Sailing with Moondance : Marmaris to Fethiye and on to Kas

We arrved in Marmaris and anchored off the town. Bit of a deja vue for Wild Indigo as it was from here that we commenced our sailing adventures on Moondance.
WE contacted the agent to assist with our check in to Turkey. WE had previously communicated all our paperwork, so it was just a matter of presenting ourselves to the authorities. Of course the police wanted two bottles of hard liquor for his work and this was paid from the agents fee.
Graham and Lorraine had met us earlier, sort of as we had arranged, but all was good and they helped us take Wild Indigo to the Customs dock, then to the fuel dock where we refuelled and transferred the bribe to the agent.
The wind had increased and was onshore at Marmaris, so we reanchored across the bay finding shelter in the lee of the large Island that protects Marmaris. Dinner that night was at a "Thomas Cook" resort - quite different to what we had expected, where our credit cards were taken and no cash could be exchanged. We ordered our dinner which was recorded and we were provided with a signal device which let us know when our selection was ready. It all worked well and the meal was very nice and inexpensive (as we were to find with all our meals so far in Turkey)
Our next stop was Ekincik. (Egg n chick) A small quay with a bay and a few restaurants.
It was from here we negotiated to be taken up the Dalyan river to Caunos and Dalyan.
Dinner that night was another Turkish surprise. "Could we look at the menu?" "No menu" "Lookee Lookee in Fridge - come" So we ordered meals from the fridge. Then mezze platters with fresh bread came, then the mains. We had over ordered, but did our best.

Next day was the boat ride to Dalyan and the tripper boat arrived at 9am as arranged. We went up the river and spent 1 1/2 hours exploring Roman Ruins before continuing past the rock tombs of Caunos which are on the river bank opposite Dalyan.
Unfortunately the turtle feeding station was no longer operating so we didnot see the turtles close up as we had in 2016.

We had arranged lunch with Penny Blackmore who arrived on a bicycle at the mosque as arranged. Penny has just bought a house complete with pool in Dalyan and it was a pity we did not have time to see it. However, lunch by the river was most enjoyable as we solved many of the problems of the world.

From Ekincik, it was off to Gocek. Graham and Lorraine were a great help in maneuvering the yacht and we had some time exploring in town. From Gocek town there are ample bays in the surrounding area and we spent a tourist day on the yacht visiting many until we decided on "Bob's Bay" - an unnamed pretty bay in the area. One of our first complete days of "cruising" and it wsa a pleasure to unwind and swim in clear water. From there we moved next day to Kapi Creek where we took a mooring buoy and Othali was able to tie up beside us. A walk ashore saw Bob, Sue, Graham and Lorranie walk over the hill for a swim. Raewyn and I did not make it that far and continued on flat ground further round the hill interacting with the many goats who followed us.
Dinner again was "a look in the fridge"
From Kapi Creek it was a short motor across the Bay to Fethiye. This whole area takes a bit of time to explore and we did not really do it justice.
Fethiye (anchored outside the marina) was an opportunity to catch up on laundry, market shopping etc. We followed the tourist trail to tombs in the hills behind the town. Next day we and two Australian yachties took two taxis to Kakoy - a village deserted of Greeks during a "resettlement" in 1923. The village has been left deserted and is now a tourist attraction.
Tuesday was market day and we spent a long time visiting the huge markets.
Sadly, Graham and Lorraine left us the following day to continue the next stage of their Northern Hemisphere adventures before returning to NZ.
Bob and Sue spent a further day revisiting the old markets and included haircuts for Bob and I.

Next stop was Kalkan where we caught up with "Wild Fortune" an Australian yacht we shared a 6 month period in Plataria Greece with 14 years ago on Checkmate. Again it was possible to cover a lot of territory and catch up in person with people who have become old aquaintances. We then rejoined Sue and Bob who had found a delightful cove just out of Kalkan with clear cold salt water. Many tripper boats and Gulets arrived fom Kalkan, but apart from a very large motor yacht a Gulet and a few other yachts we had the place to ourselves.

We are now in a sheltered bay near Kas. We took a water taxi in to town yesterday afternoon and again today.