Now we go back to the beginning. I missed out our adventures from when we left Finike to when we started our journey along the Black Sea so as to keep up.  It’s only now I look back I realise that we visited quite a few places before we reached the Black Sea. 

We left Finike at the end of April to start sailing season six.  Can’t believe it’s that many although, we don’t count last year as we were in the UK for a lot of the time.  Obviously our first stop, as is the norm for us yachties leaving Finike Marina, is Kekova, a beautiful anchorage that we do not get tired of.

We next called into Kas for a few days before setting off to Fethiye.  We met my cousin Sue and her husband Rick here for Sue’s birthday lunch at Gocek where we anchored in the bay.   The dessert here was amazing but it did beat me. 

Now without the marina facilities I’m back to my rotating bucket for doing the washing.  Gocek is lovely but it gets very busy during the year and we were thankfully just ahead of that.  We arrived and tied back to rocks alongside Dusk and a couple of other boats but before evening it was full.  Serafina joined us and we went to a restaurant nearby that served a nice meal but with quite a hefty price tag, but that’s Gocek for you.

We wanted to take a trip up the Dalyan River, so we headed to MyMarina and then six of us, Cuffysark, Dusk and Serfina took a local boat as it’s not possible to sail up there.  It gets very shallow in parts. 

There are some ruins along the river which we went and had a look at, called Canus.  The city was at one time on the coast but because of silting of the river it is now about 8km away from the sea.

Along the river carved into the rockface are rock tombs which date back to between the second century BC and the second century AD.  This area is also known for its mud baths.  So when in Rome, or Dalyan, should I say.  The mud smelt awful but it was very soft and we then washed it off under freezing cold water before getting into a warm bath.  It was a fun day.  It was a bit choppy and windier when we came out of the river on the way back to the Marina and as a result Ian managed to not hang onto his hat, he’d only bought a few hours earlier. 

Next stop is Sweet Shop Town, well that’s what it’s like for sailors with all the chandleries, obviously I mean Marmaris. We had some rain here which brought with it red sand.  I’ve never seen it so bad as this time, so nothing for it but it had to be cleaned and hope it didn’t rain again. 

 It was a Finike reunion here, David and Juliet invited us all on their boat for pre-dinner drinks.  There was quite a crowd of us.  Thanks to Catie on Alys for letting me use some of her photos.  We then went for dinner, it was nice to meet up with everyone. 

We next hopped along the coast heading towards Kusadasi where we would visit Pamukkale. 

October 2022