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CA cruise in company - by Barry

Once we started "proper" cruising we joined the Cruising Association, a club that includes many experienced and interesting members some of whom do just the sort of sailing we do. On hearing that they were organizing a cruise in company in southern Turkey we signed up eagerly thinking that it would provide a good finish to our season and help us to get our feet under the table at the club. It also seemed an opportune time to invite our friend Jenny from Geneva to join us for some interesting sailing in congenial company.

Exploring in company

The first few days were to be in the company of members of the Little Ship Club and we all gathered in the eastern arm of the lagoon at Kekova on 30th September. Having signed in with the organizers we were picked up by a local gület (lady skipper, six months pregnant!) and ferried to the village of Kale Köy where we had dinner and were lucky enough to get a talk on the archaeology of the Lycean coast from distinguished fellow member Dr Dorit Symington. We have known Dorit for some years and she and her husband Douglas, now well into their "third age," are among those sailors from whom we draw inspiration. The following day we viewed the sunken city before the sun rose over Kekova Island and enjoyed a BBQ lunch at an idyllic anchorage before returning for a drinks party on three boats rafted up and supper at the nearby village of Ücagiz.

The sunken city

Dorit leading us in discovery of ancient Turkey

A delicious barbecue

Kastellorizon is a Greek island within a stone's throw of the Turkish coast and well east of the next piece of Greece. Procedures for entry are currently very relaxed and it is fun to nip into Greece/Europe briefly and sample a different atmosphere for a night.

Kastellorizon

Then back to Turkey and the peaceful anchorage at Gökkoya before heading off to the marina at Fineke. A bus trip to Myra to see the church where St Nicholas (Father Christmas) was bishop was followed by a detour directed by Dorit to some amazing rock tombs and thence to a fish lunch by a trout stream in the woods. In the afternoon we were taken to the ancient city of Arykanda before a big BBQ organised by the marina.

The peaceful anchorage at Gökkoya

Just pottering

Off the beaten track under Dorit's guidance - ancient tombs

Arykanda

Fleet discipline was very relaxed and we were free to pick our own anchorages for the next two days. With some others we chose the spectacular inlet at Cineviz followed by Tekirova where there are some very nice Roman remains on a domestic scale.

A Roman street at Tekirova

Our final port of call was the marina within the harbour at Antalya. Once again the marina staff went out of their way to make us secure and give us a good time. A drinks party on Brian and Sandy Ducker's Farr 54 Pilot House was an eye opener on the possibilities for a modern performance ocean cruiser. On the last day we took a bus to the ancient mountain city of Termessos which demands quite a climb from the car park but is a genuinely spectacular and interesting place. Another good supper, including proper speeches and an improper (but highly skilled) blonde belly dancer rounded off the event nicely.

Climbing up to the city of Termessos

Very ancient carving

We were chuffed with the club, met some most interesting people and carried home very good memories a few days later.

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