Von Marmaris nach Göcek

Mittwoch, 05.04.06 – Heute ist es soweit! Erik und Helwert fahren als Crew mit von der Yacht-Marina bis in die Netsel-Marina, die liegt näher an der Stadt. So habe die Holländer die hre des ersten Gästebucheintrags der zweiten Weltumsegelung!
Wolfgang verteilt Bettwäsche in den Achterkabinen – und um 22.30 h ist es soweit: die erste „richtige” Crew kommt an Bord! „Herzlich willkommen!” sind Michael (a.k.a. „Schleusenwärter”) Dickinson (vom Reisebüro „JUST Travel” in München) und seine ebenfalls US-amerikanischen Freunde Lucas Dedrick, Frank Porter und George Michael Cuesta! And that’s why I continue in English!

Donnerstag, 06.04.06 – Shopping can be an adventure! Especially if you don’t speak any Turkish – and the man behind the cheese-counter doesn’t speak any English! But after roughly two hours the boys are back on board safely, and my storage lockers are filled with all the food for a week of sailing along the ”Turkish Riviera”
Safety-instructions and a light lunch complete the morning – and then the sails are set for an introductory cruise through the Gulf of Marmaris! The bays outside the gulf are not well sheltered in the current southerly wind conditions, but just inside the gulf, behind the Nimara-peninsula, there is a perfect, quiet spot for a first night at anchor! G. Michael completes the first anchoring manoeuvre of his lifetime and the delicious smell of Frank’s Thai curry hints at the adventures to come…

Freitag, 07.04.06 – Great sailing! Still southerly winds, enough for the first reef in the mainsail, but not too much to be uncomfortable. Except for Luke, who makes an offering to Poseidon, god of the waves… At the mouth of the Dalyan river lies the little restaurant ”My Marina”. It is not yet open for the season, but we can pick up a mooring buoy and organise a river trip up to Dalyan city!

Samstag, 08.04.06 – The sand bar at the river mouth is too shallow for me – so at 09.00 hrs. my crew leaves on a proper river boat with a Turkish skipper. I am waiting here in the bay, and once again I will be jealous for not having seen the famous rock tombs, the ancient city of Kaunos, the fun in the Ottoman sulphur spring and the mud bath, the bazaar in Dalyan, the reed labyrinth of the river delta, the wildlife: eagles, great herons, river turtles, egrets; ”turtle beach” — all the great attractions of the area! Sometimes it is hard to be a yacht with a strong and deep keel… especially when all of my crew come back from such a trip, eyes still gleaming with all the impressions they had!
A singalong with Wolfgang’s guitar completes the wonderful day, Orion, the hunter in the skies with his two dogs is watching over the sleeping crew.

Sonntag, 09.04.06 – The wind shifts to the west: Meltemi, the Aegean summer breeze! That’s what we need!! The gennaker is hoisted, 120 bright yellow square meters pulling me 27 nautical miles along the coast! At Kap Kizilkuyruk the wind picks up and becomes gusty, causing me to heel over severely, as passed warp speed 8.6 — time to put the big sail back into its bag! But the sailing is over for today anyhow, in one of the first bays of the Fethiye Gulf there is a little restaurant with a jetty and laid moorings. Mehmet welcomes us and offers fresh fish in magnificent surroundings! Some Byzantine ruins, olive trees, crystal clear water, no other houses but the little restaurant, a little chunk of paradise…

Montag, 10.04.06 – So many things on one single day! After the next magnificent breakfast in my sunlit cockpit Michael opens the bathing season! Right after that we sail out of the anchorage without using the engine – no noise spoils that little bay! Then we do a little bit of sail-training, because Frank and Michael want to do their German sailing license later this year! And then we sail over to Fethiye for lunch, just to get an idea of the new marina, the old city center and the lycian tombs above the city walls. Apart from that I have a new pet on board. His name is Phineas T. Finch, you will see…
For the night we cross over the gulf again, back amongst the islands, and in the middle of the smallest five of them (the Yassica Islands) we find the most remote anchorage of the trip. No other light but just the waxing moon and the stars. I wonder what that romantic scenery is leading to…

Dienstag, 11.04.06 – Nobody else is in ”our” bay, so nobody else is looking, so everybody jumps into the cool water in the clothes of his birth. And I thought Americans are so puritanical?!
Some manouvertraining counts for the largest part of the morning, then the skipper finds another lonesome bay for a lunchstop, and then it’s just another three last miles to Skopea Marina in picturesque Göcek! And that’s where this cruise ends – it was too short!!!
Fortunately the fun does not yet stop: Wolfgang organises a trip to the Hamam (Turkish bath) in another Marina. Frank, Luke and G.Michael have never done that before and they can’t believe it, when the cab driver begins washing their hair!!! (But that was only, because the owner of the hamam picked up my crew in his car! And nobody but Wolfgang knew that he would be the masseur/washer/scrubber too! Nobody knew anything about a hamam anyhow – and Wolfgang just smiled: ”wait and see!”) Big surprise, laying on a heated slab of marble – covered completely in bubbles…
So everybody smells nicely at the farewell-dinner in the marina-restaurant: many different starters, then one big fish to be shared, great seating next to the open fireplace – and then the last night-cup here on board!

Mittwoch, 12.04.06 – The Taxi is more than half an hour early, so they really have to leave. But I am sure they’ll come back, that was too much fun to be the last time!!! See you all in New York!!
Und dann sind sie weg, meine Amis. Das war lustig! Spaß hin, fun her, Wolfgang hat die üblichen Gänge vor sich: Wäsche abgeben, Schuhe reparieren lassen, außerdem die von Michael mitgebrachten neuen Fallen einscheren etc.

Donnerstag, 13.04.06 – Perfektes timing: Kaum sind keine Gäste da, bedeckt sich der Himmel, kommt unangenehmer Südwind auf, beginnt es zu regnen…

Freitag, 14.04.06 – Und heute schifft es sogar fast den ganzen Tag lang. Macht nix, ich bin ja wasserdicht! Wolfgang entrümpelt den Laptop, kocht sich ein Risotto und schraubt den kleinen Mülleimer in der achteren Toilette mit größeren Schrauben an. Der übliche Kleinkram halt!

Samstag, 15.04.06 – Wolfgang düst nochmal mit dem Staubsauger durch die Kabinen, und am Abend spaziert er dann frisch geduscht auf eine türkische Hochzeit. Nach den offiziellen Zeremonien ist die große Feier im Prinzip eine open-air Disco für das ganze Dorf!