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Published: November 29th 2021
Since getting back from our trip to Ephesus we have been staying busy in Marmaris. There seems to be plenty to keep us going with projects on the boat as well as a few outings into town to shop. Once we went in just to have a relaxing day with nothing specific to do but wander – what a treat!
As I think I have mentioned before the Marmaris Yacht Marina where we are currently is not right in the town of Marmaris. We typically like to stay at places where we can easily walk into town, but this is not that kind of place. Fortunately, they have an excellent service by mini-bus that goes into town regularly. Well, it has changed some since getting here, but still is workable. In the beginning there were about 17 runs to town, but as of just a couple of days ago it has reduced to only 8 runs, but we are glad that it is still running. It takes approximately 15-20 minutes to get to town and it only cost each of us 5.75 TL. Unfortunately for the Turkish people the value of the Turkish Lira has taken a nose dive –
Bob found a great Restaurant for Breakfast
when he goes to town - now his favorite place!great for tourist, but terrible for the country and its people. The one-way trip hasn’t changed from the 5.75 TL, but for us it used to equal about 52 cents and now it is only 45 cents for that same one-way trip.
The mini-bus station is in front of a large grocery store-Migros which is very convenient, but it will also pick up and drop off anywhere along the route. With the marina being out of town, it is quite self-sufficient here. There is quite a well-stocked grocery store here with all the basics that you would need, a chandlery for boat parts, and plenty of shops for work that you would want done on your boat. There is also a nice restaurant that is quite inexpensive compared to US prices (as an example Bob and I ate at the restaurant – we shared a beautiful salad, Bob had pasta with lots of seafood on it, I had spaghetti bolognese, we both had a glass of wine and shared a bottle of water. With our tip included it cost approximately $23.
We are starting to explore a little more of the town of Marmaris each time we go
Plenty of Eating Places Here
can't get away from McD's here either! – there are numerous chandleries in town that we of course have checked out a few times, a grand bazaar (but actually doesn’t have much open now as it is their winter season with most tourists gone), a beautiful walking area by the bay in the area of the numerous hotels and of course we definitely know how to walk to the fruit and veggie (and fish/meat/cheese/etc.) market on Thursdays. It is held on Sunday as well, but we seem to go to the largest market on Thursday. As many times as we go, we still are amazed at the freshness of the produce, the variety and the prices. Again, since getting here in Turkey with the change in value of the Turkish lira we are even getting more for our dollar. Just last Thursday as an example the most expensive purchase I made at the market was a very large basket of strawberries for a total of 15 TL ($1.18). When I got back to the boat, I moved them into a different container and every single berry was perfect (and as sweet as anything!) We sure are spoiled here with the produce and the prices – we know
already we will have quite the sticker shock when we get back to the US in a few weeks. Oh well, we will enjoy it while it lasts here!
The Marmaris Marina has the largest boat lifts we have seen anywhere and as a result, the “big ones” keep coming here to be lifted out of the water. Many days we look over at the lift area and exclaim over how large the yacht is that they are hauling out only to be outdone on other days with even larger ones! With the size of the lifts, they can also easily handle the numerous catamarans that are now very popular. Again, they come here in large numbers as many boatyards can’t lift them due to their width. With the size of the lifts and the large yard for storing boats on the hard, the place is definitely changing every day. When we first arrived here there were definitely some boats on the hard, but now it is like walking around a forest of boats and they aren’t done yet with pulling boats out of the water. We are seeing that the spaces between the large motor yachts are now
being filled in with sailboat storage. We are guessing that is what will happen to us – we definitely won’t be planning on any solar gain during the winter if we are in the shade of these 2-3 story tall “yachts”! As long as we are safe that is all that counts.
We had heard that there is more rain during the winter months here. Well, if that is true, we are thinking we may have moved into winter here. We do know from photos posted by friends back in the US and Europe, that winter snow has arrived, so guess our winter rains are now with us. We have been having quite a few rainy days and lots of wind as well. It is always ‘interesting’ to be heeling in your boat when tied up in a marina. Fortunately, it hasn’t been too bad, however, tonight (11/29) seems to be the worse we have seen. As a result, we got off the boat about 4:15PM and came to the library to be able to sit in an easy chair, use the marina wi-fi and relax without moving back and forth. In fact, this is where I am writing
Bob Sewing a Bag for Line at the Mast
and fixing a tarp, got a friend watching him work! this now as I listen to it howling outside. I’m sure it won’t be a fun walk back to the boat, but it has been nice to have a break from sitting on the boat all day. As we have been busy pulling things out to pack to go back to the US, going through our stores to update our inventories, and work on various projects, places on the boat are getting “a little crowded” especially now that we have pulled out our suitcases from our “garage”.
We have lived on the boat while on the hard many times, but as we get older (and maybe wiser), we have decided to rent an apartment through Airbnb here in Marmaris so we can get away from our work site on Tsamaya and have a place to cook and relax easily without having to climb up and down ladders. Even more important is to have a working bathroom in the apartment as you don’t have that when on the hard! Here we found a place that we will check into tomorrow even though the haul out of our boat has been put off a day. The price of the place is
so inexpensive we decided it was worth it and it isn’t that far from where we can get on and off the mini-bus that goes between the marina and town.
Even with the rain and wind, the temperatures still aren’t that bad so we seem to still wear our shorts quite a bit, even though at times we put on a light jacket for the rain/wind or a fleece. We definitely do stand out as tourist as we have decided that the Turks don’t have any blood as they seem to be always cold. We always have to smile when we go to town and see all of the heavy winter coats, hats and scarves being sold in the stores. We do know it does get colder later in the year, but already we have seen many people bundled up in their winter coats and hats. We are still enjoying the ability to wear shorts for as long as we are as we know we are returning to winter weather soon.
One thing we have enjoyed lately is meeting quite a few more cruisers here at Marmaris. It seemed that more have shown up recently and quite a
few knew each other from other places they have been, so they have continued to get together here. We are meeting others from the US, some from Canada, Australia, Germany and numerous other places. I also got the chance to finally meet up in person with a cruiser that I have been a FB friend with for quite a long time – always nice when that happens. We learned that some will still be here through Christmas and others are staying all winter long. Sorry now that we won’t be here longer as it seems to be a fun group of people. Hopefully, we will be able to connect again in the Spring!
That is one thing we find with the cruising life – we get to meet so many wonderful people – some we stay long term friends and others are ones that you seem to only cross paths with once or twice. Either way, we get a chance to use our boat name in the way it was meant – saying Tsamaya when we part – or in other words, travel well!
We will only be in Marmaris a short time – once we are hauled
out, we have a few projects to do while she is on land, then we will be flying to Istanbul on December 5
th, spend a few days seeing more of the sights and then fly back to JFK on December 9
th.
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