Chapter One: ARRIVAL AT FOÇA
After the difference in rule interpretation and subsequent delay during our check-out from Greece it was good to be out on the water again. We’d left Mytilini on Lesbos at around 10.00am and sailed down the coast in a North-North-Westerly Force 4, averaging 4 knots. The wind built up and we managed around 5 knots, but after we’d entered Turkish waters we also needed the engine to maintain speed and keep our appointment with our Turkish agent at 4.00pm.
We dropped the anchor in the North Bay in Foça at 3.20pm in 5.5m, and it bit well in the mud under the seagrass. We quickly launched Buddy and put the outboard on, grabbed our documents and set off to shore. Peter contacted the agent once Buddy was fastened near the port authorities, and we waited for him to turn up at the police station. He took us inside, and we had to wait outside an office for a while before the policeman turned up, had a look at us and invited the agent into his office to deal with the admin. We got a stamp in our passports, then adjourned to the building opposite. We tried to obtain the “Blue Card” for the waste water disposal, but their computer wasn’t working, and we needed to go back the next day. Then the agent went off to deal with the rest of the procedure while we waited in a tavern. About 45 minutes later he returned with all the relevant papers, paid for our drinks and welcomed us officially to Turkey. It had all been a well organised and smooth experience for us, so we were happy to pay the fees.
Back on Cordelia Peter took down the yellow “Q” flag, and we celebrated with ouzo and breadsticks. We had yet to get a Turkish data card, so were without Internet, but we were too worn out anyway to do anything constructive and had a reasonably early night instead.
It had been a blustery night but we’d both slept well after the exploits of the previous day. We moored Buddy in the corner of the little fishing boat harbour and crossed the seafront to the port office where we were issued with the “Blue Card”.
Then we went in search of the Turkcell shop to buy a data SIM card. The place that was marked on Google Maps with a picture and opening times from a month ago had turned into a kebab store or something similar, so we went into a phone shop and asked there. The man there didn’t sell cards, only phones, but told us we needed to go to the municipality and the shop would be opposite. We wandered around, discovered the local market, and got to a car park on the outskirts of town. No Turkcell to be seen anywhere! While Peter was consulting his phone Ingrid turned to three local ladies and asked them. The young girl spoke perfect English, they even took us to the shop and offered to translate. This was appreciated but not needed as the sales-woman was equally versed in the lingo to tell us we could get the card but she wouldn’t be able to activate it for us due to a Microsoft outage. Nevertheless, we got the card and paid by card at the corner shop opposite.
With no Internet we passed the next morning looking at a little amphitheatre near the car park, and from there clambered up the hill to the windmills. We were rewarded for our efforts with a great view down to the centre, harbour and our anchorage.
Next, we went in search of a café with Internet. We found one which provided two iced lattés and a password and was right opposite the Turkcell shop. Peter downloaded the relevant app, but when Turkcell wanted to send a password by SMS it wouldn’t work and the only alternative was to another provided number we didn’t recognise. Peter made several attempts trying different methods, but it got him nowhere and he couldn’t buy a package online. Finally he admitted defeat and saw the lady in the shop. She promised to sort it out and we paid for 200GB for a month. It should have activated within 30 minutes, but it didn’t. Another visit to the shop was in order after we had several more unsuccessful tries on Cordelia.
The next morning we motored Buddy to a little pontoon near the fenced-off swimming area nearby and tied him on, then wandered to the centre and found some ruins of columns at the car park behind the harbour wall. Peter’s phone still wasn’t providing an Internet connection, so once again we were outside the Turkcell office when it opened at 10.00am. This time the lady had a helper (the manager?) who sorted us out within 15 minutes. Turned out that the branch the lady had contacted to put on the data had forgotten all about it! Well, at last we were connected to the world again and could plan accordingly.
While we’d been walking to and fro the Turkcell shop we’d found a Carrefour and two Migros supermarkets (one near the fishing boat harbour, the other one close to our anchorage). We made good use of all three and restocked on all the essentials. The most gratifying discovery, however, was the market which was held every Tuesday. They also sold clothes and such things, but we were mainly interested in their fruit and vegetables. The produce was fresh and tasty, and well worth returning for on future visits.
Chapter Two: HEADING NORTH
After Peter had cleaned off the tyre marks and other black streaks Cordelia had acquired during her stay at the Mytilini Customs’ dock we upped anchor just before 1.00pm.
We set sail while still in the anchorage and left a reef in the main and genoa as it was gusting as usual. We were in a North-Westerly Force 5, though the reefs were soon shaken out once we were tacking up North. The wind was supposed to turn West at around 1.00pm, but it was about two hours later before it did and we made better speed. We must have had some current against us as despite doing over 6 knots through the water we only managed an hourly average in the low 5 knot range. Nevertheless, we enjoyed a great ride with the wind from abeam, not too bouncy nor too much heeling.
The wind abandoned us about an hour outside our destination, so we motorsailed and later furled away the genoa. With the apparent wind on the nose it made it easy to douse the mainsail when we reached Bademli where we dropped the anchor in 4m in sand.
Well, Ingrid was completely zonked out and slept like a log. Peter informed her there had been some wind during the night and that a fisherman had motored by, but she’d noticed none of it. We took it easy in the morning with everything being calm and peaceful. There was only a light breeze with a few ripples on the crystal clear water, so Ingrid took this opportunity to attend to the keel.
The fins were buoyant and made it difficult for her to keep her body under water, whereas the diving weights kept her sinking when she wanted to stay up and breathe. She was exhausted after two dives, so took off the weights which helped, but it still required a lot of effort to get the job done. Before she got back on board she also checked the anchor and moved the chain away from a rock. Lunch with breadsticks and humus revived her somewhat, but the rosé took its toll and she had an afternoon nap in our cabin.
When Ingrid woke up the outside scene had changed dramatically. All kinds of floating devices including about 50 kayaks and SUPs (Stand-Up Paddleboards) had entered the anchorage, though luckily most of them kept to the northern end.
Of course there were also the obligatory gulets and a few pirate ships with their music blaring out, but even they had stopped their vessels in the distance. Eventually the northern part emptied, and only the yachts on the southern side stayed overnight, and all was quiet again.
Ingrid checked the weather forecast when she woke up at 6.30am. It had changed in that it showed less wind for today and more on the nose for the next day, so we decided to weigh anchor and left for the North at 9.20am. We motored between the Greek and Turkish waters in a North-North-Westerly Force 3 (on the nose!), making sure we kept to the Turkish side. We made good speed, though it seemed to take forever before we’d passed Mytilini on Lesbos in the distance and could see the Ferris wheel of Küçukköy. Peter had even put the rod out to pass the time, which was all it did as it didn’t catch any fish. A few dolphins early on piqued our interest for a little while, but they were not interested in us and just carried on on their way to wherever.
Before we reached our anchorage we slowed down to let a ferry cross our bow at a fair distance, but these were really the only excitements on our voyage. At Çiplak Bay we scouted out a sandy patch in about 6m to drop the hook into, and when Peter checked on it later we seemed to have hit the bull’s eye amid the seagrass around it.
We opened the bottle of Austrian Eiswein from 29 December 1992 which we’d bought in Austria, taken to England to our house, and brought along on Cordelia. Happy to report it was still potable, though its colour was very dark and it tasted very sweet, a bit like an oloroso sherry. We would have to see what it would do to our guts later! It did result in Peter having a doze while we relaxed to music in the warm temperatures, so later we cooled off in the rather refreshing clear water. A few day launches, gulets and further out ferries created some wake occasionally, but they mostly left us alone in our corner and we were not overly disturbed.
The sea was still like a millpond when we got up. We decided to move on to another anchorage further North and upped anchor at around 9.30am when there were a few ripples on the sea surface. Just as soon as we had left Çiplak Bay we were met with a North-North-Easterly Force 4-5 which had not been forecast! We turned the corner and unfurled the genoa to the first reef soon after. We sailed in the area near the entrance towards Ayvalik until the wind built up even more. Even with two reefs the genoa was fairly stressed in over 30 knots, so we took it down and motored past the islands of Pinar and Yellice until we reached Gümüş Bay where we dropped the hook in 4.5m in sand.
The water was refreshingly cool when Ingrid checked on the anchor which had set nicely. There was one other yacht in the next bay and a couple of motorboats in the far distance, and some locals had come with their cars for a swim (without their cars), but apart from that it was quiet with no jetskis, pirate ships or speedboats to disturb the peace. The scenery resembled a big lake as we were surrounded by wooded hills of various heights. The wind that had accompanied us all the way eased off during the rest of the day, and we spent a very pleasant afternoon swimming, doing crosswords and researching on the Internet.
The next morning we prepared Buddy, and Peter rowed us ashore. We started our walk on a dirt track along the shore at around 9.00am, passed a couple of camper vans and made it to the end of our island. The path led down to a causeway, so we exchanged our trainers for windsurfing shoes and waded between knee- to thigh deep (dependent on the height of the wader) water towards the next island. About 30m before we reached it we had to go through a deep patch (chest-high), so Peter scouted out the best route and Ingrid followed.
We had put our dry clothes into our grab bag waterproof rucksack, and when we reached the shore we changed into them. The island featured ruins of a fortress that we wanted to explore, only we couldn’t find a way up to it. Instead we followed a path through bushes and prickly undergrowth that took us across the island to what looked like abandoned salt plains before we stood on a pebbly beach.
We checked for an alternative way back, preferably past the fortress, but were discouraged by a plethora of thorns. When we returned to the causeway we had another good look for a way up, but an initially promising path fizzled out after we’d gained a little height, and we had to retreat.
The way back to Buddy was as the way out, but in reverse order: don wet gear, wade through causeway, change into dry clothes and shoes, then walk along the track which was filling up with cars of the local sunbathers. We made it back on board just before the wind picked up from the West at 33 knots (15 knots forecast). It eventually calmed down, so we were ashore again the next morning.
This time we turned right and followed the dirt track all along the coast line and had magnificent views across the bay. After a while it cut inland and crossed over to the other side to join another more elaborate track. This took us to a “wild” caravan site from where we picked up yet another track back to our side and from there to Buddy and Cordelia.
After a coffee break we were ready for departure at 11.00am. We had a little wind from North-North-West that filled the genoa enough to let us coast out of our big bay. The wind changed to North-North-East and increased, and so did Cordelia’s speed. We gybed into Ayvalik Bay, did around 6 knots, and were faced by an armada of boats of all sizes. They must have all left together and now spread out and headed for any patch suitable to drop a hook into. At least we now knew where all the gulets congregated!
When we turned towards the marked channel we furled away the genoa due to the decreased wind angle, and continued under engine. This also gave us more control, which was just as well, as we circled outside the channel to leave room for the ferry to exit it. Once it had passed we entered and found it quite narrow. We would have been rather close to that ferry had we tried to pass it inside. Then the channel opened up, and soon after we anchored at Cunda Village off Namik Kemal in 7.5m in mud.
The next morning we motored Buddy to the corner where the trip boats started their line-up. At first we walked along the harbour past a dancing dervish statue, but when we reached a kind of plaza we took to the narrow alleys with their cobbled stones. These led through Cunda Village and finally up to a windmill. It was windy there with tourists (including us) holding on to their hats, but it also afforded a decent view downhill.
We spotted another windmill in the distance from where we hoped to get better photo opportunities, so Peter guided us there. We were on our own and the door was open, so we had a look around and Ingrid climbed up the stairs to the top floor.
The views were hardly any different from the first windmill, so we descended through more cobbled alleyways with nice smelling jasmine and bougainvillea back to the seafront. There we found a SOK supermarket and replenished our provisions, then returned to Cordelia for a late coffee and biscuits.
At 12.00pm, when the last of the ferries, gulets, trip boats, day launches etc were fighting for position in the channel on their way to their congregation sites we upped anchor and headed the other way. Half an hour later we dropped it again in 4m in mud at Ayvalik North. We were far enough away from the traffic over the bridge and through town to be affected by any noise, but could still observe the comings and goings. Any other boats were a good distance away and mainly moored to the shore wall, so they didn’t disturb us either and we could happily enjoy a skinny-dip and shower off the stern.
The night had been reasonably quiet, but in the morning the wind built up with gusts of over 30 knots. No way could we expose Buddy to that! Instead of motoring ashore we hung around and made alternative plans. Then, when we had coffee and biscuits, the wind turned slightly and reduced its strength to mid-20 knots. This was our chance!
Peter motored us across to a ramshackled jetty in bouncing water which pushed Buddy into the concrete and was likely to cause damage. All of a sudden an Australian couple who we’d seen anchoring closer to shore approached us and advised us of a safer place to moor Buddy. We found it next to their tender and were finally off to explore Ayvalik.
We walked along the esplanade to the shopping mall on the seafront and a white sculpture where we found mainly eateries, boutiques and a supermarket. We bought our lunch in the latter and consumed cheese rolls (like spring rolls without the vegetables but filled with Turkish Feta equivalent cheese) and iced lattés on a bench next to a chimney / tower that was the last remnant of an olive oil plant that once stood there.
Thus reinvigorated we marched up the hill to a fairly new shopping centre where we found furniture shops (not needed) and a large Migros supermarket with a Turkcell shop (not needed any more) inside. On the way down we came across two Carrefours, one of which was near the esplanade. This was convenient as it meant we didn’t have to carry the 20l of potable water too far.
With our provisions replenished we set off to the Setur Marina in Ayvalik at 9.00am. Ingrid called them up near the breakwater and after a couple of attempts to contact them on VHF 73 we were given permission to enter and assistance to their pump-out station. The deed was soon done once the young lad had turned up who had been assigned the unenviable task. We paid up and we were on our way again just before 10.00am.
Peter motored us through an Amazon-like landscape, and at 10.30am we dropped the anchor in 4m in mud in Paşa Köyü. When the alarm for the depth sounder went off as Cordelia had swung into the 3m zone Peter got the manual out to change the alarm range to 2.5m. The apparatus would not allow this though, but at least he managed to stop the bleeping i.e. he turned off the alarm completely – so there! And with that problem sussed, we turned to bed.
Chapter Three: HEADING SOUTH
We must have been tired as we both slept well despite the traffic noise and loud music from the “Kültür Merkezi” (Culture Centre). After breakfast we motored ashore with some rubbish and to check out the water station Ingrid had espied near a playground, then we followed the road to the campsite. Peter had researched a round tour from there, but alas, the turn-off to the dirt track was fenced off and we couldn’t proceed. There was nothing to do but retreat to Buddy, get the three 10l bottles, fill them with water and return to Cordelia.
A little rest with looking at the forecast and more research into walkable routes in this area convinced Peter that he wouldn’t leave until we had climbed the hill opposite our anchorage. The dilemma being that the next day was also the only feasible day for the foreseeable future when the forecast predicted good conditions for a downwind sail to the South. To satisfy Peter’s summit fever we agreed on an early lunch and a second outing thereafter.
We were back on the road by 12.30pm, having turned right from the jetty where we’d moored up Buddy. A right turn at the roundabout took us around our bay along the shore where people had set up camp for the day and probably longer with those in camper vans. We passed another campsite situated in the woods with all the tents being on a slope. No wonder they had a tall fence around the campus, it stopped the campers from sliding out from their tents onto the road in their sleep! There was probably a big pile-up of campers along the fence every morning.
We found the turn-off to a dirt track with provisions for a barrier but open for access. This took us upwards through a wooded area, and the smell of pine trees accompanied us around the hairpin bends all the way up to a big mast. We rested under a tree, had a drink and a look around. What a view! We could see the whole archipelago with its coves and towns, and a little dot in the water that was our Cordelia.
On the way down we were met by a driver in a 4×4 who looked official, pointed around and kept repeating “yasak”. Peter made him understand we were leaving the area which seemed to satisfy him. When he was out of sight Peter spoke the word into Google Translate and it came out as “forbidden”. It was only once we were down at the entrance when we found an upturned sign in the undergrowth that informed in Turkish that the area we’d been walking in was restricted with no access to the public. Oh well, at least we didn’t get arrested for trespassing and instead had learnt a new Turkish word!
While we had been adding to our vocabulary the wind had picked up and was now blowing its socks off. The waves had white horses on them and pounced against the shore, and still the holiday makers were on the so-called beach, sunbathing in the dust devils and washing it off with a swim. We held on to our hats and made a detour to the BIM shop at Sarimsakli for a drink and an ice-cream, then carried on along the by now busy-again road to Buddy, filled up the water bottles, and motored back to Cordelia.
We were knackered and dehydrated (Peter: “Well, at least we weren’t out in the heat of the day.” – weren’t we???), and rectified both conditions as best as we could before we stowed away the outboard and put Buddy on the foredeck. We had to pick our time between the vicious gusts, but eventually everything was tied down securely, and we could cool off in the murky water.
We had checked the ferry timetable and calculated the best time to leave, so we could avoid them in the channel. Consequently we weighed anchor at 8.45am and motored out of Paşa Köyü. Our calculations turned out to be correct, as the channel out of Ayvalik Bay was clear apart from a couple of motorboats and the Coast Guard coming the other way. As always in this place, the wind had picked up from a North-East Force 4 in the anchorage to a Force 6-7 which made for an exciting ride on the reefed genoa once we’d cleared the last marker buoy. When we were outside the bay we shook out the reef and made around 5.5 knots. We did encounter a ferry coming from Lesbos and another one on its way there which prevented us from turning when we wanted to, but this caused only a minor delay.
The wind took an early lunch break at around 11.30am, so we had to motor, and then it decided to come back from West-South-West Force 2-3, so we used the genoa as well as the engine. Suddenly, Ingrid spotted an object ahead of us. It didn’t look like the usual fishing buoys or piece of rubbish, so we had a look through the bins. It was an inflatable ring that had been blown out to sea! We decided to rescue it as it was on our way, and Peter steered us close enough for Ingrid to pick it up on the stern. Maybe we’d find a kid we could gift it to.
The wind kept shifting direction, first to West-North-West, then to North-North-West, and although it only got up to a Force 4 we turned off the engine and coasted along on the genoa. Our ETA moved further and further back, but as we were in no hurry we were content with just having the genoa filled. We drifted past Bademli where two superyachts had established camp, and the fish farm. Not long after that we turned towards Denizköy where we dropped the anchor outside their beach in 5m in sand. Of course the wind had built up again by then which made the hook dig in rather nicely. We both had a swim and checked on it, and settled in for the night.
And what a night it was! We were down below when we noticed the wind was picking up. When it was time to go to bed it was gusting over 40 knots, so we tied up any loose bits on deck or put them below. Ingrid decided to sleep in the saloon as she was sure she would have to nail down her blanket to stop it from taking off if she tried to stay in the cockpit. She had the fan blowing to keep her cool and to cover up the wind noise, both with limited success. At 11.30pm she was still awake, so she turned on the light and attempted a crossword puzzle to take her mind off the outside conditions. The result equalled the outcome of the fan experiment.
Peter who had found some sleep was also awake by now. We were both unsuccessful in going back to dozeyland with the wind still building. We had a cup of tea and watched more YouTube while Cordelia was shaking and dancing a jitterbug around her anchor. We sure were glad that Peter had let out more chain earlier and Buddy was fastened down with two straps. We recorded gusts of 58 knots, but other than our flashing solar light nose-diving into the drink and still flashing along happily while being washed further and further away, Cordelia and all that belonged on her kept steadfast. By 3.00am it started to calm down, or more likely we had either gotten used to the conditions or were too tired to care, so we decided to go back to bed.
Ingrid awoke at 6.30am with it all being quiet outside. The wind had eased to a West-North-West Force 2, and the only remaining sign of our nightly ordeal was a little swell. Still, we had enough of this place, so at 7.40am we upped anchor and motored away, heading for Foça.
It took nearly an hour before we found the North-East wind that would blow us South on the genoa alone. The swell was on the beam to start off with, but once we’d set direct course to our destination both wind and waves were on Cordelia’s port transom, and we had a pleasant downwind sail. We enlisted the help of the engine later on in the dying wind, and finally dropped anchor at 11.30am in 5.5m in the sand under the seagrass.
We secured Cordelia, then made it into Foça to the weekly market where we bought fruit, vegetables and a pot of freshly ladled honey, and were back for tea and relaxation. Peter left a review of the anchorage at Denizköy on Navily (one star only!). We were glad to have escaped the horrific katabatic wind and now hoped for a peaceful night.
The next day was filled with trips to the shops and cleaning off the slimey growth on Cordelia’s underside. We had another katabatic wind during the night and although the gusts stayed below the 40 knot mark this made for a fitful sleep, so after breakfast we prepared for departure. At 7.30am the anchor went up, and soon the mainsail and genoa followed.
We were sailing out of Foça in a North-Easterly Force 4 which later increased to a Force 5-6. Cordelia was whizzing along, courtesy of the clean hull, averaging 6.4 knots in one hour. Near the second traffic separation zone the wind switched to the East and decreased to a Force 3-4, so we put the engine to good use. It wasn’t long though, before the North-Easterly reappeared and blew its socks off with up to 38 knots. We were now underway on the genoa alone with two reefs in it.
The waves were steep but not too high and followed us, and as we had also altered course the wind was from astern, too. All in all, a fast and enjoyable ride which was only topped by the sight of a pod of large dolphins near the first of many fish farms. We navigated our way through them all with a fickle and capricious wind. We had the engine on when required, then again sailed under a reefed genoa which then needed to be pulled out on the other side, only to flap a few minutes later to go back where it’d come from.
The constant configuration change kept us entertained for a good while until we turned another corner. There the wind died off completely, so we furled away the genoa and continued under engine. The wind, however, had only be teasing us and in true old fashion returned once we had rounded the little headland. As from there it was only another 20 minutes to our anchorage we didn’t bother with the sail anymore and motored to Teke Kara Dagi Kucukt where we dropped the hook in 5.5m under seagrass on the second attempt (the first took us into 8m and Peter did not like it). After a while the wind relaxed a bit from the consistent 30+ knots to a more tolerable 20+ knots, so we were looking forward to catching up with some Zs, Ingrid in the cockpit, and Peter in our cabin.
