Its a quiet Sunday afternoon in Turkey and the sun is out after a couple days of torrential downpours and 30+ knots of wind while on anchor. We came back from our favourite town of Fethiye on Friday, the 3rd of December in high swells which made for an interesting ride. I worked until 3pm (as that is what is required on Friday) but it wasn't easy!
Rewind a couple of days before and Tina Mason and I decided to play hooky from the boys and went shopping in Fethiye and lunch turned into dinner whilst we laughed and drank beer at our new favourite watering hole, Büyükev Pub & Kitchen
We eventually invited the boys to join us. That said, we were way ahead of them so not sure how thankful they were for the invitation. 'Happy Hour' is from 14:00 til 19:00 so we had to do our part to help turn the Turkish economy around. If you find yourself in Fethiye get yourself to this great place and tell Oz we sent you.
Jeff and I also made a pilgrimage earlier in the week to the Tuesday market which is one of the biggest in Turkey. I prefer the Sunday market in Beldibi as its smaller and easier to navigate. There are so many fruit and vegetable stalls you find yourself wandering about because you aren't sure which to purchase from. I finally just bought from whomever because it all looks good and the prices are silly cheap so it doesn't truly matter. Some speak English some don't so you find yourself foisting money at them and they always give you back the exact change and explain what it costs. Jeff could have gotten robbed a couple times, but NOPE, the Turks are the most honest and sincere people and you don't ever feel taken advantage of at the market. Can't say the same for the Grand Bazaar with its 'Genuine Fake' Louis Vuitton handbags and such but I'm not looking for that stuff anyway.
When we first arrived in Fethiye bay we were approached by the Coast Guard to produce our mountain of paperwork proving we are legal in Turkish waters. Fair enough, we are. What they are most concerned with is that you are in compliance with your Blue Card. The Blue Card is electronically registered with a QR code that gets scanned when you have your blackwater tanks pumped out. Most fuel docks do this and charge 50-90 Turkish Lira (£2.50-5.00) at the insane conversion rate on our side at the moment. It is recommended you do this every 14 days as the fine for NOT doing it is supposedly 2500 euros. We don't care to incur the fine and believe in doing so as the sheer number of boats in this area would wreak havoc on the ecosystem if everyone dumped their blackwater in the bay.
While on anchor we made some new friends, Graham and Elaine on their yacht, Ortus, also a Beneteau 57 albeit a little newer as its a 2008 model. We compared and contrasted yachts and talked all things yachty and Turkish over beer and frozen pizzas. We had the amazing opportunity to also meet their friend Selim who is a lawyer from Turkey who is married to a Peruvian doctor named Anita who was away with their two children and wouldn't be back until after we left. So we exchanged WhatsApp details and hope to meet up again in the spring. Graham and Elaine are from England, too but have been living on their boat for around four years now. They originally bought their boat to sail the world but aren't sure now with Covid and all the troubles they've had with moving about during the pandemic if they'll worry about it. They literally spent all of lock down on their boat and weren't allowed into any ports to check in. When/if they were allowed on solid land it was only to get provisions via a military escort to a small shop and then back to their boat. They are in love with Turkey and quite happy with their residency card and sailing Ortus where ever they like.
After being boarded yet again by the Coast Guard and having one day left before our next pump out we spent Friday sailing back to Marmaris. The day was brooding and swelly and the above video just doesn't capture it well. It's much more impressive in person and a little scary at times.
But I'm happy to report we made it back and will be taking a berth for the next couple of months in Marmaris Yacht Marina. We've already made friends there and weirdly enough one of them has a Benzie County tie. George is originally from South Africa but lived in Texas his adult life before moving aboard his boat with his new wife Kathy. Both of them were widowed and living in Texas when they met. Kathy's first husband Mark's parents lived in Benzonia so she knows it well. Her in-laws were Elmer and Betty Hillier. The world is a small place indeed and getting smaller everyday for Jeff and I.
We are looking forward to leaving December 15th for Christmas in Michigan and New Years in Kentucky if Omicron doesn't spoil it for us and the rest of the world. It will be a long flight if it does happen: Dalaman to Istanbul, Istanbul to Heathrow, Heathrow to Chicago and finally Chicago to Grand Rapids. I've not 'been home for Christmas' in years and the Griswold Family Christmas awaits us if we make it. Stay tuned for a good story about that if it comes off because something usually odd happens that leaves us with laughs for years. I hope I can share that with you, but if not, I'm sure we'll do something crazy here, too. We miss you and hope you can make it to Belvedere soon. Please drop us a line, we love hearing from you.
PS: this is what the Anchor Watch app looks like after 24 hours of crazy winds. That is also what it looks like when it alarms to say you are outside the allowed radius. We hadn't dragged we just didn't set it far enough. Nothing like living on your own carnival ride!
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