MARMARIS.
On arrival in Kas, it didn’t take us long to get into the Turkish culture. We had dinner at the marina in a restaurant where a reception was being held for a local wedding. There was a 6 piece Turkish band and lots of dancing and as you can imagine Cynthia was in her element, putting her belly dancing to the test. There were not many outsiders at the restaurant so we just became part of the wedding guests – It was very similar to a western wedding, except of course the music and the pinning of money onto the bride and bridegrooms clothes. I believe the main wedding ceremony took place in the Mosque beforehand, leaving the fun part for the evening. I don’t know how the bride and groom handled the heat as she was dressed in long bridal dress and he in shirt, tie and jacket; I suppose it leaves more surface area for the cash!!! Although it was held outside, the temperature must have been in the high 30’s. Everyone seemed to have fun even though not a drop of alcohol was consumed by the Turkish guests- I think the Aussies and Brits must have made up for it.
The anchorages that we have been staying at are quite beautiful. It is very similar to some of the cruising grounds on the east coast of Australia. It is quite easy to imagine that you were anchored down the Hawkesbury River, with the rocky outcrops and the sound of the cicadas. The only problem in this part of Turkey is the limited number of good anchorages, which means at the height of the season there could be lots and lots of boats anchored. Besides the charter boats there can be dozens of Gulets, a 20 to 25m long timber Turkish motor sailing boat, which have 10 to 20 tourists onboard. They tend to go out for a few days at a time anchoring in all the main bays along the coast. Normally not a problem but when you can nearly walk from one boat to the next – it can soon loose the ambiance.
The marinas in Turkey, so far have been excellent. The trouble is they aren’t cheap – Fethiye Marina was over $100 per night. Fortunately we are now in Marmaris Yacht Marina, which is only $32. It’s massive and of course it has every boat facility that you might want. We intend to spend a few days here getting the generator sorted before moving on to Bodrium.
We end the blog on a sad note as we have just heard from Barry on Coca de Mare, one of the rally boats, that the boat caught fire off one of the Greek islands and sunk. Fortunately, Barry and the crew are fine; even though they were left with just what they were wearing (swimming costumes) and a few ships papers.
