WORLD This month we hear from Katie Burgess, who shares the challenges of chartering
Sailing Turkey's Turquoise Coast I will start this off by admitting that this charter was one of the most challenging to book. I booked three completely different trips in the end; two were canceled, and ultimately we landed in the beautiful country of Turkey — literally the only country we were allowed to enter as US citizens without a medical certificate or requiring a COVID-19 test. I truly believe that everything happens for a reason, and want to share our newfound love for Turkey with other sailors wishing to charter and go sailing. Feeling the wind in our sails, and being aboard, was exactly what we all needed. In the end, it doesn't matter where we are, just that we're together as a family on a sailboat. The Sunday before we were set to fly to Greece, we found out that we were banned from entering the EU. Luckily Dream Yacht Charter (DYC), with whom we own a Dufour 382, also has a base in Turkey. By some miracle, we were able to change our flights to Istanbul and secure an open yacht for the same three weeks in Turkey. Four days later we started our three-day, six-flight journey from Hilo, Hawaii, to the base in Gocek. We had little time to research the area, but were intrigued after our brief investigation of the area's great sailing, beautiful beaches, ancient ruins and history, and protected anchorages. After a long journey, we arrived in Istanbul and took a domestic flight about an hour and a half south to Dalaman Airport. A short taxi ride away, we finally arrived at D-Marin Marina in Gocek. It was about 5 p.m., the breeze felt Mast climb to check the turquoise waters atop our home for three weeks, a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 389.
amazing, and we proceeded to unpack and settle into our new home, a 2019 Jeanneau SO 389. We decided to take it easy the next day and stay in the marina for another night so we could properly provision at the nearby grocery stores and simply relax after days of travel. Masks are required in Turkey, so we had to wear them in our airline transits as well as in the streets, and in all shops. Once on the boat, or in the more remote anchorages, they were not necessary or required. D-Marin is seriously one of the cleanest and most accommodating marinas we have been to. I would have swum off the dock, the water was so clean! All of Turkey, for that matter, in the ocean and along the beaches. I was thoroughly impressed. Besides its cute little promenade and town, there is an exclusive club at D-Marin that has a perfect white sand beach, loungers, and a restaurant on the water. It felt superposh and was a nice treat after all our travel. We spent half the day there soaking up the beach. The food is incredible, five-star, and so is the service. It is 200 Turkish lira per person (~$25) to spend the day and access the facilities. Kids under 7 are free, so it was well worth the money. The next day we set off north along the coast and med moored, about 20 meters from the shore, at this cool island in a protected marine park. We stayed two nights before going around the corner to see Tomb Bay and hiking up to the ancient Lycian tombs just above the shore. We then headed west to spend the night med moored in Kuyruk Buku. In Turkey the Meltemi wind fills in every afternoon. Some days it starts around 11 and can blow until 5 or 6 p.m., so you need to make any north or westward headway before the winds fill in. We left in the morning to sail over 20nm to Ekincik, a big, sandy-bottom bay, which also has a very small two-pontoon 'marina' off to the side if you do not wish to anchor. We elected to hire a private day boat to take us on a tour up the nearby Dalyan River to the ancient ruins of Kaunos and the Lycian tombs, as well as a stop for lunch and a visit to nearby thermal mud baths and hot springs.
ALL PHOTOS KATIE BURGESS
during COVID-19 and, in the end, discovering a newfound love for Turkey.
We highly recommend this excursion! After a couple of nights anchored here, we sailed more than 35nm down the coast to Bozuk Buku, an ancient harbor used to shelter from the winds when rounding the headland north. There is an 'ancient citadel' on the hill that is a must-see, and the short hike is well worth the incredible views. We anchored one night, and stopped again on our way south, but docked at one of the restaurants for free. They expect you to eat something but do not charge you to tie up, although no power or water are available. We had intentions in our three weeks to sail as far as Bodrum, but after several days of beating into the wind and washing-machine sea state, we opted to make Bozburun and Kizil Adasi our turnaround point. We are so glad we did, because this area is an ideal place to explore for a few days! We find less is always more, especially with two young girls aboard. Turquoise waters and beaches around the island of Kizil Adasi