Autumn visit to Fethiye 2013

I arrived back in Fethiye around mid September and found Matapan in reasonably good condition, though she had still suffered somewhat in the intense heat of the Turkish summer sun, despite being all covered up through out July and August.
One of  my first jobs was to climb the mast to replace  the rope on my  Turkish courtesy flag which had disintegrated in my absence, over the summer. It is considered very disrespectful not to be flying the courtesy flag at all times so there was nothing for it but to get up there and fix it - with a little help from my neighbours, thankfully!

In early October dear friends, Liz and Laurie took a well earned break from their house building and refurbishment in Ermioni, Greece and arrived for a sailing holiday with me on Matapan. We were all set to do a little cruise down to Kekova Roads but the weather decided otherwise. With winds gusting up to 40 knots and big seas outside the harbour we spent a couple of days waiting for things to improve. By the third day Liz and Laurie came up with a plan B! They had always wanted to see Capadoccia - an amazing area in the Central Anatolian Plain of Turkey where you can see the most  incredible rock formations, underground cities and ancient cave dwellings. We took a 12 hour, overnight bus journey to Goreme and after grabbing a couple of hours sleep, we set off on an all day tour of this stunning area.

Liz and Laurie at Goreme panorama

Ancient site of Selimiye

What an amazing three days we had here, exploring underground cities, cave dwellings and churches and marvelling at the huge geological rock formations.

 

 

Fairy Chimneys

 

Goreme

 
 
 














When we got back to Fethiye the weather had improved and we finally went sailing!

All too soon Liz and Laurie were leaving and sadly, I waved them off at the ferry terminal in Fethiye.

 

I had a couple of days to get the boat sorted before my friend, Mary arrived from UK for a very short visit to soak up some autumn sunshine.

 

The weather was  perfect and we enjoyed some lovely walks including a 7.5 miler from Fethiye to the deserted village of Kaya Koy, along the Lycian Way, with some sailing friends who had just arrived a few days before.!

 

View over Fethiye

 

 

After quite an exhausting walk we were all invited for drinks on board Atlantia, a beautiful blue water cruising boat , owned by Will and Margaret who were now on the last leg of a world trip. It was a great evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mary, Margaret and me on Atlantia

 

 



 



 

 

Mary and I enjoyed several days of walking, swimming and lazing in the sun and finished off her very short visit with a day out on a gullet in Fethiye Bay.

 

 

                                                                                  

 

Return to Fethiye after a day in the bays

My last few days on board involved packing everything away and getting   the boat ready for winter. It was a really lovely surprise when I was invited out for a last sail with friends Maurice and Carol on their friends' beautiful gullet. Sadly the day was a little over cast but we all enjoyed the day and it made a lovely end to my season in Fethiye. Thank you Bert and Jo!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bert and Jo on 'Lady be Good'

 

 

 

 

 

A quiet anchorage for lunch

 

 

Carol and Maurice

 

This will probably be my last season in Turkey as I  am planning to bring the boat back to UK next Spring. I shall miss Turkey and the wonderful friends I have there but I think it is now time for Matapan come home.

Matapan for sale

Sadly, the time has come to find a new owner for Matapan. 
So much  love and care  has gone into maintaining her over the last 10 years but now I feel I must find some one who will continue the work of keeping this lovely boat in good condition, and who will  love and enjoy her for many more years.

 Here are a few pictures of Matapan
sailing.

 Some pictures of Matapan's  decks, wheel house, aft deck and solar panels.

 

 

 

Photo of Matapan's Yanmar 47 HP diesel engine seen from the cockpit

 

 

 

 

Photos of the saloon, forward berths and cabin, heads, galley and aft cabin

 

 

 



 

Winter covers

 

 

Sail plan

 

More photos available. For more information please contact me at matapan38@yahoo.com

 



 

Spring 2013

After a very long winter back in UK it felt good to be in the Turkish sunshine again. When I arrived on 4th May Matapan was still in the boat yard with some painting on deck still to be done. She was ready for launching later that week and slipped back into the water in the late afternoon sunshine. True to form Matapan would not go backwards in a straight line and as the water around the launch area is very shallow, we held our breath, hoping she would not go aground. Luckily we got safely into deep water and got her back to the berth at Ece Saray marina.

After a few more days of painting, cleaning and tidying Matapan was habitable again and I moved back on board.

My first visitor this season was my step sister, Sue.  She is not a sailor, so this was a very new experience for her! The first challenge was, of course, to actually get on board..... not an easy task, especially when confronted with a small ladder to climb and a narrow bow sprit to balance on before climbing over the pulpit and negotiating all sorts of deck gear - at night! No problem for Sue - though a little wary and tentative at the start, within a day or so she was getting on and off Matapan with style!!

Though the weather was a lot better than in UK it was not quite settled yet so we planned a number of trips and activities and chose, according to how sunny or cloudy  the day was! Over the next few days we visited windy Chalis beach, Olu Deniz, the deserted village of Koya Koy and on Sue's last day we did a day trip, by boat, to Gocek and visited the sunday Market there. In between, we lazed on the boat or by the pool at the nearby hotel. We also enjoyed some lovely meals at the fish restaurant, Iskele and the marina MOD café. It was a great week and it was lovely having Sue on board.

 

 

 

 

At 10.00 am on Monday morning I went to wave Sue off as she boarded the transfer bus to Dalaman airport. As always, when  visitors leave, I feel really sad and know now that I have to busy myself through out the day and not dwell on the fact that it feels so lonely on the boat, for a while. Just as I was walking back to Matapan I met a couple from a neighbouring boat and they invited me to sail with them across to Wall Bay, returning the next morning. We had a cracking sail in over 20 knots of wind and enjoyed a lovely meal in Wall Bay that evening. As Mike often says, some days are diamond and some days are stone. What had started as a stone day had ended as a diamond day. Many thanks Paul and Carla on Royal Oak!