Orhaniye - an interesting fact

So last night we were invited to dinner with Turkish friends in Kas. They had a lovely pilot book showing all the best Turkish anchorages. It was written by the most famous Turkish sailor, Sadun Boro. One of our favourite anchorages is Orhaniye otherwise known as Keçibükü. We thought we would show off our Turkish language skills so we said "ah yes, it's Turkish name is kechibookoo". There was a pause and then a roar of laughter. "OK", we thought, "what have we said?" After a couple of minutes they replied "You said Goat Shit!" We should have pronounced it kechibewkew when it would have meant "Goat's bay with a bend in it"!

We should have known there could be problems after Gill said "It is very onion today" instead of "It is very cold today". Ah well, at least we are trying.

Orhaniye - Goat Shit Bay

Yup - you guessed it!

Hanımeli Cafe, Restaurant and Bar

It's a quiet friday night in Kaş. The tourists have left, Dave and Chris (Electric Monk) have left, John and Jenny (Blue Talisman) have left and Ingrid and Rolf (Mandara) have left. All back to Europe for family and Christmas. Just us and Rose and Brian (Alixora) left on B Pontoon.
In Kaş all the restaurants along the front are closed as families recover and take stock after the summer season. But hidden down an alley near the Internet cafe is Hanımeli, a tiny Turkish cafe with just three tables inside. Two are empty when we enter the other is occupied by a mixed group of Turks and Germans. In the corner the proprietress' husband is playing gentle traditional Turkish music with his friends - guitar, baglama, bass guitar and electric drum kit. We order double rakıs with water (su) and ice (buz) and chill out in the warm. Without asking, a segmented mandarin and later a slice of chocolate cake arrive. The cafe is like your grandma's front room. Photos on the wall, some old and faded mostly of Kaş and memorable evenings, advertisements for diving companies, a tiny TV (switched off), a shelf of CDs and another of LPs. Not much has changed here for 20 years.
The music warms up, the rakı flows and the Turkish men get up to dance. Bizarrely the band plays a Turkish adaptation of Happy Birthday for one of the Germans. And then it is time to leave. Iyi akşamlar and iyi geceler. Time for bed. This is what living away from home and out of your comfort zone is all about. It just happens.

Petronella meets Turkish Legend

Two years ago we met Round the World Turkish sailor Ozkan Gulkaynak in a quiet Greek anchorage. Today he posted that his new boat, Lady S, was almost destroyed by fire as he brought her into Teos Marina near Izmir. Luckily things worked out, the fire was doused and all is well. Tonight we spoke to him for over an hour on Skype and heard how his plans for Lady S are progressing. Amazingly this Turkish hero was asking US for our advice on steel boats. Humbling or what? We certainly have come a long way since our first tentative steps back in Portugal.

Ozkan plans to use Lady S to train young Turks in the art of seamanship eventually taking her to the Arctic or across to the Caribbean. An amazing guy with boundless energy, pride in his country and a boatload of plans for the future.

The Crazy Turk on the boat that took him around the world

The new and the old. Lady S and Kayıtsız III at Teos.

Vagaries of Autumn

Yesterday was a gorgeous day. Blue sky, gentle breeze and a milky blue sea. Just the opportunity for a last swim of the year followed by a picnic with most of the remaining sailors from the marina here at Kas.

By contrast today and last night have been windy and much colder. We had wind gusts of up to 35k and we were squashing our fenders up against Argo the German boat next to us.

Cool Dude

I was sitting in the saloon this morning looking at the wall and thinking just how well Jenny and Emma's birthday card to Gill reflects my attitude to things in general. As soon as it arrived I commandeered it and stuck on the wall.

For Gill the destination and the people are all important. For me it's the journey itself.

Blog Updates by Email

As we are hoping to cross the Atlantic this time next year we have been experimenting with posting to our blog via emails. This is the first attempt.

We are currently in Kas, southern Turkey for our third winter. Why has our blog been neglected for a couple of years? Well, we don't think we have really been doing anything special. But preparing for our Atlantic crossing is more special so we have decided to reinstate it. Watch this space for future updates.