So the mid-March “Blahs” are upon me. And I am thinking of sun, sea, and sail. On a whim I sent an email to the charter company we booked through last time – Sailing in Blue – and enquired as to whether or not they chartered in Turkey.

Not specifically, but they do charter boats out of the Greek Islands on the Turkish coast, and they said they could charter to us from Samos and ending in Rhodes. A one way charter! Perfect!

AND. They said that the boat could be taken into Turkey!

I know that there are some serious regulations that surround doing this, and I’ve looked into some of the procedures. After that first night on our first trip to Greece – the one where we were accosted by crazed Coast Guard with guns pointed at us at 1am – we take the issue of conflict and human smuggling between Turkey and Greece very seriously. But from what I’m reading, the charter companies can help you with the paperwork and if you cross your t’s and dot your i’s and don’t sneeze at the wrong moment – it isn’t too difficult to go back and forth.

Which for us, of course, means a whole new set of misadventures!

It’s just still too far away. I want to go now. But at least this time we won’t be trying to book a boat three weeks before we fly out. Maybe.

The problem with starting at Samos is that it’s sort of in the middle. We’d probably want to go North, and I have to admit, I’d love to visit Istanbul. But maybe we can work that in with the flights. It’s a bit of a haul by boat.

On the flip side, I’m just starting to look through the charts and figure out where Rod Heikell says the good cruising spots are. So perhaps there are enough wonderful spots to explore during 6 weeks of sailing between Samos and Rhodes and both Greek and Turkish environs.

This time, for a change, we have a lot of time to plan and look for recommendations from people who have been there.

Lots of time to dream of that Mediterranean water again…

Turkey for the girls and
Turkey for the boys
My favorite kind of pants
Are corduroys
Gobble gobble goo and
Gobble gobble gickel
I wish turkey
Only cost a nickel

(Adam Sandler)

So Kirk has asked his employer if he can bank his holidays and he received a positive response. So this means that we will possibly be heading for Turkey and up to six glorious weeks of sailing in 2013! The only issue I can think of will be finding someone (or someone’s) to live in our condo for the period and look after the monsters.

At least that’s the current train of thought!

So, time to haul out the charts and the reviews and start planning when and where! If anyone has any suggestions from past visits, do tell!

Some starting information on the coast of Turkey from sailingissues.com …….

Sailing in Turkey means cruising along the many gulfs and bays of the much indented Turkish coastline. It is also a journey back in time, with a plethora of archaeological sites, castles and temples that reflect its importance in ancient and medieval times. Especially the south-west coast – roughly speaking the stretch of coastline from Izmir via Kusadaşi, Bodrum, Marmaris, Fethiye and Kaş to Antalya – is an ideal cruising ground.

This stretch of Turkish coastline is usually divided into four different yacht charter areas:

• The Ionian Coast:   Izmir – Kusadasi – Güllük – Bodrum, a coastline which claims the to have the best climate and which shores brought forth the rich culture of the Ionians and their great philosophers.
• The Carian Coast:   Bodrum – Marmaris, the most popular sailing ground which includes the two largest yacht charter bases in Turkey: Bodrum and Marmaris.
• The west Lycian Coast:   Marmaris – Fethiye, the pirate coast with its wild, mountainous shores and hundreds of hidden coves.
• The east Lycian Coast:   Fethiye – Kas – Finike – Antalya, rock tombs and solid stone sarcophagi.

Turkey abounds with archaeological ruins dating from the dawn of civilization, inhabited by various Anatolian tribes, conquered, and occupied by Persians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Ottoman Turks, and finally establishing independence in the 1920′s under Ataturk. Besides the rock tombs and sarcophagi, most relics are of Greek and Roman origin. Many of the ruins are just part of the landscape, not fenced off.

….yes…we really only just barely returned….but if you don’t dream life becomes boring and stagnant so we are already thinking ahead to the next trip.

So…maybe three years from now…and five weeks of sailing?

We are thinking that the Turkish coast might be calling us.

We loved the Aegean, and the Ionian wasn’t exactly what we thought it would be, but by the same token, we never dreamed we’d meet people that we would want to travel halfway around the world to sail with again. But that’s what happened. So now we just need to convince them to come to Turkey and hang with us for a vacation….. stranger things have happened…like traveling halfway around the world to meet people we’d met online on a photography site….

Well, the trip home was relatively uneventful. We enjoyed a last British meal and a couple of pints of Strongbow at Heathrow and paid twice what we did anywhere else…but it is an airport and they do have you somewhat captive, so there you go.

Our plane departed a bit late, but we had a tailwind and made up the time and arrived promptly….if there is one thing I can say about British Airways, they are generally punctual. We did have to sit on the tarmac at Vancouver for a few minutes before being allowed to disembark, they announced that someone wasn’t feeling well and had paramedics coming to help the passenger off….not me!

Our luggage all arrived, customs was a breeze and Deb had just pulled in to pick us up when I gave her a call. So grateful to you Deb for the ride home!

When we got home, Charlotte was well, but looking forward to heading to her own home after such a long time away. We weren’t actually sure who was going to be at our condo when we arrived, could be either Mom, could be both… The cats snubbed us for a few moments then decided we deserved a bit of attention. Gizmo was a bit more excited to see us right off the bat. Sunny and hot here, sunny and hot everywhere it seemed.

I’ll have a few more photos to post, haven’t downloaded anything from the camera from England yet. Many to sort through!

So grateful to everyone who helped make this a wonderful trip for us. And so sad it’s over, but the good memories make planning the next trip something to look forward to. Not sure when that will be, for the next while we will most likely be constrained to boating in our own beautiful waters of Howe Sound… postings most likely in the other blog…http://the-philosophical-fish.ca

Thanks everyone for visiting us as we traveled!

Cheers,
Paige & Kirk!