Yesilkoy Liman

Anchored at Yesilkoy Liman
Yali Liman Bay
The Lycian Coast
Turkey
Mediterranean
36'15.6/29'22.1E

We left Kas Harbor this morning at 9am and motored west 15 miles to a small bay where we are currently anchored, surrounded by charter boats.

When we had arrived at Kas, we had only planned on staying for a few days in order to clear into Turkey before moving on. But because we arrived on a Saturday, the only office open was the harbor master.

Clearing into Turkey is a bit of a runabout. It goes like this... After paying the harbor master USD$80.00 for our cruising permit, we then had to go to a doctor. For what reason? We have no idea. He just stamped our form and filled out a bunch of ledgers. We then had to walk across town to the passport police where we got our 3 month visa to stay in Turkey. But before our passports were stamped, we had to walk back into town to get 30 Euros to pay for the stamps because the passport police will not take Turkish money. So we trudged back through town to the bank to find we were number 20 in line.

After we finally got our Euros, it was back uphill to pay for our visas. Once we had these in hand, it was back into town to visit the customs officer who looked at our passports and then said everything looked great. Then it was back to the harbor masters office where we had to pay another $8 dollars, for we have no idea, and he stamped our papers and said everything looked great. Then we had to walk back over to customs where he took a copy of all our stamped papers. Now we are officially in Turkey!

By this time it was late Monday and we had enjoyed being is Kas so much we decided to stay for a few more days. Kas harbor is very small and busy with charter boats entering and leaving the harbor. They are all Med moored to the concrete walls of the harbor. If one has never had the pleasure of a Med moor, it works like this. You drop your anchor off the bow in the middle of the harbor. Then back your stern up to the concrete walls in the harbor and secure your stern as close as you can, all the while trying not to hit the boats next to you.

Some of the larger skippered charter sailboats are over a hundred feet long and are so big they have to back all the way into the harbor from the harbor's entrance because there is not enough room for them to turn around once inside. Even better, when the harbor looks full, one these huge boats will come backing in at full throttle while separating the boats on their sides while they force their way in.

Most all the boats from the Med are used to this. So they have fancy ramps they can drop off their stern to walk ashore. No such luck on Sandpiper. We have so much stuff sticking off the stern that when we are backed in, we can't get ashore. So we take an easier way. We drop a stern anchor in the middle of the harbor and then bow in to the wall. That way we can jump on and off the bowsprit. We end up being the only boat facing this way. But it is nice because when stern in, people on shore are standing only a feet away from us.

The people in Kas are very nice. Once we got Sandpiper bowed in we were greeted by Ishmal who owns Smiley's restaurant that is right on the harbor. When I asked him where we needed to go to check into Turkey, he put me on the back of his motorcycle we buzzed through town, showing me where all the offices were. Twice we had loaves of bread left on our bow, from whom we never found out. And every day we had new neighbors on each side us.

Sandpiper is a bit of a novelty in Kas as the majority of the boats in the harbor are either large skippered charter boats or smaller boats, Sandpiper's size, that people rent for a weeks cruise down the coast. Most of these boats are all brand new, so old Sandpiper never really fits in. People would ask "How old is your boat? And you sailed THAT boat all the way from America?" And so on and so on.

We did meet some really nice people that were on the boats next to us. One night we ended up on our neighbor's boat. They were a group of older German and Swiss men who were all CEO's of major corporations. It is funny who you meet cruising as we end up hanging out with people who back in the real work would never invite us over. For example, this group of CEO's who plied us full of Swiss chocolate and whiskey. One of the men was 87 years old and having a great time. Then even took a video of us to show their friends back home these crazy Americans they had just met.

There are many great things to do in Kas with all its shops, restaurants, and bars. We spent 2 days in beach chairs having beers delivered to us while we cooled off by jumping off the cliffs into the sea. The Mediterranean Sea is cold!! The best part of hanging out on the beach chairs is that every afternoon there is "cake time". At cake time the waiters walk around giving everyone cake and ice cream. How can anyone not like cake time?

After we arrived where we are presently anchored, the after we got the anchor secured, we jumped into the clear cool waters and snorkeled around. We scrubbed Sandpiper's waterline and propeller.

Shortly after we arrived we were surrounded by charter day trip boats and other charter sailboats. We have no idea why, but the boats here all drop their anchors and then back right up to the shoreline. Then someone swims ashore and ties off the stern to land. The bay we are in is not small, and it is possible to anchor anywhere around us. So we are not sure why these boats like to do this. We are not really a fan of having our stern right up on the shoreline overnight. This is because if the weather turns bad and we had to get out of the anchorage in a hurry, then there would be no way to get your stern lines free without leaving them behind. As usual, Sandpiper is doing her own thing.

Our current plans are to leave at 5am tomorrow for a 21 mile run west up the coast. The winds on this coast are usually always from the northwest, calm in the mornings, then picking up in the afternoon. So we are hoping to have the hook set before noon tomorrow.

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Tom and Amy