We’ve just touched down at Dalaman airport, Southern Turkey and it’s June 2024. It’s our first time bareboat chartering as a family and we’ve chosen a four-day family charter around the western extent of Turkey’s Lycian Coast.

I’m a bag of nervous excitement, having spent the entire four-hour flight from the UK poring over the details of hand scribbled notes I’ve made on photocopied pages taken from the Turkish Waters and Cyprus Pilot by Rod and Lu Heikell. I’ve also checked and re-checked the five-day forecast for Fethiye a dozen times in the last couple of days, paranoid an unseasonal weather bomb might materialise within the next few days. So far so good though. The forecast paints an idyllic picture; no rain, 30-plus degrees Celsius every day, and gusts ranging from 8-15 knots. So why am I so anxious for this family charter?

As a self-confessed novice Day Skipper this will be the first time I’ve taken my wife Rachel and our two young sons, Noah (12) and Oliver (10) on a family charter. It’s also the culmination of a good couple of years of me lobbying for this to happen. Hence, I’m working double shift to make sure things go as smoothly as they can.

Dancefloor, a Beneteau Oceanis 38.1, was the perfect charter boat for building confidence on for the Willis family. Photo: Iain Willis

I’ve chartered several times since I got my Day Skipper’s back in 2017 and while I now have a few hundred miles under my belt skippering in other cruising grounds such as Thailand, Malaysia and Croatia, it’ll be the first time where I’m only person on board with previous sailing experience.

With bags in tow, we arrive at the charter offices in the delightful Ece Marina, Fethiye. It’s a fabulous setting, tucked snugly into the far south-west corner of the bay while still only being a five-minute walk from the bustling quayside of restaurants and shops. The marina is also well stocked with spacious showering facilities, a restaurant, chandlery, and supermarket. After loading up with provisions, getting our paperwork in order and doing a boat inventory check, Dancefloor, a 2022 Beneteau Oceanis 38.1 and our home for the next few days, is ready to set sail. For a family of four, she’s an ideal size, with the boys having a cabin each in the stern and a generous double berth in the bow for me and Rachel.

Designating Duties for the Family Charter

Bathed in mid-afternoon sunshine we chat through our planned route and first night’s anchorage. More immediately though, we discuss each person’s role in helping leave a tight berth. The boys do a fine job of releasing the stern slips as Rachel releases the lazyline and we gently motor out of the marina. Trundling out of the bay we plot our course for the Kapidağ peninsula, a mountainous coastline around 20 miles west of Fethiye that shields a gulf of water known as Skopea Limani.

Iain, Rachel, and their sons Noah and Oliver enjoy lunch at Sarsala Bay. Photo: Iain Willis

A brief look back on Fethiye provides a stark reminder of the 3,500 years of Mediterranean history visible all along this coast. Originally settled by an ancient culture known as the Lycians, the last two millennia have seen this region ruled by the Romans, Byzantine, Ottoman and finally the Turks. Sitting above the ruins of a Roman amphitheatre behind the harbour are incredibly well preserved Lycian tombs dating back to 1,500 BC carved directly into the cliff face.

As the wind picks up in the bay, we raise the sails and switch off the engine. The prevailing wind in the Aegean during summer is the Meltemi. This dry summer wind emanates from the north of the Aegean, tending to increase in strength from late morning through to mid-afternoon. As the Meltemi curves around the Turkish coast, it is experienced on the Lycian coast predominantly as a north-westerly to westerly.

As we tack towards our anchorage on the eastern side of the Kapidağ peninsula, the Meltemi was light, perhaps 9-12 knots, and while it made for slow passage across the bay, it provides an ideal opportunity to get the crew acquainted with sailing upwind. Rachel and the boys quickly familiarised themselves with the sails and rigging, each taking a turn
at the helm.

At this point it’s worth mentioning two major benefits that Dancefloor had for solo-sailors or those like me with a young family in tow. The first was the in-mast furling mainsail. Now a common feature with many new yachts, this makes furling, unfurling and particularly reefing a mainsail a one-man job. The second was the self-tacking jib. While I appreciate this could make for a couple of idle crew members, with a young family on board this allowed me valuable time to focus on the helm.

It was late afternoon as we approached our intended anchorage and dropped sails. We’d discussed a plan to drop anchor in the small bay and attach a couple of stern lines ashore to large rocks or trees – a very common practice in this region of the Mediterranean. Our intended bay was very small with a large catamaran and another monohull having already taken up most of the space. Due to the curvature of the bay and the seabed depths rapidly dropping off, it was going to be impossible to lay an anchor down without it crossing our neighbour’s. Time for Plan B. With lots of other anchorages very close by we motored into the next bay. It was at this point I looked back across in the direction of Fethiye and saw a small squall had developed and the wind had done a 180, as wind and waves were heading westwards.

Looking back at the anchorage in Tomb Bay. Photo: Iain Willis

While the neighbouring bay was much larger, with several areas to anchor, we now had 1m waves coming directly into the bay. As we tried to lay anchor and put a line to shore, the crosswinds and waves were pushing us uncomfortably towards neighbouring boats that had anchored earlier. I tried for around 30 minutes but it was clear it wasn’t going to be easy. With the tender dragging behind us, we tried another part of the bay only to realise the distance to shore off the starboard quarter was just in excess of the length of rope we had to put a line to shore. With the waves still causing an issue we started to motor out of the bay. And then BANG!

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Outboard Overboard

It took me a couple of seconds to realise what had happened. Oliver turned to me: ‘Dad, where’s the outboard?’ I looked back and sure enough the outboard on the tender was now missing. It must have banged into the side of the boat and come loose. With the waves still causing an issue, and an hour or so of good light, there was no way I could do anything about it, even if I could swim deep enough to find it. I’d just have to apologise profusely to the charter company.

It was time to consider Plan C, heading through the narrow channel between the peninsula and the island of Domuz Adasi to one of the more sheltered anchorages and moorings on the western side of the peninsula. On the verge of shifting plans, and within the space of a few minutes, the squall suddenly passed and the wind and waves abated to a quiet calm in the bay. We laid anchor, secured the stern lines to two large rocks diagonally off the stern and switched the engine off. A nice dinner and a serene, starry night followed.

Despite the difficulties anchoring the night before, holding out for this location felt entirely justified the next morning as we were greeted with a spectacular sunrise over the West Taurus mountains. After breakfast, we all took the plunge for an early morning snorkel in the crystal clear waters surrounding our stern lines.

Flat and Fast

Mid-morning we passed through the narrow channel and into the gulf of Skopea Limani. Though only two miles across at its widest point, the gulf offers exhilarating sailing conditions as the Meltemi is channelled through the low-lying hills of the Kapidağ peninsula bringing 20 knot winds and flat water. With a reefed mainsail and jib we spent much of the day tacking back and forth across the gulf as Dancefloor gently heeled. During a brief stop for lunch in a restaurant in the popular Manastir Koyu bay, we bumped into one of the famous floating supermarkets and topped up on a few essentials.

Iain, Noah and Oliver catch up on food essentials in Manastir Koyu. Photo: Iain Willis

Mid-afternoon, and with the wind backing us, letting out the mainsheet we put the boat on a broad reach and cruised down to Tasyaka, our second anchorage for the trip. The colloquial name for this location is ‘Tomb Bay’, owing to the Lycian tombs clearly visible in the cliffs above the bay.

The next day we continued to enjoy the sailing in Skopea Limani before having a late lunch at a restaurant in Sarsala Isk. As per our chartering conditions, we were required to get the boat back to its berth in Fethiye by late afternoon. Slipping back through the narrow channel and with the Meltemi behind us in the bay, we made good time as we headed back to the marina.

With the boys now well drilled in martialling their stern lines, we reversed slowly back into our original mooring. Rachel hauled the layline out of the water and secured the bow before the charter team met us to help tighten up.

Ripples and Reflections

As we settled down for our final night on the boat, we reflected on what each of us had learned and enjoyed the most from the trip. For Noah it was the revelation of the boat’s autopilot and chart plotter; for Oliver it was the exhilarating sailing in Skopea Limani, for Rachel it was swimming in the crystal clear waters of our anchorages, but for me, it was something less tangible; that warm feeling you get when you see others enjoying something you had desperately hoped they’d like. As we stepped off Dancefloor the next morning, the only regret was that our trip had ended far too soon.

Family Charter Lessons Learned

Take it slowly

Allow yourself lots of time to get settled at your preferred anchorage/marina. Expect delays, adverse weather and have a back-up plan such as other anchorages.

The crew soon got used to taking lines ashore in anchorages like Tomb Bay. Photo: Iain Willis

Know your limits

It’s important to know the limits of what you can and can’t do as well as your crew. For example, more complex manoeuvres should be avoided with an uninitiated crew. It took us a while to all get familiar with how to moor the boat.

Communicate

Talk through your plan for the day, as well as each person’s role in detail before you set off as well as during each major transition as it comes, whether this involves leaving/returning to a marina, putting up the sails, or anchoring.

Choose your boat

The rig is an important consideration with young families. Having an in-mast furling mainsail and self-tacking jib helped enormously with reefing and tacking.

Iain is research director for a reinsurance intermediary. His wife Rachel works in the pastoral team of a local school. He and Rachel live with their sons Noah and Oliver in York. Photo: Iain Willis

Damage waiver

Make sure you know what is and isn’t covered by the charter company. If you do damage your boat or lose any of the equipment, let them know straight away so they can repair the boat or replace the kit. They may even have an outboard they can give you for the rest of the charter. You’re more likely to have problems with damage deposits if you try to hide anything.

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