Saturday 12 September 2015

Saturday 12 September 2015 – Datca, Turkey

I didn’t have a great night.  The sea was a bit lumpy over night and I kept waking up.  But notwithstanding that we get up fairly early because we want to get away and arrive at Datca before the forecast one metre waves start up.  So we do manage to leave just after 9am.  It would have been nice to have a swim before we left, but we decided that we really didn’t have the time.  We waved goodbye to the Luries and then the anchor came up like a dream on the windlass.  Thanks again Jonnie.

There is a fair amount of wind from the beginning but initially it was on the nose.  The sea was already getting lumpy and motoring into the wind and waves was not the most comfortable.  But when we finally cleared the Island and headed for the Turkish mainland we were far enough off the wind to sail.  And we had quite a good sail with the wind usually around 15 knots, but sometimes going up to 17.  As we approached Datca the wind started to die, so we decided to put the engine on.  It was just as well that we did and got into port when we did.  As we approached there was one other boat mooring in what looked like an awkward spot.  We could see one other awkward looking spot near there, when a boat left a really good easy to get into spot.  So in we went and were safely moored, having successfully dug the anchor in well as we reversed into the space.  After that it appears that the port is full and there are a number of boats anchored just in the corner.  One reason to come here was to be safe from a biggish wind and large sea forecast for tomorrow, so I am very grateful that we are in a nice secure mooring space.

It is very hot again, but as we have little food on board we go in to town to find some lunch.  We wind up in a weird little café where we eat too much and it wasn’t very nice.  We then have a walk around the town.  We find a harbour official who takes money for the mooring, which is quite expensive.  Then we stop in one of the yacht agents who confirms he can check us out of Turkey for us to leave fairly early on Monday morning.

After that we find the market.  It is huge.  We were told there was a good market here.  In fact everyone we met talked about how good the local markets are generally.  So we are pleased to finally be in town on its market day.  We don’t need much on the boat, so I only bought a little bit of fruit and a huge bag of Turkish delight.  The stallholder wouldn’t see me take less!  Similarly he talked me in to buying 100 grams of a herb mixture he makes to use for grills.  Well at least I can take that home on the plane!

We are opposite two cafes both which have WIFI.  The first we used was the café we had lunch in.  However, despite being directly across the street, we keep losing the connection to them.  So we went out to a bar also just across from us and got their WIFI code.  We hope we can keep using that especially as they are playing horrible disco music very loudly at the moment!


We had dinner on board and now just doing puzzles and chores.  We will stay here tomorrow and if it continues to be hot we will go to the beach, which isn’t far.  However, the strong winds this evening have cooled the place down and it has got down to 27C here in the saloon!

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