October 10 – 12, 2015 —
From Bozburum we headed to Marmaris, our planned winter destination. Arriving on a Saturday night may have not been a good beginning. Marmaris is a bustling city on the waterfront. Walking along the harbor we found it to be loud, busy, and waiters in every restaurant hustling us to dine there. The marina where we were berthed, Netsel Marina, might as well be part of the city, it is right there. The party atmosphere and volume of neon lights seemed odd for our initial perception of a Muslim country. 
We got back to the boat with doubts about our decision.
With a night of sleep and hopefully better perspective, we headed out again around the town, this time finding the amazing resources the town has to offer, most specifically boat part stores supporting almost everything we have on the boat. One entire section of the city (about a ten block area) is nothing but chandlers. After struggling to find parts through Greece, this is a candy shop. The boat project list has been growing and now we can start knocking things off. In addition, as we walked the back streets, the town came more to life showing a strong local Turkish culture, away from the tourists. That we will enjoy.
We also spent the better part of two days selecting a marina for the winter. The choices were Netsel Marina and Yacht Marine. We had reservations at both and with less than two weeks before our scheduled arrival we needed to make a decision and cancel one or the other. After experiencing the overwhelming night life at Netsel Marina which is right in the town of Marmaris our leaning was towards Yacht Marine, about a 30 minute bus ride on the other side of the harbor. We had heard Yacht Marine was more like a boat yard than a marina but had also heard that people were satisfied being there for the winter. We went to the marina to check it out and talk with whoever we could find. Our first impressions were favorable but the more time we spent there the more we realized how isolated it would be. Although many people wintered there, it seemed that a lot of people would leave for most of the winter and come back in the spring. Also, it really was a boat yard clearly with a lot of boat work going on all the time. It was also packed with boats which would likely mean long distances to shore services, it was less protected from the storms, and it just did not have a “live-aboard” feel. Probably the biggest plus and the one that caused us the greatest consternation was the fact that it was less than half the price of the other. We flip flopped several times on the decision, more than we expected we would, and finally settled on Netsel–we wanted a community for the winter. We just didn’t like the idea of living in a “boat yard” and the access to the town for shopping, markets and boat parts was a real plus. Who knows, maybe the party animal in us will be unleashed and we’ll take in all the night life while there…
Marmaris was partially flattened in an earthquake that caused major destruction throughout the entire southern part of Turkey in 1958. 
Remaining is the old town, a very small area that weaves its way up a hill of narrow walkways with uneven pavement. At the top is Marmaris Castle, dated from 1522. It is where Suleyman the Magnificent gathered his 200,000 troops to capture the now Greek island of Rhodes. Today it is a small museum with wonderful views of the city and harbor from the top of the castle walls.
We stopped at a small market in one of the squares and talked with a local man and his wife who were selling some produce and jams. His English was excellent and he told us with great pride about their garden. What she lacked in English, she more than made up for in her enthusiasm about her olive oils and jams. We will enjoy them this winter. At the moment pomegranates, olives and limes are hanging ripe from trees everywhere, and we are enjoying pomegranate seeds every morning in yogurt. This was a good beginning to what we hope will be an opportunity to get to know some local Turkish families and learn, first hand, about their history, culture and foods.