Day 28: after eleven days of sailing, some valuable information about Blue Voyage

Resim yazısı ekle

Sailing in a 20m turkish gulet for two weeks, following the Lycian route from the sea, visiting the ruins of previous settlers, observing their daily usages by present day habitants, feeling the soul, smelling the iodine of the sea, wishing on the shooting stars... This is an experience which shakes you till your bottom, brings everything out that you have inside, wash you with salty water. 

I have done blue voyage tour twice before. They were all one week tours from Fethiye around Gocek bays. These ones were mostly away from open sea, at sheltered bays. I should except that Gocek bays may be one of the most beautiful bays area of the seas around the world but sailing till Kemer from Fethiye, somedays starting before the sun born just not to be caught to strong wind and waves at open sea makes you understand a little bit about a sailor's life and how small we are when the subject is the nature. This trip will cut all your connection with the world you are living. At some point internet and phone included.

Üçağız Village

Kekova from Simena Castle

We still have three more days to reach to Fethiye but till now we stopped at five special places to go to shore to see the ruins. These places were St. Nicolas Island, Olympos, Simena Castle, Phaselis and Patara. Also visited the harbours and villages of Üçağız, Finike, Çıralı, Kaş, Kalkan and Kemer. Stopped at bays over sixteen to swim or stay for the night like Turunç Pınarı, Ölüdeniz, Ayışığı, Salyangoz, Gökkayalar, Kekova...

Maden Bay where we stayed for one night

Blue voyage at Turkiye is not new. It has a history starting from a famous turkish writer Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı who is famous with his love to Bodrum and lived between 1890-1973. The turkish gulet type ships first made around Bodrum then spread to other locations of Turkiye. There are several routes of blue voyage that you can choose. They generaly start from Fethiye, Marmaris or Bodrum. Some routes also contain Greek islands like Rhodes, Symi or Kos. Of course these routes are more expensive than the ones around turkish shores. Blue voyage tours has two options... 

Private charter, in which you rent the whole gulet only for you and your group and nobody else. At this form of blue voyage, you have the chance to buy all the ingredients for your meals or leave it to gulet's cook. But in every case drinks will be extra.

Cabin charter, in which you rent a cabin of the gulet and sail with other people who rent the rest of the cabins. In this case, meals belong to the price but again, drinks are extra.

In a turkish gulet generally there are 4-8 cabins and each cabin is for two people. All cabins have their private toilet and shower. Gulets are categorized as standart and luxury. Standart gulets' one day price for private charter starts from 500€ at May, increases to 700€ at July and August, again decreases to 500€ at September. Tours are usually for one or two weeks and it is necessary to make reservation with the payment of %20 in advance. Of course these prices are the avarage rates for you to have an idea. And for the luxury ones these rates can be over 1000€. For cabin charter in a standart turkish gulet, one week for one person is around 400-500€ depending on the month and these prices are also avarage. Although you depend to the cook and his or her talent, you will have a nice and satisfying turkish breakfast, a relatively light lunch, some cookies with the evening tea, fish, meat or chicken with salads and different types of turkish mezes for the dinner. At least this is our menu for this trip with Sultan Suna. 

the turkish gulet named Sultan Suna at Salyangoz(Snail) Bay

Suna and Erdogan are the owners of this lovely turkish gulet Sultan Suna named after Suna. She is also the cook of the ship and a magician in the kitchen. Her fish soup, turkish mezes, traditional style rices and surprises like ottoman deserts are delicious enough to come back. The cabins and the bathrooms are clean as a hotel room and the kitchen as a house. They call themselves as a family boat where they try to make people feel themselves at home. Even when they come with their children.