Our Arrival in Turkey, First Stop Kas

15th July 2018

Well, just before we bid our farewells to Greece & Kastellerizon we decided to go on a small boat trip to the Blue Cave of Kastellerizon, dutifully packing my camera so I could add a photo or two, something a bit different from white houses with blue shutters! 10 minutes after boarding the little speedboat (We couldn’t take Seaclusion as the area was too deep to anchor off and we didn’t trust we would even find the cave ourselves, wise call as it happens!) our Greek captain tied up to a almost non-existent strut in the cliff and pointed to this tiny gap….just above sea level (he didn’t speak any English). Somewhat nervously we shed our t-shirts and shorts (we did have swimmies on underneath, thankfully), and leaving my not underwater camera behind, jumped into the water and ducked under the outcrop. Wow is all we can say, and as the only way to show you what we found is by pilfering off the internet, here goes….

On our return we headed off to the Port Police & Customs Office to check us and Seaclusion out of Greece for the following day and then bid our farewells to the town, motoring around the corner to drop anchor in a very peaceful bay with crystal clear waters that magnified everything on the sea bed.

The following morning we had an appointment with Mustafa, a recommended shipping agent to help us clear Seaclusion and ourselves into Turkey at 11:30 in Kas, so we motored the short hop across to the Marina, arriving safely at 11am, and much to our surprise, on the dot of 11:30 Mustafa arrived with the Port Police who checked us over and disappeared with our Passports and Ships Papers. Nervously we waited for 40 minutes until he re-appeared with all our paperwork in order. Never has checking into a non-European country with Seaclusion been so easy!

With unlimited power and water we set about giving Seaclusion a much needed clean, ridding her of the salt she had been carrying courtesy of the windy conditions we had from Crete, and only stopped for dinner in the Marina restaurant for their local mezze and sea bass, wow at a price tag equivalent of €10 per kilo of fish, we will be dinning out on fish for the rest of this trip!!! It was fabulous, very tasty and finally we chillaxed!

The following day, we ventured to the supermarket and tried to work out what everything was, in particular milk, and replenished our stocks, or so we thought! Once the heat of the sun had died down, we went exploring into Kas Town itself. A century ago there was apparently very little here, the locals having to cross over to Kastellerizon to buy their chickens. It is a far cry from that today, with lots of hustle and bustle, tiny shops selling original handcrafts and antiques, and the Port, well we were certainly glad we were in the marina, it was absolutely manic, full of fishing boats, gullets and dive boats! It was great, so different from Greece, every nook and cranny crammed with shops, bazaars, cafes, bars or restaurants, the Turkish vendors and restauranteurs, albeit pushing their wares, were very genteel about it and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience, stopping for a bite to eat in a tiny courtyard full of locals more than tourists.

Having made our way back to our peaceful marina, and not having yet sussed out a Turkish Coffee to our liking, we opted for a coffee on board. David dutifully doing the honours, using the last of the Greek milk in mine and starting the Turkish in his. Whilst I gratefully started tucking into mine, David, after taking his first sip, promptly jumped down the gangway at a rate of knots, spitting into the sink as quickly as he could. Hmmmm, not milk then! It was disgusting, tasted like a cross between cows milk gone off and goats milk yoghurt…. need I say more!

The following morning, before departing for our next adventure, we dumped 4.5 litres of the yuck (in a bin), and went back to the Supermarket and this time asking for help, came back to the boat with fresh cow’s milk in hand (luckily it had just been delivered that morning) albeit full fat which we have successfully now diluted to taste more like skimmed! Not even sure whether semi-skimmed, let alone, skimmed is available over here,

Next Stop is Kekova Roads, 20NMs further east and our eastern most point this summer. We had wanted to get as far as Antalya but time and prevailing winds are against us on that one, perhaps we might make it there overland!

18th July 2018