Finike

We slipped our lines in Kemer at 7am on 30 September. The dawn light was fabulous, picking out the mountains to our west. There was a good 15 knots of wind from the north in the marina, which was perfect for our sail south and then west along the coast.

As we left the marina we waved at the crews of the tourist ‘Pirate Gulets’ and tidied up BV ready to hoist sails. There was not a cloud in the sky; much more the cruising weather that we had become used to rather than the cloudy weather of recent days.

Cruising not racing

The wind increased to 25 knots when we were clear of the harbour, so our conservative 2 reefs in the main and a heavily furled genoa was the right choice and, with the genoa poled out, we initially made 7-8 knots. Another very pretty British yacht joined us on passage from an anchorage as we headed south. Nicky had to persuade me that it wasn’t a race but we did unfurl the whole of the genoa as the wind eased to make sure that we beat them to the headland of Taslik Bumu.

Taslik Bumu

As we went through the gap between the island and Taslik Bumu we turned west expecting a good reach but within a few hundred metres the wind died completely. With slack sails barely flapping we started motoring, took down the spinnaker pole and tidied up the lines, sadly expecting to have to motor the last 12 miles to Finike. However, almost as quickly as we’d lost the wind, we found ourselves in a steady 9 knot south-south-westerly. We shook out the reefs and set all the sails (not that we were racing, mind) and BV left the other yacht standing. With the sun shining it was a great ‘shorts and T-shirts’ sail across to Finike, which kept us both beaming. We arriving at 1415hrs having sailed 44nm.

We were met at the harbour entrance by the berthing team in their RiB and shown to a mooring. Again, it was a great service with their coming aboard to attach the pick-up lines whilst Nicky passed our bow lines to the man waiting on the quay. We put the covers on BV and then checked in with the harbour office, which was very painless.

Finike has a sizeable liveaboard community over winter and we met several characters. Whilst there was still space to book in for this winter, the lady in the marina office advised us that 45 more yachts were due in to stay until next season. From the number of pot plants and satellite dishes set up on the quayside it seems as if some of the liveaboards are permanent fixtures so we were intrigued to see what the town was like and if it was that which makes Finike a popular stopping point.

Finike is certainly very different to Kemer being a larger town and definitely not touristy. Serving the local agricultural community (there are a lot of glasshouses) the shops are much more practical and there are even a couple of chandleries.

We wandered around the shops not really needing to get anything but again trying to absorb what is available in Turkey and, for example, where we can get gas bottle refills. Somehow buying more beer became an important task so that we could decide which local beers we like; essential preparation for next year we think!

We only stayed one night in Finike because of the need for us to get closer to Marmaris to ensure that we don’t miss our lift-out. Consequently, we didn’t really explore the place properly but we have clocked Finike as a good stopping off point and next time we visit we will make the time to see the nearby ruins of the ancient Lycian city of Myra.

Finike, Turkey