The Advance Guard Arrive

Friday and Saturday 24 25 July 2009

We tie up in the old harbour at Kos Island a day before Pip and Jess arrive so that we can get organised and turn the boat around. However, there is such chaos in the water with lots of crossed anchors that we find ourselves still up and about at 11.00 pm and nothing much done. We have spent the day trying to protect our boat from being dragged off the wall by arriving and departing boats, when finally a large blue imitation tug boat arrives and lays it anchor over about 5 of us in a row, so that settles it, we can go nowhere until they leave early the following morning.

We greet our new guests off the 3.30am ferry and they are settled on to Matelot with a glass of Ouzo and water before we all head off to bed around 5.00am.

It is 6.00am when the fun starts and the blue tug starts to undo the knitted anchor chains.

Lots of yelling and several boats later, we find ourselves free to leave around 4.00 pm that day.

Our day has not been without further drama as we discover a lot of salt water in the bilges and Richard goes on a witch-hunt through the boat to find the source. It turns out to be a recalcitrant salt-water exhaust hose which is in need of a haircut at the tail end. With some help from Mark on the Polish boat next door Richard manages to repair the hose and secure the safety of the ship.

We have managed some quick provisioning before heading out for our first stop at Vathi on Pserimos Island. Pip and Jess get their first taste of a short sharp Med sea as we sail into the wind on the 5 mile trip across from Kos. Pserimos is gorgeous – incredibly clear water over a sandy bottom, goat bells and barren hills. We all pile into bed early after swims and tasty orzo to recover on the lost sleep of the night before. Matelot is a very quiet ship and we wake up to a glorious morning.

Sunday 26 July

From Pserimos we chart our course for the eastern side of Kalymnos…The Meltemi is well established and blowing a treat from the north west. We spend most of the next week with two reefs in the main and a handkerchief for a headsail. It blows day and night but we don’t let it stop us from making the most of our time.

Dinner on board Matelot and we all pitch in to prepare lentil sausages and wraps... yum!

Our first stop is Palionisou on the eastern side of Kalimnos. As we drop our sails and motor into the entrance of this sheltered harbour, we are hit in the face by the blast of heat which is coming off the surrounding tall hills. It is like going into an oven from the fresh sea breeze and we cannot wait to get the anchor down to go for a swim. It is reportedly bad holding in here so we plan to have a quick swim and then sail on to Xerokambos on the southern tip of Leros. However this is not to be as we try to hoist the main on our departure and it gets stuck halfway up in an increasing breeze. A quick turnaround to more sheltered water and some brute strength and ignorance joined to some rope soon deal to the sticky main, but we have wasted a bit of time and decide after all to stay over here in Palionisou.

By late afternoon the breeze has gone right down and we go ashore for a walk 200 meters up the stony path between goat and chook pens to the taverna for a cooling drink.

It is very entertaining as we meet the proprietor, Nicholas who is quite a character and offers Pippa Milne a job as a waitress for the summer season. Pippa and Jess swim back to Matelot while the older members of the crew take the tender.

These girls are taking to life on Matelot like ducks to water. The wind is howling again but they are still up on deck. We are still on the eastern side of Kalymnos tucked up in Palionissos.


Back on the boat and Richard sleeps up on deck to keep an eye on things as the wind comes up again in the night and howls around us. We are up and ready to go by 9am – a late start – having had a famous Matelot breakfast of fresh fruit, muesli, yoghurt and honey washed down by authentic Greek coffee.

Richard has sorted out the problem on the main track and we are off. The seas are short and steep and we keep the motor on while sailing up hill to our destination 11 NM away.

Pip and Jess are both keen to sail the boat, catch on fast and aquit themselves very well. They are both naturals. Cap'n Buck issues some coaching as we go along. On arrival in Xerocambus we put out around 40 meters of chain as the wind is still fairly fresh and coming over the hills ahead of us into the anchorage. Richard wanders forward to install the anchor bridle and discovers to his horror that the bow roller is hanging loose where the bolt has come undone and we are about to lose the whole thing in the water. Some instant DIY and an hour of hanging upside down and Richard has it fixed. We sure are having our fair share of little dramas so far on this trip and are reminded to keep our eyes open for any potential issues on the boat which may cause problems, then fix them before they do!

The next morning Pippy, Jess and Pippa M go ashore to buy bread and veg in the tiny township. There is very little retail therapy available so foraging on the side of the road of this pretty settlement, for fresh figs, herbs, tiny wild tomatoes and plums (like berries which we don’t know the name of but are sweet and delicious), turns out to be a fun experience. We check out the plum berries with a local character outside his dusty old shop and he assures us they are edible and good!

We 3 girls forage ashore and find these freebies on trees on the side of the road. We don't know what the dark berries are but they are delicious and have tiny stones like plum stones...!

Lakki Harbour is our next stop. The architecture here is fascinating, - a sort of Art Deco left over from the Italian occupation during the second world war. Many of these buildings are now being restored and we all very much enjoyed the ambience of this small port.

We stay a couple of nights here mostly because Pip, Jess and Pippa spend the second day ashore walking across the island to picturesque Pandeli and the adjacent town of Platanos. Richard is on boat watch as initially Matelot drags her anchor 100 meters while he is taking an afternoon nap just after our arrival and he is a bit miffed as none of the girls on deck notice! We know that he is enjoying a good book so does not mind too much having some peace and quiet while we go off walking. Pippa and Jess walk to Pandelli Castle on the top of the hill above the town. Pippy explores the picturesque island capital of Platanos, which is at its best, wreathed in bouganvillea, hibiscus and oleander flowers.

It is around 3k each way plus the walking in between, so we are all late back on the boat and not in the mood to move on just yet. We do manage to get on the internet for a short time while ashore.


Sorry... cannot upload photos on this internet connection. Tried one photo for 13 minutes but nothing happened so have given up for now. It is very sad as we have some wonderful photos to show.

Whistle Stop Tour and the Meltemi Kicks In….

Thursday 9 July 2009

There is only one way to cool off when you are at sea!

We douse the spinnaker after a 5 hour run from Rhodes with Sam claiming the record top speed of 11.4 knots. Fethiye Korfezi opens out in front of us and we take a turn to port into the enclosed area of Skopea Limani. We motor into the picture postcard pretty and sheltered Kapi Creek for a look, then continue up to Round Bay for a swim. We don’t really like the look of this for an overnight anchorage, so haul up the anchor and head back south to Tomb Bay where we tie stern-to ashore in the NW corner and sit on boat watch while our visitors climb up to the nearby Lycian Tomb for a close encounter with the history of this region.

While they are ashore, the wind freshens only slightly, but it is enough pressure side-on for us to want to pull ourselves out further from the shore, up on the anchor. By the time they all return which is relatively quickly, we are ready to get out of there. We are never comfortable when tied stern-to and cannot understand the popularity of this method of mooring in the Med except in flat calm conditions.

As we head out of beautiful Tomb Bay, we find ourselves in the face of a fresh westerly breeze just right for a night tied up on the pontoon at Wall Bay. We enjoy drinks ashore in the rustic restaurant and a secure and peaceful night on the pontoon, with a walk ashore planned first thing in the morning.


Wall Bay and Matelot on pontoon in the background...

Wednesday 10 July 2009

By 8am we are off the boat and walking in search of the ruins of ancient Lydae which we don’t find. However a visit to the ruins on the water’s edge in Ruin Bay and the sight of Sam and Luke leaping from the top of a tree into the still clear water where Cleopatra once swam, makes for a memorable morning.

Soon we are on our way to Fethiye where we spend two nights swinging at anchor amongst many other boats close to the marina. We enjoy visiting this delightful tourist town and there is a fair bit of stuff ferried back to Matelot. We eat ashore and explore the bazaar, shop and provision. It is very hot and the wind gets up on the second afternoon so we move further up the bay to get off the lee shore. We are soon visited by the Coastguard rib boat with cameras out zeroing in on us. We have noticed an oil slick in the harbour the previous day on arrival and they seem to think we might be the guilty party. We assure them it is not coming from our boat and sit nervously while they hang around for a while. Eventually they go away, and we relax. We are sure it is not Matelot but are very nervous of the huge fines which we have heard can be imposed with very little proof of innocence being noted.

Friday 12 July 2009

Needless to say we are happy to leave Fethiye the next morning for one of our favourite places, Gemmiler Island. We are looking forward to showing this lovely region to our friends. Karen’s mother found some treasure on this island when visiting it a few years ago and hid it there. Karen and the Bullock family go looking for it unsuccessfully and are soon back on board ready to move on. In their absence we have been surrounded by day-tripper boats and it is like Piccadilly Circus. Our lovely anchorage around the corner in Bestas Limani is unfortunately full up so we cannot stop and visit the deserted ancient village of Kayakoy, written about in “Birds Without Wings”.

Saturday 13 July 2009

The boys do some swings from the spinnaker pole into the water as afternoon entertainment... for us all!

We spend a peaceful night in Karacaoren Bay before departing early the next morning for a 54 mile sail to Marmaris.

As the afternoon wears on and the wind freshens to a westerly F5 to 6 Beaufort, we reduce down from full main and genoa in several stages to as much reefs as we can do, eventually bringing the sails down and motoring the remaining 5 miles. The sea is steep and we are bashing into it to lay Marmaris eventually arriving at 6.30pm and anchoring off the beach in our usual place.

Sunday 14 July 2009

We spend one night here, then catch up on a few quick emails while the Bullocks visit the bazaar the next morning and enjoy the attentions of a local barber and the atmosphere of Marmaris. Some more provisions are ferried on board and we depart for Ciflick 13.3 NM away.

On arrival the wind is still westerly F5-6. We have not visited this anchorage before and it is truly lovely, however the strong gusts coming off the high hills surrounding it make for a nervous night and not much sleep on board Matelot. When the gusts hit they make an ear splitting noise! Richard is up on deck at 3.00 am putting out another 10m of chain.

We are assuming this wind is the Meltemi which peaks in July and August each year and can reach F7-8 Beaufort. It is now a constant companion each day and night and makes our westing just a little more eventful! We are gradually feeling more confident that swinging at anchor overnight is a good plan. Our 20 Kg Bruce Anchor and plenty of chain (6 or 7 to 1 skope) has so far proved to be a failsafe move. However, we are not yet at the stage when we can sleep through it!

Wednesday 15 July 2009

Simi Harbour is a great favourite with all of us. Karen and Pippy love the designer clothes stores...! Pity about that dress that did not make it on board - the one Karen will always dream about!

Today we are going to Simi Harbour 31 NM away. It is going to be a fairly boisterous on the wind sail but with all our crew on board we feel we have the team for it! With various sail combinations, mostly reefed, and winds gusting up to 40 knots, we enjoy the sailing with our very competent crew. We motor the last couple of miles into the welcome shelter of Simi Harbour and tie up stern to the Town Wall in the lee of a huge motor yacht which shelters us nicely from the wind gusting into the harbour. Matelot looks like a very little boat against others nearby. We love the charm of Simi and the reasonable cost to tie up of 6 Euro plus power and water. The town is interesting with lots of lovely shops to explore and walks to take.

Thursday 16 July

The next morning we all take walks up the hills around the village and explore the area. We have decided to move on to the town of Datca for tonight and the 8.5 NM sail is going to be short and sharp. We have some difficulty getting out of the harbour as a large catamaran has anchored over us and we have to pull up their chain to release our anchor. This is a nerve-wracking process and is always accompanied by owners of other boats in the area standing out on their bow issuing shouted instructions not to drop the offending anchor over theirs, not to go near them etc etc! We sympathise with them but do wish they would shut up as it is not at all helpful. Crossed anchors are part of the territory in these tiny harbours. Richard and Luke on the bow succeed eventually and off we go. Goodbye Simi. The wind is on the nose, so we motor this stretch.

Datca puts on its best face for us and it is interesting for Richard and Pippy to see the differences in the town from when they visited here in March of this year. It is festive and lovely. We tie stern-to on to the town wall for a charge of TKL30 and Karen and Pippy get off the boat quickly and explore the shops in the immediate vicinity, purchasing honey, almonds and fresh vegetables.


We dine ashore at a restaurant table set up on the beach in the fading light. It is so very pretty.



Friday 17 July 2009

Unfortunately, sleep on board Matelot is a little disturbed by loud music into the small hours and some of us are a little jaded as we head out for Palamutbuku the next day.

Our departure from Datca is a hurried one. A large catamaran on our port side leaves before us and lets off the wrong stern rope first, slewing across into the side of Matelot with their protruding steel gangway and ripping all of our washing off the lifeline. Fortunately this is the worst of the damage and Richard takes a dive to retrieve most of Pippy’s undies and a few pegs! However we are now exposed to a gusting breeze on our port side and very quickly Matelot starts to fall sideways back on to the town wall. We take up on the anchor but to no avail and get off the wall as quickly as we can.



Palamutbuku is another of our favourite destinations. It is rustic and unspoilt – so far – and we enjoy the hospitality of our friend Altan at Mirhaba Restaurant.

The standard of the food here is we think, superior to that at Datca and better value for money. Altan is a charming host and we always enjoy our time here. Pippy purchases local olive oil and Karen contributes a local delicacy Kegiboynuzu pekmezi – a honey flavoured treacle-like sauce, which is said to contain health-giving properties.

There is a small sandy cove over the breakwater from where we are berthed in the harbour and we make full use of it and the deck chairs on the beach. Some entertainment is provided when the French skipper of the boat moored next to us catches a reasonable sized octopus with his bare hands and gives it the prescribed 100 wallops on the rocks before taking it home to be cooked for dinner.

Saturday 18 July 2009

Today we must truly ‘turn for home’ (Kos Island) but not without a compulsory stop at Knidos for a swim in the cool waters and a chance to explore the ruins of this ancient and fascinating site.

We hear that Kos Harbour is full up and so is the marina. Oh well, we will have to anchor out tonight. The wind comes up to low 30 knots during our sail across from Knidos to Kos and we arrive around the north eastern corner with all reefs in place and the headsail rolled up to a handkerchief. We are offered an option to tie up alongside the wall in the last position available but it is very turbulent water so decide to swing at anchor just off the entrance, in close proximity to a string of night-clubs which keep some of us awake into the night. After dinner on board we take a trip ashore – 2 ferries of the dinghy – to explore Kos Town at night and it is in full tourist season with all shops open for business. We explore the delightful alleys of the old town and have ice cream deserts all round.

The Bodrum – Kos Regatta is in full swing this weekend, comprising an off shore yacht race, speedboat and jetski racing and also kite surfing.




The town is alive and jumping. Pippy has the biggest thirst!





Sunday 19 July 2009

Our friends the Bullocks and Luke are due to depart for Lake Garda, Italy tonight on the Athens Ferry. They have two days of travel ahead of them and we have a quiet relaxed day. Straight after a late breakfast we move on to the town wall in a sheltered spot well within the harbour.

Pippy is upskilling on the boat handling side of things and under Richard’s instruction and with great support from all the crew, successfully reverses Matelot stern-to (Med style) on the town wall. It is hot and still and waves of heat are rolling off the castle wall nearby.

Our canvas sun awnings help to keep us cool and it is a quiet boat for the afternoon. We all take a 4 pm swim off the beach then bags are soon packed and up on deck. We enjoy an early dinner and last minute ouzo’s all round before farewelling everyone, wishing Luke and Sam luck in the 420 Worlds, then watching our friends disappear into the bowels of the massive vessel at around 7.45 pm.

Richard and Pippy stand in the darkness and watch with amazement, the efficiency of the loading of this huge Blue Star Ferry. Large trucks wizz on and off the ferry taking the removable trays loaded with containers with them then coming back for the next one. We dodge the action as motor-bikes and cars also roll on in a seeming riot of confusion. However, everyone seems to know where they are going and in very short time the wharf is empty and the ferry is on its way. We watch as it disappears into the night and then return to a very quiet Matelot a few hundred meters away on the town wall.

Special Times

It is a huge thrill for us to be able to introduce these gifted young sailors Sam and Luke to Peter Cornes and Pete Montgomery and to have these two prominent patrons of NZ yachting (for different reasons) talk to them about the passion they all have in common.

As luck would have it, friends Claudia and Peter Montgomery are going to be holidaying in Marmaris on 29 June and we are looking forward to a special catch up with them. We have been in touch with Peter Cornes, owner of a 120 foot luxurious motor yacht and close friend of Pete and Claudia, who extends a dinner invitation to Richard and Pippy for the evening of 28th before Pete and Claudia arrive. We dine in absolute style and grace outside on deck, with the warm Marmaris air caressing our bare arms and the light fading to Arabian Nights blue after the sun goes down over the mountains surrounding the enclosed harbour. It is a fun evening with 6 other New Zealanders present and a nightclub nearby beating out appropriate tunes for the motor bikers convention being held nearby. The menu is vichyssoise soup, duckling, special cheeses from all over the world and a creamy melt in the mouth desert. Peter's amazing hospitality is a special treat for us and it is great to meet him after exchanging emails several times.

We are very spoilt to be invited back again the next night to dine with Pete and Claudie and again in Rhodes almost a week later when we go on board with our visitors Karen and Nick Bullock and their son Sam with friend Luke. Sam and Luke are on their way to Lake Garda in Italy to compete in the World 420s where they will represent New Zealand. It is a huge thrill for us to be able to introduce these gifted young sailors Sam and Luke to Peter Cornes and Pete Montgomery and to have these two prominent patrons of NZ yachting (for different reasons) talk to them about the passion they all have in common. This meeting will be remembered as a highlight for all of us.

Going back in time for a moment, we have picked up our first visitors to sail on Matelot this season in Kos Island at 3.30am on 4 July and are six on board for just over 2 weeks. We are determined to really pack it in and sail downhill from Kos Island, taking in Knidos then spending the night in Monastery Bay on the south western end of Simi. We sail on to Rhodes the next day. Nick and Karen are both accomplished sailors and Sam and Luke are itching to get out there and power up our boat. Our massive blue and yellow masthead spinnaker gets its first airing just out of Kos and then again and again since then. The competition is on to see who can go the fastest and so far Luke is the winner at 11.5 knots. We average 10 knots from Rhodes (after 2 nights there) to Wall Bay which is our best time yet. It is a bit of a nerve wracking adjustment for Pippy to make seeing the apparent wind is above 20 knots. Normally we put up the spinnaker in 5 knots and pull it down in 10!

All of this and having such gun sailors on board makes Richard go a bit dotty and here he is swinging from the spinnaker pole as a result!

We manage to take in Kappy Creek, Round Bay, Wall Bay (overnight on the pontoon thank goodness as the wind comes up in the night) and Tomb Bay all in less than 24 hours. We swim and walk and drink gallons of iced drinks as the heat is on. We head out to Fethiye for our next night and on from there.

Wall Bay is a huge favourite with us as we sit outside in the rustic restaurant and enjoy an iced drink in the lovely surroundings.

Westward Bound

The time has come and we must move on, sadly saying farewell to our friends in Alanya, both the staff and other yachtspeople who we have enjoyed meeting during our time here.

Saturday 13 June 2009

We throw our lines and leave Alanya Marina at around 1.30pm. Before we are a mile off the coast we have an "incident" with a large white 3 masted gulet who lays a course straight for us from the coast. We are in the middle of hoisting sails, with tons of ocean all around us when we have to take avoiding action to get out of the way of this enormous vessel who motors up on us from behind at speed, presumably to give his passengers a birds eye view of us. We are about to bear away but have to head to wind and motor to get out of his way. Our hand signals say it all!! He creates a huge wake just to annoy us then motors off again at speed!

We have an overnight 100 nautical mile 17 hour passage ahead of us and manage to sail for several hours before the overnight calm sets in. We have a good clear night with moonlight soon to assist us. We are alternating watches and hot bedding in the cockpit which is really neat. We are delighted with our radar which is now working well since we replaced the wiring in Marmaris. For the first part of the night we see lots of huge fishing boats between us and Antalya and think perhaps they are servicing fish ranches as we pass one of these fairly close by.


Pippy's turn to sleep as the sun comes up over the Gulf of Antalya.

We make it into our first destination of Gokkaya Limani at the eastern end of Kekova Roads at around 6.30am. This is one of our favourite parts of Turkey. We anchor up in the north western creek and pile into bed for a big sleep but not before we eat a hearty breakfast and have a swim.

We are on our way again by 5.00 am the next morning motoring past Kekova Roads and the ancient under water city of Simena. We have 70 miles to go today to Fethiye and with a combination of motoring and sailing, reach our destination in Fethiye Harbour by 4.30 pm in time to stop for a swim then fuel up on our way in.

With Marmaris in our sights, we cover the 52 miles to anchor off the beach in downtown Marmaris by the next day. We have a wonderful sail with eased sheets and a SW wind, once we lay the entrance to Marmaris Harbour.

We have a very busy time over the next week or so preparing for our first guests on board on 4 July. There are as always a few maintenance jobs to attend to both on and off the water.

However we take a few hours out to hire a car and rendezvous with our old friends from Deep Blue who are in Palamutbuku an 80 km drive from Marmaris. We overnight on their boat and enjoy a fab dinner out at Mirhaba Restaurant with wonderful host Alten. The food is exceptional and it is nice to be back here again - home of the green almonds. Deep Blue has been to Egypt and back since we saw them last. We have a wonderful reunion and say goodbye at 6 am the next morning. They are now on their way to Istanbul.

We decide to leave the dinghy secured to Matelot rather than on the shore while we are away overnight. This involves a complicated routine. Richard takes Pippy and the bags ashore then returns to Matelot with the dinghy, ties it on, dons flippers and swims the 400m ashore again! He does it in reverse on our return the next morning!

Richard swims out to Matelot to get the dinghy ashore on our return from Palamutbuku... You can just see him if you scroll to the right

Matelot is spoilt and gets a new sun awning and hatch covers. The sun is absolutely white hot here and the hatches are starting to show signs of sun damage. A small investment is worth making now to prevent further damage.

We should have tidied up the cockpit before taking this photo!

Alanya Marina - a Huge Thank You! .... Tara for now!

View from the Castle, Alanya

We would like to extend a huge thank you to all the staff at Alanya Marina www.alanyamarina.com.tr where we have spent most of the past month. To Savas, so gracious and obliging - nothing is too much trouble. Mesut - you are a star. The care and attention you gave to our haulout was exceptional. Mr Oktay, General and Technical Manager - your assistance on our technical issues is so much appreciated, especially the power lead which was twice severed by accident during our hull maintenance! Not even a raised eyebrow did we see! Finally Sibel who takes care of all reservations. Thank you Sibel - we did not say farewell to you, so hope this means we will see you again. ... and most of all to our friend Hasan, who we have not seen much of because he is away leading the Eastern Mediterranean Yacht Rally, but whose kindness and generosity is legendary amongst yachtsmen in the Mediterranean.

Alanya Marina is a short 1TKL (approx AUD1) bus ride from downtown Alanya, the ancient name for which was Coracesium in the 4th Century BC.

Alanya has a chequered history, being inhabited by pirates during the second century BC, 'cleaned out' by the Romans around 67BC. Famous landmarks include the Castle and ancient shipyard built by Sultan Alaeddin Keykubat and the 33m high Red Tower which overlooks the old harbour. Today endless resort hotels pack the coastline of golden sands from Antalya and Cleopatra Beach close to the marina is no exception.

Alanya Marina represents an opportunity for intrepid boating people to make the passage across the Gulf of Antalya off the beaten track, to arrive at a destination which can more than cater for their needs. In the final stages of construction, Alanya Marina is close to some of the most interesting ancient sites in Turkey, many of them untravelled and unspoilt. The sites of Perge, Side, Aspendos, Manavgat, Gazipasa (which has an airport), Anamur and Silifke are all well worth the visit, not to mention the opportunity to travel inland and further east to places such as Cappadocia, Sanliurfa (Abraham's birthplace) and the astonishing Mt Nemrut national park area. To be able to sail and travel from Alanya to these destinations has been a huge bonus to us.


Another Kiwi boat "SY Musketel" gets the lift out treatment

We wish Alanya Marina the best of luck in finishing the construction phase very speedily now. You are so close to being completely up and running. We will always have special memories of our time with you and know that anyone who comes your way will find a ready welcome in your Marina.

Aida at Aspendos from Alanya Marina

The set for Aida is staged in front of the stunning backdrop of the ancient and well preserved tall stage building behind it. Unfortunately this cannot be seen in the photograph.


Friday 12 June

The big day has arrived and tonight we are to travel by bus from Alanya Marina, to the ancient theatre of Aspendos, where we will see the Ankara Opera Company perform the opera Aida.

It is to start at 9.30 pm but we leave early from the marina - 6.00 pm - in order to get good seating on arrival. This strategy pays off as we are in the theatre early and settle down to enjoy our picnic dinner and glass of wine. The surroundings are magnificent, it is a very hot day, cooling down now and the light fades slowly to an Arabian Nights blue sky as the stars come out.

That is.... both the stars in the sky and also the full cast of the show to come who wander out on to the stage in casual dress and perform their warmup rituals.

We are entranced by the performance of the lead soprano who is world class, and the pure spectacle of this magnificent show. It does not finish until 1.30 am!!! The photos say it all... and Richard has his say as well: We loved Aida and the experience was magical, especially the venue of course and we went with a great crowd from the marina so it was a great night out. The lead tenor however was a great disappointment. He was very short, rotund to the n'th degreee, looked like a giant beer barrel with arms, all of which could have been overlooked if he had a good voice - which he didn't!! In contrast, the leading lady, Aida, was world class in all respects......, although there was nothing in the programme to tell us much about her. She was superb - tall, elegant, great actress and superb voice. The contrast especially during the love scenes (almost the whole of the third act) was not well received by the audience. At the final curtain the tenor was booed! However apart from that it was a great show and we felt well worth the effort and expense as we actually stayed over for an extra week in Alanya to see it.



Just a little more information on the Aspendos Theatre: Seating capacity 15,000, this theatre was built by the famous architect Zenon during the reign of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius 2nd Century AD. It is considered to be one of the best preserved ancient theatres, due to the fact that it has remained constantly in use over the centuries and has been renovated and maintained well. It was even used for a time as a Caravanserai during Seljuk times.

Gazipasa

23 NM south east of Alanya Marina we sip on a refreshing cold beer and watch the sun go down.

We had planned to leave Alanya last Thursday 4 June, but changed our minds when we heard that the opera Aida was being performed at Aspendos on 12 June, and a group were organising a bus from the marina. We cannot not miss this, as it will be a once in a lifetime experience.

To fill in the time before then, rather than sitting in the marina, which is still in construction mode, we take a side tour along the south east coast.

On arrival in the undeveloped harbour of Gazipasa we watch the sun go down in very still conditions and much later, see a huge fishing boat come in and unload massive tuna fish the size of small whales into the back of a refrigerated truck bound for the markets.

This morning we take in the view of the high sea wall on the south western side of the harbour, the ruins of ancient Selinus on the hill-top towering over us from the south east, majestic mountains to north east and a row of brightly coloured fishing boats tied up to the sea wall on the northern side. We are anchored out in the middle of the harbour in turquoise water and alternate between cool swims off the stern, reading and eating. We can hear the sound of the surf on the beach outside the harbour entrance and of course, the wind, which has come up overnight and is sufficient that we will not leave the boat to explore ashore until conditions calm down a little.

We plan to return to Alanya Marina next Thursday and may explore a bit further south east along this coast if conditions are suitable.

The view from Ancient Selinus is well worth the climb... That is SY Matelot in the middle down there.




Tuesday 9 June…

Well here we are still in Gazipasa two mornings later. It is our third morning of waking up to still calm conditions and within one hour experiencing 20 knot south easterlies until early afternoon when it all dies down again.

Monday morning is particularly fierce and we have five huge fishing boats jostling for space in the harbour while it passes over, which is does around 2.00 pm. Several small maintenance jobs are attended to on board while we wait for the wind to ease, keeping a sharp eye out to ensure that we are not dragging our anchor.

Later we row ashore and go exploring, - a little further than the bar ashore which we located yesterday to sit and watch the sun go down over a cold beer! We head 1 km straight inland then take a right hand turn to cross over the river. It is another 1km approx back to the base of the hill where the track to ancient Selinus begins. We follow an overgrown (with wildflowers and weeds) ancient stairway right to the top. It is an aerobic walk, which we both welcome after our slothful non-activity of the past few days. We are the only ones on the site and have not seen anyone else up here since we arrived. Selinus was founded by Antiochus IV several centuries BC and occupied since then by Romans, so we are walking on the path travelled by very ancient feet before us. The view from the top is breathtaking in all directions – the Mediterranean stretching out to the south and west, the fertile valley and mountains behind us, the sea a long way below us!

On our return we once again stop for a refreshing cold drink in the bar which appears to be in the grounds of the local tourist hotel. Nevertheless it is a lovely (if a little rustic) spot to sit and watch the sun go down. We take a welcome swim on our return the boat, the heat and perspiration of the recent walk to Selinus still fresh on our bodies.

We are somewhat saddened by the amount of rubbish which floats around the harbour on a regular basis. We think it comes down the river then gets washed into the harbour. Plastic bags and bottles, newspapers, other packaging from all manner of items floats past us. We do a couple of rubbish sweeps in the dinghy, filling up huge black plastic rubbish bags, but it appears to be a futile exercise as it is all back the next day and the locals don’t appear to be very interested in cleaning it up.

The mystery of where the huge tuna are coming from is possibly solved on Wednesday when we take a short cruise 5 miles down the coast, to find a collection of what we later find out are called “fish ranches”. Apparently the tuna are caught alive and put into these pens where they are towed around and fed until they are fat and ready for the market. They have to be towed around as the tuna do not survive being penned up in still water. We discover later there are quite a few of these fish ranches in the Gulf of Antalya. We anchor off the lovely sandy beach, swim and relax and watch the huge fishing boats working them.

Soon it is time to return to Alanya Marina. The wonderful gracious staff at this marina welcome us ‘home’ again and we count down to our next experience… the Opera Aida at the ancient theatre of Aspendos