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0900route
After landing at Dalaman
Airport
I took an half hour taxi ride to the north end of the Koycegiz
Lake.
From there I crossed to the southern tip of the lake which empties into the
slow flowing Dalyan River
which led me to the sea. I then followed the coast for 9 days finishing in
Finike from where I traveled to Antalya for my
return flight.
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0976
Taxi drop off point – next to Koycegiz town on the northern tip of the Koycegiz
Lake.
Carefully chosen tree and lawn for building the boat.
All my equipment, including kayak, in one big and two small carry on bags –
32 + 8 + 5 = 45 Kg (99lbs) in all. In addition there was water and gas
canisters which I bought on the way from the Airport.
|
0978
Two kids who insisted on helping build and pack. They wanted to know the
purpose of every piece of equipment - their English and my Turkish vocabulary
totaled about 2 words. However, they must have enjoyed themselves since I was
rewarded with very warm kisses on my cheeks when I was finally ready to
leave.
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|
0979
Koycegiz
Lake
- signs of rain with my first nights camping spot in the distance.
|
0981
Koycegiz
Lake
- Took a while to find an opening in the reeds to land.
|
0984
Camping on Koycegiz Lake - looking north back towards
my starting spot. A little rain and lots of mosquitoes.
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0986
Camping on Koycegiz Lake - looking south towards the
next day’s route: the mouth of the Dalyan river.
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0987
Mouth of the Dalyan River
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0989
Cliffs along the Dalyan river
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|
0990
Dalyan
River.
|
0991
Dalyan
River
- Lycian rock tombs
|
0996
After a few hours down the Dalyan Delta I reached the sea. Later I found a
good cove for the night.
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|
0999
First camping spot on the sea. View from inside my tent with some light rain
outside.
|
1005
Sunset.
|
1007
Morning along the coast - the first few days were mostly calm in the mornings
with some strong winds in the afternoons.
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|
1008
Beach near the Sarisu River. Two very small dwellings
(one pictured) with an old man living in each.
They were very welcoming and gave me oranges. I decided to stay for the
night.
|
1017
The man gave me permission to pitch my tent in the ruins of a third
hut which was more comfortable than camping on the sand.
|
1020
Moon rise from inside the tent.
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|
1023
My neighbor for one night shadowed in his window.
|
1026
A cove for breakfast. Just before landing I caught a fish. Since it did not
resemble any species that I could identify I decided to release it and go
with crackers and cheese instead.
|
1030
Camping in Skopea Limani (Gocek bay). Owls living in the caves in the cliff
(mid picture) provided a lot of audio entertainment throughout the night.
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|
1034
Skopea Limani (Gocek bay)
|
1035
A Gulet (Turkish wooden yacht)
|
1038
Looking east across Fethiye bay.
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|
1040
Approaching Fethiye town where I bought food and had a good meal.
|
1044
The region of the Burnu cape - searching for a place to land for the night on
the steep and rocky coast.
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1046
After a few hours I found a small beach with signs of a single, more or less
flat spot on the steep slope above. In areas of continuous cliffs I found
that there were two chart indicators of possible landing spots or small
beaches. Firstly the nautical maps sometimes showed rivers or more often
rivulets (Wadis) reaching the sea. This was the case in the spot above – Coyu
River. Also a small but pronounced
cove of less than a few hundred meters in width would often also turn out to
be the end of a dry rivulet with a small beach. The coves of pictures 1026
and 0996 are such examples.
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|
1047
Mouth of the Coyu Canyon.This spot was surrounded with mountains of more that
1000 meters with their peaks less than 2 miles from the sea. They were
covered with pine forests right down to the water. Put the camera on a
box, set the timer and run.
|
1050
Then holding the camera the wrong way. This is how I look after speaking only
to my self for a few days.
|
1051
My kayak tied to the rocks below. I slept with the soothing sound of wind
through the pine trees.
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|
1053
The next day a spent a few hours along an area of continues cliffs known as
the Five Capes. I then reached the Zeytin river and paddled a half a mile
inland where I landed near a small bridge (next picture). I met up with some
locals. We pooled my cheese with their tomatoes and onions and had a picnic
together. Dan-Dan on the right knew a little English. He told me that he
deals in tomatoes in the mornings and come afternoons he is the village
barber. In summers he also massages tourists on the nearby beach.
|
1054
Zeytin river. On the other side – Dan-Dan’s Uncle’s house.
|
1055
Zeytin river – the sea in the background.
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|
1056
After the picnic on the Zeytin river the wind came up and soon there was sand
blowing all over. Within half an hour the sea had gone from force 2 to force
5-6. The wind was westerly at about 45 degrees towards the coast and my
destination. Also there was about 10nm of beach with easy landing until the
Yali bay which would be protected from the wind. Given these constraints I
decided to continue my trip along the Patara beach. I had an exciting ride
for the next two hours working hard to keep direction. My GPS indicated that
I was averaging 5 knots with occasional periods of >6 knots which is not
bad for my 4.5m long folding kayak. In this kind of sea it was easier being
in my stable folder which even allowed me to get out my camera for a quick
snapshot. Later I rounded the Yali headland into the protected bay near
Kalkan.
|
1057
Next morning approaching Kalkan Marina for breakfast.
|
1058
From Kalkan Marina.
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|
1059
Breakfast in Kalkan.
|
1061
Ada headland
near Kas (Turkey) on the
left and Meyisti (Kastellorizon) Island (Greece) on the right.
Although I passed less than a quarter mile from Meyisti I could not land due
to immigration complications.
|
1067
Facing home.
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|
1068
Big beautiful bay all to myself. Looking towards the Ic Island.
More views below
|
1069
|
1075
|
|
1076
Geyikova in the distance.
|
1077
Approaching the entrance to Geyikova bay.
|
1080
Lunch break on Geyikova bay.
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|
1081
Geyikova bay – partially submerged ruins.
|
1082
Approaching Ucagiz town in Geyikova bay.
|
1084
Leaving Ucagiz – looking back to the castle on the hill.
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|
1086
After leaving Geyikova I planned to camp in the eastern-most bay near the
Ashil Island in the region which would put me in a good position for my trip
to Finike the next day. As I came into the bay I was dismayed to find about
10 yachts already moored there. They were making a lot more noise than most
of the other boats that I had encountered and this immediately raised my
suspicion which was confirmed as I got nearer. Turns out that this was a
group of people from one of our home Marina’s sailing schools.
Moreover my name was called from one of the boats and I met up with Ira from
Terra Santa.
Waiting for coffee on one of the yachts – my kayak tied up behind.
|
1089
Leaving the Geyikova bay early.
|
1090
Finito in Finike – approaching the Finike marina where I completed my trip.
I checked into a small hotel next to the marina to get cleaned and
packed.
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|
1094
From the Hotel - Dawn over the Finike marina. Later I took a mini-bus to Antalya
airport for my return flight.
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