Out cruising around again

Entering Degermen Buku to wend our way back to right

After leaving Bodrum it was again 41 nautical miles of motoring WSW to Degermen Buku.  As usual, wind was predicted but never materialized.   Degirmen Buku is a large, deeply indented bay with a number of coves and inlets dotted around the edge.  Several people had told us that this was their favorite place on the entire coast.  Our destination inside this large bay was the tiny inlet called Okluk Koyu.  

This Sunsail charter boat sailed right in front of that
fast-moving ferry!  The ferry slowed to prevent a collision;
then the sailboat tacked right back the way it had come.
STUPID!

There was one boat already on a swing anchor; the rest were tied stern line ashore.  We lowered the dinghy and Bill scouted out the inlet to find where we should anchor and line up with the other boats with stern line ashore.  We agreed on the spot, moved over there and dropped the anchor.  As we were backing toward the shore a small local boat with tourists aboard arrived and zipped behind us and dropped his anchor so he would go directly across our path and he would end up stern-to the end of a nearby dock.  Wow!  That was rude!!  This was the first time we have encountered a rude Turkish boat.  He yelled that he had paid to dock there, so we pulled the anchor and reconnoitered to select another spot.   Why the heck couldn't this guy have anchored elsewhere on that long vacant dock!  Made no sense why he had to anchor across where we were in the process of anchoring just so he could be on the end of the dock  rather than aligned perpendicular to the dock in the normal fashion.  A-hole!  BTW, that long dock had only 3 boats anchor to it during the time we were in this bay.  The little tour boat could have anchored anywhere on that dock.

Looking north back toward Bodrum.  

Bill found another spot where we probably could fit in stern-to the shore, but by this time I was disgusted with this bay and did not want to venture farther in and risk getting our anchor entangled with so many others in such a narrow space.   The entrance to the inlet was 14 meters depth; if we anchored stern-to the shore we would be in probably 4 meters.  To heck with it; we would just anchor right in the middle of the entrance to this inlet.  I already did not like this place and knew we were only staying 1 night.  We previously have anchored in places much deeper than 14 meters.  Not a problem.  Plenty of twirling room.   We dropped anchor at 36.55.067N  028.10.039E

Mermaid  bronze statue

Just off the entrance to this inlet (near where we anchored) stands a small bronze statue of a mermaid.  The statue is mounted on a base in the water.  This statue was erected by Sadun Boro, the first Turk to circumnavigate the world in a yacht.  According to our guide book, the elderly Mr. Boro can often be found in this area aboard his old Atkins ketch Kismet.  We stayed the night; the next morning I made this very short video showing Okluk Koyu and we left.  Very definitely NOT my favorite place, even though others raved about how wonderful this area is.  Once again, to each his own.

 

Drying laundry while slow sailing

Cleopatra's Island is just a short distance NE of this bay.  Supposedly Marc Antony had barges of sand from Egypt brought here and dumped on this tiny island so that Cleopatra could enjoy an 'Egyptian beach.'  But I was disgusted with this entire gulf at this point and just wanted to head south, so we did not pass by Cleopatra's Beach.


Winds were very light but just enough to fill the sails and keep the boat in a forward motion rather than slipping sideways toward the shore.  So we used this opportunity to run the watermaker and also do a load of laundry.  People on the few boats that motored past probably thought we were nuts -- drying laundry hung on deck with sails up -- but it works just fine.  We did this several times when crossing the South Pacific.

The nice heavy vinyl cover we
recently had made for the dinghy
gas can

We slowly drifted down the coast of the peninsula to the entrance of Amazon Creek.  Total distance covered for the day was only 17 NM.   We had planned to anchor inside the creek entrance, but when we arrived there were already 3 boats in there.  I was afraid to take BeBe into that small crowded space, especially when we had no reliable information about the depth this year.  The charts did not reflect sufficient depth for our boat to enter there, although the guide book indicated the depths were sufficient.   What if it had silted in since our guide book was written.  I am a Nervous Nelly when it comes to shallow depths.  Bill knows this and suggested we just anchor outside the entrance since we would only be there 1 night and the wind was practically non-existent.  Okay by me!!  I whipped the boat to starboard and sought out the best place.  Bill dropped the anchor at 36.49.678N  028.03.111E

This was a first!

It was a pleasant night.  Glad we stayed out there and did not attempt to venture into the actual creek.  This anchorage is okay as long as there is no wind from west or northwest.  It would be untenable if wind built up higher than 10 knots or so.  The next morning we pulled anchor and found the chain wrapped around the anchor shaft!  This was a first!  We have anchored literally thousands of times and never had anything like this happen.  We have a swivel between the anchor and the chain.  How the heck could this have happened?  Bill pulled the anchor up as high as allowed with the chain still wrapped around the shaft.  I laid on the deck and held up the anchor (Man is it heavy!!!) while Bill let out more chain.  That caused the wrapped part to loosen and fall away from the anchor shaft.  I dropped the anchor (not a moment too soon, my boobs were squished painfully into the deck as I held onto that anchor; did I mention that it is heavy!!) and everything was back to normal.  Whatever happened to cause this, I hope it doesn't happen again.  If it does, then next time we will run a rope through the top bar of the anchor and attach it to a deck cleat rather than me holding that thing (remember, it is HEAVY!!).

This gulet has everything a tourist might want -- even palm trees!

As we motored westward out of that very large bay the wind steadily increased.  We left that anchorage spot at just the right time.  It would not have been pleasant or safe to be there in this wind and building seas.  Soon the wind was 20+ knots from due west, of course, exactly the direction we were heading.  After motoring 4 hours we reached the tip of the bay (told you it was big) and turned SW.  Put up the sails and enjoyed a few hours of great upwind sailing.  

An 'A-frame' rigged boat?  No stays, no shrouds
and no boom.

As we approached the waypoint where we should turn farther southward, the wind changed again.  It would now be right on our nose when we made the turn.  We spotted a small indention in the shoreline that appeared calm.  We had a track on our electronic charts where someone else we know had anchored in there, so we decided to stop for the night. We dropped anchor at 36.45.138N  027.28.590E.  No sooner than we had our anchor down another yacht followed us in.  By sunset there were 5 yachts and 2 gulets anchored in this idyllic spot, totally protected from the W and SW winds.   This little anchorage area is near Mersincik.  It is not indicated as an anchorage on the C-map electronic charts but it is a great anchorage.  We anchored in 15 meter depth but the other yachts went closer to shore and anchored in shallower depths, around 8 meters.  I get too nervous that close to shore.  Total distance covered this day was 29 NM.

S/V Threshold

The next day we actually sailed the entire day!!  Chalk that up as a first since arriving in Turkey! 

As we neared the tip of the peninsula where Knidos is situated we sailed past S/V Threshold.   We knew Steve and Karyn had picked up guests in Bodrum a few days earlier.  They were now headed north (where they will winter) as we were headed south (where we will winter).  By the time we found the camera Threshold was well past us.  The only photo we could get was of their stern.  

We had to run the engine for about 10 minutes as we turned the point past Knidos, but soon we had picked up the wind on the opposite side of the peninsula.  It was light but still enough to sail slowly with the genoa poled to starboard.  As the wind clocked farther to due west it was directly astern.  Rather than bother with setting both poles and raising another sail, we just left the genoa poled out to starboard and moved the boom of the main out to port, using a preventer to keep it in place in case the wind shifted suddenly.  This is called wing-on-wing.  It was not too rolly and we enjoyed a great day of sailing.  We dropped anchor at 17:30 in Kuruca Buku at 36.45.304N  027.53.801E.  Total mileage covered this day was 40 NM.

We stayed in Kuruca Buka several days.  Walked ashore and found a tiny market for basic provisions and splurged on a bottle of wine.  It was wine produced in Pamukkale called Anfora, 2009 Shiraz.  Darn good!  We will look for that one again in Fethiye.  Probably a lot less expensive in the larger stores there.  

This boat was familiar to Bill from his days of working
in the mega-yacht interior design furnishings.  It was one
of the ones furnished by the company he worked for.
She was anchored in Ekincik Limani when we arrived,
but departed early the following day.

On Sunday, 23 September, we sailed to Ekincik Limani, skipping Marmaris as there was no reason for us to return there right now.  Our friends, Randal and Ruth on M/V Dora Mac, had departed for a trip home to Virginia and everyone else we know was already headed to wherever they plan to berth for the winter.  Couldn't think of any friends who might still be in Marmaris, so we saw no reason to stop there.  Sailing this day was again mostly downwind, wing-on-wing, and very enjoyable.  There were a LOT of boats out sailing this day.  Thankfully, everyone appeared to know the rules-of-the-road this day so we all played well together and had no near-misses.  We dropped anchor at 36.49.726N  028.33.188E after covering 52 NM.

And here we still sit.  This is a nice swing anchorage.  Anchored in 6 meters depth.  Each afternoon a new group of boats arrive to provide entertainment.  This is the anchorage where the river tours to Caunos and Turtle Beach originate.  The village is tiny but this bay gets a lot of boat traffic since it is the usual stopping point between Marmaris and Gocek or Fethiye.  We will hang around here until the wind forecast is good for making it around this final little peninsula before we berth in Fethiye for the winter.  Our contract for winter berthing starts 15 October, so there is still plenty of time to enjoy being out at anchor.  Weather has been glorious!  Just the right temperatures at night and during the day.  The honey bees are annoying when we sit in the cockpit, but burning coffee grounds helps alleviate that problem; and we have mosquito netting to keep the buzzing insects out of the boat.

Rally / Race boats rounding their final marker

One afternoon a rally or race arrived here.  But those couple dozen boats left the first thing the next morning.  We are the only boat that has remained in this bay for more than 2 days.  The anchorage gets rolly each evening when the wind off the sea dies, then calms down when the slight wind blows off the land and turns the boat in the opposite direction.  Really, a very pleasant place to while away time.