27. Palamut to Marmaris – around the Datça peninsula

17th – 26th March 2009 Palamut to Marmaris – around the Datça peninsula

We had to leave Palamut but not before several lovely walks. We would love to return one day. We had had a good and fast sail combined with a little cheating by motor sailing in between the squalls to arrive in Datca before it got dark. We left late as, while filling our water tanks I heard a “pop” and realised that our other water tank had burst – shit, but I guess after 20 years of continuous use it is not surprising that the seams gave out.

In Datca we realised that our two boat fleet had increased in size to three – Penelope, a pretty orange 31 foot Dufour ½ tonner was already in port. Sepp (73) and Traude (66) were pleased to see us (the most fun on another boat in all our sailing). Matelot with Richard and Pippa on board and Deep Blue become the party boats (Penelope is a bit small for six). We have all accepted the inevitable – we are all sailing East so we may as well do it in company and consume a proper amount of alcohol together and share food as we go.

Sepp and Traude have cruised this part of the Med for 35 years (young son under arm in the early years) on Penelope which they have had from new. She is beautifully looked after and is a very fast boat. Sepp is an original adventurer having been the first to conquer a particular mountain in the Hindu Kush in the 60’s and gave it its name – Koh-e-Kesnikan – which it still has to this day. He chose his profession mining engineer so that he could travel and he has, having lived in more countries than I knew existed, Traude and young boy under arm in tow. They went swimming, much hardier than us!

We have been enjoying sailing with Pippa and Richard though Matelot sails around 1 knot faster than us on average. Matelot is an Oceanis 411 Celebration and we are very impressed with the boat. However, we did have our day when we were sailing in 20-25 knots of wind for three hours. We had our spinnaker up and reach 10.4 knots at one point with an average speed of over 7 knots directly downwind. They were unable to use their spinnaker and reached back and forth, with a maximum of 10 knots but having to cover twice our distance. We beat them into Marmaris fair and square. Richard was very jealous of our incredibly exciting, adrenaline filled sail - he has yet to persuade Pippa that two of them can manage the spinnaker.

This time of year is excellent for cruising as everywhere we arrive the locals fall over themselves to be friendly. We are like the first swallows of summer! We are told trade secrets and sometimes we witness them. For instance, in the pretty harbour of Bozborun two large fishing boats arrived, announcing their presence to the town by tanoy. The whole town turned out – literally – coming with trucks, bikes, scooters and bags. It turns out that these boats are very rare visitors and they were packed with tons of 10kg+ tuna fish selling for 20TYL each (£8). Restaurants, who will sell the steaks for 25TYL each, were filling their freezers and every household including the local fishermen were buying at least one tuna each to fill their pantries. Apparently the usual price for a fish this size is about 50TYL, explaining the frenzy. As we walked along the waterfront we saw people everywhere cleaning and butchering their tuna. The town cats were having a field day and the harbour water turned red with tuna fish blood as everyone washed out the guts.

One of our many hill walks followed a well trodden but narrow path as it winds up through a stony landscape dotted with herbs, anenomies, cyclamen and thorny bushes we call DNA plant. No houses in sight. Goats, sheep and surprisingly cows graze. As we hug the indented coastline we spot a bay below with a solitary small wooden boat tethered to a rock. We sat and wondered where the owner could be and why the boat was here. Then we spot two men, the size of matchsticks, scrambling down the steep hill towards the boat. One gets in and the other throws the boats shore line as the boatman pulls in his anchor. The herdsman, for this must be what he is, collects a box from the rocks and climbs back up the hill before disappearing into the rocky landscape only broken by the occasional stunted tree and a few animals searching for something edible. The boatman rows for a while and then pauses to raise a mast with a triangle of sail attached. Then using the wind to help him he continues his rowing until he too disappears round the headland. We felt that we had witnessed a timeless scene.

The bay in which we were anchored at the time – Serçe – once had a thriving restaurant that only sailors could reach. Now it lies smashed. Apparently the owners had not paid their taxes and the police came and broke the place down. Tough justice indeed. The police also cut all the mooring buoys in the bay so now there is a bugger’s muddle of chain, ropes and blocks just where you want to lay an anchor. We of course managed to catch our anchor in a chain which was firmly tight across the seabed some 10 meters below. Fortunately after some thought we managed to unhook the anchor using the engine and some fast hauling by Andy (we only have a manual windlass).

Accurate weather forecasts are unavailable. We have four methods of receiving a forecast and they often disagree and often are ALL wrong. So more than once we have been caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. In Serçe, where the pilot states the bay is untenable in a southerly gale, we were there for two days in a southerly gale when a northerly was forecast. Then in Marmaris we were on the town quay (to every restaurant owners delight – the very first boat of the summer) and ended up having to leave in a hurry with help from several people on the quay when the wind arrive over 24 hours early and we were pinned alongside where we had been waiting for a rigger to come and fix our furlex (an ongoing problem we have had which we think we have at last got to the bottom of, though at some expense).

We are now in the very sociable Marmaris Yacht Marina with fantastic toilets and showers, library, large bar, restaurant, workshops galore, two swimming pool and even a children’s nursery and have now reserved a space here to leave Deep Blue next winter it is such good value and so nice. In case anyone is interested – for a 10-11m yacht, an all inclusive one year contract to include any length of time in or out of the water, with time added on at the end if you leave the marina to go sailing and let them know the dates – costs 1,770 euros!!!! Such amazing value compared with Falmouth!