44. Sailing in Turkey _ Sailing Marmaris to Gocek _ Sailing Kawai _ Best Anchorages _ Travel Turkey

For the last month we have found ourselves living in Marmaris, a resort town along the Turkish Riviera. It is fantastic for boaties with its many anchorages and its chandlers for almost anything you could need. Holiday makers fill the town with an abundance of restaurants, beach bars and nightclubs. There seem to be a lot of tourists from the UK and facilities to cater for them. With football bars, I enjoyed the Geordie Bar, English Breakfast and daily boat trips blasting Sweet Caroline. For those who love their sleep I would recommend a different anchorage on a Saturday night as that's when the party really starts, with boats pumping the music until 12. We found it all quite entertaining. This week we leave Marmaris in search of some tranquility as our friends arrive from Australia. We are blessed with consistent winds as we sail from Marmaris to Goçek. With crystal clear water and blue skies we decide to stop in at a small bay that has everything we need, a fantastic restaurant and turtles, before sailing into Goçek, where we are shocked at the number and size of boats present in the bay. We then head for the hills and visit the famous Defne restaurant in Yuvalakce. It's a day that keeps on surprising us right till the end. These are the things we do on Kauai for our friends. It's midnight and we are going in, I actually feel sorry for them, we're giving them a ride and their luggage in this tiny tender, but it'll be great to see them. It wasn't Nick and Richo's first time on Kauai. They visited us previously in Montenegro which always makes it a little easier as they know what to expect. We also knew what to expect, Aussie gifts. Thanks heaps guys. At lunch with Richo and Nick and the best day we've had here in Marmaris Anchorage so far, so it's about 33 degrees, calm. It's just been a perfect day really and we've got an arvo full of relaxation before we leave. We're going to sail tomorrow so it's arvo, a couple of drinks, a couple of games, swim, games. Oh yeah it's pretty good, beautiful temperature, not freezing. It wasn't long before the winds arrived and it was time to leave. The crew were given their jobs and we could set sail. Our plan was to sail 20 nautical miles from Marmaris to Ekenik Bay where we would anchor the night before a larger 40 nautical mile sail to Gojek where we planned to anchor in the bay opposite the town. Bye Marmaris, it's been a pleasure. Okay Nick, get us out of here, mark the course. First beer Richo on the trip? That's a lie. Not really, but sure, first one on this trip. On Kauai, yeah. First one on Kauai, very good. It's cold. Very cold. Nick are you going to crack yours? Um no, that's your beer isn't it? Well that depends, are you wanting a beer? No, I'm good thank you. Trace, are you like the responsible one? Well always, always, not always, but once we get to the anchorage Trace will let loose. That's why she's the captain. Yeah, no one else can be yeah, no one else can be trusted. So what a sailing morning it's been, it's been lovely. Beautiful day. What do you think Nick, happy? It's been a very pleasant morning. Yes, so I think we got top speed was maybe 7.3 knots. Cap, pretty happy with that? Yeah, top speed. True wind is 12 and a half, apparently 9. Lovely. Pretty good. So yeah, it's pretty good, little swell, very minimal swell. Watermaker is running downstairs and we're just having some uh some chit chat with a few snacks. Yeah, we're there by 4 p.m. Right on schedule. I reckon we'll get there before 4. I reckon we'll get there before 4 as well. We'll hit a bit more breeze when we get out a bit further. Yeah, the arbo's meant to be windier so excellent. Nice one. Ah, good timing. You busted me, you just like, you set me up I mean. I handed it to you. You handed it to me and then you started filming me. Then I GoPro'd you. But I was about to thank you so much. She's been doing it all day, hasn't she Richo? Nick's in control, she's the only one that's sober. Take the wheel. It's always exciting going to a new anchorage and as we rounded the headland into the bay we hoped for something special. Pine trees lined the shore with sand at seven meters, perfect. We also had a number of loggerhead turtles in the bay. Pretty keen for a swim Richo, we've just pulled up. I just had to save the fender. Nick was putting it out. Nick. And we said to Nick, give it a bit of shoulder through there and it broke. Nick is too strong. That's funny. How's the water Richo? Oh, it's beautiful. It's not even cold, it's actually warm. I might go back in. We'll get the ladder so I don't have to pull you up again but yeah, well done. Good, good save. And well, it's probably a good time to say we've made it. Yeah. Where'd we make? Ekinik Bay. There we go. Oh okay. Ekinik Bay. And we'll get the stats off you a little bit later. Pretty consistent sail. It's lovely. 20 nautical miles, four and a half hours. Beautiful. Bring it to that. All right, we'll get the breakdown later. Open. It's time. We've been waiting a long time for this. Yes we have. I think there's a safety cap. You ready? Yeah. Let's see if this works now. My great-grandmother's Turkish. We purchased raki as it's the national drink of Turkey and a unique experience for our guests. Next time I think we will try to ease into it a little more as they were a little bit strong but I think you'll be able to tell that if you continue watching. Whoa. Holy bright light. Hi guys. Hey guys. Do we have a good evening? No. I think this footage is gonna be rubbish. Who cares man. It's very bright. All we can see is a little star in the sky. That's Kauai. Head towards the middle star. Happy with what you got going on there Cap? Yes, very happy. Very happy with such light wind. 40 degree apparent wind angle. The truth is why I love this direction. As we sailed into Go-Chek it was evident that Go-Chek's beauty and charm was no longer a secret. It had been approximately four years since our last visit and it was busy. Mega yachts lined the bay. Boats that once looked large now didn't stand out. The tenders stood out more than anything as they rushed back and forth through the bay picking up dropping off guests and buying all the necessary items one must have on a mega yacht. The anchorage within the six marinas is hectic but fun for a couple of days and has great access to the restaurants and supermarkets as you do see some crazy sights like this convertible car boat. As night falls the mood evolves and the darkness comes alive with mast lights, underwater lights and navigation lights of the hard-working tenders. Go-Chek received special protection in 1988 so as a result no high-rise buildings are allowed which contributes to the boutique feel of the area. Instead hundreds of restaurants line the bay taking in the clear waters and atmosphere. Hello. Oh hello. What are you doing? I've just dropped off the Richardsons. They're going to explore. I've already dropped you off this morning. You've gone for a run and I'm just waiting to pick people up. Yeah. Practically a glorified glorified taxi or a taxi. I was uh over there filming you stalking you through the restaurant and guess what song was playing? Today I'm not doing anything. I am doing things. I'm waiting. I'm very relaxed. I didn't bring thongs or shoes so I can't go anywhere. It's all good. Busy here and it's a bit more upmarket like I find. That's my uh. Go-Chek is way more upmarket than Marmaris and. Than it used to be I mean. Yeah. Comparison to before. It's a lot of very nice restaurants. Yeah. And I always tell by the cost of the FS. Yes. A draft FS in Marmaris I've seen 55 so. I just saw a 50. I saw a 50. Yeah. Still more than 30. Yeah. Where are we going today? We're going. No idea. We're going to lunch. Uh at a restaurant that has fresh water rivulets and lovely little day swings. Very good Nick. You've been listening. So well told. Excited Jax? Am I excited? Yeah. Yes. How do you tell? Good contribution Richo. Thanks for that. That sneeze was the start of a special friendship with Yasha our taxi driver. He agreed to take us to the Yugulache Defne restaurant, wait for us to enjoy lunch and return us home to Go-Chek. The 45 minute drive from Go-Chek was windy and mountainous. He was extremely kind and thoughtful and the moment he wanted to push us on the swing we knew he was special. We returned to the bay bar and we could see the joy it brought. The restaurant itself was which cooled the area. Better than I thought it would be. What do you think? It's a bit of a trek like from Go-Chek. It took about 45 minutes but it's worth it. It's really relaxing and it's a really nice temperature. It's cool and there's no rushing. Everyone's really relaxed so I'm happy. Good. Lots of spots. Yeah. There's lots of fake Defne restaurants along the way. Lots of restaurants on the way like probably 10-15 different restaurants but you got to go to the last one and yeah so it's worth it. Really happy. After a perfect day Yasha continued to surprise us. He stopped in and purchased some strawberries for us before inviting us to meet his family. Before we knew it we had sampled Turkish coffee, ermic, cucumbers and pears. Then he gifted us with walnuts, eggs, cucumbers from his farm and a magical experience with his family. The highlight of the day. So what just happened Richette? Just embarrassed myself. Just spilt. Do you have a coffee? This one? Great that every time you come here it's a different experience. It's great. Sad to be leaving. Yes and we had some good sails didn't we? Yeah great sailing this time. Thank you so much for hosting us. We had an awesome time. Pleasure. Anytime. Until next time. Bye Richette. Bye guys. Bye Kauai. Thank you for a great time. Thank you for a fun time. Until we meet again. Until we meet again. Enjoy the rest of your trip. Bye. Next week we head south to Fethiye to shelter from strong winds before going back in time to explore the ghost towns of Kayıköy, the ancient Lycian tombs and Jase gets his Turkish pancakes at the incredible Fethiye markets. Thanks heaps for watching. If you've continued to watch after our Reiki consumption we really appreciate you and would love it if you subscribed. It's free and it helps us out. Cheers.