7th August 2020

The next morning in Keci Buku we woke up the kids early and told them we would walk up to the fort and have breakfast there. Tim packed our little camping stove, a thermos with boiled water for coffee and tea and ingredients for pancakes. It was much more pleasant to climb the fort in the cooler morning hours. Its so nice to do things like this as a family and we all explore things together at the same time.

After our brekki it was time for schooling and a bit of cleaning. We decided to have an explore of the Marina and the other side of the bay. The Marina is expensive if you want to park your boat there. We checked with the marina manager if he might need photography done, checked our the little mini mart there and the facilities. Afterwards we explored the other end of the bay. Some other cruisers recommended the restaurant there, but we couldn’t find and later found out it had closed.

One feature of the bay was a large sandbank that went almost through all the bay. All day long you see people walk along it. It is believed that it was formed by an old breakwater. Nina and I decided we wanted to walk it too to see what it was all about. Tim went to have a cold beer and Luca on his never ending quest to find free wifi. The walkers on the sandbank almost seem like pilgrims. I still haven’t found out why everybody is walking it. Its mainly local Turkish people. It might be that they can’t swim and that way can still enjoy the water? The “sand” on the sandbank wasn’t really sandy, more like broken up stone, which reaffirmed the suggestion of it being an old breakwater.

We all met back up at the cafe where Tim was sitting and I went to stock up on fruit and veg from the beautiful authentic little roadside stall. The fruit and veg are very tasty and fresh. I heard that Turkey is also called the market garden of the Mediterranean.

Tim caught up with another Kiwi boat that night saying hello and they invited us over for morning tea the next day. Karine and Greame travel on their boat Mystik in the Med for about 6 months of the year. Karine made a yummy chocolate brownie and it is always so interesting to hear other peoples stories. It is so helpful for us as beginners to hear other peoples experiences and recommendations and its one of our highlights to meet other cruisers and the local people.

In the afternoon I put my yoga sessions up online and did a drawing with my watercolors. The next day I wrote up some book notes of some books I head read. I mostly read non fiction books about yoga, health, mindfulness and meditation and since I can’t have physical books anymore I write my kindle notes down to remember to the good bits for my teaching.

Tim met another British couple who contacted us on Navely about the anchorage. They live in turkey part of the year and offered help to top our phone card with data. We went to pay the money for it and then the motor wouldn’t start again. So back to the boat we rowed and Tim grumpily disassembled the motor again. He had done it before and it started working again afterwards without really knowing, what repaired it. It worked again! While Tim was clanking tools and motor parts I decided to bake a German apple cake to spread some positive vibes. Once the motor was reassembled and the cake ready we decided to head out for meal that night.

We went back to the cute place we had been before and they served us a beautiful, traditional, home cooked dinner of fried egg bread, grilled veggies, cheesy pastries and chips for the kids along with homemade lemonades and a beer for Tim, followed by a cup of Turkish tea with the sun setting over the hills. The kids where to mesmerized by their phones and the free wifi to notice the sunset – a constant struggle for us as parents to manage device time and usage.

When we came back we noticed a couple sitting nearby our boat on a boat with a German flag. I suggested we drop them a piece of German apple cake for a treat and it turned out they where Turkish people, but bought the boat of a German couple. The man could speak German though and we had a little chat as you do and exchanged stories They came over the next morning to give us their details if we ever needed help in Turkey.

Tim had put a question up in one of the cruisers forums on our solar system and what other peoples experiences are. One man offered to have a look at our system and give us some advise. They where heading to the next bay so we did too. In Turkey you have to pump all your waste out at disposal stations in Marina’s, so we started early to stop by the Marina to top up Diesel, Petrol and Water and get rid of our waste. After we had done that we headed for a slow sail to Selimiye.

It was 6 nm and took us 3.5 hours with lots of tacks but was a beautiful sail and the wind around our ears was a welcome relief in the heat. We anchored up in the bay and went exploring. We stocked up on fruit/veg and meat, bread.

The kids tried some ice creams, called Thailand Iceream, which we hadn’t seen before, but was obviously not really traditional here. Its a big round icy cooling stainless steel thingy. The vendor put strawberries, banana and nutella on the plate and chopped it all up with sharp spatulas. Then he pored some thick milk over it and mixed it all up. Once it was all mushy he spread it all really thin over the cooling plate and then scraped off scrolls of ice cream. It was so yummy. Not sickly sweet but really refreshing.

While the kids and I pottered around the boat, drawing, reading, creating Tim went to meet Paul and Laurie, who had offered to look at our solar system. As usual they where really nice people and offered to come the next morning so Paul can look at our system. They sailed all the way from America and are now pretty much stuck in Turkey, as almost no other country lets American citizens in, even if they haven’t been in America for years.

We had a long chat with them on our boat, about their cruising experiences so far, us telling our story and getting to know each other. That’s something I love most getting to know all those completely different people from all walks of life, all enjoying the same kind of lifestyle, but still in such different ways.

Paul and Tim disappeared downstairs with Paul’s magic tool measuring electric currents, checking wires and connections and eventually found a really hot and faulty fuse. They exchanged it and we have all our fingers crossed that this is the solution to our power troubles.

Since we have been feeling so comfortable here in Turkey and the living cost is reasonable we had already pondered if we stay here for the winter. We had heard that its easier to extend a visa in Turkey and we already know its near impossible in Greece. Paul and Laurie and a few other boats have already done research on marina prices for overwintering and the requirements for a short term residents visa. As Greece is already starting to shut its doors again as well as New Zealand and all the uncertainty in the world we think it might be best to hang out here for the winter and try and get back to Greece in Spring next year to hopefully explore more of the Greek islands. So we might tag along with their efforts and hopefully will be able to secure a longer stay in Turkey.