Our Weber BBQ and replacement EPIRB had arrived at the Marmaris Marina. We did a run to the supermarket for provisioning and we were ready to cast off our lines. Well we actually spent an extra day at the marina as it was raining plus we spent another "quite" evening of G&T's and wine with "Catching the Wind". We met John and Jane on the flight from Istanbul and found ourselves at the same marina and same dock, the rest is sundowner history. So we headed off on a cool sunny spring morning towards Ekick Buku.

Marmaris Yacht Marina

John & Si.

Marmaris

Rather than heading 10nm offshore we made a slight short cut through a restricted Turkish Navy area. One of the pilot books says it's OK as long as you don't stop. Mmm…the charts tell us it's a firing range! Of course after days of wind the wind has stopped altogether. AURA was comfortably motoring, along being passed by several other yachts that had the pedal to the metal. We were enjoying the sunshine and then looking at the horizon......"Is that an aircraft carrier?", "Does Turkey have a carrier?", "Shall we crank up the speed?", “Can we go faster as I think they are coming straight at us?” Ok, so maybe we shouldn't have cut that corner. Fortunately it was only a small frigate type ship and we out ran them as they made their way to the naval base .

We dropped anchor in the sheltered and picturesque bay of Ekncik and relaxed after our few hours at sea. Oh and it started to rain again.

The next morning it was time to test the dingy. The poor dingy has seen better days, everything about AURA was as new, except for the tender. We had several unsuccessfully attempts at patching the leak with limited success. The tender was already like a patch work quilt. We used the davit arm to lower the outboard, connected the fuel tank and we were heading to shore. We walked past the local resorts, they are empty. It is very sad for the local economy, as most of the hotel and restaurants are empty. We visited the only shop, a supermarket that had nothing that we required. Kim brought some bread even though it was not needed as it would be likely his only sale for the day. After exploring the beach front, we made our way towards a small harbour where the fishermen (and women) were tending to their nets. Direct from a boat we purchased live prawns that would be tonight's dinner.

Ekncik Buku

Fishing & Tourist Harbour

Prawn Trawler

View

Ekick Buku

We completed a few outstanding items on our "to do list", fit the socks for fenders, find and hoist the RPYC burgee (flag) and then enjoyed the opportunity to do very little Then again, there was one other yacht in the bay. Sundowners with Peter & Petra (aka “Flip Flop” a Roberts & Cain 40’ cat.) turned into dinner, a fun night with us both feeling a little dusty in the morning.

It was time to depart and make our way to Gocek. Of course, there was no wind.....We pleasantly motor sailed and took the opportunity to make water and recharge the house batteries. Looks like the weather is warming up and we are looking forward to our new crew member…