Crew: Steve & Leslie Kinney, Sadik Gokturk
June 22, Kinneys arrived in Marmaris on a hot humid night. Dinner with Mike, Sheila and Sadik across from Tansas Supermarket at Muratodlu. First night on Migration was comfortable.
June 23, We woke up to the glorious shine of blue sky and majestic mountains. Lots of work to be finished up so we evacuated into town leaving Mike and Sadik. Did a bit of damage meeting everyone Sheila knows--from the ceramic sellers to a fabulous antique store. We ate where Sheila recommended and enjoyed it as we have every meal since arriving last week in Istambul. Sheila had her curls reduced to a barber's crop. Had a pleasant conversation with a Belgian philosopher about Bush. We won't go there. As for dinner at Caria Restaurant along the marina, we received the regular friendly services of Ali including his special discount. Superbly tender beef au Poivre, gratinated shrimp, and gratinated mushrooms. Turkish pistachio ice cream and baklava. How we suffered.
June 24, we stayed on Migration today and finished projects not completed by the marina. Sheila made a delicious Greek salad with wood-baked aromatic bread. The beer induced a nap. By late afternoon we were energized enough to catch the 6:30 dolmus into town. The scenery is spectacular. Enormous pink oleander in full bloom amidst the conifers. Views of the harbor en route. We never would have seen this if we had been in closer. Steve, Sheila and I met Sadik shopping for honey. Mike finally joined us as the sun set on the terrace of Zeytin (olive) Restaurant, an old favorite. We had a plethora of mezes: stuffed peppers and eggplant; hot and cold beans; even the baby ochre was outstanding. They are famous for their homemade delicate pasta. One dish had ground walnuts and a crispy cheese from the Black Sea, the other fresh vegetables in pasta. We had the terrace to ourselves. Below us the marina and above us the rest of "old town" near the castle. Views all around of mountains and afterglow. Our last night in Marmaris. Insallah.
June 25, 10:00 Mike started the engine and we cruised out of Marmaris, passing magnificent rock formations and a large cave to port. Rhodes in the distance to starboard. Full clouds, sun, ho-hum another gorgeous day. As the boat began to rock in seas the T/T Migration, which was suspended a few feet off the deck, began to look very unstable. Un-securing it to lower it to the deck turned into a project. We continued along, awed by the rocks falling to the sea with no signs of civilization. Ducked into a few coves until we decided on Kapi, where we spent the night dockside. Our compulsory dinner (for use of the dock and all the help landing) turned out to be a delicious surprise in this tiny marina, complete with ruins of a small chapel, roving goats and early roosters.
June 26, The day of the Big Sea Turtle. Let it bode well. After a leisurely breakfast and some deck tidying, we set off at 10:40, leaving our little Byzantine ruins and Kapi Creek. Motored to the multi-layered mountains of Fethiye, dropped anchor near the channel marker, jumped into T/T Migration to another favorite Grinnell restaurant: Megri by the bazaar. This was particularly tasty. We were seated and then selected our food behind glass cases and sat at teak tables with a fan going under the awning. Very cool and comfortable. A fish pond, leather and cotton shops operated by Megri near by. After lunch we went our separate ways. Steve and I hit the road to the ancient tombs, which we could see from Migration. Later at 1530 hours we departed for Gemiler adasi. The mountains in the distance were covered by a gentle haze. The fridge was loaded with provisions, lovely vegetables, cheeses, yogurt, eggs fruit and mother's milk, ie. beer.
1750 hours arrived to moor on the scenic side of plenty of ruins in the hill. Hang gliders off the higher mountain peak and a colorful parasailor as we came in. Lovely area. Sadik and Sheila are preparing dinner. Steve swam off somewhere and we're cooling down.
June 27, Happy Birthday Preston (Sheila's dad). A perfect day for visiting Byzantine churches. There are five on this island and two are connected by a corridor. The sign says it is St Nicholas' Island (Gemiler adasi). The man reportedly didn't just pilgrimage here, but resided here. Early ruins from 6-7th century ACE. Others from 1-12th century ACE. It was a thriving port for pilgrims on their way to Palestine. Nothing can grow there except olive trees, but the natural cisterns are beneath our feet. Steve and Sadik paid the 4000TL to climb around. She and I took T/T Migration to see the coastal ruins, some of which are under water. After raising the dinghy to the foredeck we departed at 1050 for the 6 hour trip to Kas. At 1230 we raised the Genoa. Less than an hour later we had to roll it up and run the engine to keep up speed. We passed famous Turkish resorts with sandy beaches. Patara was Hadrian's favorite summer residence. Eventually we saw the Greek islands off the entrance of Kas. At 1700 we Med moored in Kas harbor next to a Turkish gulett. Beautiful. She & I broke open some brews. We all went off to the terraced areas for a swim. The cold water springs were more than occasional, but lovely. Dinner at Ikbal on Hukumer Cad, perpendicular to the old marble road (Roman) and magnificent Lycean tomb. Lamb shoulder & shanks, zucchini fritters, many kinds of potatoes, rice pilaf, mini pides, pesto and bulghur salad. Even dessert of Turkish burnt pudding and vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and ground pistachios. Checked out carpet for Sadik; the discos going well; a late bedtime due to the heat.
June 28, 90 degrees at 0830 on deck. Turk country yogurt, fresh cut apricots, honey on bread, and granola. Our crepe order arrived late. They were filled with spinach, potatoes and cheese and very, very good. She and I went to Deniz's grocery store, placed the order, which would be delivered to the boat shortly. Parasailors landed right next to us on the landing pad 20' from the boat. We applauded the successful landings. We cast off at 1145 on our way to Bozuk. But the windlass died. We scrambled to regain our slip. The gulett next to us had an electrician doing repairs who fortunately agreed to help us later on. The problem turned out to be the deck switch and the motor's brushes. The charterer on the gulett noticed Mike's Schreiber High School reunion T-shirt and introduced himself as Mark Donovan from Port Washington. Small world. The electrician took the windlass to his shop and we looked for a place for lunch. The proprietor of Smiley's snagged us. He said he had been trying to attract us to his restaurant for three summers. We generally try to avoid restaurants located right on the quay. They are usually high priced tourist spots. Later in the day the electrician returned and installed the windlass. It is a good thing the windlass hadn't died in the Kekova portion of the cruise. Sheila roasted a chicken and we dined on the deck with music blaring and a volleyball tournament in full swing on the quay behind us.
June 29, At 0830 we departed for Asperlae, Kekova. At 0940 we dropped the anchor. Great Lycian ruins on land and underwater (the best I have ever seen).
Snorkeled swimming away from the boat. Mike retrieved us by dinghy. This was totally fabulous! We motored to the Kekova Roads area and dropped the fisherman's anchor. We enjoyed lunch surrounded by unusual rock formations, turquoise water, but no ruins. On the next site: ruins of an ancient city spread along the coast under water. Kekova Adasi (island). On the way back to Kas we ducked into Karaloz, a splendid fjord style cove, for a quick look. High rocks with a wonderful pine tree fragrance. What a spectacular day! But Mike received a call from Donna saying Flip Gonzalez will be in St Francis Hospital for as long as 6 weeks with an infection in his heart valve. Flip and Sally were to be the next crew. We had drinks on deck with Paul & Cheryl Smart, who retired to Kas from England. Dinner at the favorite meza place: Bahce. And a garden is full of house cats, a dog and on orange interloper kitten who was constantly being evicted by the proprietor. But cute, people-friendly and purred-good enough for me.
June 30, Departed 1000 for our 7 hour sail under power to Gocek. We anchored of town in full view of the pine covered mountains. Great feast at a restaurant in the market next to the mosque. Our Grande finale. July 1, Hot, Hot, Hot. We tried valiantly to sail, but only ghosted. Lovely feeling under sail. Worth the wait. After a late lunch at the Kebob Hospital the Kinneys departed.
July 2-7, Mike, Sheila and Sadik
We sailed to Marmaris Yacht Marina for repairs. Gino Group manufactured an SS anchor chain directing tube, fixed the frig, plumbing, maintained the engine, fixed the leaky transmission bearing, and replaced the port head floor. Sadik bought 5 or 6 rugs & 4 runners.
July 7-9, We drove to Kutahya. Over the years Sheila had been buying hand painted china from Ahmet, who is from Kutahya, the center for hand painted china. They became friendly enough for him to say to Sheila, "Why don't you rent a car, I will drive you to Kutahya. I miss my mother and sister." A great adventure to the inland and off the boat. About 10 miles from Marmaris in the mountains we stopped his favorite breakfast place in a park like environment with cold mountain water running throughout to keep everyone cool.
The area has been famous throughout history for its natural beauty. We visited Aphrodisias, the ancient city that supported a huge still active stadium that holds 30000 people.
We also visited Pamukalle. Ahmet's uncle (mother's brother) who was the imam of the local Mosque, gave us a tour. It was one of the oldest mosques of the Ottoman Empire. He told us the original builders oriented the mosque off by a few degrees the direction of Mecca. He showed us where it was later rectified with the help of modern technology. We lunched with him at rustic converted house seated on traditional pillows on the floor. We prayed holding hands. The delicious meat stew was served in very large earthenware tureen, along with tomato and cucumber salad and homemade bread.
We spent the night in the local hotel. Sadik disappeared for a few hours only to learn he had found a kind of a speakeasy to have a beer. The town was otherwise dry. The next day we toured several factories of hand painted china. Ahmet's mother and sister prepared an authentic homemade Turkish, country dinner: stuffed grape leaves, fried eggplant, koftes, stuffed tomatoes and peppers, Monti: tiny dumplings with yogurt and garlic sauce and more.
What a feast! We visited his friend's shop where we bought Hashas: the poppy seed paste used on many of the local breads in the ancient bazaar with fish, veg, and fruit. We bought a metric tape measure, which is important when communicating with local craftsmen. Ahmet delayed our departure as he drove around town picking up various pieces of china to take to his shop in Marmaris. On the way back we stopped at modern specialty supermarket where we bought.....
July 10, Departed to Rhodos, Greece to meet Sadik's wife Frederique.
July 11, Frederique