Thu 19 Sep to Sun 22 Sep – Arriving in Turkey

Thursday

It took us ages to un-do the various lines, springs and ad-hoc rigging arrangements we’d set up to cope with the dreadful swell, but once Bob was back on deck we were on our way to Marmaris! Greece had been beyond our wildest expectations so we were sad to leave, but it was time to move on. We had a lovely sail for the first few hours when afterwards the wind died so on came the engine but out came the dolphins! The water was dead calm and the wind non-existent which gave us the unique opportunity to watch these huge beautiful creatures play on the bow as clear as if they were in the air. Amazing.

As we were now entering a non EU country we needed to officially clear-in through customs and immigration. To show you’ve not been through this process yet the etiquette is to hoist a “Q flag” which is a yellow flag flown below the Turkish courtesy flag. All very analogue! Our plan was to anchor in the bay, take the dinghy ashore then walk around to complete the formalities, for us and the boat. This isn’t something you’re actually able to do yourself so you need to instruct an agent to work with, and our agent was Bruno who we’d agreed to message when we were 15 mins away. Sounds simple, right?

Wrong. We totally fluffed it up. Anchoring was easy enough so with Bini parked up we got in the dinghy and went ashore, and messaged Bruno to say we wouldn’t be long. The sea was pretty choppy and we were getting soaked as we drove towards the shore. We saw another dinghy parked up near a busy restaurant so decided to follow suit. All going fine until we got to the wall and POP…HIIISSSSSS and Bob quickly started to deflate. We’d hit a huge spike which had punctured a big hole in the side. Crap!! I jumped out and Tom threw everything at me and climbed ashore with the engine in hand. Two local guys who’d watched the whole thing came rushing over and helped us pull the dinghy out of the water, much to the amusement of the crowds having lunch! How the hell we’d get back to Bini now was a mystery but one which would have to wait, we were late for our appointment.

We left the dinghy and walked at lightening speed around to the marina. When we arrived the security guy stopped us and breathlessly we explained what we needed to do. His English wasn’t great but luckily for everyone a guy was just passing on his bike and offered to help translate. We explained we were here to meet Bruno and the guy said, “Oh, I know him, I’ll give him a call”. A few minutes later he put down the phone and said, “Hmmm, there seems to be some confusion. He’s expecting you in the marina on your boat, that’s the procedure”. Not good. We explained to him what had happened and that we now had no way to get back onboard. Amazingly, and very kindly he said he had a boat and that he’d take us back to Bini. Phew! The three of us walked around to his lovely little powerboat and bounced our way into the bay whilst all getting soaked. The waves made it really tricky to get back on board but we made it, thanked Charlie profusely, upped anchor and headed around to the customs pontoon.

We moored up alongside the big imposing pontoon which was made for boats far bigger than Bini with its high concrete wall and massive tires tied alongside. In 15 knots of headwind and a lumpy sea it wasn’t easy but we made it and were met by two guys, and a not very amused Bruno. We apologised profusely while he lead us around to complete the paperwork. 

After a few minutes we were free to go so we were back on Bini requesting a space in the nearby marina. We didn’t much fancy the choppy anchorage and anyhow, we had no means to get ashore anyway! With Bini safely moored up the next challenge was to figure out what to do with Bob. Luckily for us Netsel Marina is the biggest and most well equipped marina we’ve ever been in, and in the large shopping area was a huge chandler. We went in to explain what had happened and the guy very kindly called a friend of his who could help. We agreed to meet him at Bob in 20 mins. The kindness of strangers we’ve encountered so far has been out of this world. Turkey, we love you already!

We hurried around the bay back to the dinghy and within a few minutes two guys were rushing towards us, with the urgency of men aiding a dying patent. They picked up Bob with Tom closely in tow with the engine and ran back to their van which they’d parked across the bike path on the busy main road. 10:00 tomorrow and the dinghy would be back on our pontoon. Excellent news, as to be honest we’d given up all hope of a repair. 

Exhausted, we went back to the boat, went for a much needed shower then went to find somewhere for dinner. We were lured in to a place on the waterfront by a very charismatic guy and it was only when we sat down did we realised we were surrounded by Dutchies, and the restaurant was called Jan de Wit! A perfectly funny ending to a pretty ridiculous day. 

Friday to Sunday

We stayed for the next 3 days in the marina. Bob arrived back at 10:00 on Friday as promised, perfectly repaired. We bought Turkish SIM cards meaning we now had access to data again. We bought Charlie (the guy who’d very kindly given us a lift back to Bini) a little thank-you present. We found an amazing local restaurant behind the marina. We love hearing the calls to prayer which ring out over the city five times a day. And finally we made friends with a local cat who’s been hanging out with us in the mornings and evenings, very adorable! We really are going to leave tomorrow, but it’s hard as it’s simply fantastic here!