Uneasy feelings

The notice posted on the door at the marina said 'Storm Warning' 60-90kph winds. However the combined wisdom of all our usual forecast sites suggested that all was well for the two and a half hour trip to Kalkan.

So we set off with new crew Helena and Lucy. It was almost eerie that there were no other boats out. No yachts, no gulets, no day-trip boats, just us. However our forecasts were right and we had a peaceful trip. However the thunderstorms are looming.

Batten down the hatches.

Shelter from the Medicane

A new word! 'Medicane'. A Mediterranean hurricane. The stories from the Ionian and the Greek mainland are quite frankly scary.

Fortunately we are far enough down the Turkish coast that we have just been experiencing the thunder, lightning and torrential rain. The forecast suggests that the worst of the storm will continue to be well north of us, but lots more thunderstorms for a couple of days.

Welcome Helena and Lucy! Due tonight.

Gorging on history

Another land based exploration today.

First the Saklikent Gorge, which is a deep cleft formed by a fault in the mountain range. The icy water is in places a torrent, in others a fordable brisk stream. Dramatic scenery and numb toes.

Second stop Xanthos, which was the key Lycian City 500BC. It has a tragic history in which the inhabitants committed mass suicide rather than be captured by the encircling enemy. It includes a large theatre, a distinguishable town layout with broad streets, and famous tombs including the tall 'Harpy Tomb'. What we saw today is a copy. The original is in the Xanthos room in the British Museum, thanks to Charles Fellowes.

An impressive aspect of the ruins is the plumbing. Drains and water pipes are clearly visible throughout.

The Russians are coming, no they’re here

Sheltering from high winds today, we are tucked up in Kas marina and rented a car.

First visit was Myra with its rock tombs and enormous theatre. I tried to pick up one of the information leaflets and they were all in Russian. All the tour groups with their numbered badges were also Russian. The prices in the gift shop are no longer shown in GBP or Euro.

Next was St Nicholas Church in Demre- the original Santa Claus. The tomb in the photo was robbed by fishermen from Bari, where they still parade his bones annually. The Russians in the photo were having a religious service - St Nicholas being an important Orthodox personage.

Finally Andriake, the ancient port of Myra, where St Paul changed ship on the voyage towards Rome that ended in his shipwreck. It was impressive and strange. Apart from workmen digging up an old column we were the only visitors at a wonderful atmospheric site. The photo is from a huge underground cistern.

The bread boat

Yesterday involved leaving KaleKoy and making our way to Bayinder Bay near Kas, with its tall cliffs dotted with caves and rock tombs.

KaleKoy is a strange little place. There is no road and no modern development. Apparently it is mostly owned by a wealthy family who don't want it to be spoiled.

One little repercussion is that it is totally reliant on supplies coming in by boat from nearby Uçağız. We watched the women from the tiny shop, and from each of the pensions and restaurants, queue up in the morning on the old stone jetty waiting to be given their allocation of bread fresh from the delivery boat (which looked as if it spent the rest of the day as a fishing boat).

Sun, moon, but few stars

One of the only stars visible last night was the twirling girl on the next jetty at sunset.

The harvest moon rose on cue, and was duly followed by a glorious sunrise this morning.

An early departure to beat the forecast winds had us in Bayinder Bay near Kas before lunch. The cliffs overlooking the bay have more Lycian tombs, and the shelter is good. The lights of Kas are twinkling in the distance, and we'll see them close-up tomorrow.

KaleKoy

Overlooking the inner sea of Kekova Roads is the castle of ancient Simena, now KaleKoy. It was a settlement from at least 500BC, but I'm sure much earlier.

The Crusader castle seems to have been built on an old Lycian stronghold as a Lycian rock tomb is incongruously peeping out below some battlements.

The theatre is tiny, but the views from it are magnificent. Dayboats drop sightseers all day, but by the end of the afternoon we had the castle to ourselves.

Change of plan, again.

Having enjoyed the bustle of Üçağız, with the dozens of tripper boats lined up on the dock, we planned a stage to the west to a different quiet anchorage. However the weather forecasts didn't look encouraging- we could just feel that F5 whistling by as we tried to eat in the cockpit. So back to the glorious shelter of Gokkaya.

The moon is up, so we'll be able to eat by the light of the moon again. Very eco-friendly.

The Coastguards are everywhere this year. We have seen them every single day. Changed times from a few years ago.

The men in the third photo are not in a tug of war, but hauling a fishing boat up the slip. Who needs winches!

What depth have you?

A departure from our little anchorage at last, and a short trip to Üçağiz, a small village in Kekova roads that serves as the harbour for dozens of dayboats that take visitors to the sunken city opposite and to the nearby coves like our anchorage.

The exit from the anchorage and entrance to the village are both narrow and rock bounded. As I asked the crew 'what depth have you?' I realised that this was one of an endless series of questioning euphemisms. It really meant 'watch out for those rocks'. Along similar lines, 'what course are you steering?' really means 'where on earth are you going?'; 'where is the wind?' really means 'have you not noticed that flapping sail?' I could go on, but better not.

Book review day!

Having been lured by the delights of our anchorage (marked with the red arrowhead on the chart) to stay put for a third day, there is no sailing to report.

However the reading has been enjoyable. Gail Honeyman's 'Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine' has been on best sellers lists for months, so most people reading this may have read it. Highly recommended. A serious story with tragedy aplenty it still manages to be hilarious.

Brian McGilloway's 'Bad Blood' was interesting because of its setting in Derry and the familiar issues of paramilitaries, religious rabble rousers, intimidation and immigrants.

Colson Whitehead's 'The Underground Railroad' was a devastating read about slavery in the US.

Every picture......

Morning and evening, same spot - lazy day reading and swimming.

Racing Demon

Apparently that's what the crew thinks of the skipper's innocent inclination to race any other cruising yacht we meet. Yesterday we didn't meet a single one (all too sensible, or maybe had a forecast they paid attention to).

Today we had a couple of hours racing another yacht making its way from Finike to Kekova. Very satisfactory outcome! The concentration is evident on the crew's face. One of those sails that remind one why this business is such fun.

Earlier we went in search of Finike's old wood fired bakery and found it in the middle of streets that had me kicking myself for not bringing a camera. Old houses with wooden first floor windowed balconies, and chimneys with angled slates on top, and an air of ancient Middle East about them.

Plan A, plan B, plan C.

The original plan was to press on to Phaselis today. However the anchorage there is only suitable in calm settled weather. Despite moderate forecasts, the reality had us reaching for the maritime euphemism encyclopaedia again.

It was certainly 'bouncy' and 'rolly' even in the Ceneviz anchorage. We could see the the wind out to sea was at very least 'brisk', and coming from the direction we wanted to go in.

Plans A and B were ditched, and plan C invented. Back to Finike. It was brisk indeed. On the last stretch we were doing 7+ knots with reefed sails (close hauled - for the sailors).

There was a dramatic wild-fire on the hillsides near Finike. Three helicopters were busy bombing it with water, but a change in wind direction looked horribly dangerous for a hill village. Hope all was well.

‘Fraught with disaster for passing vessels’

Those were the words of Pliny, who wrote before sailors had the reassurance on a 30hp Yanmar diesel to help them along.

After the usual consultation of forecasts we decided to press on round Cape Chelidonia, which marked the limit of one of the old Roman provinces. It was obviously more tricky in ancient times, but still causes a certain frisson, as the winds and currents seem to recognise the turn from the long SW stretch of the Lycian coast and the entrance to the Gulf of Antalya, where the coast turns sharp North.

We anchored in Port Ceneviz, which is a corruption of Port Genovese, named after the ancient traders who used it. Sheltered but gusty. The view to the mountains all around is quite spectacular.

To Finike and beyond

Another social evening and then skipper's best cooking. So all ready to leave Gokkaya behind and press on the Finike.

It turned out to be a delightful brisk sail, mostly reaching and finally a goose wing run for the last few miles.

As usual the forecast light winds were mythical. The final fling seemed to be F5 or 6, which allowed us to fly along with reefed mainsail. The crew had to use full throttle on the engine when we had to turn into the wind to get the sail down. She was proud of that.

We arrived in Finike in time for the Saturday market, which turned out to be enormous, with every sort of fruit, veg, and clothing on offer. We managed to confine ourselves to tomatoes, onions, aubergine, courgette, onions, red pepper, peaches, figs, dried figs, and dates.