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| Two happy men at Wall Bay |
Jaime
and Christine Tate, formerly of s/v Morning Light, came for a visit. We covered
quite a lot of ground during their short time here and packed away some
precious memories.
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| Cleopatra's Baths by Wall Bay |
Of
course we spent several days in the Gocek/Skopea Limani area. Jaime wanted to
float like Frank in his birthday photo, which pleased Frank immensely.
While at
Wall Bay we noticed several yachts shining huge spotlights onto the shore area
the first night. The next morning we asked them what that was about. This bay
is home to giant porcupines that come out at night, raid the rubbish of the
restaurant and often abscond with their watermelons. A watermelon-stealing
porcupine you ask? They must be massive! And they are. We sat vigil the
following night, and eventually one of the spotlights illuminated a huge
creature that in my mind resembled ALF from the TV series, at first I thought
it was a large boulder on shore, but it soon began to amble about. I jumped up
and pointed, “There’s one! My God, he’s enormous!” There were actually two of
them, but the lights frightened them away, so I only got a quick glance. Frank,
Chris and Jaime razzed me, saying I must’ve been either hallucinating or
exaggerating. No porcupine can be that large. Well…we went hiking the next
morning, and as we approached the area around Cleopatra’s Baths Jaime bent down
to pick up something. It was a porcupine quill about a foot long. Now they
believed!
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| Jaime's quill find |
Next
stop was Amigos for wild boar casserole and fresh baked bread, and then Fethiye.
There is so much rich Christian, Lycian, Byzantine and Roman history here it is
mind-boggling.
We
then sailed down to Kas where Bill and Judy had recommended that we rent a car
and drive south one day then north the next day to the ancient towns and
villages of the Lycian way; 1) Myra/Demre, home of the church of St Nicholas
and ornate tombs built into massive cliffs, the once the capital of Roman
Lycia, and a well preserved Roman Theater, 2) Patara the alleged birthplace of
Apollo and St. Nicholas also home of a beautiful sand beach where St. Paul
boarded the ship for Rome (I think to attend his trial), 3) Xanthos and Letoon
a UNESCO archeological site that is astoundingly large and intact. Great
advice! We spent two full days touring these areas and enjoying the scenic
drives after spending a day discovering lovely Kas with its ancient winding
streets, markets and cafes.
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| J & C in Kas |
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| Stones at Myra |
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| Myra Tombs |
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| Emperor Frankin Myra Amphitheater |
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| Dome at St. Nicholas Church |
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| Walking Patara Beach where St. Paul walked |
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| Patara Beach from the road above |
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| Tombs at Xanthos |
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| Xanthos |
We
then sailed down to Kekova Roads where the water is crystal clear and you can
see an underwater city. The surrounding hills are peppered with sarcophagi. It
was wonderful except for three things that nearly dented our fun. We were swimming around, marveling that
there were no dangerous sea creatures in these waters when Jaime shouted,
“OUCH!” A small fish had bitten his nipple! It really did hurt him and his
nipple swelled up but we couldn’t stop laughing long enough to feel sorry for
him. After that we were wary of the wicked Nipple Biter Fish! Not long
afterward an intense windstorm suddenly came along nearly ripping our canvas
awning to shreds before we could get it taken in and move the boat into a safe
cove that was so overcrowded with yachts rushing for shelter we nearly met with
catastrophe. Then to top it off, poor Jaime got stung on his finger by a bee,
causing it to turn black and swell up.
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| Relaxing at a Kekova Roads cafe |
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| Poor Jaime! |
We
departed Kekova roads early two days later for another day in Kas. On September
23rd, I made the following notes in my journal:
“Turkish Navy Monday, Sept 23, 2013
We had some big excitement this morning -
we left Kas for Kalkan hoping the winds and seas would be kind for the trip
back up and actually picked up some fantastic sailing wind and were flying! As
we passed Kalkan, Frank decided we should go for it and get as far as the good
weather would allow when all of a sudden a Turkish warship started heading
toward us. Our cockpit mic is out so we didn't hear them hailing us at first
"sailing yacht on our starboard side, this is Turkish Warship
calling" they got more urgent until we realized they were calling us! I ran
down to the VHF and answered them. They told us to turn immediately to 180
degrees for 10 miles and then we could turn to 270. They are clearing the area
for live fire exercises. They diverted all traffic up and down the coast from
Kalkan to ??? We heard them talking to lots and lots of yachts. Several were
asking permission to go into Fethiye or Gocek and permission was denied because
of the exercises, so we know it went at least as far as Gocek for 10 miles off
the coast. Frank is angry and insisting that we must at least get into one of
those ports because we had guests on board who needed to catch a flight
tomorrow. They couldn’t believe we were arguing with them and we couldn’t
believe our rotten luck. Having no choice we diverted, and can hear the booms
of weapons fire from time to time.
At least we caught a good angle and now
are sailing again - amazing to be sailing back up the coast! It's awesome!!! At
2 PM they finished the exercises so we are all heading back toward shore. We
can see at least 5 warships out here. We are wondering what they are preparing
for…is something going on here we should prepare for?”
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| The Warship that hailed us |
We never found out whether
that was just a standard exercise or an emergency drill. We did make it to tiny
Gemiler Island. On arrival a man and woman came along in a little boat offering
to help us stern-tie to shore. Afterward they cooked up some golzeme pancakes
for us for a few TL each. We relaxed a bit and then wet exploring. During the
Byzantine period the island housed 4 churches, one dedicated to St. Nicholas
who was rumored to have lived here, ruins of tombs, houses and hostels for
weary travelers. It’s really beautiful. We hiked all over this little island
that rises straight up out of the water to a high peak that gives magnificent
360°
views of the bay and beyond.
On
the 25th we returned to Gocek, sliding in on the toes of a nasty
looking weather system. Bill and Judy had BeBe berthed there on the wharf at
Skopea Marina and had made a reservation for the 6 of us at Blue. Tonight was
two-for-one dinner night. We dinghyed into the Skopea dinghy wharf, and all
looked fine and good, weather-wise. We wore our foul weather gear just in case.
While at dinner, however, the storm we had hoped to avoid hit Gocek with
massive intensity. We watched as yachts slammed against the town quay, praying
that Destiny was ok out there on the hook, not giving any thought to the safety
of our dinghy. The storm was not showing signs of letting up any time soon so
we bundled up and headed out to check on the yachts. We arrived to utter chaos.
The dinghy wharf was in splinters and our dinghy had been slammed up under a
small bridge and was repeatedly pierced by jutting nails sticking out of he
concrete. We felt physically ill watching it deflate to nothing, the motor
barely above water. Frank managed to fish the painter out and walk it to shore
but there was no way we could use it to get back to Destiny. Bebe was getting
bumped by yachts on both sides, and her stern was slamming up and down
violently. Judy and Bill managed to board her and to get the lines secured
while trying to fend off the Russian catamaran that was wildly tossing about on
Bebe’s stern side with the crew and passengers drinking and partying not
worried a bit about damage. They were pretty far-gone, stoned or drunk and
could care less. It was a hellish scene. The temperature had dropped several
degrees, and there we stood freezing and in shock. The night was pitch black
and we couldn’t lay eyes on Destiny, nor did we have a way to get back to her.
Eventually the captain of one of the super yachts offered to give us a lift to
our boat when it was safe to deploy his tender. Getting into his tender took
monumental effort in slamming waves that drenched everyone. We found Destiny
still afloat but furiously bucking the anchor chain. We nearly broke our necks
trying to board her but did manage to get aboard safely. No one slept well that
night until the storm finally abated in the early morning hours. Gocek’s wharf
looked like pick up sticks the next morning, and our dinghy was a mess. But the
skies were clear and the day was beautiful for Christine and Jaime’s departure.
They got a cab to the airport and we sent Destiny to the dinghy hospital.
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| The little bridge that ate our dinghy. looking closely you can see nails sticking out of the bottom. |
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