After a few days of being tied up at Datça town harbour where we sheltered from big winds, it was time to move on to our next anchorage.
I’ve been really loving this trip because we’re discovering so many new places as we travel north up towards Istanbul. That’s the beauty of the Turkish coast, it is like a fractal design, with an almost infinite choice of bays. Of course some are too deep and some are two narrow but there is still an abundance of anchorages which are just perfect! And each with their own character. You can see this in the *Turkish waters and Cyprus Pilot Guide which we use whenever we’re planning a passage.
This Tuesday morning, we were headed for Akcali, a large bay up and around on the northern tip of the Datça peninsula.
Talking of wind, the possible 12 knots didn’t eventuate, so we motored for the four hour passage. The weather was mild and the sea was calm with a little swell in places which was an after-effect of the previous high winds.
So near and yet so far
In this part of the world the Greek islands are so close to Turkey’s mainland that you could almost reach out and touch them.
As we rounded the Datça peninsula tip, on our port side we could see Tilos, Nisyros, Giali, the tiny islet of Strongyli and also Kos – all Dodecanese islands. You can see these in more detail in the *Greek waters pilot guide (2014).
To our starboard side on the Turkish mainland, we passed the ancient harbour and of Knidos, which we have visited a couple of times already. There’s a distinctive lighthouse at the top of the hill on the end of this part of the peninsula, which you can see on this week’s video.
Akcali (or Murdala) Bay
After a pleasant journey we dropped anchor in a large patch of sand (there is some weed) in this large bay. As we were in 5.5m depth, we dropped 30 metres of chain, as there was no wind of any significance forecast.
I loved this bay because the high, green mountains rolled in and down almost to where the sand met the sea. There aren’t any shops, bars or restaurants there, so if you want a quiet spot for the night, this is a good place. If you want a meal at a restaurant, you’ll have to travel a few nautical miles further into along the peninsula to Karios marina which as a couple of bars and café/restaurants.
There were a couple of locals fishing and they took their catch back, enjoying a barbecue with friends on the beach that evening.
We’d like to return to Akcali because it looks as if there would be some good hiking just back from the shore.
After putting the boat to bed, we got a couple of cold drinks and sat in the cockpit enjoying the ever-changing perspective of the bay as A B Sea moved around her anchor in the gentle breeze.
To watch the YouTube episode that dovetails with this blog, just click here.
Next week we make plans to head to Küçükbük, but end up at Akbük instead. Until next week though, I wish you health, wealth and courage, as you take the actions to bring your dreams to life.
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