In late October 2021 SV Impavidus came into Turkey's Finike marina, her winter berth. We had been in touch with Ant and Cid for quite some time as they are fellow YouTubers and we'd pre-arranged to film their approach with our drone. It's always nice to include drone footage in any episode so we were happy that we were able to do that for them.
Since getting to know them face to face we have become firm friends. We're on the same page on so many levels, it's like we've been friends forever. We even managed to open our very first face to face conversation with a light hearted insult as you'll see in this week's video.
Republic Day
I've mentioned this in previous blogs but so you don't have to search back through old blogs I'll restate it here that Republic Day in Turkey is a cause for huge celebration. The holiday commemorates the events of 29th October 1923, when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk declared that Turkey was henceforth a republic. Turkey had de facto been a republic since 23 April 1920, the date of the establishment of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, but the official confirmation of this fact came three-and-a-half years later. On 29 October 1923, the status of the nation as a republic was declared and its official name was proclaimed to be Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (the Republic of Turkey). After that a vote was held in the Grand National Assembly and Atatürk was elected as the first President of the Republic of Turkey.
We had joined the Republic Day celebrations twice in Kaş and this year we were going to find out how they celebrate the day in Finike. The week leading up to the 29th of October we had watched as flags and banners were erected around town and at the common area next to the beach we saw a huge stage area being built.
On the evening of the 29th we were joined by Franco and Anna who had anchored their boat in Finike bay. This was their first time experiencing Turkish Republic Day. We walked out of the marina and went to the stage area at the beach. There were plenty of food vendors and stalls selling all sorts of things, but surprisingly there were very few people around. We eventually figured out that the parade was starting from outside the huge market area and made our way there just in time for the parade beginning. We joined the crowds and vehicles and made our way back through the streets of Finike to the stage area where we watched a variety of live performances from Turkish singers and bands and finally a firework display.
Something fishy
Every Sunday is BBQ day in Finike marina and we take that opportunity to eat fish cooked outside on the BBQ, because cooking fish inside a boat is a bad idea due to the lingering fishy smell.
Finike marina/harbour is home to many fishing vessels and as we look across to where they tie up we noticed that there appeared to be some shops along the quayside. I assumed that one of them may be an outlet for freshly caught fish at a reasonable price. After walking into town to get our weekly supplies from the farmers market we took a detour on the way back to A B Sea to buy some fish for the next days BBQ.
My assumption was incorrect. While there were shops and restaurants along the quayside, there was not a fishmonger. So it was a short walk back into town in order to buy from the fishmonger we'd previously visited.
Visiting friends
This whole liveaboard lifestyle has introduced us to so many people and many of them have become very close friends. When we learned that our friends Michel and Canan would be staying at their apartment in Kaş for a week we thought it would be nice to visit them.
Finike to Kaş by boat is roughly 6.5 hours, by bus it is just over an hour and only costs 20 TL (AU$2.15) per person. A B Sea would be staying put while we travelled.
Once our mate Jim heard that we were heading for Kaş he invited us to visit him and stay on board Acheron for a couple of nights. It felt like we were going on holiday, especially as we had to pack a suitcase. Something that we hadn't needed to do for 4 years.
Once we arrived in Kaş, a quick phone call to Michel had him picking us up and taking us back to his apartment. As I said previously many of the people we have met on this journey of ours have turned into lifelong friends and we are happy to say that Michel and his wife Canan are included. We can talk for hours on all sorts of subjects, there's never a dull moment.
After our first night stay at their apartment we awoke to grey skies and heavy rain. By midafternoon the rain had ceased and we were able to get driven down to Kaş marina to spend a couple of nights on board Acheron with our mate Jim. We are like brother and sister with Jim and there's always an underlying piss taking through our conversations and lots of running jokes.
For me, finding so many people of similar ilk, that we have become firm friends has been the most rewarding aspect of our journey so far and I thank the Universe for bringing us together.
Until next week stay safe and healthy.
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