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.

Sailing and socialising

Having reluctantly left Kas, the route south led to Kekova and the glorious anchorage in Gokkaya. It is hard to do justice in words to the beauty and safety of the almost enclosed bay, with a good muddy bottom for the anchor to grip, and fresh spring-chilled waters to swim in. A little too much socialising with he Buerks distracted from blogging yesterday.

A local boat is providing a song or two. The winds are light and cool. It is hard to imagine anything more perfect.

Heads or tails

Disconcerting flower display in Kas today.
However great veg shop where a kilo of tomatoes, a pepper, some peaches, and two bunches of grapes totalled £2.

Back to the marina by Dolmus, which missed the first marina entrance, dropped us halfway to the next, so we ended up walking further than if we had just walked to start with.

The 'heads' onboard are a crucial fixture. (For non sailors we're talking about the loo) A malfunction necessitated dismantling the whole pump and replacing two valves. Everyone concerned happy that the skipper went for a swim afterwards, especially the skipper.