Into the Sea of Marmara, and onwards to Istanbul

A very wet crew, en route up the Dardanelles

Having waited for the wind to abate, to allow us to make the passage up the Dardanelles without fighting current and strong winds, it duly did; only to be replaced by periods of torrential rain! The passage up the Dardanelles was made hugging the southern shore as tightly as we could to keep out of the worst of the current, which reached 4+ kts at some of the headlands, thus reducing our speed over ground to 1.5 kts. A crawl! We had departed in the early morning in the hope of escaping the Straits in the one day however the rain and grey skies sapped our resolve and we finally put into the harbour at Lapseki to seek shelter from the rain by retiring below and to pass the night. This was the same refuge I had used four years earlier but in the intervening period the depths in the harbour had reduced through silting and we were forced to anchor relatively near the entrance for fear of going aground a second time this season; as it was we encountered 2.1m, only 0.1 metres more than our draft!

Entrance to Lapseki

The night in Lapseki was tranquil and the morning bright. The only thing lacking was wind! Having motored all the previous day (beating up the Dardanelles, against the foul current, in the pouring rain, for some reason held no attraction!) we were keen to get under sail again but it was not to be. We motored out into the Sea of Marmara in a flat calm, and so it was for the rest of the day. Our aim was to reach the Pasalimani Islands and seek an anchorage there, and after 7.5 hours and 41 miles covered we anchored off the SW coast of Avsa Adasi, only to discover that the bay we had chosen was too deep close in to allow us the necessary swinging room, hence we upped anchor again and moved round to the SE side of the island where we found a delightful anchorage off Kumburnu Limani.

Dawn mist at Avsa Adasi

After a peaceful night and an early morning swim we sailed off the anchor and headed into the sound at Pasalimani. The western entrance is now marked by port and stbd hand buoys as well as an Isolated danger mark on the small group of rocks just inside the entrance. With the wind dying away yet again we finally motored the last mile or so into an anchorage on the western side of the sound, adjacent to Koyun Adasi. With no wind and little else to do we passed a pleasant afternoon relaxing in the bay, swimming and sunbathing. As evening approached we motored across the bay and went stern to on the northern side of the redundant ferry pier. Although close in, and with less than 3m depth, it was safe enough to allow us to proceed ashore for dinner in the only restaurant in the village, sitting out on their boat pier, watching the sun set, over the water. The meal, salad and grilled fish, was simple but good and very inexpensive even including two bottles of very passable local wine (the proprietor seemed not to possess a corkscrew, the corks were pushed into the bottle – he obviously does not sell much wine!). On our return to the boat we discovered that the breeze had shifted direction, bringing one of the local boats, on a very slack mooring, too close for comfort. For this reason we pulled off the jetty at midnight and anchored a short way out, opposite the Jandarma (Military Police) station. Safe for tonight then!

Kurukulla on the redundant ferry pier at Pasalimani

Next morning we dropped Christoph back on the jetty to procure some fresh bread and attempt to get a gas bottle filled. Sadly neither was possible, the baker had not yet started baking and the gas (hardware) shop did not have the necessary fittings to fill European Gaz bottles. Having retrieved him from the jetty we set off north to a bay at the north-eastern end of the sound for a relaxing lunch and to await some wind. By 1500 there was a slight breeze and so we set off for the south coast of Pasalimani via the channel to the east that separates it from the Kapidag Peninsula. By 1900 we were anchored in a bay, at the bottom of a delightful green valley, near the SE corner of Pasalimani. Another quiet night!

With less than 48 hours to go to Melvin's departure we decided that it would be wise to plan for him to leave from Erdek and take a taxi to Bandirma, only 5 miles away by land but on the other side of the isthmus that connects the Kapidag Peninsula to the mainland, hence 35 miles by sea! For this reason we spent the following day sailing in the waters between Pasalimani and Erdek but going nowhere in particular, ending up anchored in the NW corner of the bay, at Ocaklar, 4 miles away from Erdek town. From here it was an easy hop next morning, in the flat calm, to motor into Erdek.

Alongside the "Aqua nightclub", Erdek

The town quay at Erdek is mostly occupied by small local boats and hulks used as floating bar/restaurants. We were fortunate to be able to squeeze in between a local yacht and the small jetty, on the opposite side of which was the latest floating bar, “Aqua”, being prepared for its opening. The refit was in full swing but they broke off to take our lines and were very happy for us to connect into their electricity supply as well. Their plan was to open two days later but there was still much to be done! After lunch ashore Melvin departed in his taxi and Christoph and I set off to procure victuals from the local shops; that done we settled for an evening in Erdek and decided on a relatively early departure the following morning.

Sunset looking from Koyun Adasi towards Avsa Adasi

In the event it was 1000 when we let go our lines and set off for an anchorage on the W side of Koyun Adasi, a deserted bay that I had sighted on my previous visit in 2011 but had not had time to research. By 1830 that evening, after a day of drifting at 1 – 2 knots, we were anchored in the intended bay and enjoying a G&T or two, supper and a spectacular sunset; all in that order. In the event it was a delightful anchorage, that is if you can ignore the ever present jelly fish that are in the Sea of Marmara in their millions; they are wherever you look.

Ever present jelly fish!

Eventually you get used to brushing against them as you swim but the sensation takes some getting used to! Uggh! On a more positive note there also seem to be many more dolphins this year, in both the Aegean Sea and Sea of Marmara; hardly a day has gone past, since leaving Marmaris, without at least one sighting of a pod and frequently there have been several sightings in a day.

Becalmed in the Pasalimani Islands

Our plan was to leave next morning, as soon as there was any wind, and this we did at 1130, ghosting out of the bay on a very light westerly breeze, it lasted all of 15 minutes! Between 1200 and 1600 we covered all of 400m! A slight southerly current (0.2 kts) offset any gains we made in moving north! Eventually we gave in and started the engine and motored east, along the north coast of the Kapidag Peninsula looking for a suitable bay for the night. We settled upon a small but delightful bay just 800m east of Turan. We had it to ourselves, that is if you don't count the very few vehicles negotiating the unmade road halfway up the surrounding escarpments.

Kurukulla anchored in a small bay just W of Ormanli Burnu

This bay was paradise but sadly the beach was saturated with plastic rubbish. It is hard to believe that in the 50 years since mass produced plastic was invented we have managed to fill so many of the world beaches with plastic refuse! It cannot go on like this! At least glass sinks and eventually returns to sand when carelessly abandoned on a beach!

The never ending plastic debris

Next day we had a relaxing day of sun and swimming, enjoying the tranquillity, before setting out eastwards again at 1600. As our luck would have it the cooling onshore breeze that we had enjoyed all day, instead of getting stronger as the afternoon went on, faded away leaving us no option but to motor again along the coast heading for either Cakilkoy, a fishing harbour at the eastern end of the Kapidag Peninsula, or the islands just off the end of the headland known as the Mola Adalari. As we approached the islands clouds developed very quickly and for the last quarter mile we suddenly had winds of 25 kts but only for 15 minutes, but the time we had anchored in a bay on the leeward side of the largest of the islands we were back to a flat calm! Exactly the same as the weather we awoke to next morning!

At 0900 we weighed anchor and ghosted away from the island setting course to the east, close hauled on port tack, intending to cover a least half of the distance to Istanbul. By 1030 we had had to resort to motor sailing as the wind, what there was, had chosen to back round to the W and hence we were now going downwind in 3 – 4 knots of true wind, hardly quick progress, and we had 35 miles to go! I got worse! By 1400 we had had to roll up the genoa, haul the mainsail in to the centreline and we were motoring along in a flat calm. Eerie! Only in the last two hours of a eight hour passage, did a gentle breeze appear from the NNW, allowing us to dispense with the engine for the final stages into Armutlu where we anchored off the rather touristy beach; an anchorage tenable in northerly winds or a calm; and where we settled down for a relaxing, if less than tranquil, evening.

Armutlu waterfront and static windmills

On the hillside behind the beach were numerous static monuments to Turkeys race to generate power from the wind, I hope the populous, living in the functional but rather characterless blocks of flats fronting the beach, remember to switch off their air conditioning on stifling but windless days like today!

The next day was a fairly gentle passage starting with ghosting around the headland at Boz Burun and then eastwards along the south shore of the Sea of Marmara towards Yelova Marina where we planned to spend the first few days of the sojourn in and around Istanbul.

Yalova marina

Yelova is a relatively new marina and probably the cheapest available with good ferry links to the city. There are direct and inexpensive ferries to Pendik on the Asian side of Istanbul and Atakoy on the European side. The marina proved to be a quiet location but with good facilities and at €50 per night we were not complaining.

After four days in the marina and doing the tourist trek in Istanbul each day we were getting itchy feet and so set off for a night at anchor in the Princes Islands. The anchorage at Cam Limani, on the island of Heybeliyada, is one of the best sheltered in this part of the Sea of Marmara and for this reason is popular with visitors and locals alike but on this occasion, given the rather unseasonal weather, there was plenty of room. After a brisk close reach across from Yalova, averaging 7 knots, we anchored in the bay and settled for a quiet night onboard. This was the penultimate day onboard for Christoph, my crew for the last 6 weeks, so we settled down to supper onboard and a bottle or two of wine.

The next day we sailed off the anchor and headed across to Pendik marina from where Christoph could easily get a taxi to Istanbul Sabiha airport at 0600 the following morning. All went as planned and I am now back to being single handed for a few days. Back to the Princes islands tomorrow!

More on departure from Istanbul.............

Sunset at Pendik marina

Old Istanbul

Hagia Sophia

Self at Orient Express Restaurant, Istanbul Stn

Taksim Square

Topkapi Palace entrance

Inside the Harem, Topkapi Palace

Sultan Ahmet (Blue) Mosque

Ayvalik to Canakkale – Into the Dardanelles

Departing Ayvalik, the marker we just cleared on the way in!

On departing Ayvalik we decided to spend two nights in the Ayvalik archipelago, a good decision. The wind was in the NW and there seemed little point in battling to windward when there were some delightful anchorages to be explored in the islands here. Sailing out of the Ayvalik Limani through the narrow channel was not an option with the wind in this direction and so we opted for the engine for the first part of the trip. In the end we motored all the way to our overnight anchorage in Poroselene, preferring to motor to windward and arrive before darkness rather than try to sail there, arriving after sunset.

Panorama of Poroselene bay, Ayvalik archipelago

The anchorage is delightful; the hills on the islands were lush and green and the anchorage had some of the appearance of a Scottish loch. It was warmer though! For the first night we anchored on the western side of this bay, intending to move round to Patricia Limani next morning; however, on waking to a NE wind next day we changed plan and simply moved across the bay to the NW side and anchored off a delightful, long, sandy beach there; much more protected in this wind than Patricia Limani.

Poroselene Bay, Ayvalik archipelago, at sunset

After two days here we sailed off the anchor and set off for Sivrice, a large bay on the southern coast of Turkish peninsula, facing south towards the Greek Island of Lesbos. This bay, although open to the south, is a good stop on this coast with winds from the N. By 1700, after a mixture of sailing and motoring, we had anchored in the bay; about three boats lengths from a single orange mooring buoy in the eastern end of the bay. A quick swim to check our anchor had set properly, confirmed that it was in light weed but seemed to have dug in well enough. The mooring looked decidedly dodgy with a rather decrepit rope attached to the buoy and tied to the centre of the stock of an old anchor, lying on its side, on the bottom. We were to discover the significance of this mooring when we were woken by the siren of a small Coastguard launch, at 0200, when they came in off patrol. They insisted we were too near their mooring and insisted we move, despite the fact that we were actually longer than they were and there was ample clearance. We did move, all of 50m. By the time we awoke at 0800 they were already gone, so I have no idea how long they remained on the mooring, but I would not have wanted to trust Kurukulla to it.

From Sivrice we sailed off the anchor and enjoyed a splendid beam reach to the headland at Baba Burnu, noting as we passed that the harbour at Babakale was now enlarged and was accommodating several yachts of our size (12m) or larger; if we had known that it was an option we would have elected to pass the night there, a much more interesting looking town.

On passing the headland the wind rapidly veered by 180 deg and increased to 25kts, it was going to be a long beat from here to our next port of call, Bozcaada, now 20 miles to windward! In the event, after the first few tacks, the wind continued to veer and we eventually laid the course to the south coast of the island of Bozcaada on starboard tack.

Panorama of Bozcaada S coast

By 1630 we were close enough to the coast to drop the sails and motor the last 500m into an anchorage off a beach at the eastern end of the southern shore. Because of the preponderance of off-lying rocks near the shore we elected not to sail into the anchorage and finally anchored in 6m, 100m from the shore! Along the line of the beach there was a quite nasty rocky shelf up to 40+ m from the sandy shoreline, one to watch out for if anchoring here.

Bozcaada castle

After a night and a day in the anchorage, in the evening of the second day, we decided to move the 6miles into the harbour at Bozcaada and to do a tour of the castle and town.

Street restaurants of Bozcaada

Having been a military island for much of its recent history Bozcaada is only just discovering its tourist potential. The town is delightful, with a really well preserved Genoese Castle. Well worth a visit.

Departing Bozcaada

Having delayed our departure in order to fit in a tour of the castle we finally departed Bozcaada harbour at 1030 the following day and set off for the Dardanelles. With the wind on the nose, a foul current and time pressing we took the easy option and motored to windward, being put to shame by two French registered yachts, well ahead of us, beating stoically to windward.

Canakkale marina, on a grey day

Needless to say we overtook them but not before they had put on an impressive challenge, the strong currents of the entrance to the Dardanelles finally carried them into the distance behind us.

ANZAC Memorial, N of ANZAC Beach

Canakkale marina, on a grey day

Our intention was either to anchor in the bay at Anit Limani, under the British and Turkish war memorials, or to head on up to the Marina at Canakkale. In the event the strong, NE, winds decided us that Canakkale was the better option. The tour of the battlefields would have to wait. After 7 hours and only 28 miles to windward we moored up in the marina at Canakkale to await Mervyn, the next joining crew member, who was due to join pm the next day. With the winds forecast to blow 40+ kts, directly down the straits, we abandoned plans to sail early on the Sunday morning and settled for a battlefield tour instead.

Australian Memorial

The words of comfort by Ataturk

Unknowingly we had booked the “ANZAC tour” and found ourselves visiting many of the ANZAC landing beaches, monuments and cemeteries containing many of the the 8200 Aus and 2700 NZ soldiers who died there but not seeing any of the French or British (UK) positions, nor the Turkish or British (UK) memorials.

The landing bays at Suvla viewed from The Nek

Needless to say the tour guide, playing to the crowd, was keen to reinforce the Australian and New Zealand perspective that the heavy fighting was all done by the ANZACs', not quite the full story.

NZ Memorial

We were not shown any of the many cemeteries in the southern end of the peninsula where the graves are predominantly of the 34,000 UK soldiers who died in the Gallipoli campaign. That said the casualty figures have to be taken in perspective when considering the relative population sizes of the countries involved. Overall, at the end of the campaign, the Turks had lost slightly more people than all of the allies combined!

Trench warfare display at the waterfront, Eceabat

Our plan is to leave early on Monday morning when the winds are due to have abated. More when we are underway again.

Kusadasi to Ayvalik, a not uneventful journey!

Following the trip back for my nephew's wedding in UK, with a bare 48 hours on the ground, it was time to set sail northwards again. With the hire car returned, the boat fully victualled and Christoph, the new crew, onboard we set sail at 1445 for the Kormen Adasi anchorage with its hot springs and reasonable shelter from westerly winds.

Korman Adasi with the hot spring on the right of the beach

The first two hours of the passage we enjoyed a gentle westerly breeze and made reasonably good speed towards our destination; however, by the half way point it was obvious that the wind was dying and, what there was, was heading us. Time to resort to the “iron foresail”; on went the engine! We finally arrived at 1900 to find a local fishing boat and a New Zealand registered yacht in the anchorage and so, having done a quick circuit to determine where would be the best place to anchor we chose a point slightly further in than the New Zealanders were, being careful not to invade their privacy by anchoring too close. We decided the hot springs would have to wait until the morning and so, after a brief swim to check the anchor and surroundings we settled down to a gin and tonic for “sundowners” and followed this by supper below. It was too cool to eat on deck. The following morning we were greeted by a glorious day, still, blue sky and crystal clear water. The New Zealanders had set off early to investigate the two hot springs and on their return, very kindly, offered us the use of their dinghy for us to do the same (ours was still in it's valise in the fore-peak!). In a brief conversation we discovered that they were slowly heading west with the intention of doing a transatlantic crossing in two years time. We declined their offer and a little while after set off swimming for the beach to enjoy the luxury of basking in the warm water emanating from the spring. Just as we returned onboard a tourist boat entered the bay and anchored in front of the other hot spring on the shore of the northern island forming the bay and so we decided not to visit this one but to get underway instead. As we prepared to sail off the anchor a second boatload of tourists arrived and took over the spring we had just vacated; definitely time to depart. As we sailed off the anchor and slowly made way towards the entrance of the bay we were awarded a round of applause from the tourists so not all bad.

Kirkdilim Limani

From Korman Adasi we set off across the bay for Kirkdilim Limni, 18 miles away; a deep inlet, not unlike a fjord, which has nothing in it other than a large mooring buoy, but who uses it remains a mystery. This beautiful and peaceful anchorage was totally unspoilt and we were able to anchor under sail in the head of the bay in 4m of water, 50m off the beach. The water allowed an inspection of the anchor as it was dropped, it was so clear. Just bliss! Another quiet evening here and still night such that we waited the following morning until midday before getting underway in order to allow a bit of thermal wind to build.

The dreaded rubbish on the beach at Kirkdilim Limani

Clear water in Kirkdilim Limani, 4m deep!

In the end we sailed off the anchor at 1200 and beat slowly out of the bay, in fickle winds, finally setting off westwards on a beam reach to do the 10 miles along the coast to Mersin Korfesi, a large bay with at least four suitable anchorages but which one to anchor in has to be determined by where the fish farms are this year. In the event the majority of the fish farms were in the approaches and not in the bay itself, and so we chose the quietest of the anchorages in the small bay in the far NE corner. The anchorage was superb but for the wind farm built all around it. Very few of them were generating, the remainder stood as stationary and stark reminders of the reasons why wind farms are a convenient clover leaf for politicians but do little to provide a continuous and reliable power generation capability. Very few people switch off their electrical appliances because the wind has stopped blowing, hence we still need to be able to meet the full demand from nuclear, coal, oil or gas powered power stations, or when available hydro and tidal power. Wind turbines simply intermittently duplicate existing capacity. You will have guessed I am not a supporter of littering some of the worlds best landscapes with wind turbines!

Mersin Korfesi, spoilt by 30+ wind turbines!

Next morning there was a gentle SE breeze and so we set off under engine to get out of the bay before the wind had a chance to die. 40 minutes later we were racing along, on a close reach, heading for the headland at Ak Burun and then heading north on a broad reach and run, past Cesme, to the almost deserted island of Karaada. A distance of 26 miles. At Karaada we decided to anchor in the western bay, this giving the best shelter from the SW winds that had set in. In the top of the bay, in the NW corner we sailed onto the anchor settling in 5m of water in idyllic surroundings; so idyllic in fact that we decided to stay two days here and do some maintenance.

Karaada, west bay

The following day we restricted ourselves to moving to the eastern bay simply for a change of scenery. This we shared with one other yacht but there is plenty of room for two. Late that evening our peace was disturbed by a large power boat entering at speed, at dusk, wanting to share the anchorage with us. Fortunately, after executing a handbrake turn they decided there was insufficient room for them and departed to go elsewhere leaving peace to descent once more in the anchorage.

Self at Karaada, west bay

The next day it was a gentle sail up to Egri Limani, only just over 6 miles away but being dead upwind it was nearer a 10 mile sail for us. On arrival we anchored in the bay on the western side of the inlet and settled down for a relaxing evening. The village, if it can be called that, consists of a small fishing community but little else. Not even a shop to be seen.

Plastic debris at Agri Liman

For that reason we declined the opportunity to go ashore and set off relatively early the next morning heading for Eskifoca, in the event

Agri Liman at daybreak

light winds led us to decide that we would break the passage and overnight in Yenifoca, on the north end of the Karaburun Peninsula. Yenifoca is a small fishing port and with very little deep water. One of the two possible berths shown on the plan in the Heikell Pilot is no longer deep enough to take a yacht, what was 2m+ is now just 0.5m. The only option is to go alongside the trawlers immediately on the right as you enter. We were very warmly welcomed by the fishermen and grateful for their advice re depths when we tried to back into the now too shallow berth recommended in the pilot. They warmly welcomed us alongside and could not have been more accommodating; notwithstanding the fact that they were leaving four hours after our arrival.

Kurukulla alongside a trawler at Yeni Liman

That night we had a fish supper ashore in the Akdag Restaurant, (recommended in Heikell) which was excellent. The fish was one I did not recognise and might not have chosen without the restaurateurs recommendation, it was an ugly beast, slightly overpriced but delicious all the same.

Dinner at Akdag Restaurant, Yeni Limani

Next morning the departed trawler returned at 0530 and we were up and about quickly, ready to haul off to allow him in alongside the second trawler where we were berthed. We were firmly told not to bother and he berthed across the stern of the other trawler to save us having to move. Amazing consideration considering it was his home and livelihood and we were just visiting! By 1200 that day we had had coffee ashore, purchased some victuals and were ready to set off. We motored out of the harbour and set sail to continue our passage to Eskifoca. The winds were variable between S and N and zero to 20kts, it made for an interesting and at times frustrating sail, but we arrived by 1600 and sailed onto the anchor in the North harbour, adjacent to Orak Adasi. From here we were able to spectate the dingy sailing and windsurfing going on from the Club Med resort on the mainland.

Panorama in Orak Adasi anchorage, Eskifoca

After another peaceful night in the anchorage and we set off relatively early for Akca Limani, 22 miles away, a shallow but interesting looking bay (on the chart at least) at the eastern end of Candarli Korfezi. The passage along the coast was interesting watching the coastline vary between open landscape, small towns and holiday villages and major ship building/breaking yards and oil refineries! Not much variation! On arrival at Akca Limani we sailed gently in, (it was charted at 3m by we recorded just slightly less 2.8m) and into a bay measuring 2.5 by 1.5 miles but all with a maximum depth of 6m; slightly unnerving sailing. That said we successfully anchored in 3m just off Tenasalik Burnu, the site of ancient Gryneum (of which nothing remains) under the sight of two seemingly brand new mosques.

Inside the bay at Akca Limani, two new mosques in one photo!

Having entered successfully through the south channel (there are two entrances to the bay with islands in between) we decided to leave via the north channel. The next morning, in a light NNW breeze we weighed anchor and beat gently up the bay until we could lay the north entrance easily. Set Kurukulla on stbd tack and headed out. The north channel is charted at 3m by Heikell and 3.7m by the Turkish Hydrographic Office. No problem there then. As we approached the entrance at 4kts we noted that as expected the echo sounder recorded 3.5m, 3m, 2.8m. 2.5m by which time we were concentrating hard but as we were in “the channel” there was no obvious place to go but onwards. As 2m came up on the echo sounder Kurukulla came to a gentle and silent halt. Oops! Not to be beaten we started the engine, dropped the sails and put a large, (No2 Genoa) full sailbag and the crew out on the boom to heel Kurukulla over, reduce her draft and get us off. She was having none of it! We were firmly stuck in soft sand and weed. Fortunately a local fishing boat came to see what these two mad sailors were doing and offered us a tow off. We passed them a line and then followed the discussion on where the deeper water might be. Initially they wanted to tow us out via the N entrance but this put us further into the shallows.

Entering Kizkulesi Adasi

Not to be beaten they then summoned a fellow fisherman plus his boat and with one towing from the bow, this time pulling us back the way we had come and the second pulling on the beam, using a line to the masthead to heel us over and reduce our draft, we came off, but not without an hour long struggle. They seemed as pleased as we were with the result and the 150YTL (£37.50) that we gave them for their trouble. So pleased were they in fact that one of them escorted us on our passage down to the southern entrance and through, just to make sure we did not need their services again! Really delightful guys and very helpful. They seemed genuinely surprised at our gift!

From the South Entrance we had a great beat out of Candarli Korfezi to the island of Kizkulesi Adasi, just on the north-western corner of the bay. NW F3 wind and flat seas.

Kizkulesi Adasi

Kurukulla was in her element doing 6kts plus, on the wind, in the flat water. By 1500 we were anchoring in the southerly of the two bays on the west coast of this island. We sailed in, onto the anchor, anchored in 6m and settled down for lunch. All was not going to be quite to plan as notwithstanding the forecast change of wind to the east the wind decided otherwise and went round to SSW giving us less shelter. For that reason, an hour after anchoring, we moved to the other bay only yards away where the shelter might be better. There we stayed the night and by midnight the forecast easterly wind had set in, moving northerly by the early morning thereby affording us a peaceful night. Next morning; however, we awoke to the sound of rain and that persisted, off and on, until 1400. Not what we wanted! Rather than brave the rain (cowardice I know) we decided to stay put and spend another night in the same anchorage. In contrast to the rain earlier in the day the evening was tranquil, dry and pleasant.

The Hamam, Bademli Limani

Next morning dawned cloudy but dry, There was a light NE breeze blowing but one which seemed destined not to last. In consequence we set sail early, sailed off the anchor, beat slowly out the bay and set course for Bademli Limani, notwithstanding the fact that we were only planning to do a 6 mile passage.

The Hamam, Bademli Limani

With the wind dying after the first hour this 6 miles was to take us nearly two hours and we motored the last two miles. Pleasant enough as the sun had now broken through.

On arrival we anchored in the bay adjacent to the natural hot spring which, many years ago, had been converted to an ad hoc Hamam by the addition of a stone building enclosing the hot pool.

Green water in the Hamam, Bademli Limani

Keen to relax in this natural spa, as soon as we were securely anchored, we swam ashore to investigate. When I visited in 2011 the water was slightly cloudy but not unpleasant, in 2015 it was livid emerald green. We decided that the health risks of such water far outweighed the potential benefits and thus we steered well clear; a great shame! Notwithstanding the lack of the Hamam, the bay was dotted with small submerged geysers releasing streams of warm water into the sea. These rising hot currents made swimming warm and pleasurable.

That night we were greeted by the first proper thunderstorm of the season.

Bademli Limani looking north.

Amazing flashes of lightning but fortunately not too close. The winds got up from the NE pushing us offshore and thus we were able to enjoy a comfortable nights rest, despite the conditions. Next morning we set off early heading for the northern entrance of Bademli Limani en route for Ayvalik marina, some 26 miles to windward.

With northerly winds eventually reaching 30 kts at times it was a wet and interesting sail, not least threading through the islands and the channel leading in towards Ayvalik Limani itself.

Sunset at Ayvalik

Notwithstanding the wind we managed to sail up the narrow channel leading into the inland sea at Ayvalik and finally dropped the sails at the marina entrance.

By 1500 we were berthed stern to in the marina and thinking about a late lunch; well deserved we felt!