Monday 3rd July...
Linda - Approximately 10 days left before we leave Turkey and cross to the Dodecanese Greek Islands. Which island it will be is anybody's guess, because we keep changing our minds and our plans. Could be any one of 12, obviously 😉 but more than likely it will be Symi.
But for now we carry on to another Turkish anchorage not too far away from my enchanting Orhaniye. It was a super calm morning to wake up to on our rickety restaurant quay. We departed at 9.30am and in 45 minutes we had travelled a short distance north to a pretty and peaceful anchorage called Ata Bulut Koyu.
Dawn breaks in Orhaniye
We anchored in 7 metres of water. A bit closer to the shore than we would have liked, but the day was calm and we've pretty much bobbed in the same spot all day. Dean always dives to check the anchor but the water at depth was murky and he couldn't see it today. He also took a look at the speedo under the hull because it was stuck again. Lots of little wormy things growing on and around it.
The stuck speedometer
After the necessaries were completed Dean took a photo of me from the water. I always keep watch with a whistle around my neck when he goes off to check the anchor, just incase any lunatics come flying through on jetskis etc....
He hadn't been back on board for long when an old guy selling fruit came around on his chugging boat. Dean beckoned him over to see if he had any oranges. We wish we hadn't bothered as the guy made such a hash of his arrival, bashing Thesee's port side aft corner with his boat and leaving a scratch mark. They always have the tiniest fenders out that are completely useless. He finally ended up on the starboard side of us. Even after that episode, Dean chose to buy a punnet of cherries and also some fresh raspberries, that was until the guy asked for 20 Euros! 😠 Damn cheek, we gave them back immediately and told him to get lost.
Now to find things to do all day. Well in fact today I DID something useful. I cleaned all of our Rummikub game tiles.
Rummikub
For lunch it was wraps. But as everyone knows, everything in Turkey is fake, even the wraps and they simple would not separate from each other, meaning big holes, and therefore basically impossible to wrap anything at all. Tasted nice though.
My fake Turkish wrap 👎
Late this afternoon we both took a swim in the sea. Yes, even me. My first dip of the season, it was very lovely and refreshing. The anchorage is surrounded by woodland and the most unusual rocks which seem to be made of a mixture of rock and mud. Nearby to us is a very odd shaped rock which sticks out of the sea all alone. It's so unusual with a very small base which makes it look like it will topple over.
Odd shaped rock
The crickets in the trees have been very vocal all day. Sometimes really loud, and then quietly. I wonder how many of them there are?
Tuesday 4th July...
Linda - Another calm day and another chance to anchor out somewhere new. We moseyed westwards along the coast checking out bays from a distance. One of the bays which we passed was obviously where all the rich yachties hang out. Huge sail and motor yachts along the shore and at anchor. The first sail yacht we passed we recognised as the one which we witnessed rip down the overhead line in Kekova last year. They might be rich, but they are also stupid it seems.
And so we carried on up into Bencik Koyu. It's deep. Most of the yachts are tied to shore along the edges, but there is a bit of a pool also where you can anchor freely, so we did.
Dean hasn't been feeling 100% today, so a short trip with an easy anchorage was just the job. It's quite pleasant too. There were about six boats anchored freely, but at 4pm the place filled up rapidly. Glad we got here early. The last sailing yacht to arrive turned out to be an AW. He tried for two hours to fit into small gaps with almost disastrous consequences, nearly hitting two different boats on two different occasions. Lucky for us he is just far enough away to be of no danger to Thesee.
Small yacht here when we arrived
Some day tourist boats
For a change tonight we made chicken kebabs and sausages (from the import shop) cooked on the BBQ. Dean has been drowsy all day but a bit of cooking soon perked him up.
Wednesday 5th July...
Linda -
What happened today? Precisely nothing. Well almost nothing.
We spent all day sitting around waiting for the Carrefour boat to come into the anchorage so that we could buy a few little bits of shopping. It came yesterday but we didn't have the dinghy off yesterday so missed it. Today we were all prepared, dinghy at the ready with outboard engine on. We waited and waited finally giving up and lifting the dinghy back on board.
This morning (before the long wait) we did run the dinghy up to the top of the anchorage though for a quick look about. It's so shallow at the very top, we couldn't even dinghy the final part.
All ready and prepared for shopping,
shopping list, bag, wallet, cap, sunglasses
Returning to the boat, everything looking very blue
I found Dean a small job in the meantime. New labels for the knobs on the oven. The little dots on the knobs that indicate which burner, have worn away, and I'm always turning the wrong knob. I should know by now after so long. Still, it's plain and simple now.
Some of the new labels
Oh and I just remembered.... whilst we were sitting outside in the cockpit waiting for Carrefour, I spotted a huge turtle just under the surface of the water and swimming towards Thesee. He kept coming and coming, and we watched and watched. Just as he got about 3 metres away from us he lifted his head for a breath. I swear his head was the size of a small melon. It's was brilliant. He must have been a metre long. Dean said 'hello mate' to him. Good job I wasn't in the water at the time, I would have had a heart attack.
Perhaps today wasn't so uninteresting after all.
Thursday 6th July...
Linda - YAAY, Carrefour Boat!
We had lost a bit of interest yesterday when it didn't turn up, so assuming it wouldn't turn up today either we hadn't offloaded the dinghy. Luckily, Dean has super sensitive hearing, and heard Carrefour's beep beeping coming from way behind the nearby headland. What do we do?? No dinghy at the ready. A quick decision was called for.... offload the dinghy and outboard engine quickly, or just give it a miss?
Offload the dinghy and outboard engine of course. Getting it set up normally takes about five minutes. We had to do it in double quick time today, but we make sure that we don't cut corners, doing it methodically so as not to make any silly mistakes. All went perfect, and we were the second dinghy to arrive at the Carrefour boat in fact.
Dean at the checkout
Although only a small boat, a lot on offer
Carrefour boat
Back to this morning and most of the anchored boats left. We always get a bit nervous when anchorages empty wondering if we don't know what the other boats do know. Some big winds expected over the weekend making us question staying here. Then we think about everyone having different situations, maybe having to get back to work, or their charter holiday coming to and end. In other words ...not everyone leaves because of the weather.
And as per usual, late this afternoon more boats arrived and the anchorage filled up again. Well, the anchorage filled up in the vicinity of Thesee blue boat. One boat especially far too close to us and nearly hitting us as we changed direction in the wind. Only then did the idiot decide he needed to move.
We do have a cute doggy boat nearby though. The cute doggy likes to go walkies ashore by paddleboard. We pondered what Saffy would have made of that.
Cute doggy
Mr Big Turtle Head showed his face again today, albeit from a distance. And we made our own 'no yeast flat bread' for our bacon sandwiches for dinner. It was tasty, and the bacon was too.
Delicious
Friday 7th July...
Linda - Boats started departing again this morning. Again, we debated moving to a better spot in this bay. We soon made up our minds to move, and as we were lifting the anchor we got close to a boat that had ANCHORED TOO CLOSE TO US LAST NIGHT. As we neared him he looked like he was taking photos of us. People (including us) do this just incase there is a subsequent collision. Well the bloody cheek of it I thought. How dare he, after he anchored TOO CLOSE TO US !! What a nerve.
Rant over, we made our way a little further up into the inlet where two other boats were tied to shore. There are not many rocks here on the shoreline to tie to, and a lot of (most) people tie to trees. It's common knowledge that you should not tie to trees in Turkey, and we've heard that the coastguard has previously moved people on from this bay for breaking this rule. So we had to be very particular in what we were doing. Amazingly, we found a decent spot and Dean found two decent rocks. Well, one decent rock, and one OK rock that needed a bit of tweaking with the shore line.
Starboard side shore line
Port side shore line
I'll try and get some close up rock photos tomorrow. In the meantime, here's a few photos from our position tonight, looking in different directions.
Looking North
Looking East, Dean wiping the deck down
Looking towards the top of the inlet, VERY shallow
Looking South, out to sea
Well, we couldn't do much more to protect ourselves from the forecast North West winds, so settled down for the day. It was a hot one, 36 degrees. There's been some fair size gusts throughout the day but on the whole it's been quite calm and better than we had expected. More to come tomorrow though.
Late afternoon a strange catamaran arrived and anchored along our row of boats. It was very unusual because it looked like its hull had solar panels all along the side. Plus it had a flag which we did not recognise. Dean told me the name of it.... 'Surreal'. I was straight on the internet trying to find out more.
We found that this very boat is the first 18m catamaran to be equipped with solar panels of its own design integrated into the hull, superstructure, and bimini roof. Oh and the flag is 'San Marino'. Don't see many of those around.
Copy and paste this link to read more about this boat...
https://yachtharbour.com/news/inside-sunreef-60-eco-surreal-5699?src=
'Surreal' yacht
Linda - I was up first today, only to find two donkeys up on the land behind us. It looked like they were doing their breakfast round. Dean missed the action.... still in bed.
As promised yesterday, close ups of our lines tied to rocks on the shore. In the first photo you can see that the starboard side shoreline rock isn't brilliant, but Dean has doubly secured the line by tying a second line to hold it back to a small metal post in the water. This ensures that the line is pulled back to stop it slipping off the rock. It seems to be working great.
Starboard side shore line
The port side shore line has a super rock to go around.... perfect. Nice and big, and solid.
Port side shore line
If you look closely you can see a second dark coloured line lying behind the rock. Today a boat came in and moored next to us, picking up a buoy and tying back to shore with this dark coloured line. We assume that this line is his regular mooring, and so this must be the rock he uses too, and he did. Now we are both using it 😀.
Weather update..... Occasional big gusts throughout the day especially late afternoon and early evening, but calm in between the gusts. Fairly calm at the moment.
I just realised that we haven't set foot on land for 6 days!
Linda - Mr & Mrs C..... AKA jungle explorers! Early this morning before the sun rose too high in the sky we took a dinghy ride across the shallow lake and up into a tiny stream. We'd noticed small boats going in and out occasionally and our imagination got the better of us. Oh, and plus we are also in great need of a garbage bin. We had googled the terrain and it looked like a few houses up there, so thought there may be a little something going on.
Going across the shallow lake we noticed the trees all leaning in one direction. This is obviously due to the prevailing winds. We can read nature now you know, we are real adventurers.
Obvious which way the prevailing wind comes from
Just about to enter the narrow stream
Further in we felt like we were in the jungle looking out for crocodiles and pirhanas
We came across the few small boats moored alongside
Unable to go any further we tied to a small pontoon and carried on through the woods on foot (with our garbage) until we arrived at a gate saying Private Property, No Trespassing, AND Guard Dog. That was enough warning for us to do an about turn and return to the dinghy.
On our way out of the stream (still with our garbage)
Almost back into the shallow lake
As we were arriving back at Thesee there was mayhem with gullets and sail boats all arriving at once. It was just like a procession of boats coming in. Must be the start of a new holiday week on the gullets. One gullet decided he was going next to us. I have to say the gullet helmsmen are very good at controlling their vessels. He tied to trees though, naughty naughty!
New neighbour
Another new neighbour
Meanwhile, helicopters overhead collecting water for forest fires
And another new neighbour
Heading back inland with water now
New neighbours EVERYWHERE
After all the gullets had found places and settled down we went out again to the small quay for a walk about, but it was only a small area with some campers, so back in the dinghy and back to the boat.
At the small quay, no bar, no shop, no rubbish bins, nothing
Heading back to Thesee, the dinghy going well today
New neighbour next to Thesee
For this afternoon's excitement it's over to Dean.....
What excitement...wow. As you know most of the time here in the Med we tie to shore, but in Turkey you're not allowed to tie to trees. After our morning's adventures we had lunch and settled down for a bit of a snooze as you do. I woke a little later, strange I thought that gullet is moving his lines he must be leaving! I have to watch as he has actually anchored over our chain. Anyway on closer inspection I realised he had spotted the Coastguard boat in the bay. He was moving his lines (off the trees). I pointed this out to our gullet neighbour who didn't seem to mind....until the Coastguard started doing his rounds in a small dinghy to check ALL the lines in the bay.
Action stations as many of the boats sprang into action moving their lines to every rock they could find! Even on top of our rock.
Three of us on this rock now
Two on here...just, AND crossed lines behind us
Not too safe
Coastguard dinghy issuing a Turkish bollocking!
Turns out that a Turkish bollocking is similar to an English one but the arms are waved about more and you dont understand a word. Ooh and it's issued from a dinghy of course. Needless to say a lot of boats departed quite rapidly and most had to re-tie all except Thesee of course!
Linda - Day 7 of our Bencik Odyssey and we're just about done. Tomorrow we're outta here. Nowhere near as exciting today as it was yesterday. A few comings and goings, even just now at 8pm a boat has come in next to us, and the only thing he could find to tie to (eventually) was 'our' tiny metal rod on the shoreline. Idiot.
Linda - Just a short 8.5 miles to our new anchorage today. It's called Kuruca Buku, still on the Datca peninsular and en-route to Datca itself in the next day or two. In those mere 8.5 miles we experienced winds ranging randomly from 4 knots to 21 knots. How one is supposed to set sails to cover that range of wind is anybody's guess.
Arriving at Kuruca Buku anchorage it was still blowing about 12 knots. The depth of water was much more than expected, not 10 metres, but infact 22 metres where we ended up dropping the hook. And at 25 metres where the boat settled. Even the Solent isn't that deep at its deepest point! Hence we have approximately 90 metres of chain out. That's the most ever I'm sure.
As it happened, nearly all of our chain was now out of the chain locker, giving Dean the chance to wash out the locker with his recently made deck wash hose (it's working now). So some good did come from our deep anchorage. Whilst he was washing the locker he noticed a shell blocking the exit hole! Shell photo below. I also took a photo over the side of the hull, showing the water flowing freely now the aforesaid shell had been removed.
Dean ready to use the deck wash hose in the chain locker
Looking down into the 'clean' 😮 chain locker
Looking over the side to see the clean water running through
The naughty shell
About 3pm we went ashore in the dinghy. The number one reason for this was they have garbage and recycling bins here.... and we were in desperate need to offload our garbage, and an empty wine bottle or two. After all, we've been in Bencik for a week at 36 degrees each day, so you can imagine our garbage was heading in a very pongy direction.
That task was happily completed, then a walk along the shore to find the small supermarket, which we passed without realising and had to retrace our steps. All jobs done we stopped off at a beach bar for a much needed beer and coke before heading back. The shore was very pretty with holiday homes, gardens, beach, bars, restaurants, and LOTS of flowers. We weren't expecting that.
Leaving our dinghy in shallow water tied to a pontoon
Pretty gardens and holiday homes
Tonight, Dean did a BBQ with some lamb steaks we had. He cooked them straight on the griddle, they came out a treat. Must cook more next time.
Before
After
Wednesday 12th July....
Linda - We arrived at a beautiful anchorage with fantastically clear water today. The anchorage is called Kargi Koyu, it's about one mile south of Datca. And for a change we could anchor in just 6 metres of water..... instead of the usual 15 to 20 metres or so. Dean was straight in the water to check the anchor. The water looked so tempting I almost offered to check the anchor myself 😅. To be honest we could actually see it from the bow of the boat, but as it had dragged on our first attempt he wanted to make sure it was dug in.
There he goes
He came back to ask for the GoPro waterproof camera. I thought he just wanted to take a photo of the anchor, but when he came back he told me he had been swimming with a turtle!
Yikes, and Double Yikes !!
Dean's new swimming buddy
A close up version
The turtles don't appear to be frightened of you. I bet they've seen hundreds of us bobbing and swimming about in their own sea world.
Here's a few photos of today's above water views....
A lovely looking beach hotel and restaurant
This looks like the perfect spot to anchor
I'm definately getting into that water today, turtle or no turtle
The southern end of the 'Koyu'
We were going to have a look around the bay by dinghy, but it was so nice just sitting on the boat chilling, and swimming. Except at one point we had numerous tourist boats all around us at the same time. I can't believe how close they anchor to us, especially when this bay is MASSIVE. Still, we are all here on holiday enjoying ourselves, so we can't have it all to ourselves.
Our perfect day turned not so perfect when about 5pm the wind came off the land with great force. It's called Katabatic wind and sometimes happens when the land starts to cool down after a hot day. We've experienced it a number of times over the years, but I always remember the first time, when amazingly we were anchored in Worbarrow Bay (near Lulworth Cove) in the UK. I know, you can't believe that there was a day hot enough in the UK for this to happen.
It's nearly 10pm now and thankfully the winds are appearing to calm down somewhat, so we've had around five hours of this so far. In those five hours we've seen some fun and games with boats dragging anchor whilst trying to barbecue their dinner at the same time. A gullet close to us and tied to shore was being blown sideways in our direction. Thankfully, he put an extra line to shore. Some boats upped anchor and left, and some boats came in. In the meantime, our anchor was thankfully holding fast, but after we saw a very large yacht dragging, Dean decided to put some extra chain out. Funnily, a very small day cruiser (just big enough for two) has sat anchored off to our starboard side throughout the whole thing, quite happily enjoying the warm winds blowing through.
The good thing about this evening it that there's NO FLIES (unlike last night when we were inundated). To be honest I think they must have all been blown off course to Greece tonight.
Quite an extraordinary day on the whole.
Thursday 13th July...
Linda - Well, we thankfully survived the night without any ado. The brave Thesee keeping us safe and sound, and of course thanks to my hero Mr C for checking the anchor was well dug in yesterday morning 👍.
Hoping for a more uneventful evening, we moved just about one mile north and to our pleasure found there was an empty berth on Datca quay so we took it.
Funnily enough we are next to our neigbours from Bencik Koyu, we also saw them at Kuruca Buku. Do you think they are following us, or vice versa maybe??
As soon as we settled in we went off to the nearby supermarket to stock up. Dean filled the water tanks and washed the deck down. After lunch we were going to walk into town for more bits and bobs, but it was SO hot today we couldn't really venture out until around 4pm. Even then we sat in the bar first to try and cool off in the shade. Our thermometer reached 41.2 degrees today. Apparantly, I hear that southern Europe is experiencing the Cerberus heatwave with extreme temperatures for a couple of days. I can vouch that it was definately a very hot day today. So much so that my tummy was aching a little and I was drinking loads of water to try and keep cool. I could have done with a nice clear blue anchorage to dip into just like yesterday.
41.2 degrees at 14.06pm
There were a few comings and goings on the quay. One of the boats that came in was flying a Welsh flag. Dean went to say 'hello'.
We have a Welsh neighbour
We did get into town late afternoon, and ended up buying almost everything we needed, including a new bikini for me, a new fly swatter for Dean, plus some red cotton for some flag repairs. Believe me, you don't know how difficult a task it is to find me a new bikini. Dean will be happy that he doesn't have to do any more bikini shopping, although secretly I think he quite enjoys it 😏.
It was about 6pm when we returned and sat outside in the cockpit chilling and enjoying the drop in temperature to about 35 degrees, lol. Much enjoyment it was, until the TW neighbour (not the nice neigbour) decided to blast out his Turkish rap music. OMG, how rude can you be? It's bad enough when it happens in an anchorage, but to have it right next to you on a paying quay is extremely discourteous.
We decided to get changed and went out for dinner. Some nice views and a nice restaurant with some NICE music. We dropped lucky there. TW was still blasting rap music when we returned at 9pm. I cannot believe the mentality of some people. Dean wanted to put his Katherine Jenkins on to blast out the din. Thank goodness we are only here for one night.
The south anchorage near the quay
Quay over to the left
Holidaymakers bathing in the thermal lakes
Anchorage view from the high road
At the restaurant, waiting for dinner
It's a bit cooler now with a lovely breeze
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