Yes, as Tsamaya is a sailboat, we were finally able to leave Fethiye and head toward her winter home f which will be at the Marmaris Yacht Marina. It isnt that far away, but we decided with the weather forecast we could take a few days more in order to have a chance to anchor out and do a little exploring as well. We not only wanted to enjoy the pleasure of being on anchor for a few days, but with having new batteries Bob also wanted to check out how things were working while away from shore power for a few days.
It turned out to be a great first day away from Fethiye, although we could have used a little more wind. We were able to get a sail out which was a great feeling, even if we didnt get the full use of our sails. Fortunately, we found out quickly that we seemed to remember what needed to be done and which lines to pull to put the sail out as well as take it in – a good sign!
we always take this as a good omen! We had hoped it a little closer to us, but seemed as if the dolphin had a destination in mind and didnt want to detour to check us out – oh well, we still had a good look as it went by.
The anchorage Bob picked was a nice one – a narrow and deep bay called Kucul Kuyruk, giving us plenty of protection in case the winds piped up later. We typically like to swing at anchor, but the center of the bay was quite deep and there were already a couple of boats there that had tied lines ashore from the stern, so figured we better do the same. It is definitely not our preferred way to anchor, but decided we better give it a go – the first for this season! For those of you that are not familiar with the concept, you put your anchor at the bow, back up toward shore and then one of you (Bob in our case) jumps in the water and swims to shore with a line tied to the stern of the boat. He then has to scramble around
on the rocks on shore to find appropriate rocks to tie the line to. Thankfully Bob is still part mountain goat and seems to be able to do this pretty well, even though I still get nervous watching him do it! Probably the most dangerous part of this process is going to shore, avoiding the spiny urchins, climbing over slippery rocks and getting back to the boat in one piece. Unfortunately, this time Bob did have a little bit of a run in with some rocks as the water was so clear he took a step thinking he would be on top of a rock, but it was deeper and he slipped down causing him to scrape his leg up some. As he said when he returned to the boat, salt water doesnt feel that great on an open cut! We originally thought we would only stay the one night, but the wind was supposed to turn around and blow from the wrong direction the next day, so decided another night here would be good. A few more boats arrived that evening as well as the next day. In talking to some of our neighbors and watching them, it appears
that many put a 2nd line out from the stern to shore, so we did the same. Bob got the 2nd line in place, but for some reason we seemed to be pretty close to the rocky shore which wasnt the place to be. At first, we wondered if our anchor was dragging, but that didnt seem to be the case. After some time, it really was so one of the boats next to us offered to help with our stern lines if we decided to We did got the 2 lines run ashore again, and when all was said and done, it didnt seem like it improved the situation at all. We were just getting to think we just have to put up with being nervous and being that close to the rocks. After some time, another sailor from another boat nearby that we had been talking to, made a great suggestion in figuring that we had more than enough anchor chain out that we could pull in a few meters which would take us farther away from the rocks. Bob had been thinking of doing that but we werent sure as our anchor
rode ratio was not as much as we normally would have done if we were swinging on anchor. We took his advice, brought in some anchor chain, and it worked out perfectly.
