Kalkan to Fethiye

In the morning my father and I walk over the beach again before it’s open and have a quick swim and then head back to wake up the rest as we are leaving early. It’s a long sail back past the Seven Capes and the weather forecast is a bit iffy. When Randy is up we talk about the mutiny and about Fethiye versus Coldwater Bay. He really want to see Fethiye and the Lycian Tombs so we prepare to sail to Fethiye. We all leave in opposite order from which we arrived to avoid crossed anchor chains and we got off smoothly. We set oue main with one reef in as it looks windy outside. We get out and around the corner and the wind is steadily dropping so we soon shake out the reef and have a rousing sail along the Seven Capes.

We are beating up wind in about 18 knots of wind in a fairly choppy sea. I am lying in my under the stern of the boat. We have the jib shortened but are still heeling over pretty far. I have a small window and I am seeing mountains and sky alternating with dark blue water as my port occasionally goes below the surface when we get a strong puff of wind. My bunk is almost as wide as a full sized bed but the ceiling is too low to sit straight up with out hitting my head.

I am lying against the curve of the hull and I can feel the water rushing past and hear the creaking of the steering gear and I smell a little diesel fuel so I have my other little port that leads into the cockpit open and I can hear the rest of the crew in the cockpit above talking and walking around. It takes a little bit of getting used to before you are comfortable lying below the surface of the water in a fairly small space. I enjoy feeling the motion of the ocean! We have now rounded point and are not heading so much up wind so the boat is closer to level now so we must be on a broad reach instead of close hauled. That means we are sailing into the bay and closing in on the town of Fethiye.

There are Lycian tombs carved into the mountain above town that we are interested in seeing. There is also a tour to learn about carpet weaving. My father and I went on such a tour last time. It is very interesting to see the women hand weaving the carpets of big looms. But I am sure there will be a hard sell at the end. There was last time. They weave incredible beautiful carpets. I think Martha is interested in seeing the weavers.

I am looking forward to a swim. Sailing with the boat is heeling over a steep angle is hard work as you are always holding on with one hand and your body is working against the angle. Moving around the boat is hard is everything is at an angle. We were heeling over enough that all the clean clothes and bedding of Estill and Winfree have fallen on the floor in the main cabin.

We finally get up and turn the corner and onto an easier point of sail as we head into the Fethiye harbor. The wind is still blowing hard and when we call the lead about about docking Will says to pick him up on the way in as he wants to help us dock into this wind. We pick up and then execute a perfect landing on the dock! Nice!

We get the lines stowed and cockpit straightened out and then all head ashore for hot showers. We are docked at a pretty fancy resort. It has showers and a fancy hammam. I get all scrubbed and head back to the boat. I make dinner for my father and I out of all the leftovers. Bread, lentils and sauce. After dinner he and I head to our cabins to read. It has been another exciting sail and we are tired. Good night!