Cam to Cigacik

After a great night with the van Wamelen's and a dip in the morning to deal with the effects of the great night, Al swam ashore, released the long line and got towed back to the boat. At 10:30 on the 22nd June, we weighed anchor and set a course for Cigacik.

Not far into the journey, at Doganbey Peninsular Summer sighted a pod of dolphins which headed straight for the boat and hung around for a while. Always such an exciting sense of privilege when they show up. It is only the fourth time in 3000 miles.

By 12:30 we had all the sails up in 15-20 knot NW and sailed for an hour and a half until we turned for Cigacik. We are doing a lot more sailing this year than last. The winds are more consistent and shutting off the engines yet maintaining the same speed is blissful.

Cigacik is by far the flashiest Marina we have moored in. All brand new, spacious, clean ablution blocks, swimming pool, organic veggie gardens, (pick as you need). Power, water and as expected, the bill to match. 140Euro per night plus power and water.

Keep this price in mind when I tell you about where we are right now in Greece in a future blog.

Oh, and there is this highly scientific weather forecaster for which there was no charge.





There is an issue with wifi in this part of the world. If I was to add up the time spent in either OTE (Greek Telecom) or Turkcell (guess) it would run into weeks. We are not able to top up online and in Greece you con only buy 5 gigs at a time and then only 3 times in a month? In Turkey, 10 gigs and then only 3 times a month and it takes ages to get topped up.

Why we can't simply buy as much wifi as we need is frustrating because we get through it pretty quickly no matter how we try to regulate.




Why am I telling you this? Well, we were out of Turkish wifi and prepaid mobile again and the nearest Turkcell to Cigacik is the larger town of Seferihisar five clicks away.


Nothing for it but a bike ride through the Turkish countryside which turned out to be both enjoyable and fortunate.

Like most, we love a good market and this town had a cracker.



As soon as I managed to by some Turkish prepaid I called Sal who taxied over and tried her best not to go nuts. Fresh organic fruit and veg, meats, olives, cheeses, herbs, wild honey, flowers, baklava, spinach and mince pies.

The market is totally covered, cool and the size of an aircraft hanger. Is the boat replete with fresh organic provisions....? Hell yeah!

Two nights in Cigacik was plenty. The town itself is an old fort which has recently been re-inhabited, beautifully cobblestoned and resembles one continuous London muse.

The season has yet to get going here so none of the tiny restaurants, bars or shops dotted throughout were open for business Just a few places along the waterfront which were excellent dining, but expensive.

Will... Like an Egyptian on the fort wall 

 At 9:50 on Wednesday the 25th, my wonderful sister's 52nd birthday, fat with wifi and fresh produce we cast off and headed for Alacati.