Who’s on the trip? Well, in no particular order: Mona – who did a similar trip 4 years ago. It seemed like such a good time that Mark & I decided that’s what we should do someday. Adrienne, Lindsay and Edwina - friends from the Cornerstone, the condo that we live in. Neena and Chris – long-time buddies from when I worked at Cymbolic Sciences in 1996, and the Van Dandies. That is Vanda, Dan, and Brandie – exercise buddies.  A great crew indeed!

The ship is run by the captain, Halil. He’s 45 years old and has been working on the sea since he was 15. There’s a chef, Osman, who we rarely see – he barely comes out of his galley. And no wonder – with all that food he’s preparing. He’s genius at re-using things that we don’t finish off. He’s been on the crew for 2 years. And there’s Ramazan – Halil described him as the first mate. He’s all of 19 years old and has been doing this for 3 years, and is going to University in the winter. I haven’t got the back story on Yildirim and Emre yet, but we’re only halfway through the trip. There’s still time.

Yesterday was the 60^th birthday of Lindsay Miles. We had a bust out dance party, complete with crazy outfits. We found a most excellent hat in Selimiye, one of the towns that we went to, just perfect for a guy like Lindsay. 

Mark and Dan were in fine form – brothers from another mother. I only got a little concerned when the pole dancing started. It wasn’t like stripper pole dancing, more like swinging around one of the canopy supports out over the side of the boat using arms. Mona’s jingly belly dance skirt looked positively fetching on both of them, especially combined with the belly shirts Brandie fashioned for them. I think there might be a lot of blackmail photos.

July 6 - halfway through the trip. At least the luxurious yachting part of the trip. It is a challenge to find time to blog as the people on this trip are all interesting and have lots of stories to share. If I disappear below I get FOMO (fear of missing out)! But it’s pretty quiet right now as we motor to yet another beautiful cove, bay or town. I’m not sure where we’re headed today, but thankfully, it really doesn’t matter.

Our typical day starts at about 7:00 – 7:30, which is what time we naturally wake up. We generally have been donning swimming togs for a quick dip – anywhere between 1000 – 1500 meters. We have to do something to counteract all the great food and alcohol we are consuming! That, and the water is an impossible shade of blue, cool enough to be refreshing but not cold, and salty enough to make swimming pretty darn effortless. It’s like swimming with a pull buoy because you’re so buoyant.

After the swim, breakfast is usually ready and the bell rings. That’s our signal to gather around the food laden table. A typical breakfast includes: eggs of some sort, cucumbers, tomatoes, 3 kinds of cheese (feta, halloumi, and another local variety), fresh fruit (watermelon, honeydew-type melon, apricots, cherries, bananas, nectarines, pears, oranges), sometimes sausages that look suspiciously like baby Oscar Meyer wieners, bread or toast, 2 types of honey, and 4 types of jam. Not that bad of a spread!

After breakfast, we typically have been motoring off to another bay. It might be a small town, it might be some ruins, it might be a long sandy spit. It doesn’t really matter – we just get to relax, read books, and watch the beautiful islands sail by.

We will explore for a bit, play in the water for a bit (pig in the middle anyone?), float around on pool noodles, maybe try water skiing, or tubing, or hang about and read some more. I’m halfway through a book already! It’s totally luxurious to have this much time to read and to visit with people.

Sometimes when we're anchored, local people will come by in a little boat offering to sell us Turkish towels and tablecloths, or ice cream.  The towel sellers were the most charming as they sang out "Hello lady!" to get our attention, and then tossed stacks of towels up to us so we could check them out.

The crew gets up early, around 6:30am to wipe down the rails, rinse the deck, and generally polish up the boat. We passengers of course, emerge from our cabins as we desire, and spend some quiet time easing into the new day.  Some do yoga on the top deck, while others read and sip Turkish tea or coffee.  Brandie, Dan, Mark, and I chose to go for a 45 minute swim up the inlet while the water was at its most calm.  On the way back to our boat we were met by the young man in a little working boat who asked if we wanted to buy some of his fresh bread. J

We had breakfast at anchor and then off we headed, past a spectacular looking luxury hotel with mega yachts anchored in the bay, and into another inlet about half an hour away where we dropped the hook near a long red pebbly spit. The spit was submerged by a foot or two for most of its length so everybody swam over and splashed out to the end of it. This was followed by a rousing game of keep away which had two people in the middle and was played with a yellow plastic volleyball.  When we’d tired ourselves out we swam back to the boat and prepared for some water skiing. Lindsay was first up and the only one to demonstrate the single ski technique.  Mona too revealed her many years of youthful summers spent behind a boat with her effortless looking go-round. Others had varying degrees of success and were unfortunately reminded that water skiing at 50 is not quite the same as it was when you were 15. The sound of the ships bell summoned us to a well-earned lunch.

Breakfast at anchor and then we motored off to the seaside town of Datca.  Three hours of shore leave was more than enough time to explore the town and walk down the road a couple of kilometres to Eski Datca (Old Datca).  It was worth the trek because it was a quaint village with stone houses and cobble streets very reminiscent of an old Italian village. 

Lunch was on board under the bimini at the big table on the aft deck where we’ve eaten all of our meals so far.  Even with the cover above, the sun was baking us, so it was a welcome relief to pull away from the quay and head out into the wind in the straight.  As hoped, the captain decided to take advantage of the 20+ knot following wind and had the crew put up the main and foresails.  What a great feeling as we cut the engine and quietly sailed along. Even the crew seemed to be enjoying the occasion because we saw them get out their selfie-stick and pose for a photo…

We anchored for the night in a fairly narrow inlet surrounded by pine covered hills.  It was very protected so we enjoyed calm winds, relaxed swimming around the boat, and another lovely dinner above deck.  The wasps from shore threatened to disrupt our meal before we even sat down but Neena grabbed the big blue swim fins and single-mindedly hunted them all down.

July 2nd we were woken up early – 5:20 am! I know that is not normally early for me, but now that I’m on Turkey time, I’ve been sleeping until 7:30 or 8:30! The anchor was being raised, and when you’re in the v-berth, it’s right over your head. And loud! The crew was preparing to make the 3 hour open crossing to the tip of the Datca peninsula while the winds were still calm. Next stop, the ancient port and ruins of Knidos.

After breakfast aboard, we hiked up to the lookout, and then further on to the lighthouse. Mark the mountain goat took Brandie, Mona and I off the beaten track and we had to follow the goat path. Not easy going and we may be bringing some scars home. We were on shore for about 3 hours, hiking and exploring the ruins. Back to the boat for a quick dip to wash off the dust, and then we were off to another bay for lunch.

This is a life I could get used to. Currently we are enjoying happy hour in yet another bay, with some great tunes and of course good company. 

At last we are on our lovely yacht called the Ugur, which comes with a captain and four crew who are great eye candy (if you’re a girl or a gay man).  It was a bit of an ordeal to get the boat stocked with “supplies”. We each bought a bottle at the duty free so there were already 9 bottles of gin and 2 bottles of vodka packed (because what’s a vacation without the requisite gin and tonic?) However, it’s hard to know just how much wine and beer 11 people are going to drink in 10 days!

At breakfast we came up with the shopping list and Neena, Chris, and I went to the Carrefour grocery store near our hotel to quickly stock up:

·         7 cases of wine (3 white, 3 red, & 1 rose)

·         150 beer

·         One bottle each of Campari, Vermouth, and Raki

·         36 litres of tonic

·        -Fanta and sprite for shandies

·         Lemons and oranges for garnish

Just a little grocery list, but it proved to be a bit of a challenge, to be sure. When one doesn’t speak Turkish, and is in a country where the people don’t drink much, it’s a little difficult for them to conceive of the amount of booze we were buying. So after 90 minutes (!) of working through explaining what we wanted, and trying to pay for it, we were loaded into a taxi and on our way to the marina. Interestingly we topped out the cash register at 850 Turkish Lira. That’s about 425.00 Canadian, and was the maximum they could process. We had to pay the bill and start again. In the end it took two stores and three transactions.

Bodrum is a playground for the rich. The town has a lovely marina kind of like Cannes or Monte Carlo with boat after boat tied stern to along the quay. The Van Dandies (Vanda, Dan & Brandie) spotted the Ugur the night before we were to embark, so we actually got to go aboard early for a short introduction to the owner and crew.

We left Bodrum at 1:15pm which was actually 45 minutes before we were originally supposed to embark. So great! There was a welcome bottle of bubbles, and we motored out for about an hour, then dropped the hook and stern tied to shore in a small cove. It took all of 5 minutes before we were in the turquoise Aegean water, but let me say, it was a little more refreshing than expected! Lunch was shortly thereafter, followed by naps and reading and general chilling out.

Later Dandie, Mark, and I did a 1.5 km swim – we hopped off and swam around our yacht and went away around the point together. There are very many beautiful yachts in these waters and there’s also the requisite party boats of course – we saw the Black Pear which upon closer inspection was called the Black Pearl. D’oh! It was hilariously decked out with fake black tattered sails as if it was from the Pirates of the Caribbean.

Dinner was late-ish, around 8:30, and surprisingly it was almost chilly in the breeze on deck. The food has been wonderful. We opted for a variety of Turkish food instead of say, European food. Definitely a good call! Stayed up late playing humdingers and finding out more about everyone. Just when you think you know someone, an interesting question comes up and you find out more. This has already been a fantastic trip, and there’s more yet to come.

Wow. It’s been a busy few days! We’ve been checking out the sights and sounds of Istanbul. We hired a guide for a day (thank you Neena) who took us to all the major attractions...

First up, the Blue Mosque. My nun-like black icebreaker outfit was deemed inappropriate by the reviewers at the entrance -- skirt too short. I received a fabulous blue cotton sheet to wear over top of my skirt so that my knees were covered. Heavens!

Next, the Underground Cistern. So beautiful! And there’s an interesting story on how it was lost for 500 years – I guess people just forgot about it. Ask Mr.Google for the details– he knows everything!

We then headed to a ceramic studio, where we were treated to a demonstration. One of the artists used a kick wheel to produce a vase – it took him less than 5 minutes. Apparently at this studio they use 85% quartz in their clay, making it very heavy, durable and food safe. It also is the studio that makes replica tiles for the Aya Sofia (and of course, sells them as well). They had this cool moonstone glaze that makes some pieces glow in the dark. So neat!!

Aya Sofia was up next, what an amazing place! A church that got converted to a mosque that got converted to a museum. Very cool.

Toured the hippodrome – then went to learn all about Turkish carpets. It’s amazing how long it can take to make one, so it’s no wonder a good one costs a few bucks. One of the 8 X 10 carpets took 4 women 18 months to make. Now, I know you’re going to ask how much it cost, but I’m afraid I don’t remember. The salesman had a funny saying ‘it will cost less than you think but more than you hope’.

Topkapi Palace was also on the tour, but we were fading. After Topkapi most of the gang bailed in favour of a beverage, but Neena, Mark and I continued to the last stop which was the Spice Bazaar. We were led to a shop where a guy with a Boston accent (!) let us try many types of Turkish Delight, dried organic fruits, spices (sumac was a favorite) and nuts. He also sold tea, rose oil (for beautiful skin), caviar, and saffron. A lot of stuff for a shop the size of our bedroom at home!

Finally joined the gang for drinks on the sunny rooftop patio of a classy seafood restaurant.  On the fresh fish trolley they had an enormous lobster that apparently cost $400! Also of interest was the old prison right across the road, which is now a Four Seasons hotel. Really!

On Monday we split up and headed out to roam the town before our afternoon flight to Bodrum.  We came across a few interesting sights, including a bathing suit approved by the head Imam...

and the pedestrian-only street with a statue dedicated to the porters who move the goods on their back...

Time marches on and we are now Bodrum where we pick up our yacht tomorrow. The weather is hot and sunny, but not too hot, and we are very much looking forward to the next leg of the journey!