A Birthday to Remember!!!

It is time to depart Finike, where we have spent 5 nights waiting for the weather to improve. Matelot now has some patches on the main where the shrouds and spreader have been chafing and making holes, and we are 700TKL worse off, but have a main sail which will now withstand the wear and tear it is going to get in those places. We have shopped at the weekly market and stocked up on fresh provisions again.

We get away around 3.00pm and spend Wednesday night 6 May in the lovely anchorage of Cavus Limani anchored in the NW corner of the bay, where we all crash early after a couple of big nights out in Finike, the last night being a very entertaining and delicious dinner on board Lola K with Eric and Susan.









Richard’s 70th birthday dawns clear and calm. We breakfast on board Deep Blue where Richard is duly made a huge fuss of and blows out the candles on the fruit cake (his favourite), which Brenda has made for him. She is truly amazing.



















11.00 am sees us head north east towards Kemer as phone calls and messages come in and we hoist the spinnaker for the second time on board Matelot, enjoying a clear run towards Mt Olympus on our port side.



Wow this is truly Richard’s favourite thing to be doing.





Soon the wild and deserted nature of this coastline is replaced by huge hotel resorts packed side by side. This is the beginning of the Turkish Riviera which will continue from here to Antalya and then onwards along the 100 km coastline to Alanya.

We check out the ancient harbour of Phaeselis for a suitable anchorage for the night, but very quickly decide that we will sail on to Kemer as there is a fresh breeze blowing and it would not be nice to be caught on this rocky shore in the night. As we round the point into Kemer anchorage, we sight Lola K already swinging at anchor. We have the makings of a party on board Matelot, and we are going to celebrate. Six on board for dinner that night makes for a great birthday celebration with lots of fun and laughter and a few headaches the next day. Richard’s 70th is suitably celebrated.






As our guests depart later that evening, two things stand out; the numerous discos thumping their music against one another on the shore and the stifling smell of sewage effluent. Someone is pumping out into this idyllic bay. Perhaps it is coming from the shore, or perhaps from the numerous gullets moored nearby, but with no tide or current to take it away, we wonder the next morning at the people swimming, waterskiing etc while enjoying their dream holidays in the sunshine. There are several resorts here – best that they don’t know! The crystal clear Mediterranean waters give nothing away.

To our extreme astonishment, at around 10.00am a large gullet, with quite a few guests on board, anchors off our bows right between Deep Blue and us (not much room!) and then goes stern to until it is alongside and between us. The skipper appears to be talking on his cellphone while he conducts this manouvre and minutes later he departs from the boat in an inflatable, leaving his crew in charge of it. We pretty quickly decide to move on, but Deep Blue are not ready to go yet so they remain to endure the huge boat drifting on top of them, struggling to maintain their position and fend off. We sail on and marvel at the backdrop of huge mountains towering over us. Antalya here we come. ....