east to Kazıklı, a small bay situated in front of a small holiday village.  There was little protection from winds except from the north, but that was what we were having, and they were quite light.  So we decided to stay. 

Two interesting things happened.  For most of the day, and well into the evening, there was a very hot wind, sometimes gusting to 20 knots, from the land.  It made swimming quite interesting - the water was warm, but the wind much warmer!  The other fun thing was the four of us sitting on TT playing scrabble, watching HoneyMoon gently pull out her anchor and slowly move out into the main bay.  It was all so slow that we barely realized it, and in fact she had re-set by the time Don & Aggie got back aboard.  A good reminder, though, that when cruising, one has to keep an eye on things all the time. 

Next stop was Port St. Paul - a tiny bay just south of Samos Strait, a very narrow passage between the Greek Island of Samos, and the Turkish mainland.  It’s a beautiful little bay, and not one for unsettled weather, but we were lucky, and the weather gods were smiling.  We considered trying to go ashore, but didn’t in the end.  However, the Turkish Army patrols the area, presumably because of its proximity to Greece, and when they saw us nearing the land, they tried to get our attention.  We had been warned about this, and told to just ignore it - the hassle factor would be too high.  Evidently, the boys like to try to get money or whiskey in response to their allegations that you can’t anchor there.   Well, you can anchor there, so we just ignored it all.  They tried for a long time though … horns, whistles, shouts, etc.  But they have no boats, so we were inaccessible to them.  (How does one patrol a coastal area without boats, you might ask..)

Next day it was off to Kuşadası, which had been our most northerly point last year.  We met Ted & Trish on Rhumbline there for a couple of days, (and unexpectedly HoneyMoon again as well,) and again enjoyed one of Turkey’s loveliest public markets.  It runs up a divided road from the town centre to one of the highest point of the city, with gorgeous views all the way. 

Both Rhumbline and HoneyMoon were heading to Greece from there, so we turned to more northern parts of Turkey on our own. 

20 Goats on the highway	21 Agriler Bay with windsurfers

There are several bays on the south side of the Cesme Peninsula, each looking like they offer good protection from the meltemi.  However, they all suffer from strong katabatic winds that make them almost untenable. The three we tried (Kirkdilim, Sarpdere and Agriler) were all beautiful, with crystal clear water, sandy bottoms, good holding, and except for the last one, virtually no people.  The gusting all day and night, though, really detracted from them.  In fact Agriler is one of the windsurfing capitals of the area, but we chose to ignore that fact, and even managed to ignore the huge windmill farm that was shown on the chart at the head of the bay.  Look for clues!

Finally, needing some solid sleep, we bashed up Khios Channel into Çesme.  It was only a 15 mile trip, but it took us a full 3 hours, with 35 knots on the nose much of the way.  We were definitely ready for some marina time.