Kemer, Another Tearful Goodbye

Arriving at Kemer Marina

Arriving at Kemer was a bit like visiting my favourite Aunt Doris’ house. You feel like you belong right away and after about 5 minutes you feel like you have never left. Everyone in the staff was welcoming – the Marina manager came and shook our hands, Nazli in the office walked us over to Customs and arranged for us to be back in Turkey legally. Then we went to ‘Happy Hour’ at the Navigator and caught up with the other Kemer Cruisers and the staff. Probably the only disappointment was ‘Mom’ the cat we befriended the last time and thought about adopting for Tara – she has become ‘Mouzie’ and has chosen another family and was pretty much indifferent to us.

The next day we were already entered into the Tennis tournament – that Marina and her partner Ellie won. Ellie is the grandmother of Elise – the girl that was friends with Ross and Jessie. Elise was back at school in Holland so unfortunately there weren’t any kids for ours to hang out with.



Kemer Friends saying goodbye...from left to right:
Eliza, Chris, John, Corrine, Susan, Ben and Mike



We reconnected with Ben and Eliza from Waterloo, John and Chris for tennis, Jaap and his new puppy Quispo (tailwagger) were a big hit with Jessie, Corinne and Mike, and Herri – the uber-loud Switzer-Deutch fellow with the ducks. Not a lot had changed; the weather was a little cooler and definitely rainier.


Offices and Tower of Kemer Marina



We settled into a great routine, fixed a couple of boat problems, played tennis every day, did a little bit of work and school and started to plan our trip west. I looks like about 13-15 travel days to get to Kefalonia – the jumping off point from Greece to Italy. The one key thing about a journey is that it must start with the first step …. And for us that first step is leaving Kemer. It would be so easy to chain your boat to the dock here. The weather is fantastic, the town has all sorts of amenities, there’s a diverse and interesting group of people there, there are constant activities – fitness, language lessons, art, music, concerts, tennis, hiking and a daily radio-net that allows you to stay in touch with everyone and everything.



A last look back.

We arrived on a Friday and left on Thursday … so less than a week, but if you were to ask any one of us, it felt like we had been there for quite a while … and in a good way. So Thursday morning arrived, and we got up a little bit early paid the bill, took back books to the library, filled up the water tanks and called the marina guys to let off our moorings. Then an impromptu send-off party happened. Ben, Eliza, Corinne, Mike, Chris and John met us our dock to send us off. When we cast off the lines, Herri gave us a 5 horn-honk send-off. Mustafa from the Navigator pub started ringing the bell out front of the pub and waving frantically …. Wow … like we’ve said before a marina that thinks it’s a yacht club.

It is sad to think that it may be the last time we are ever in Kemer … I guess we need to start planning the next trip pretty soon.

Forward to new adventures...