Kekova

After 2 months of solid working we finally took Talaria out for a sail.  We needed to do a shakedown sail to make sure everything still works (and that we know how to work it after all this time) so we decided to sail over to the island of Kekova.  During the "tourist" season boat trips to Kekova are big business as the island has an interesting history.

Modern town on Kekova

 There was once a town perched on the hillside similar to this modern town.  And then one day there was an earthquake and much of the town sank into the sea.  The remains of the town are preserved under the water and some of it still stands on the hillside.  Swimming is not allowed in the region but you can view the submerged ruins via boat or kayak.  To be honest we never got close enough to the shore to see anything under the water as we were worried about the depths up that close.  If we did not have a 6 feet keel underneath the boat we might  have chanced it.  Nonetheless it was a beautiful day and we were able to see what was left of the town on the hill.  

Remains of town that sank on Kekova

 If you look closely you can see the walls and some steps.

Walls of house

 The stone here is very soft so even without tools they were able to carve out walls and build houses.  Unfortunately, some folks felt the need to leave their mark on these ruins.  Turkish graffiti!

Steps

 Imagine just having your coffee one day and all of a sudden your whole town just slips into the sea.  That would ruin the day.  They actually did rebuild but eventually abandoned their town - not due to fear of mother nature but rather out of fear of their neighbors.  

Stacked rock walls

All and all a great day.  And I am happy to report that all systems did work so that was great news.  There is still much to do but we are slowly making headway.  On our way back to Kaş we saw a couple more sailboats.  One from Australia and the other from the US!  Small, small world that we live in and shrinking every day!  We are planning to take a road trip with our friends up to an area called Cappadocia before we sail to Marmaris for yet more boat work.  Our starboard fuel tank sprang a leak and must be replaced.  That work cannot be done here so we well be heading to Marmaris which is a bigger city.  More news on the road trip soon.