We were quite excited to have a look at Finike as lots of cruisers had said good things about the place. The marina turned out to be really nice but the town was a major disappointment. They had tried to do it up, but all they managed to do was make it more tacky.
It did however have some good tradesmen at reasonable prices and we got the shower sump pump, dingy winch and one of the bilge pump sensors diagnosed and parts ordered from Istanbul (to be picked up on way back). More boat bucks.
We managed to get away about 3.30pm . We headed across the bay and around the corner to a nice beach.
We were right on track for beer o’clock when bummer, the mainsail got stuck, 3/4 of the way down. Luckily there was no wind so going up the mast was a lot easier than last time. We got the sail down with a bit of silicon spray and some gentle persuasion and decided it must be a lubrication issue. So on went more silicon spray.
Mainsail in lazy bag, we finally anchored and Beer o’clock was just reward for climbing the mast.
Next morning we had a great swim around the bay and headed off for ancient Olympos. We motor sailed along the coast against a 0.5-1 kt current and got there at lunchtime. We anchored outside the roped off swim area and i donned the water proof back bag and paddled in with Jo swimming to shore.
The beach was beautiful, albeit stoney, with a freshwater stream running into the sea. Olympos is just behind the beach and we wandered up to it only to find a ticket booth wanting 5th entry fee. So it was back to the boat on the paddle board to get some more money plus a few other things we forgot.
Then it was back along the deep shaded valley that runs up from the sea. Olympos was founded by Rhodes in about the 2nd century BC and had another upturn in property market values when the Romans moved into the neighbourhood. The last bit of ancient stuff happened when the Genovese build a castle high on the hill. The place is very pretty and it took us longer than expected to wander through the ruins.
By this stage we were getting hungry so we stopped at the hippy inspired restaurant amongst the shady trees and gobbled down some Turkish pancakes. Nothing to write home about (wait a minute – I just did!) but can now say I’ve tasted them.
Back on the boat we back tracked a couple of miles to Port Genovese and found an anchorage amongst the gulets with sufficient swing room to feel comfortable. Jo was busying herself for another phone interview so I went for a swim and checked the anchor. Back on the boat I saw another gulet come in and drop his anchor way out as they do and then back into shore really close to our anchor. I was a bit peeved that he may have laid his anchor chain over ours and swam out again to check (in fact he had laid it over Sun Dancers who were further out that us.
Then it was off to check out the bay on the paddle board – a productive exercise as I came across Sami (Davis Jnr) and friends and sat down and drank Turkish Tea. Sami was a professional captain who had come out on his day off and we had a great yarn.
Back at La Mischief with Jo’s interview over, we had Trevor and Yvonne from Sun Dancer over for sun downers – a lovely English couple who were good for a ribbing about cricket and the world cup.
Just as we’d gone to bed, the wind changed and we had to get up again as we swung dangerously close to our errant gullet. I was kicking myself that I was more concerned about crossed anchors than swing room. So Jo got her first night sail!!! as we shifted into the middle of the bay – well out of range of any gullet mayhem.
Next morning we set off motoring to Phaselis, another ancient Roman town. Rod told us to use a trip line because of our the rubble from the ancient Roman breakwaters, but looking down we could see there was no real need.
Phaselis is set on a beautiful peninsular, between two equally beautiful bays. It too was founded by colonists from Rhodes in the 7th Century BC but the ruins were largely Roman and Byzantine. Hadrian’s gate at the entrance of the street that runs from the North Bay to the South Bay was a highlight. It was once again a very pretty place with extensive ruins set amongst the pine trees. Unfortunately the Turks had put a car park right up against some very impressive aqueduct ruins. Whenever you see an aqueduct ruin you feel compelled to utter the now famous “What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?” line from Life of Brian.
Ruined out once more, we pulled anchor and headed for Kemmer.
For photos of Phaslis and Olympos see https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10201909126122698.1073741922.1620379103&type=1&l=498f53f18b
A Little Bit of Mischief 