Kale Köy and Gökkaya Limanı

Anchored in Üçagiz Limanı we woke on 30 September to flat calm. Over breakfast we planned our day whilst, with the slight breath of wind which had built, Julia Too ghosted past us under sail. 

Üçagiz    

From our anchorage we could easily visit the small town of Üçagiz with the adjoining ruins of ancient Teimiussa.

Or we could walk up to the crusader castle above us. Noting the time available to us we decided to take the dinghy ashore and visit Kale Köy castle. 

We left the dinghy at the head of Üçagiz Limanı and walked the ancient pathway up to the castle. The hillside is covered in sarcophagi and the route up dominated by the fortifications above. 

Having paid our entry fee and made our way inside the castle walls. Just inside, carved into the rock, is a small Greek theatre able to seat 300 people. It wasn't exactly what we had expected inside a Crusader castle but a delight all the same.

The climb up to the top of the castle rewarded us with fantastic panoramic views across the whole of Kekova Roads.

In particular, we could look down upon Kale village. We could see the twee collection of waterside restaurants and small hotels but, more significantly, the sunken remains of ancient Simena. To preserve the site even swimming over it is now forbidden and so the high castle provides the best vantage point to see what is left.

The sunken remains of ancient Simena    

A lone Lycian sarcophagus stands proud above the waterline but the rest of the ruins are either below a buoyed off area or underneath the wooden catwalks jutting out from the restaurants.

After touring the castle, we walked down the narrow lane to the waterfront and then worked our way around the edge of the village and back up to the ridgeline. Here we rejoined the ancient pathway to get back to the dinghy.

Sailing/drifting past Kale Köy    

By now we were one of the last yachts in the anchorage. Clearly it was time to rejoin the fleet and so we started to slowly drifted east in light winds towards the next venue, Gökkaya Limanı. Another yacht, from Jersey, paralleled us but eventually we both realised that motoring was the only option.

Gökkaya Limanı had been chosen as the anchorage for the night because ashore there is a large flat area which would be a perfect venue for the planned Pirate Party and music night. I think the idea was that we would be out of earshot of other yachts, however, as we anchored in the bay we were joining a collection of some 10 other yachts sheltering there.

Orders for arriving at the party were radioed to the rally members. The start time gave us just enough time to cook our contribution for the pot-luck-supper as well as a little in hand to take the dinghy out to a cave we had seen on the way in.

Ashil Adası Cave (photos from the internet as I didn’t take my camera in the dinghy)    

This large cave is on the SE corner of Ashil Adasi, one of the islands we had passed at the entrance to Gökkaya Limanı. We took the dinghy right into the cave and tied it to a rock before donning masks and snorkels and jumping in for a swim. The cave was filled with a couple of huge shoals of fish and the contrast in the light between the bright entrance area and the gloomier depths made it a very interesting place to float about in.

As we arrived back on BV a yacht was leaving the anchorage and made its way very close to us. Amazingly it was Helen and Tony on board Iolanthe. We had met them at Marmaris back in March and had very much enjoyed their company. We had also benefitted from their encyclopaedic knowledge of the area making lots of pencil notes in the margins of our pilot book. They had spotted BV and passed by for a quick chat and to say farewell before they moved on. Perhaps they were clearing the anchorage for some peace and quiet suspecting that a party was brewing!

The best dressed pirates were judged to be Emma B’s crew (centre photo)  

 

After saying our goodbyes to Iolanthe's crew we packed up our party rig, food and drink and linked up with the crew of Breakaway ashore to help set up the party venue. As each crew arrived by dinghy, we played music from 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and the judges scored their fancy dress costumes. The booty of food and wine was laid out and we all indulged to excess as pirates are famed to do.
 

Fires are not allowed on the shoreline but we had brought a collection of lanterns which provided a focal point for the later part of the evening. The more musically talented led us through a series of well known songs; those of us who are less musically talented did our best but, probably, were more successful at getting cringes from the crews of the other yachts in the anchorage. On the plus side we got no complaints and it was, for us, a very social evening.

Gökkaya Limanı, Turkey