Sailing Calista25 July 2024 – 3 August 2024
We entered the bay of Marmaris and was surprised at how large it was. We were well aware to keep within the green anchoring allowed boundary lines that are shown on the Navionics chart when anchoring, and dropped anchor in front of fellow sailors that we know on the catamaran, Dakini. We had heard on some of the forums that boats outside the lines had been fined when checking out of Turkey and we certainly didn’t want any surprises when we finally leave Turkey.
We had met Al and Cal on Dakini back in the Basimakopoulos Shipyard. Al had accompanied us when we drove to Nafplion to visit Customs and get our respective transit logs. Al spotted us and swam over to say hello and invited us over for sundowners one evening.
Marmaris sits in a valley between pine forested mountains and clear waters. Every afternoon the wind gets up and the anchorage gets quite choppy, but early evening the winds drop and the anchorage becomes settled and calm again.
The following morning we contacted an outboard service company to arrange for the two dingy outboard motors to be serviced. Instead of us transporting the motors to their workshop, they kindly arranged to meet us on the beach. We motored the dingy ashore to the beach where we met the service guy. The service provided was outstanding, and the motor was returned the following day. We repeated the process the following day for the 2nd dingy motor. Servicing for the two outboard motors was 25,750 TL. pretty expensive but it was convenient for us.
While Paul had been getting organised to take the dingy to the beach on the first trip, there had been a gust of wind which caught the dingy just as he was stepping from one dingy to the other and he ended up in the water. Unfortunately his phone was in his pocket and got a good drenching in salt water! He tried rinsing it in fresh water and pulled it apart to dry it out but needless to say the phone was history! Paul looked at buying a new phone in Marmaris but it was too expensive so he took over my phone. Hopefully our Son Michael was still intending on coming over and we could ask him to bring a new phone over with him …
We went ashore later in the afternoon to where the blue bridge is located with the “Marmaris” signage and pulled the dingy up onto the beach then went for a walk to check out the town.
We were abit hesitant leaving the new tender on the beach unattended but the people in Turkey seem to be honest and caring so we took a chance.
We had dinner at a lovely restaurant across the road from the beach where we were able to keep an eye on the dingy and also Calista out in the anchorage. Afterwards we went for a stroll along the wide promenade.
The tour operators were busy touting to get bookings for the next day.
We came across the Grand Bazaar, but felt abit uncomfortable walking past all the shops, the store owners mostly men were quite persistant in trying to entice us into their store to buy shoes etc. We just had to be firm in saying we weren’t intrerested and keep on walking. It was still very warm at 8.30 in the evening, the signs were saying it was 37 degrees.
Along the boardwalk there were lots of gelato stands. The shops were busy selling ice creams, we resisted as we had an ice cream earlier in the day and found them to be expensive – 2 for 500,00 TL.
At 9.30pm there were still plenty of people chilling out on the beach.
We put up the sun shade to keep Calista cool and made sure we swam in the mornings while the water was calm, and with temperatures up around the 37 degrees the afternoon seabreeze was welcomed.
In the evenings some of the tourist boats would do a sunset cruise.
Every morning at 10.00am the large tourist boats head out for the day. When they return in the late afternoon you can hear the music blasting thru the anchorage as they head back into the town quay. The popular songs were always Sweet Carolina and Living Next Door to Alice.
After having waited for several weeks, the Volvo Penta Office finally arranged for two of their service men to come out and service the new transmission. Despite only speaking very limited English the servicemen seemed to know what they were doing. The new transmission/gearbox had done 53 hours since it was installed back in Greece, well overdue for it’s oil change recommended at 20 hours! It was a relief to finally have the servicing done so that we could carry on.
We dingied into the marina area looking for a spot to leave the dingy. Paul continued up the narrow waterway but it was full of small day boats and fishing boat so he turned around and came back to the first bridge.
After securing the dingy underneath the bridge, we set off on foot in search of the Volvo Penta Office to fix up the bill and buy some spare filters.
We also came across at least half a dozen chandlery stores not far from the second bridge, which all had a good selection of stock, but seemed very expensive.
On our way into the marina early one morning to check out the Castle, we stopped off to check out the yacht transport ship that was off loading some rather large motor yachts.
Marmaris is a Mediterranean resort town with a pebbly beach and long seafront promenade. It is known for it’s lively nightlife on Bar Street which is home to open air clubs and music venues. We didn’t check out these areas as it would have been past our bed time.
Walking through the famous Bar Street in the mornings, the cleaners were busy sweeping up rubbish and washing down the streets from the night before.
We followed the narrow paths up and around the top of the hill in the direction of the Castle.
We were almost at the Castle when Paul spotted a sign for coffee, so we climbed the steps to Panarama Cafe.
We enjoyed a coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice while admiring the views.
Entry to the Castle was 6.00 euros each. The Castle was first built in the 3rd Millenium BC and entered into Ottoman rule in 1390.
The castle was rebuilt by Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1522 AD for his conquest to Rhodes.
While we were wandering around the Castle we had a call from our Son, Michael confirming he would be flying into Dalaman Airport and we discussed that we would meet him in Gocek in a few weeks time. Paul also asked him if he could bring a new phone with him.
From the Castle we could spot Calista in the background.
The anchorage is very large and we couldn’t believe that there were so many restaurants lining the entire length of the waterfront. One evening we decided to walk along the promenade checking them out.
As we were wandering along we noticed lots of British tourists so I guess Marmaris is catering for the large volume of English tourists.
We ate at Felix Garden and had some delicious sushi and a margarita cocktail.
After we had finished our meal, the waiter bought out some fresh fruit “on the house”.
While we had been eating we had a lovely English couple sit at the table beside us and we all struck up a conversation. They were just chilling and waiting for the “Barbie” Drag Show a few doors down. The couple were on holiday and staying at a resort nearby, the chap was a sailor so he was very interested in what we were doing and our lifestyle.
On numerous occassions when we had been sailing upwind we had noticed that our D2 rigging stays on our mast were loose. They were quite wobbly which was of a concern. Being in Marmaris we had a good recommendation from friends of a very good rigger. We made contact with Mustafa from M2 Rigging and he arranged to come out to Calista and check our rigging. The team of four arrived promptly as arranged at 10.30am. The guys had to lower the sails to get at the motors to adjust some of the tensions. Four hours later the rigging was all tensioned and the sails reinstated.
We mentioned to Mustafa that we had a dingy for sale and after a few phone calls, he said he knew someone who would be interested. The following morning he came and took the dingy off us and paid us in euros less the amount we owed for the works. It seemed like a win win for both of us.
Bye Bye tender – we will miss you.
We found the town of Marmaris very clean and the buildings in good condition. There were numerous fruit and vegetable stores and supermarkets. We bought some lamb chops and mince from one of the local butchers which we found was rather expensive for what we got – 2532.00TL. We then went to Halktan (on recomendation of Al & Cal on Dakini) where we shopped for turkish delight and bulk buying of peanuts etc. It was so cheap.
There were several bronze figurines located around various parts of the town.
Paul posing for a photo for the female figurine with the camera in hand.
We loved our time in Marmaris and would certainly return again one day. After having spent over a week in Marmaris getting various things done, we decided it was time to move on in the general direction of Gocek, where we would be meeting our Son in a few weeks time.
