Oinouses to Eskifoca - another bum steer by Rod the God Heikel

The distances are larger, the winds stronger and the sea choppier than we are used to and so a long day's sailing can take it out of you. The plan was to position ourselves somewhere close to Izmir where we planned to rendezvous with Alan, Sandra and Kiyomi Duncan. They were flying in from Italy.

So, sail to Eskifoca on the Turkish coast about three hours north of Izmir. It got a reasonable recommendation and although it looked to me like it was directly exposed to the Meltimi from the north, 'the Book' said it was more protected than it looked.

We skirted Oinousses, set sail and headed north East in a consistent northerly.... As is regularly the case, no sooner were the sails up when the wind died. Motors on for four hours before the headsail came out again in a rising northerly..

After five hours and a now howling northerly, we arrived in Eskifoca. Full, grubby looking harbour with the wind boring straight into it... Plan B? Do we have a plan B...?





The only place that looked remotely viable was Candarli a very uncomfortable three more hours to the north and right into the teeth of the ever rising wind. At 17:10 after 8 hours of bouncing, wind blown sailing we anchored in the large protected bay...

Time for a swim!

The arduous journey and the disappointment of Eskifoca had left us drained of enthusiasm for Candarli. We waited till evening before dropping the dingy and sauntering into town..

Well, what a pleasant surprise! A lovely little town with a nice beach facing into another bay.

The Castle has been recently restored, open 24/7, free of charge and afforded great 360 degree views from the top of the turrets.

We settled into the Musto bar on the waterfront. Will brought his soccer ball and  in no time was kicking around on the beach with a newly made Turkish friend.

So nice we stayed on for a couple of days.

The following day the beach was packed with happy locals, Will had his mates.

On the second evening the place came alive with four restaurant/bars, evenly spread along the promenade featuring live bands. Contemporary Turkish music is quite Drum and Bassey with a traditional Ottoman back beat I find easy to listen to and would be good to dance to.


We resupplied the boat, pottered and explored. Sal discovered a local market with fresh seasonal fruit and veggies and because Candarli is north of Izmir, it is very likely we will be dropping anchor in that bay once more.

All is well that ends well....