March 2004 Newsletter

The prevailing summer wind along this section of the Turkish coast (the Ionian coast) blows from the northwest and is called the meltemi. Close in-shore, the wind tends to bend to follow the contours of the shoreline and in the large gulfs can blow more from the west. It is a green mountainous coast which makes it beautiful to sail along, but the mountains also produce strong gusts that can come hurling down at you when you least expect them, so you need to keep this in mind when you’re carrying a lot of sail. 

As a general rule, the meltemi blows the strongest from late July through to September, often staying at Force 6-7 for days at a time - a wicked head wind for a small boat trying to sail north. So our strategy for this voyage was to make our way quickly north, hopefully as fas as Istanbul, in the spring when the winds would be light and the occurences of winds from the south greater. Then, when the meltemi set in, we’d turn around and sail southwards with the strong winds pushing “behind” us (rather than into our faces) to visit destinations in the Northeast Aegean Sea at our leisure.

But as we sailed that day towards Cesme in the humid south wind, storm clouds started building over the land and soon the thunderclaps became deafening. Sheets of rain streamed from black clouds over the mountains and when the lightning started, we changed course and went for Plan B. Whenever we plan out our day’s destination we always check our charts and cruising guides (like most cruisers in Turkey we use the Imray Turkish Waters & Cyprus Pilot by Rod Heikell which is available in several languages) and make note of all the accessible ports along the way. Then, if we encounter bad weather or have an emergency of some kind, we know the closest harbour to make for.

In this case, we were just about to pass Sarpdere Limani, a large bay with three coves off it and the one nearest the entrance, Nerkis Limani, had good all-around protection. This was necessary since there was a good chance the south wind could go back to the prevailing northerly during the night. We and Karin entered the long narrow cove and dropped our hooks in 3 m with a nice sand bottom. There was only one other boat and room for lots more but none others arrived. The rain never did come down off the mountains and later the skies cleared, but we were all happy that we had discovered this little paradise surrounded by uninhabited forested hillsides. The holding was excellent and while checking the anchor we enjoyed a refreshing swim (still cool in May) in the clear tropical blue water.

Next morning dawned clear and bright with southerly winds continuing, so we had a relaxing morning sailing downwind along the coast to the town of Cesme which is located just round the point of Ak Burun in a large harbour facing the Greek island of Chios. For this reason, Cesme is a port of call, and there are ferries going back and forth between the two countries here. In fact one motored past us as we approached the harbour and we were surprised to see a large tour bus stuffed on to it, it’s aft end hanging precariously over the stern. Safety regulations seem it bit more casual here.

It would be great to sail back and forth between the Turkish mainland and the string of Greek islands that lie so close to it - Kos, Kalimnos, Leros, Samos, Chios, Lesvos and Limnos. But the politics between Greece and Turkey means there is a lot of paperwork with expensive related costs if you properly clear in and out each time, thus discouraging sailors from visiting both countries similitaneously as they head north or south. For this reason our plan was to go north along the Turkish coast in the spring, then later clear into Greece at Limnos or Lesvos in the Northeast Aegean and head back south through the very Greek islands we were sailing past now.

Many cruisers just ignore the whole problem by clearing in once in each country early in the season so they have the appropriate up-to-date papers, and then go back and forth as they please, not bothering to check in, just hoisting the appropriate courtesy flags before they cross back into the other country. If the port police ask to see their papers and notice it’s been awhile since the papers have been stamped, the story given is that the boat’s been at anchor for awhile. But you can get into trouble doing this and we feel the stress isn’t worth it.

As we rounded the cape and sailed up to town, we spotted Cesme’s distinctive 14th century castle built by the Geneose overlooking the harbour. It was here in the strait between Cesme and the island of Chios that the Turkish Fleet was destroyed by three Russian squadrons on July 5, 1770, allowing the Russians access to the Mediterranean from the Black Sea.

We dropped sail and motored into the harbour past the outer breakwall with it’s easily identifiable ‘pergola’ light on the end. The town of Cesme has been working to improve facilities for visiting yachtsmen. There are now pontoons with lazy lines to tie to for easy bow-to or stern-to mooring (but be careful if there’s a strong cross wind) but still no services such as showers or electricity at the dock. There is a marina office with helpful dock attendants where you can get lots of information about the town’s many facilities and get your papers stamped by the port police. The cost for dockage for our 37’ (11m) boat was about 15 US per night which some cruisers complained was too much considering the lack of services. Cesme is a tourist town with several little grocery stores, internet cafes, hotels, many restaurants and cafes all within walking distance of the docks, so not a bad place to stock up.

Our next stop up the coast was Bademli Limani a great little spot with four anchorages to chose from - 1) a small one (1-2 yachts max) within the village’s breakwall but this shoals up quickly, 2) under Pisa Burun which is a short dinghy ride to the village, 3) between the little off-lying islands of Garipadasi and Kalem
Adasi which is exposed to the south, and 4) in the cove at the south end of South Channel. These last two are a longer dinghy ride to town (you’d need an outboard motor) but from South Channel you can walk to town in about half an hour.

The South Channel anchorage surrounded by olive groves was our choice since it offered the best protection and has hot springs along the shore which you can bathe in - natural Turkish baths! How could we resist?! There were no boats in the anchorage (but there’s room for 5 or 6) when we arrived and nosed our way into the cove. The depth is 3-6 m with a sand bottom but the bottom is uneven so you need to go carefully. However, the water is very clear and you can tell by the colour where it gets shallow - the lighter the blue colour, the more shallow it is.

We had just got the anchor nicely set when a local cruising boat arrived and, unbelievably, anchored right on top of us. We were just about to suggest to the very handsome fashionably-dressed couple aboard that they give themselves a little more room by re-anchoring, when they immediately stripped down to bare bikinis and started suntanning on the forward deck - a rare activity for long-term cruisers who generally spend their time hiding from the sun. So we figured they were probably just out for the afternoon and would soon be heading home or to a dock near a restaurant,so we didn’t bother fighting the language barrier trying to ask them to move.

And we were right, within half an hour of suntanning and then some rather affectionate nuzzling in the cockpit, they prepared to raise anchor. And here we learned an added benefit of having an electric windlass that we had never heard discussed or demonstrated before. (We have an old reliable easy-to-service, doesn’t-drain-the-battery, Simpson 555 manual windlass at the bow of our boat which means that when raising anchor one of us working the windlass at the bow when the other is at the wheel.) Raising the anchor did not separate these two nor interupt the affectionate attention they were giving each other in the cockpit. He just reached over and hit the “raise-anchor” button and continued with what he was doing with her until the anchor was up, then they both stood up and continued snuggled at the wheel and motored away!

Sitting in the hot springs of Bademli Limani while the winds howled was not a bad way to pass the time. The largest one has a shelter built around it (funded by a wealthy local widow and her descendants as a gift to the villagers and visiting sailors) so even in the rain we could enjoy it. It was a bath house in Roman times and you can still see remains of the ancient walls.

Note: Some of the smaller hot springs along the shore which are open to the elements are very “soupy” looking since they don’t drain well and the heat encourages the growth of algae. There have been reports of swimmers developing skin rashes from using them. The covered hot spring called the “hamam”, which means bath house, has very good water flow and drainage and is used by the locals daily who encouraged us to enjoy it without worry. None of us developed any skin irritations from using it. However, we all showered and scrubbed thoroughly afterwards just to be sure. We all felt great and missed it when we set sail.

This leg of the voyage is documented on DVD on Distant Shores Volume 4 - Greek Islands and Turkey

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