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| View of old quarter & fort from Marmaris fuel dock |
Marmaris,
like Fethiye, was destroyed in a 1958 earthquake, so little remains of ancient
Physkos and only a modest portion of the old Ottoman city exists (a medieval
fort and its quaint old quarter, reminiscent of Chefchaouen, Morrocco). Tourism has taken its toll, and like most of
the coastline we have explored so far, restaurants and deck chairs cover the
best beaches whilst remote bays are cluttered with gulets, tour boats or
charter fleets. Marmaris also offers a
safe cruise ship port and we had seen as many as two arrive in one day to
unload passengers for a “Turkish Resort Experience”. Sadly, the local bazaar is boring (though
big) and the Ottoman Fort (built by Suleiman for his attack on Rhodes in 1522) plus
the in-situ museum, was closed. Marmaris
is hardly a historical lightweight however as it was also used by Lord Nelson
to coordinate his fleet for an attack on the French (Abukir, 1798).
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| Our anchorage away from the centre of town |
Otherwise
our anchorage has been interesting; today it's models posing on the beach,
yesterday it was Porky, the picnicking pig (actually a feral boar that quite
scattered the late stayers) and one or two exceedingly crazy turtles. Madness extends to the Caylak Firtinasi (or Kite
Gale*) which finally caught up with
us – two days of battering ram waves across the bay – predicted as long ago as
the Egyptian Coptics put together an Almanac of Gales that synthesises with the
Turkish Storm Tables. Today it’s finally
easing and we have great hopes of getting some chores done pre-haul out at
Marmaris Yacht Marine, boatyard of choice.
Finally a decision’s been made!
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| Happy as a pig in mud (well, picnic leftovers actually).. |
Yes, that’s
right…we’re hauling out early with a plan to travel (sans sail boat) to see a little
more of Turkey, leaving a week to explore Istanbul. So,
it’s time to bid WJ3 a fond farewell in her new home and for us to start
planning next year’s explorations of the Med….all around the %$#@*!! Meltemi.
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| WJ3 dwarfed by this huge travel lift - normally used for superyachts We can always pretend |
Don’t tune
out however, as we hope to post up our travels as we go….all things being
equal!)
* Although
we rocked wildly inside Marmaris Limani, we've since been told winds outside reached 45kts G50.
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| Sunset over the yard - finally some cloud action! |
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