The First Dolphins of the Season

It was good to leave the brilliant cruising grounds of Fethiye Korfezi knowing that we would be back when we pick up Michael and Elaine from there (Fethiye) and can stick around for a while if the hot weather doesn’t force us further north.

We got up and left reasonably early (for us) and headed out into a light breeze. We motored for the first few hours with the light wind right up our bum. The 360 rotations on the AWA gauge amused Jo no end.

The wind gradually picked up and we were able to sail. I procrastinated with idea of trying out the geneker but was glad I didn’t as the wind gradually built past 25 kts. It was still up our bum so this kept the Apparent Wind Speed down and we jybed our way along the coast. We were borderline needing a reef but just managed to avoid it.

The entrance into Kas marina seems to take forever – not one of its strong points. But as we got closer I looked over the side and saw a dolphin splash. We raced up the front (and then back again to get the camera) before being entertained for 10 minutes as the 2 dolphins rode our bow. They were a lot bigger than those we had previously seen in the Med – more like the size of WA dolphins.

We were zipping along touching 8kts and were just thinking of dropping the sails, when the wind suddenly picked up to 45kts. We quickly jibed and then headed up into the wind and dropped the sails as quick as we could. There was no training Jo whilst all that went on.

Heart racing, we motored into the harbour and anchored off the marina at the far end. Just picked a spot in the middle with plenty of swinging room and down went 65m of chain. Which will do me right for a couple of days.

I dropped Jo off on one of the marina pontoons and was promptly told off by the marina staff for bringing the dingy into the marina. Jo thought they wanted me to shift La Mischief so I went back to the boat and radioed in. No, it was just the dingy that needed shifting.

That’s going to make going to the bar difficult!

So back in the dingy and off to the rocks where the marina staff suggested I tie up. It was a bit of a scramble up the rocks and through the bushes to the road, but do-able when sober and in daylight.

It was a 10 minute walk around to the bars at the marina and once there found that Australia was playing Holland at the World Cup. Unlike the 6-1 victory the Hockey guys had at their world cup, the soccer guys had an admirable defeat.

By this stage it was getting dark and sober was under threat as well, so I decided to trek back to the dingy and bring it around to the marina. It was 9.30 at this stage – surely the Marina guys had gone home. Surely was wrong again and there he was, Marina Guy was waiting for me. But this time I had charm on my side, courtesy of the 3 or so Efes beers that were enhancing my charm factor immeasurably (well, I thought so anyway).

Both Charm and I lucked onto the fact that the bar I had nominated belonged to the marina guy’s friends from Istanbul – so it looked like I was in. Marina guy was taking no chances though, he drove me in the 90m along the broad walk in his golf buggy to just outside his mates bar. It turned out to be a good night. We started with the price of Alcohol in Turkey (highly taxed but still cheaper than Oz) and moved onto why foreigners are avoiding Turkey because of the trouble further south in Syria as well as rioting in Turkey. Interesting to get a locals perspective.

Then I had a chat to a couple of Pommy guys who where heading back home for the summer as it was just too hot for them. I got to admit it is pretty hot – its 36 degrees in here as I write this – which is after all pretty hot for a cold weather Pom. Evidently the thing to do is to leave now and come back in August/September for another shot.

Next day, it was in to town to check out Kas. First stop was Turkcell, where I found out that the Government stops all SIM cards from working if they are not installed in a phone sold in Turkey – hence why mine had suddenly decided it didn’t have a valid SIM. To avoid this you have to register them with the Government for 160TL ($80). I decided to go back to what I did in other countries and buy a prepaid WIFI router. They’s a trick for young players.

And that’s what I’m using to write this blog.

For photos of Kas, see https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10201860337863022.1073741920.1620379103&type=1&l=6d3a621ac5