Another day, another bay
Day 5
After breakfast we set off for a small bay where the guide books said there were underwater ruins you could snorkel over. The sailing has been easy so far with light to moderate winds and not much of a sea way to speak of.



Approaching the bay

We arrived to find many day boats already in the bay, but there was plenty of room and found a spot near another yacht away from the music and BBQ’s the tourist boats had going on. A man in a skiff came along side and offered to tie our stern line to shore for a small fee after we set the anchor. The ice cream boat was soon to follow, along with an older couple offering Turkish pancakes (crepes), made to order; sweet one with sugar and lemon and savory ones with fresh spinach and feta cheese. It was interesting to watch as she made them, first grabbing a handful of dough from a bucket and placing it on a small work surface fashioned from plywood; she would first press the dough out into a small round shape then sprinkle some flour on it and begin rolling it with a narrow wood dowel, with each forward motion the dough would curl around the dowel and on the backstroke it would unroll slightly larger than when she started until it was about 12” across. The ingredients were spread out uniformly one side and she would fold it over, forming a half circle and press the edges together. Next was her husbands turn as he placed it in a slightly oiled pan, turning it over at just the right moment, and then fold the whole thing up in a piece of paper ready to eat. Just a couple minutes from start to finish, they must have done this thousands of times.
After our pancakes and a salad it was time for a swim, the water was chilly at first but not unbearable; the ruins turned out to be the seaward facing walls of old building, the remnants of their foundations still lining the shore. We swam to land and carefully stepped ashore being careful to dodge the sea urchins on the bottom. It was nice to sit there and relax as boats towing parasails and tubes of tourist went back and forth on the wide channel.


Dan and Pete relax near the ruins


Paragliders could be seen in the distance, undoubtedly launched from one of the many high mountains that surround the sea here.
Once we had enough, we hauled the anchor and made our way to another nice bay, not far from the one we spent last night in. There weren’t any restaurants or docks here, but bollards were spaced reasonably far apart on the shoreline to accommodate stern lines from boats that anchor here. We enjoyed dinner onboard and watched as a small herd of goats grazed on the steep hillside. There were a few gullets anchored at the far end of the bay, but we basically had our little bit of paradise to ourselves. Sleeping was nice as there wasn’t any chop in the well protected bay and very little wind to disturb the tranquility.



Our anchorage for the night

Day 6 Gocek
In the morning we made our way to the town of Gocek where Skyelarks’ generator was being repaired; it’s less than 3 years old, but has been out of service more often than not lately. The marina is quite large with many posh motor yachts moored to the dock. Typical of the sea port tourist towns, the waterfront is lined with restaurants and cafes; chandleries, tour agencies and shops of all description lined the streets further in. There were some very nicely stocked delicatessens along the road, and even ham was available along with an assortment of fine cheeses and cold cuts, some of which I hadn’t seen before.
I took a walk away from the waterfront to check out the back streets, we find if you get about 3 blocks away from the water the prices at the restaurants drop a bit. I settled on a small place that seemed to have mainly locals dining on the patio; I choose the ground meat pide, sort of a thin crusted oval shaped pizza that was really good, along with mezzes of roasted red peppers, baba ganoush, and the ubiquitous glass of Turkish tea.



Having Lunch

Turns out the generator wasn’t ready yet, so arrangements were made for the mechanic to meet us in Marmaris the next day and we set in that direction. The wind was light and on the nose, so we motored 10 or so miles to our next little bit of heaven; a small bay tucked behind some mountains that blocked any cell signals and provided shelter if the winds should pick up in the night.
After dinner we started to “make room” in the wine locker, located in the center support for the folding salon table another of the improvements the fine craftsmen in Thailand had accomplished during her refit. Once again the sleeping was peaceful, especially after all the wine; we looked forward to visiting Marmaris, described in the guide book as a “popular resort town with a nonstop party atmosphere and unparalleled decadence”.