Death of a scooter and splendid Sığacak

After our window drama we felt in need of a bit of rest and relaxation so we stayed put in Çam Limanı, near the Turkish town of Kusadaşı, for a couple of days.

Once Jonathan (aka Capt’n Birdseye) had completed his clever repairs we realised there was no harm done accept that his birthday gift from me – an electric scooter – had stopped working.

Unfortunately, when the window slipped out and sank to the bottom of the ocean, the poor scooter took the brunt of the water that washed in through the gap that was left.

For quite some time after our mishap the scooter’s rear red light kept on flashing forlornly as if it didn’t really want to flee its non-mortal coil. Gradually the blinking light got slower and weaker and eventually it stopped altogether. For those of you who remember 2001-A Space Odyssey, it reminded me of Hal, the on-board computer in the doomed space ship singing “Daisy, Daisy, Give me your answer do”, getting slower and slower until the song became completely incomprehensible.

Our next destination was Sığacak, a small harbour village that sits on a peninsula not far from ancient Teos. The day we travelled the winds allowed us to hoist up the sails and switch the engines off for once. Lovely!

In Sığacak we anchored in Cemetery Bay, not far from the entrance to Teos Marina. Sue and John from S/V Catabella with their guest Raylee, were already anchored when we arrived.

Once we were settled we took our dinghies into Teos Marina – Sue and John wanted to enquire about staying there for a couple of nights at the end of Raylee’s stay and we thought we would be able to tie up in there to visit the office and then leave the dinghies while we explored Sığacak. Unfortunately that was not the case!

When we entered the marina precincts we were intercepted by marina attendants in a dinghy and told firmly and unequivocally that we were not allowed to enter the marina in our dinghies. I think that’s the first time we’ve ever been turned away like that. So we turned back and headed for the sea wall where fishing boats and pleasure craft were tied up and managed to scramble up from there.

We could see some ancient walls from where we tied up the dinghies but we had no idea what lay behind them nor did we realise that the old village was completely surrounded by the these massive fortifications.

We saw a huge timber door ajar and on pushing it open entered an airy stone chamber with an amazing ceiling which I later realised was part of the ancient fort.

Walking through another door opposite we entered a large courtyard where a few days later, we found the Sunday Farmers’ Market.

Our first glimpse of the village really surprised us – we hadn’t realised that it would be so charming!

We all fell in love with the pretty laneways, the brightly painted houses, the abundance of vines of jasmine and bougainvillea, the cute shops and the wonderful smells of Turkish baked goods being sold fresh on open air stalls.

There were so many restaurants that we were spoilt for choice. Unfortunately on the first night we didn’t make the best choice but the beer was cold and we had a good time.

Those of us disappointed about the quality of the meal were soon cheered up by the lovely little cheesecake shop that we came across in our after dinner ramblings.

The homemade cheesecake was really delicious and the lady who owned the little shop was delightful.

We had first met fellow Australians Bryan and Lyn from S/V Ariel at Didim Marina and when they heard we were staying in Sığacak, suggested that we try a restaurant called Monza.

We absolutely loved the food and ambiance there and the delightful manager “Bullet” (real name Bulut) made us feel super welcome.

On Raylee’s last night we returned for another fabulous meal at Monza and we went back again a few days later when Lyn and Brian returned from their trip up north. It was great to go there again after a rather boisterous and boozy catch up the night before aboard S/V Sunday.

On another interesting night we went to fish restaurant where they assured as beer and wine was served. What they didn’t tell us was that the beer came in cracked coffee mugs and the wine served by the glass in a small water tumbler with the bottles hidden away from disapproving eyes!

The Catabella crew decided to go into the marina for a couple of nights to make it easier for Raylee and her luggage to disembark before she returned to Australia.

In the meantime we stayed in the anchorage and enjoyed watching the young kids sailing their little Optimist sailing dinghies, all in a line (well almost) like ducklings in a row with their instructors shouting instructions from a motor boat alongside.

Less enjoyable were the constant low-flying military helicopters overhead. Every day we were buzzed by these noisy flying machines – usually about six of them but sometimes more! It seems there were NATO exercises taking place in the area and the helicopters obviously played a vital role – judging by the amount of flying they were doing. We could also hear intermittent explosions which I had first thought to be from a nearby quarry but were obviously part of the war games.

The night after Raylee had sadly left us to return home we found a pizza/pasta place with an excellent guitar/violin duo playing a a fabulous selection of Turkish and Western music. Another great evening in Sığacak – such a splendid place!