KURUCABÜK

Dear readers, I usually begin my articles about places to visit by describing when and how I went there, evaluating its differences from the present according to my own perspective.

This month I want to take you to Datça Kurucabük. To the indispensable cove, the stopover and living point of long-term seafaring yachtsmen.

I first encountered this cove in the mid-1990s with my 10-meter boat. We were going to cruise from Datça to Kurucabük.

A family friend of ours lived here. We called to let them know we were coming.

We stocked up on all our provisions from Datça and set off.

There are 5 of us on the boat with 3 children (one is 5 months old). The refrigerator is small, gas-cooled, it's called a refrigerator. We put ice in the icebox under the bed to preserve our supplies.

It melts in 3 days, and cleaning out the water is the greatest punishment.

This is our first visit to Hisarönü Gulf and we don't know what we might encounter.

As soon as we drop anchor in Kurucabük, we witness our friends waiting for us on the shore waving their hands non-stop with joy as if we had crossed the ocean to get there.

We were expecting them to think, “These people have been at sea for months with children, coming from north to south. They might need a chair to sit on, a table to eat at without rocking, or perhaps a hot shower.”

But unfortunately, quite the opposite. Our friends shout from the shore, “We’re here, you can come alongside and pick us up.”

Perhaps they might want to see our conditions first, then we could take them to their accommodations or bring them ashore.

No such thing. First, the children started jumping from the boat into the sea, with parental insistence. “Jump, sweetheart, look how nice it is, jump.” Mothers to fathers “Come on, you jump too,” fathers to mothers “If you don’t jump, I won’t jump either, my love,” while we opened up the camping area for service.

Our 150-liter water tank is dying by evening. Finding water in the area is impossible.

While the father showers, he loves to hold the hose to his belly, chatting and caressing it, and the children love to rinse every last strand of their hair and repeat these actions every time they go in and out of the sea.

Ice-cold soft drinks were placed, after all, the ice is fresh. Then come the teas. “Sweetie, are you hungry?” Between ready-made provisions and stocks, we exhausted everything by evening.

We have no water, no provisions, and no place to shop at that time.

That's how we met Kurucabük. Now it has everything from its ice, water, the market that opens three days a week to its 2 large supermarkets, 2 restaurants, hairdresser, pharmacy, health center.

With the Aktur Holiday Village and its facilities established towards the nearby Çiftlik Bay, this location is an excellent place for those living at sea. It has a harmonious atmosphere with the camping site in the forest.

The air is excellent, humidity is very low. Fishermen bring fresh fish every day. If boats run out of water, the taps on the shore are at the service of us sailors.

Half of the bay has excellent holding ground, half has a vermicelli-like bottom structure. Since gulet boats cannot enter the sandy area, they generally make safe harbor on the opposite side from the shore to land.

Walking and sports facilities are available at the shoreline establishments. There is even an area where boats of those who bought a boat at the holiday village but did not continue this pursuit are gathered while walking.

Although it's used as storage, I've been observing for a few years, most boats seem abandoned in the same place. I don't want to call it a boat graveyard.

In our country where people dream of being able to buy a small boat, it is very painful to see beautiful boats, far beyond those dreams, left to rot.

I am in love with this cove and I stay frequently. The market is set up 3 days a week and is excellent. A complete tour under the pines on its flat shaded paths; 4 km..

I don't know what more to tell. In this article, I wanted to talk with friends who, like me, are in love with this cove and stay almost permanently. How they started sailing, what they have done, and why they are here.

What keeps them in Kurucabük?

Generally, families live on their boats here. Everyone knows each other, they live in friendships and solidarity.

Apart from other coves visited occasionally, I am sure that when the anchor is dropped in Kurucabük, a sigh of relief rises from within them.

First, I wanted to talk with Ümit Yücel, who has devoted his heart to the sea. He is my walking companion when I come here.

He lives alone on his boat. Last year, at the beginning of summer, he said let me take a break from this and sold his boat.

When I was going to Kurucabük for this article, I called him by phone thinking he would be ashore.

He couldn't resist and bought a new boat, anchored in Kurucabük.

ÜMİT YÜCEL

“My father was a head teacher in the Ayancık district of Sinop. We lived in an old wooden villa by the sea. Since the front of the house faced the sea, we were intertwined with the sea. Back then, nobody even went into the sea.

My father was assigned to Sinop. He had a house built by the sea. He bought a dinghy and we started to become even more intertwined with the sea. This togetherness took root in me as a passion.

When I went to Istanbul for university education in 1959, I inevitably distanced myself from the sea except for summer holidays.

I became a Civil Engineer and started my professional life.

In the early years, while working in Istanbul, I had started to enjoy the sea again with my family.

Later, all the projects I worked on took place in remote corners of Anatolia, far from the sea.

I had no connection with the sea anymore. 20 years ago, I bought my Beneteau 311 yacht. I moored it in Istanbul.

In winters, when I came from construction sites, I would sail. After using this boat for 8 years, I bought a Bavaria 42.

I left it in the south. 8 years ago, I retired and went to sea completely.

This year, I intended to sell the boat and live on land for a few years. I wanted to travel to places I hadn’t seen in the world.

I settled in Marmaris. But life on land was hard for me. I realized I had lost everything.

All my friends remained at sea; I was going to make new friends on land.

I changed my decision again to continue living at sea and bought the current Nauticat 38 boat.

An old boat but seaworthy. Built to live in.

Now I have reunited with my friends.

Reşat Uca recommended this bay to me.

All the bays of Hisarönü Gulf are excellent. Kurucabük is a harbor for all weather conditions except southerly winds.

There are houses on the shore, shopping centers. I have groups I play backgammon with, groups I play bridge with.

I play violin on the boat every day. In my opinion, if you love the sea, the only address is Hisarönü Gulf.

Sailors asked each other "Where is Paradise?" One said "If it's on earth, it's Hisarönü Gulf. If it's underground, it's beneath Hisarönü Gulf."

I jump from Ümit Yücel's boat to my dinghy and move to the boat of a couple I just met.

New sailors. Those who have gone to sea and found peace here. They've even set an anchor close to shore.

While sipping our coffees on their beautiful, charming boat, I listen to their stories.

ŞENNUR-YÜCE UYANIK

"We've been at sea for 3 years. For many years I worked in management, university teaching, finance, foreign trade and sales.

Whenever I found a 4-4.5 month break in summer during my professional life, I immediately took action. The sea was a dream, it became real for us.

I wanted to buy a sailing boat. We found a boat from a Dutch family. A 1990 model Catalina36. After buying the boat, we received intensive sailing training. After a while, we set sail on our own with ignorant courage.

We discovered Kurucabük. It's an excellent place and has every facility. We stayed here for 1.5 months. We dreamed of this place throughout all the winter months. The clarity of its water, being sheltered, and meeting many of our friends connected us to Kurucabük.

This year at the beginning of summer we traveled around a bit. We went to Gökova and returned to our nest. We had planned this in winter, now we're realizing it. We're always here except for 1-2 day trips we make to different coves, and we'll stay until September. We play bridge with friends on land on certain days of the week."

I'm getting off from the Uyanık family's boat onto the wooden dock.

The entire Öztürk family is there. I've known the couple Kevser-Mustafa Öztürk for many years. A true sea enthusiast.

They live on the boat 12 months a year. Mrs. Kevser loves to walk in marinas and coves.

If you're in the same cove, if you see someone in the sea very early in the morning from time to time, it's definitely Mrs. Kevser.

Their 3 daughters, sons-in-law, and grandchildren never leave them alone, especially during the summer months.

A complete environmentalist, this family is among the Kurucabük lovers.

We filmed them with their daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren at the dock, and we talked.

KEVSER-MUSTAFA ÖZTÜRK

“We started with our passion for windsurfing. We bought a small boat and gradually expanded it. Since 2003, we have been on our current boat. 9.5 meters, enough for two people.

In summer, we can accommodate seven people using the upper sections.

Children, grandchildren come. Our 3 daughters and grandchildren love the sea very much.

Our youngest grandson Deniz Ali never leaves our side. This lifestyle enriches our life.

We prefer the coves of Hisarönü Gulf, especially Kurucabük. Friendships, supply facilities are very good.

The docks are comfortable, we benefit from solar energy and don't experience power shortages.

Since the wind blows from the land, the cove is very clean.

We generally prepare our meals on the boat. Besides, there are restaurants here.

This year the seas cooled late, we were able to set out in early June and we are here until mid-November.

Yeşilova Gulf is also our second alternative.

Our greatest desire is to use nature here as it deserves and deliver a clean world to future generations.”

As we were finishing the interview with the Öztürk family, we were about to enter the evening. A soft light and calm atmosphere prevailed in the cove. From within this silence came a sweet ney sound from the Biricik boat in the distance.

In order not to disturb this sound, I was by the boat with oars, without even starting the dinghy's engine. It was Adnan Biricik, the head and captain of the Biricik family, who was bringing life to the notes.

Adnan is truly my childhood friend from the Conservatory and State Theaters.

After living in separate cities for years, our paths crossed at sea. He lives in Istanbul.

He is one of those who have won our hearts with his successful roles in many theater plays, the characters he portrayed in series, and his successful voice in commercial voice-overs.

I was newly witnessing his interest and talent in playing the ney. For years, he lives on his boat with his children, makes them love nature and the sea, and prepares them for life by enabling them to gain different experiences from their peers.

I am mooring to his beloved boat, let's start our conversation together with his wife Arzu and their children.

ARZU-ADNAN BİRİCİK

“We have been at sea for 12 years. Before that, we traveled with a caravan for 16 years. We traveled around Turkey and Europe. Then the campgrounds in our country closed down.

A friend had posted an ad saying caravans could be exchanged for boats. We acquired a 34.1 feet Danish-built boat.

We cruise the seas with this 3-cabin boat.

We also had a summer house in the northern Aegean, but we sold it.

Because having a boat and a summer house together doesn't work.

We stayed with our boat in that region, but unfortunately we couldn't get that pleasure.

There, the coves are full of boats during the day, but when evening comes, everyone goes to their marina, their harbor.

We are accustomed to living together, sharing.

In the north, the sea is rough, there is hardly any greenery.

This didn't suit us and we moved back down south.

Kurucabük is a corner of paradise.

There is no old activity on the state forest land at the shore. We are worried that it might become a hotel or something.

Those who come to this uncontrolled area for picnics also litter and leave. A week later when they return, we even encounter those who say "Who left these?"

Having a market, pharmacy, hairdresser, and water is an invaluable opportunity for those living as a family like us.

We are enjoying the taste of freedom under the sky dome.

Occasionally we want to experience civilization. That is also readily available on the shore.

We make every meal on the boat that can be made at home. Because we have children.

The children are literally living in a documentary. They recognize the stars and fish. They learn about the wind, meteorology, and precaution.

Marina fees are very high, the state does not give importance to the sea. We stubbornly deal with the sea."

I leave the Biricik family and approach another regular boat in the cove. I am going to visit a couple who generally live in Italy during the winter months and cruise our waters in the summer months.

They usually stay in this cove with their aluminum boat. They stock up and set sail for distant places.

Başak Bartu and Giampaolo Gentili greet me. While we chat in the cockpit, Başak tells about their sea life and Kurucabük on behalf of both of them.

BAŞAK BARTU-GIAMPAOLO GENTILI

In 2008, we sold our house and bought a sailboat we had been dreaming of for a long time. After using the boat like a home at Tecnomar Marina in Rome for the next two years, when we finally said goodbye to our jobs that tied us to the hustle and stress of daily life in 2010, I was only 32 and my husband Giampaolo was 36 years old.

Over time, we traveled to many places from the southern coasts of France to the west of Italy, from Corsica to the islands of Sardinia and Sicily.

We had many adventures, but in our opinion, the greatest adventure we experienced was our success in combining a low-budget life with living on a boat, which many people might consider exclusive only to the wealthy.

In his book titled "You Can Do It – How to Live a Dream Life on 500 Euros a Month," which has attracted great media attention since its publication in Italy in 2013 and which we plan to publish soon in Turkey, Giampaolo describes in detail the development of this choice and how it is possible technically and ethically.

In his second book to be published this year under the title "You Should Do It," he will examine what a choice made by targeting a life based on reducing consumption brings first to the individual as a person, then to society and nature.

As for me, taking refuge in my Food Engineering title, I am in the preparation of a book in which I will address what overproduction in the food sector and the related overconsumption and waste cause us and nature to lose, and prove that healthy and ethical nutrition is possible with a low budget.

Since we started living at sea, we have begun to better realize the importance of nature. Humans can only preserve their humanity as long as they can maintain their connection with nature.

In our routes, we prefer untouched places instead of famous bays adorned with concrete. Our Italian guests, who come to receive coaching training to live a week of our dream-like life and adapt this experience to their own lives, are amazed by Turkey's pristine coves.

Especially after seeing places like Kurucabük with their own eyes, they start to wholeheartedly believe that the life we promote can truly be possible.

Indeed, everything that could be of vital importance for everyone living on a boat is available here: affordable shopping opportunities, nature where chaotic construction is not seen, crystal-clear sea, a geography that offers protection from summer winds, our boat neighbors, the opportunity to exercise on land and have a beer without damaging the wallet.

But I can't help biting my tongue while saying these things, because when the attractiveness of a place is heard from many mouths, not only in our country but as in every corner of the world, that place's end is somehow prepared.

People see no harm in coming to places whose pristineness they admire and building houses or erecting hotels or, at the very least, sharing that beauty with the trash they create. We hope that the legacy we leave to future generations will be full of geography with unspoiled naturalness rather than property and possessions."

Başak and Giampaolo produced a video during their voyages in our country's waters.

Yes, dear sailing friends, as we evaluate Kurucabük Cove and its surroundings and complete our time together in this issue, it's time to weigh anchor and set sail for the next article.

Let's see where we are, what we'll see, and what we'll experience to share with you.

Stay healthy.