And Turkey continued

...this follows the other And Turkey... post. I have had a bit of a nightmare with writing this on the iPad, so excuse the mistakes that cropped up in the last one, and will no doubt occur in this one too!
Back to Sogut, or as I liked to call it Sogut Sogut (they named it twice) and we fell in love with the pretty little place. There wasn't much there other than pontoons, a small but well stocked supermarket  - which is something of a rarity around here - a couple of cafe/bars and a yacht club with a surprisingly good restaurant. It was a relief to be safely tied on when the wind blew up in the afternoon; we were neatly wedged between a pair of large gullets, which gave us a good opportunity to see them up close. Some are definitely better than others, and although we quite fancy the idea of a holiday on one in the future, we'll definitely do some research before booking.
As we departed the following morning, there were loads and loads of jellyfish in the marina...fascinating creatures but you don't want to get too up close and personal with them. Frank and I had already been stung on the beach at Castle Island and didn't want another encounter. Fortunately, when we reached our destination at English Harbour, we appeared to have left the jellies behind, although I did do a good reconnaissance before swimming with the ropes!
English Harbour is part of a huge, beautiful inlet, divided into several creeks and offering shelter from every direction. You really feel at one with nature there, the trees spread across the hillsides and reach down to the water's edge, the air is full of birdsong and there is little sign of man's existence; it's the sort of place that invigorates your senses and your soul, and with perfect weather and warm water, we just relaxed and absorbed the beauty of our surroundings.
Reluctantly, we untied and departed at around 7 the following morning; we were due back in Bodrum and an early morning run meant watching the sunrise over oil-still water...worth the effort of falling out of bed so early in the day! As we came between mainland Turkey and the large island that lies off the coast, we felt a furnace blast of hot air on us. The temperature had crept up, and when we went into Bodrum marina after a swim stop at The Aquarium, we discovered that it was knocking on 40C!
Adam and Louise left us, and we dashed over to Kos, finally getting a complete new board fitted for the thrusters, which was what Frank had wanted the first time we had problems with them. We were pleased to see that the facilities for the refugees had improved dramatically, with portaloos and  tens finally provided. Back to Turkey and we returned to one of the quiet anchorages we'd found for a couple of nights before returning to Bodrum for our next guests, Em and Paul. Their first night we enjoyed a great dinner in town and somehow ended up in an outside club enjoying the live music and a great atmosphere. With only four nights together, we retraced our route to Sogut and English Harbour, so they could share some of the fabulous experiences we'd already enjoyed. The weather was still kind to us, and we packed in a lot of fun and laughter before dropping them back to continue their holiday in Greece.
On our own again, we finally got to pay a visit to the marina we had aimed for on first arriving in Turkey, Turgeitreis, and what a disappointment! The staff were offhand and unhelpful and tying on was difficult as they had a different system and couldn't be bothered to explain how it worked! We eventually made fast and were pleased with the shelter offered, but after Palmarina, we were unimpressed. Frank promised to take me out for a good meal to make up for it, but with a private function at the Yacht Club, there weren't many decent restaurants to chose from...even the MacDonalds was starting to look inviting! We eventually found somewhere and had a better meal than we'd anticipated, but we were happy to leave the following morning, doing our first ever pump out en route (much easier than we'd anticipated) as there are huge penalties for dumping anything at sea in Turkish waters.
Adrian and Luke joined us in Coketime the following day, after a hair drive from the airport with a taxi driver who didn't know the way! We stayed in the anchorage the following day, but with a dodgy few days forecast, knew we'd have to seek shelter. We'd hoped to get into Bodrum Marina but there was no room and ended up back in Pal...thank goodness. On Tuesday it rained - and it mean it really rained - solidly for 12 hours. In Bodrum, cars were washed down the streets and into the harbour, in another marina, a pontoon broke away with boats attached, roads were flooded, drains overflowed, shops were inundated. Pal was definitely the best place to be!
Frank went home on Wednesday (our 9th wedding anniversary...one of these years we'll get to spend one together!) so we've remained in port with the weather gradually improving until now we are back to clear blue skies and 29 degrees sunshine. The boys leave tonight and Frank returns, and so the adventure continues. We only have another couple of weeks left of this season, but with more guests due - and they're an unruly bunch - anything could happen!,