We enjoyed a lovely 3 days at Serce Limani, swimming, walking and enjoying the peaceful surrounds, only punctuated by the odd yacht popping in for a short stay every now and then. We hosted a shoreside BBQ which some local donkeys decided to join. The mother donkey was extremely bossy with the other two younger ones, keeping them away from any snacks that may have been on offer.
The bay has a narrow entrance and is hammerhead shaped, we were at one end and at the other was a restaurant. We got the rib out for a high speed run there and had a lovely meal, but it was very quiet as the sailing season has really ended. I'm sure the restaurant will shortly close like many others.
Whilst we had the rib out Amanda took it for some high speed runs experience and now feels more confident using it.
We moved on to a very small anchorage (Arap Adasi) next to a small island, as we approached a group of people got up and left. We later found a deflated and damaged boat on the rocks, were they immigrants waiting to be picked up? We are very close to Greece and often saw them herded up by police on the Greek islands. As we dropped the anchor, rocks were not far away on 3 sides and a nervous night's sleep followed when the wind changed direction and the swell picked up, putting us on a Lee shore. Kerensas oversize anchor held up well, giving us more confidence to stay longer and explore the small island. This was easier said than done as, oddly,the rocks were extremely sharp to stand on!
Arap Adasi, tighter than it looks due to shallow rocks.
Gerbeskse was the next stop, a beautiful bay with a ruined Byzantine chapel to explore and interesting kayaking. We needed to use shore lines and are getting more proficient at that excercise as time goes by.
No, you can't come ashore here!
We headed towards Marmaris where we are going to put Kerensa for a couple of months and also haul out for a short time to carry out some boat jobs, including fitting a new Calorifier so we had hot water on board. It's a lovely marina with a swimming pool, beach bar, coffee shops, restarant and all the technical services needed. The marina is a little bit out of town but is served by a cheap minibus service every hour. The route to town is along the coast and past Roman Abramovichs super yacht Eclipse. It's absolutely huge and one wonders why anyone would want a boat that size privately. We did appreciate it as a yacht though, much more attractive than more modern motor yachts.
Marmaris is completely focused on boats with chandlerys, sailmakers and specialists all over the place. The original town reminded us of Combarro with narrow passages between houses and shops.
Marmaris Old Town
We will be in Marmaris marina for a couple of weeks doing boat jobs and servicing. Having sailed so far this year there is some wear and tear and improvements we want to do. More on that next week.
