On Thursday we went to the local market and that was very cool.  Lots of vendors selling fruits, vegetables, clothing, and Turkish Delight, with free samples so we helped ourselves.  We have found the produce to be very inexpensive, for example, I paid 1 TL (Turkish lire which is = $0.67Cdn) for a kilo of fresh tomatoes.  We watched the fellow on the motorcycle try to pile all of his purchases onto his motorbike without too much success.  It was a perfect spot to people watch.

After a couple of days it was time to head out so New Paige steamed north with a couple of destinations in mind and the one that won was the town of Sogut.  We moored in front of the Octopus Restaurant (and as usual we were the biggest boat there) and if you ate dinner there your moorage was free.  The atmosphere was casual and the neighbours were friendly, we had Australians on one side and English sailors on the other side.  We could have stayed longer but we had the bug so off we motored.

Our next stop was a delightful anchorage near Kiseil Ad.  We found a little nook where we dropped our anchor backed into the corner, tied two stern lines ashore so we would not swing and laid back to enjoy the solitude.  Our peace was broken every once in a while as the locals would come putzing up in their small boats to try and sell us stuff.  This is what we bought a tablecloth, (John and Gaye bought one too) blouse, small change purses and even ice cream from the ice cream boat.  This was a good spot to get the toys out so we lowered the kayaks into the water and cruised around.  Roger and I also scrubbed the waterline of the boat as it was starting to grow a skirt.  Roger ended up with swimmers ear from being in the water so has not been a hearing guy (catch my pun).  I know it’s bad!  We also had the big dinghy down and took a fast trip into Bozburun.  We needed internet access to check weather, we have found that most restaurants have free wireless if you come in and have a Turkish tea or coffee.  The town was very lazy and the central square had a statue of Mustafa Ataturk.  Ataturk came to power in 1922, forced out all the foreigner invaders and went onto rebuild Turkey into a modern republic.  He is held in very high regard by all Turkish citizens.  And from we have found he has done an impressive job, most towns and cities in Turkey have a statue of Ataturk.

All good things come to an end and we left the anchorage on Monday, June 14^th heading along the Carian Coast toward Bodrum.  We found a small marina at Palamut to moor at and because we were so big we took 2 spots at the wall so the dock manager charged us double.  Oh well, such is life as a big boat.  This moorage was one where you dropped your anchor in the middle of the marina and backed towards the stone wall (a first for us).  Your chain is played out until the stern is 2 metres from the wall then you tie off your stern lines.  The boat settles between the anchor and stern lines.  The trick to good anchor mooring is to drop your anchor far enough out which is tough to do in a small marina.  But we got hooked and settled.  The wind was blowing from the NW and all was good then the wind changed directions and we ended up overpowering the sailboat next to us.  We looked pretty intimidating to them as New Paige shifted with the wind.  We tied another stern line and tightened our anchor to keep the peace but Roger ended up sleeping on the flybridge just to be on the safe side.  We were up and gone pretty early and of course to add insult to injury we hooked their anchor chain when we were bringing ours up.  This was not one of our better nights, it was also well into the 30’s for temperature so we were wilting quickly.

We arrived at Milta Marina in Bodrum about noon and it was hotter here.  The marina was very nice with all of the amenities and for a price you can use all of them.  Boats pay for moorage, power, water and a deposit on a power converter.  For the next 4 or 5 days the temperatures hovered in the low 40’s so the air conditioning ran 24/7.  In that kind of heat it is hard to do anything accept go to the pool which we did.  John and Gaye left us in Bodrum and flew back to Seattle.  We were sorry to see them leave as we were having a great time.  On Tuesdays and Fridays there is a bazaar in town that if you come to Bodrum you must go too.  Friday is the food market and you can get all of your fresh fruit and vegetables there.  We wandered the stalls and bought far too much. Tuesday is the merchandise bazaar where you can get all kinds of clothes, tablecloths, material for sewing, shoes, sandals etc.   Paige and I went and quickly learned the fine art of haggling over the price.  Even she got good at it in the end.  There is a castle here build in 15^th century by the Knights Hospitaller or Knights of St John which now houses the Museum of Underwater Archaeology.  The castle itself is pretty impressive but adds the museum and one could spend hours wondering around imagining how they lived back then.  We toured the dungeons and battlements, and the different towers (there are 6).  The castle guarded Bodrum until the end of WWI.  We wondered until the heat got to us and headed for a cafe for a cold drink.  For the next several days we hung out and tried to adjust to the heat, both Paige and I are having a tough time.  There was an abnormal occurrence the other day, there was a thunderstorm and it rained hard.  According to our neighbour on the starboard side rain is not very common at this time of year.  Turan, captain of a 64’ Fairlane yacht has been very helpful answering our questions and helping us find stuff that we need.  We had him and his crew member Balil over for a beer on our last night in Bodrum.  Their friendliness has made our time in Turkey very enjoyable so far.  We decided it was time to ease the pocketbook so we left Bodrum on Friday, June 25^th.

Until next time…

Joan

I am having issues posting pictures so when I get it resolved you are in for an eyeful!!

I had a look at the gallery, fixed the thumbnails and added the link- hope that’s OK with you!
Dave (admin)

It was time to get the toys down so Roger and I put the kayaks in the water and we had a great time paddling around the bay.  We found a great beach to go to which we did the next day, only we took the water taxi instead of paddling.  The water seemed cold for Roger and Paige but the dog loved it.  Bella seems to like getting in the water but freezes when she gets out.

We have seen a lot of boats come into the anchorage, check it out and some leave, some put down their anchor and stay.  It has been interesting to note the different countries coming through; there have been lots of French, some German, Italian, Austrian, and Luxembourg flagged vessels.  Some even get up close and personal and anchor too close to us so we get the see the whites of their eyes.  As the wind shifts New Paige becomes a very large vessel swinging towards them, they generally pull anchor and leave.  Check out the two pictures, one of John standing in the cockpit watching a boat get closer and closer and the next picture is New Paige at anchor and we look rather imposing!

One day we rented “motos” (aka scooters) and took a tour of the countryside.  We had a blast driving the narrow twisty roads.  Yours truly did try to take out a Mercedes taxi but thought better of it as it was larger than my bike and me.  It took a while for me to get the handle of the bike; once accomplished there was no stopping me.  One of our stops was to Panormitis where there is a monastery; a very imposing structure dating back to the 15^th century.  We had lunch there and then toured the monastery but were not allowed to take photos inside.  Although none of us got a picture of the dog, she came with us and rode in a backpack with Paige who rode behind Roger.  She seemed to enjoy the ride.  We returned the bikes unscathed!

For the next couple of days the winds picked up and things got gusty in the anchorage, with a 300 lb. anchor and 1/2” chain we weren’t going anywhere.  That is when you get boat chores done.

On Tuesday, June 8^th Roger and John went into Symi and checked us out of Greece, meanwhile the rest of us got the boat ready for sea.  We left Pedi Bay at noon heading for Marmaris, Turkey.

Until next time…

Joan

j