To Kekova Roads and Back
- alixtitley8
- May 26
- 5 min read
With Tony and Lynn on board, and victualled-up, we continued eastwards for our next adventure. Over the Turkish mainland, and to our right on Rhodes, we could see cumulus clouds building into tall, fluffy towers. We kept any eye on these in case they flattened-out into the tell-tale, anvil shape, a sure-sign of a potential thunderstorm. Fortunately, they all collapsed before the anvil formed.
We agreed we would push on further east, and finally anchored-up in a bay at the south-west entrance of the Bay of Fethiye. We took two-lines ashore, and then watched a charter yacht – full of young Russians - trying to do the same. They even came over and asked us what they should do, but didn’t actually do it. Eventually, Richard stood on our bow in the pouring rain, and with the help of arm signals, got them to moor-up safely.
After our long, first-day’s sail, the next morning we just popped across the bay and anchored-up in Cold Water Bay, not far from Gemiler island. The bay is so-called, because there is a freezing-cold, fresh-water, spring bubbling into the bay. Everyone swims to it and shrieks loudly. Richard and Tony swam over to it, gasped, and swiftly returned.
The inlet, where the spring is located, is normally occupied by large gulets, masquerading as pirate vessels. They must have a pre-arranged timetable, because as one leaves, the next appears, ready to take its place. They stay for 30-60 minutes, enough for a quick swim. They play music as they arrive and leave, but turned the playlist off while moored-up. The water is pretty deep there, and a few daredevils dive from level three of the ‘galleons’ masts, but it’s obviously a well-rehearsed party trick. As the diver pretends to leap, he then shakes his head, and the crew play a sound-effect of a chicken. It was all good fun, and to be honest, we enjoyed the entertainment as we were moored up not far from them.
The next day we departed for Kas, an overnight stopping point from which we would sail-on to Kekova Roads. This promised to be the highlight of Richard’s trip. We spent three, lovely nights in different anchorages around the long bay, sheltered by the long island of Kekova. We went ashore for dinner on two nights, and ate aboard on the final one. This last night was spent in the most remote part of the area – there were a few other live-aboard yachts there, but no charter boats had made their way this far.
On day four, we started our return trip. Lynn and I elected to return to Kas Marina, rather than anchoring-out for another night. And to be honest, Tony and Richard agreed. We were also able to get the coveted pump-out certificate there. This is the piece of paper that you wave to the coastguard, to show that you have had your black waste sucked-out at a proper facility, and not released into the sea.
Kas Marina is in a beautiful setting, surrounded by pine-clad forests, and it has a decent supermarket and a chandlery. Lynn and I did a food stock-up, while the boys visited the chandlers for boys' boat stuff. Then we all showered, dressed-up in our glad-rags, and visited one of the cocktail bars in the marina for a few games of cards.
Many bays in Turkey are too deep to swing-free at anchor. We don’t really have enough chain to swing-free in much more than 15m of water, so we drop our anchor, and taking one - or two - longlines ashore, to keep the boat in position. It’s a bit of a faff, to be honest, involving loading 100m of rope into Ursa Minor, rowing at ashore, scrambling over rocks to find a suitable one to tie to, and then rowing back to affix the other end of the line to the mother ship.
As a consequence, many enterprising Turks have established restaurants on the shore, along with a rickety wooden jetty, for boats to moor stern-to. They normally don’t charge for mooring, but you are expected to eat at the restaurant.
Now, prices have rocketed in Turkiye over the last few years, inflation is continuing to run at a very-high rate, and this has driven prices up, to such an extent that a lot of boat owners cannot afford to keep their boats in Turkiye, and have migrated to other locations, mostly Greece. Eating out - one of the pleasures of boating life - can be exorbitant, especially with a glass of wine included.
Turkish food tends to be a selection of mezes, plus a main of grilled meat, fish, calamari etc. In order to avoid customers going to the restaurant, having a few little mezes, and then returning to the boat (to fill up on food, and have another beer), restaurant owners have cunningly introduced a fixed-price menu (there is no a-la-carte.) For this, you get a selection of three or four mezes, with bread, plus one main course with chips and salad. This ensures you pay a proper sum for your meal, and cover the cost of pontoon maintenance etc.
But the price of the menu-du-jour can be steep. The worst meal we had was actually the cheapest. At 1,100 Turkish Lira(£22) per head, it was very basic and meagre, but we have paid as much as 2,000TL (£40) per head. Wine, of course, is extra, and very ordinary stuff can be £25 per bottle, or £6+ per glass.
A fairly modest start (08:15) back west to a bay south of Fethiye. We had variable winds, but a favourable current, and so we were in the little bay of Karakaoren Buku by 16:00. The fish restaurant here has a number of mooring buoys, and the owner came out in his dinghy to help us tie up to one. We agreed what time he would collect us, to go ashore for dinner. All very civilised!
At the restaurant, Tony had excellent chicken, while Richard, Lynn and I enjoyed the grouper. Plus, with the water-taxi service, it meant we didn’t have to launch our dinghy.
We enjoyed a few more evenings, before Tony and Lynn had to say goodbye. We had booked a berth at a posh hotel/restaurant, which has its own floating pontoons. We were allowed to used all the facilities: super swimming pools, laundry, bar, shower blocks and restaurant. The pontoon was not cheap, but 50% discount was available, if you ate at the restaurant.
I suggested to Richard we should just move in. We compromised – we headed out into Fethiye Bay to anchor for a couple of nights at the weekend, while the hotel turned around their fleet of charter boats. Then on the Sunday, we returned for three nights of R&R as a present from Skipper to First Mate. Just pure bliss.
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