Call to Prayer

The Greek church bells are now replaced by the Call to Prayer, however the Turks are a very moderate Muslim community and we are yet to be woken up at sunrise.

We pass at least 100 fish and mussel farms on our journey to Asin Limani and on our approach into the harbour the most distinguishing features are the ruins on the starboard side and minaret from the mosque on our port side.

It's a narrow channel to the harbour past the ruins and there is plenty of room at the wharf for us to reverse in with our anchor.   The local guy from the restaurant gives us a hand to tie off.  We decide to visit the ruins first thing in the morning.  

Its a very rustic village as we take in the scenery on our walk around town.  The men are all at the cafe playing backgammon or at the barber shop.  He is very busy.  We are both really tired so have a little siesta for an hour or two.

Once we check the weather forecast we decide to visit the ruins in the late afternoon.  By lunchtime tomorrow there is a big southerly buster coming right through the area where we were planning to be; another small village called Torba so we need to leave first thing in the morning.

The ruins of ancient Iassus lie in olive groves among the goats tracks and are in poor condition.  Our guide dog keeps us on track as we walk along the foreshore then up into the ruins surrounded by thistles and goat poo.

We return to our yacht and have a cold beer at the cafe where we pulled into.  It's owned by a German guy called Tuna who has some beautiful roses in his garden.  Another Scottish couple arrive who own a holiday apartment over the hill and have been coming here for five years now.  They give us some local information on the village.  We all agree this village is very rustic and raw,  a true Turkish village.

We eat at one of the local restaurants and let the owner assist us with the menu.  We probably order too much but enjoy everything.  We start with a selection of mezzas mostly vegetarian dips and delicious fresh bread plus a salad.  Greg has chosen the steak and I'm having kofta balls.  Followed by sugar mellon and watermelon; washed down with a bottle of local dry white wine.  Wow I can't believe we eat so much and it's really wholesome food.  It's super cheap so we give him a big tip.

We have one of those nights where we are woken up numerous times.  The local fisherman are still yelling at each other at 3am, the Bodrum planes are still taking off and landing at all hours of the early morning, it starts to rain so we have to close all the hatches and as there is a change of wind direction we keep on checking our lines etc.

We've decided on an early start to beat the southerly.  First thing on Friday morning we re check the forecast and decide to give Torba a miss as it may not give us the protection we need.  We are now heading for Port Bodrum  Yalikavak Marina where we will have much better protection.  The southerly should only last a few hours by the look at the forecast but who knows.  The forecast is for Beaufort 5,6,7 and 8's in the region so we really want to be safely tied up before it hits.  So much for the prevailing winds from the  North/ North West which we have bearly experienced as yet.

An hour out from our destination we hit something.  While Gregs puts the engine in neutral and pulls the head sail down, I prepare our waterproof video camera.  We will be able to take a video and check what damage has been done.  The good news is that we still have steering and can move forward slowly.

As we thought we have run over some fishing nets and now have a small amount caught around our prop.  We crawl into the marina about 11am just before the winds hit and we get a good possie on the wharf so we will be blown off in the south easterly.  The forecast now is for Beaufort 4s and 5's for the next 24 hours.

Once settled we send the video camera down again and unfortunately the net is still there.  We thought is might have dislodged on our journey.  Looks like Greg will have to get the budgies out and take one for the team and cut the net away.   The water temperature is only 20 degrees here.