Fınıke

Gökkaya Limanı

S/Y Growltiger   

October already! Many of the rally boats left Gökkaya Limanı early in the day but we, along with Growltiger, waited until 1200 to depart hoping that the wind would build sufficiently to allow us to sail to Fınıke. An hour out, and one mackerel already safely dispatched and in the fridge, our patience was rewarded with a light southerly breeze, so we hoisted all the white sails, switched off the engine and settled down to a gentle sail, hard on the wind, towards Fınıke. Growltiger's roller furling genoa was out of action and so with just her staysail and main flying we were easily able to out pace her, albeit with frequent stops to reel in yet another fish! First time around, wondering why we were slowing down, Growltiger radioed us to check that everything was okay which was nice of them. By now they had switched back to engine power and so quickly overhauled us.

S/Y Alibi ahead, looking back at BV   

By the end of the 3 hour passage I had caught 3 large and 2 small mackerel like fish; 2 of which we subsequently gave away to the crew of Alibi. Alibi was the next boat in our sights after we’d first passed Growltiger but, to be fair to her, at 36 feet long we should have caught her up and so we did. Which also provided us both with an excellent opportunity for taking pictures of yachts under sail for the end of rally photo competition.

S/Y Alibi

Once settled in Fınıke's marina, we sorted out food for the evening's barbecue, marinading the fish and preparing a salad.

The evening began with a welcome speech from the marina manager and a glass of freshly squeezed orange (with vodka for those who wanted) - Fınıke is famous in Turkey as an orange growing region rather than as a tourist resort. From a visitor's perspective, it makes Fınıke stand out from the other coastal towns - the town is much more 'local' and, as a result, in many ways more interesting than others.

With all the fun for chatting and barbecuing, at the end of the evening we realised that we had entirely forgotten to take any photos at all of the evening in progress or of the fish we had caught cooking on the barbeque. Fortunately our rally chums remembered to take one or two of the event.

Fınıke, Turkey