It's a Dramamine Kind of Day

…Dramamine and harnesses. 

We left Gumusluk with high hopes that the wind was calming down like the forecast said and that we could make the 4 hour trip to Altinkum without any problems.  Well we were met with another adventurous challenge – a HUGE chop. 

Let me define chop for those of you who aren’t familiar.  It’s when the Mediterranean Sea gets confused and there are waves coming from every direction.  It’s very much like a big lake where the waves are coming from various angles and then meet at certain points to make a big splash and to rock the boat like a wet noodle.  There is no real way of knowing where the wave is coming from or which way to lean your body to balance so it makes the simple act of standing much more difficult.

We’ve experienced this in a lot of places, but never to this extent.  At first I didn’t think it would be that bad but as we turned a corner it got worse.  Dad was nice enough to get my Dramamine for me, because I did not want to go down below.  As we watched the water come up over the bow of the boat and splash the dodger we talked about hot miserable life would be on the Mediterranean without a dodger to keep us dry and salt free. 

The goal was to get at least the main sail up because it would keep the boat from rocking too much.  Dad was going to go up and raise it and my job was to stay in the cockpit and help undo the straps holding it to the boom. 

I asked Dad to put his harness on and when he did so he handed mine up too.  Some people think that harnesses are only needed when it’s REALLY bad out, but we figure any chance that someone could fall into the water is a good excuse.  I had to go down to get the actual strap that ties me to the deck and the 30 second climb down the ladder to retrieve the strap at the bottom and back up left me green.  It’s amazing how much worse things are down below than on deck.  Dad said it has to do with your inner ear and because everything is so much closer down below it really messes you up.  So we harnessed up to avoid a man overboard drill and I undid the halyard from where I was and handed it to Dad.  This process would’ve been much better with three people and that third person would be at the end of the halyard making sure there wasn’t any slack.  Well that person didn’t exist and the halyard got wrapped around the top arm of the mast.  Dad tried to get it untangled, but that wasn’t happening while we were rocking so much and we had to just sit in the cockpit and push the engine a little bit more. 

We were making 2 knots at one point and Dad gave it a little more juice and we managed to make 4 knots and just get through it.  As we got closer to Altinkum it calmed down enough to take off our harnesses and at least walk around, but we were beat from the Dramamine and from the act of holding on.

We were never in any trouble.  I was never scared of the waves, it wasn’t storming, and we still had full control of the boat… it was just a super uncomfortable day.

We had planned on anchoring, but saw there was a plan for a marina in the book so headed for the new marina.  The D-Marin Didim Marina was gorgeous.  It’s brand new and there weren’t a lot of boats there, but a lot of the ones that were there were big and pretty.  We had great assistance docking, which was nice, and the check in process was amazing.  The girl who helped us was the nicest and most helpful person we have run into at a marina since we’ve been traveling.  She worked with us to get a small discount for the night and then told us how to get to the Temple of Apollo which is the big site to see in Altinkum.  All we had to do was go into the office and she would call the minibus or dolmus and it would come pick us up.  Effortless.

So we got cleaned up bit and packed the backpack to go see the ruins.  We were tired but couldn’t see spending more than one night there and the temple, as we understood, should only take an hour to see. 

(see next post for photos of the temple)

Another boater had told us that we had pulled in next to the head of the EMYR, which is the sailing rally we decided not to participate in, and Dad was hoping we’d get the chance to talk to him about the rest of our trip.  Sure enough we did a little small chat and then David and Kath invited us over to go over our itinerary.  We got some great pointers about where to stop and where to stay in Istanbul which was super helpful and we talked about the rally a little bit.  They still think Egypt will be ok, but it looks like Syria is out for good.  While we were there the marina manager, Can Polat, stopped by for a drink and to discuss what information was needed about the marina we were in.  We excused ourselves and explained we wanted to go up to the Yacht Club for dinner and the manager said he would be up shortly if we wanted to dine together. 

So we ended up having dinner with the marina manager and talked to him about mostly sailing stuff.  The Yacht Club was beautiful.  It was very upscale and had a great view of the marina beyond the pool and hot tub that were on a second floor deck.  There was a fitness center on the first floor and a hotel on the third.  It was beautifully done and I was very impressed.  I can see this marina doing very well in the future.  I generally rate marinas on their bathroom facilities, and I must give this one a 9.5/10.  The shower was wonderful, facilities were clean and well stocked, and it was close to the dock which is always a plus.

I didn’t have time to take photos because I was exhausted, but there should be photos on the website: www.dogusmaina.com.tr and look for the Didim marina.