Hoist by the main halyard

Essential maintenance required some work at the top of the mast. Rather Nigel than me.

A tight timetable had the work finished at 15:10 and the haulout at 15:30.

That's pretty definitely it.

Drying out

Drying out - Not what we have to do when we get home and end holiday cocktail hour, but what we had to do to KJ today. Endless absorbent cloths to mop up the well rinsed boat, and guard rails festooned with clothes, mats, and assorted damp belongings.

Fortunately today was blue sky and 30° sunshine. Keel bolts painted, dinghy cleaned and deflated, the list goes on. It did leave time for an afternoon on the pristine beach and probably our last swim.

Apocalypse?

The weather can be quite spectacular here, but hard to capture in a photo. However the apocalyptic clouds maybe convey some of the drama.

After a morning of end of season cleaning and polishing we made it to the beach briefly before the dark descended. We sheltered in the beach bar for a couple of hours drinking chai, (the only thing we had enough money for), and then splashed back to bail out poor KJ. An unintended early wash of the bilges.

Make my day

Anchored in a corner of Sarsala Bay we decided this was the perfect final anchorage. The holding is good (so the anchor won't drag), the water is clear, the view is ideal, and the shelter is as good as you get. We listened to the wind howling outside the bay last night, while peacefully (so far as wind was concerned) playing backgammon.

This morning I remarked that it would make my day if a kingfisher appeared, having watched one here years ago. Almost immediately one perched on the stern line and cocked a head at me. 'Satisfied now, punk?' I think he said.

Gocek now to begin the end of the trip. Strangely those thunderstorms have followed us, so we are sheltering as cocktail hour unfolds.

The calm after the calm

The thunderstorms stayed north of us last night, so firework displays of lightning and threatening dark clouds were all we suffered.

Today started calm and bright, and stayed that way for us. More thunder over the mountains continued to rumble, but we were able to enjoy the accompanying wind for a brisk and delightful sail.

Anchoring with a stern line when there are only two of us is usually a bad idea. We decided to have a go in Sarsala bay. Key learning point - don't even try it with a strong cross-wind. However we found a sheltered corner with easier wind and all went well.

Tiny triumphs

It's amazing how little things give disproportionate satisfaction. Today saw the installation of a replacement 12v socket, and the repair of a leaky swim-platform shower head. Quite pathetic how pleased someone was with himself.

A delightful sail across the gulf took us to Sarsala. However the thunderheads are building and the sky is looking increasingly ominous, while rumbles grow louder.

Change of scene

From the peace and relative quiet of Deep Bay old habits drove us to bustling Fethiye. A visit to the fish market was pointless from the point of view of purchasing, but impressive to watch. The fruit and vegetable market was more productive, and we found late season figs that are excellent.

Meeting my old friend Billy is always amusing. From Coleraine, he skippers yachts in Fethiye and is a nonstop story teller. It turned out to be a late night. We plan to escape to the peace and quiet again.

That certain ‘fleece-on’ again

We escaped to a quiet cove in Deep Bay. Quiet now, but busy earlier. Sunday in Skopea Limani means hundreds of boats of all sizes out for a day-trip. By 17:00 most are leaving, and the bay has become quite empty.

Temperatures have dropped. While enjoying 30° in daytime, once the sun disappears so does the warmth. The crew has been busy deploying duvets for the first time, and at cocktail hour a certain fleece-on ran round the cockpit.

Eejits?

A calmer day led to follies. A respectable teacher and two 'older' people were observed on the children's rope swing at Tomb Bay, instead of having a serious and educational climb to the ancient tombs.

Things got worse. A yacht was observed carrying out complex manoeuvres in the middle of the Gulf of Fethiye. They made sense only to those who could see the track on the GPS screen. A beautiful figure of eight and a neat triangle appeared on the screen to our childish satisfaction. Some less appropriate outlines were contemplated but censored.

Pointing directions, not saluting.

Where is Fethiye? The intrepid explorers had no problem pointing the way.

After a quiet night anchored in 22 Fathom Bay the crew had an exciting day's sailing. Some might say 'exciting' was another of those sailing euphemisms, and the word 'terrified' was possibly on some lips. Maire clocking 7.8kts as we were weaving through a racing fleet was a particular highlight.

Peaceful evening now in Tomb Bay.

Fifty Shades of Grey

Or four or five at least, ranging down the mountains off the port bow as we left Gemiler Island this morning. 

After an overflowing holding tank caused our leisurely start to be cut short, we set out to follow the course plotted by this guest blogger (and guest skipper) from Gemiler to Tomb Bay. Following Helena's expert hoking of the anchor chain, and Allen's nifty removal of the shore lines there was no holding us back. 

Today we also welcomed a new guest on board, in the form of Stanley the Seesaw. First spotted as a floating blue-green blob, later misidentified as as an inflatable crocodile, we eventually hauled him to safety in a man over board manoeuvre under sail. He doesn't say much, but we're hoping to at least dispose of him in a suitable manner so that he doesn't turn in to fish food. 

Later, crossing Skopea Limani we spotted what appeared to be a yacht regatta, and on our arrival in Tomb Bay we were faced with a difficult decision - spend the night with the 160 Russian sailors on their thirty yachts who were currently racing their way in our direction, or in the words of Fat Sam, "come back tomorrow"...

Needless to say, we chose the latter, and instead got to enjoy the entertainment of the repeated failure of another yacht to anchor at Twenty-Two Fathom Cove - from our own spot near the beach, we watched as they picked up a mooring buoy and nearly drifted back in to the cliff wall. Said buoy later got dragged a significant distance offshore from its starting point before they gave up and tried with the anchor; this attempt also aborted, they sailed off out of our line of sight, so we could no longer gawp at their ineptitude and bask in our own superiority. 

With no further distractions, cake and bread were acquired from the Organik Mobile Market, the boat was swum around and under, the view was enjoyed, rummy was played, gin was drunk, carbonara was consumed and this was blogged. Chocolate cake and baklava are still to come. 

Oops - whirling cloud finger

The indistinct photo sent earlier shows a menacing whirling finger reaching down from the clouds - like an incipient twister.

Seven/seven/seven

It rained last night in Kalkan. The steep streets became rivers. Thunder echoed around the town and lightning put on a fireworks display for us. Glad to be safely in harbour.

Off at 06:30 this morning for the longer trip past Patara and the Seven Capes. It seemed quirky that on our way to the Seven Capes, at seven o'clock, Lucy helmed us along at a glorious seven knots.

Russian water

Lucy rigged up an ingenious arrangement with umbrella and mosquito net. However the rain beat it in the end.

It has been heavy. Also dramatic lightning.

Whole crew took refuge in a traditional restaurant while the heavens opened.

Sitting now at cocktail hour with lightning all around.