Oludeniz, Turkey

Anchored at Oludeniz (Yorngun Koyu)
The Lycian Coast
Turkey
Mediterranean
36'32.8/29'06.6E

Team Sandpiper grabbed an early start this morning at 5am for a 20 mile motor in flat seas with no wind. Sandpiper is presently anchored with her stern tied off to the cliffs just 15 feet behind us. It is very deep here. We just barely have the hook set in 60 feet of water before it drops off into infinity.

Upon arrival we were greeted by Achmed in a small boat. He is this bay's ice cream man. He has a small ice chest full of treats for those willing to pay his fees. He took a big liking to the first mate, promising to take her to his own "private beach" if she would just jump in the boat with him. He stopped by all day long asking where the nice lady was.

Sandpiper is also once again right in the middle of all different types of charter boats. This small cove is right at the entrance to a lagoon that used to be open to boats for anchoring. But in 1983 it was closed off due to pollution that the boats were causing in an area that is a popular for swimming.

As soon as Sandpiper was secured Team Sandpiper jumped into the water swimming around all the charter boats. Then we swam over to the beach by the lagoon. Little did we know that this was a national park. As we swam into the park there are no signs on the beach stating this fact. 10 minutes after wading ashore we were kicked out and told to swim back to our boat because we had not paid our entry fee into the park. We were then escorted back to the water to swim back. The weird part was they never offered to take money from us to pay for the park entry. They just asked to leave. Anyway the 10 minutes ashore was long enough to walk over and see the lagoon and walk among all the tourists in beach chairs. Check this out on the Google Maps and you should be able to see tourists laying out on the beach

This area is very mountainous with peaks that raise straight up from the water. This is also a very popular area for skydivers, hang gliders, para sailors, para gliders, motorized paragliders, and even a small dinghy flying around with wings and a propeller. Just about every activity that you can do in the air is being done as I type. If I pop my head outside and look I will see people falling out of the sky all over the place.

Sandpiper's current plans are to spend the evening enjoying this peaceful anchorage. Then in the morning we will motor 15 miles west to the next bay to anchor Sandpiper off the town of Fethiye.

S/V Shiraz and S/V My Chance are moored in marinas there and this will be a stopping point for us until we figure our what is our next plan here in the Med.

More when in Fethiye.
Tom and Amy