It's great to have visitors!

After Jan and Colin left I had a week on my own at Yes Marina. It was hard at first, getting used to being alone again and really not knowing anyone in Fethiye. A friend in Marmaris had introduced me to some of her friends here in Fethiye and I decided now was a good time to contact them. Everyone was very kind and gave me lots of helpful information, even helped me sort out my application for residency. This would solve the problems caused by the new visa regulations which only allow tourists to stay 90 days within any 180 days. I did more boat jobs and kept myself busy during the day and began to explore the area. I met some of the folk at the marina, including Harry on a very large power boat, who later took Mike and me out for a short 'spin' around the bay!


Mike arrived on 14th May and we dined at the fish market restaurant and planned our week.










As Mike had not been to Turkey before it seemed a good opportunity to show him a little of the area. Tuesday is market day so we biked down to town, had a look around the thousands of clothes and  food stalls, stopped for Turkish pancakes for lunch, and then in the afternoon, took the little ferry from Fethiye to Chalis, which is the more toursisty, beach area.

The weather at this point was, unfortunately, still a bit unsettled so on more cloudy or wet days we did visits. We took the dolmus to the deserted village of Koya Kuyu, which had been inhabited by Greek Orthodox Christians until 1923 when, following the war of Independence, the  compulsory population exchange took place and entire villages, like this one, were exiled and forced to go to Greece, where many had in fact never lived.



We took a day trip to the ancient site of Tlos which has examples of Lycian, Roman and Ottoman buildings, including several rock tombs!









We also visited the river gorge at Saklikent which was still running too high for us to walk through and looking  at the very muddy, fast flowing water I was quite glad not to have to get wet!

We managed to get ourselves a ride on  Harry's boat - Seaburn Princess, a  large motor boat berthed near Matapan at 'Yes Marina!  This was certainly my first 'motor boat' experience - well,apart from those Geoff and I used to look at the the Boat Show!!!









As Mike is not a sailor and I did not feel confident enough to take him out on my own, two other 'yotties' from Yes Marina, kindly offered to come out with us for a couple of day sails. We had two great sails and enjoyed lunch in two of the many anchorages in the bays around Fethiye.

We had 10 great days together and I really enjoyed introducing Mike to Fethiye, one of my favourite parts of Turkey, and to Turkish breakfast ...in the sunshine!

Thank you Mike for coming out to visit me and for being great company.

It is always a sad day when visitors leave and I go back to the boat on my own. However, I only had a few days now to get ready for my next visitors...Paul and Sandra! We had  arranged to have an RYA instructor on board with us for 3 days so Paul and Sandra had just a day to get used to being on board before we set off with Peter Jackson, our instructor, to begin their  ICC course, (International Certificate of Competence).



 We set off across Fethiye Bay and spent our first night in Sarsala Bay, after a good day's sail with lots of navigation practice, helming and sail trimming.

At the end of  3 days intensive training and continual assessment we celebrated back at Yes Marina where Paul and Sandra duly receieved their ICC!! After a day's rest from sailing we then headed back out, by ourselves this time, to enjoy the peace and beauty of the bays!


It was really lovely having Paul and Sandra on board,and Peter was a great instructor, whose company we all enjoyed, and who finally persuaded me that I should take a berth in the larger, official marina in Fethiye - Ece Saray.

It was a good decision, and before Paul and Sandra left to go home we had sorted out an annual berth at Ece Saray, and Matapan was safely tucked up on E pontoon!

My last visitor this Spring was Peter, work colleague and very good friend of Geoff's, who, despite having helped with much of the original fitting out - all those years ago, had never actually sailed on Matapan. Peter has, himself, sailed for many, many years and I hoped that he would enjoy a little trip out to the bays and maybe a night or two at anchor. This would be yet another first, for me. Whilst I had berthed on pontoons overnight in the bays I had not actually spent a night at anchor yet. This seemed an ideal opportunity! After quite a long day's sail and much searching for for a good spot to anchor we eventually anchored in a little bay I had visited with Jan and Colin several weeks ago. It was idyllic!  Just one other boat - we had the place almost to ourselves.It was so peaceful we stayed 2 nights and just relaxed in the warm sunshine. We had another day sail with my dear friends, Chris and Claire  ( from s/v Vonasi)  who had just arrived in Fethiye. We sailed to Boynuz Buku Bay where we attempted to anchor AND tie back to the shore 

 In Matapan this is not an easy manoeuvre - mainly due to her reluctance to go backwards in a straight line... but after much effort I did finally manage it, with a great deal of help from my friends!!








Shortly after Peter left I packed up the boat and flew home...the temperature having now reached 40+ it was definitely time to get back to the cooler climate of UK!!!

With all her summer covers on Matapan is now quite well protected from the harmful rays of the Turkish summer sun! I look forward to getting back on board in September!