And Turkey...

Yes,I know I should be ashamed for not having written anything for so long, but the days seem to have gone past in a blur and suddenly the end of September approaches and soon after that, the end of the season. So before we crash into autumn, let's go back over the past few weeks.
We had looked over to Turkey time and again as we cruised South from the Sporads and through the Dodecanese, and finally we set out from Kos to cover the narrow channel that separates the two countries. The first thing you notice about Turkey is that the development is so much neater than in Greece, where the buildings are scattered haphazardly along the coast and over the hills. Here everything is in neat lines, with whole towns and villages set out in a grid structure.
We had intended to go into a marina called Turgeitreis but it was full, so we moved on to one slightly further north, called Palmarina. It didn't have a write up in the pilot book as it had been developed too recently, so we didn't know what to expect, but when we got there, we were amazed. Pal turned out to be the most state of the art, upmarket, modern marina we had ever been in! Once we were checked in, with the assistance of our agent here, Charlie, we set out to explore and it didn't disappoint. The facilities are excellent, the restaurants plentiful and the shops...well...heaven! We remained in port for a couple of days but much as we liked Pal, this wasn't the Turkey we'd come to see and we were keen to get out and explore. As the winds can be fearful in the afternoon, we made sure that we departed in the morning, but we had a shock as we exited the marina - a line of white ahead of us, causing a debate as to whether we continued or turned straight back into the shelter of the port! We decided to chance it, and had a pretty unpleasant twenty minutes or so, with the swell straight on the beam, but once we had turned the corner that would take us towards Bodrum, things improved dramatically...thank goodness!
We nosed along the coast, checking out bays and anchorages, eventually dropping the hook in an anchorage clearly favoured by the day trip boats. The water was gloriously clear and we were happy to stay in situ for the night, enjoying the peace and quiet once the day time visitors had departed. We weren't surprised to discover that this anchorage is known as The Aquarium, for obvious reasons.
In the morning, we moved across the bay to Bodrum and anchored off the town, just behind the castle that dominates the harbour entrance. We went ashore for a brief look around and debated whether to stay for lunch, but it was incredibly hot and, knowing that we would be back in due course, we decided to move on.
To the west of Bodrum is the Gulf of Gokova, and we had been told of the many anchorages in that part of the world, so we set off to explore. As we meandered along the coast, we were blown away by the number of sites in which we would be happy to spend some time, but eventually came to a deep, well sheltered bay, where we decided to stop for the afternoon and overnight. Once the anchor was down, I swam ashore and tied the ropes to a couple of handy rocks, and then we set about seriously relaxing and enjoying the beautiful surroundings. The water was warm clear and full of inquisitive fish and the sky was a dome of clear blue above us...glorious! Later in the afternoon, the wind swivelled around and our calm anchorage wasn't quite as restful as earlier. No worries, we thought, we can sit this out until the wind changes direction again. That would have been fine, had the anchor not started to drag! Dinner was hastily abandoned as I dived in and swam back to the shore to release our ropes, and with darkness falling, we had to find another position for Zaffina. The opposite side of this wide bay was now perfectly calm, and the ideal situation in which to re-anchor which we did without too much fuss, although I must admit that swimming ashore in the fading light is not my favourite task!
Our explorations continued the following day, taking us to the little village of Cokertme, or as we named it, Coketime! Half a dozen bars and cafes straggle along the seafront, each one vying for custom from the many yachts and gullets that frequent the bay. We opted to anchor off rather than using one of the pontoons which oblige you to eat at the corresponding restaurant, and booked a table at Captain Ibrahim's after reading about it in the pilot book. Despite the promise of a fun evening with live entertainment, it was disappointing, with a mediocre meal and no entertainment whatsoever...I think perhaps they pushed the boat out for the author of the pilot book, realising that they'd get some great advertising!
From Coketime, it was back to Palmarina to pick up Adam and Louise, who spent a brilliant week with us. We retraced our footsteps back to Coketime and then on to another inlet a little deeper into the gulf that was so beautiful that we didn't move for two days, other than to go ashore for a surprisingly good meal and to witness Frank toppling into the dinghy at the end of the evening! It was a wrench to leave such a perfect place, but we also wanted to discover what else was on offer, so early in the morning, we made the trip straight across the gulf to some small islands on the opposite coast, Snake and Castle Islands. These are popular with the tripper boats, and by the time we got there, several gullets were already on the scene. Snake island features the famous Cleopatra's Beach; reputedly the Queen of Egypt imported the sand so that she and Mark Anthony could romp happily on the beach together! Frank and I wandered a shore on Castle Island and were amazed to find a beautifully preserved amphitheatre and extensive remains of an ancient settlement. The gullets all departed by late afternoon, but we stayed in this beautiful situation for the night, but when we came to leave the following mornibg, we were amazed to see a number of large jellyfish in the water.
We made a short hop along the coast to our next port of call, Sogut, a creek which is a natural marina, with several pontoons available to tie up on. We  called up the yacht club, but were told that they didn't take motorboats on their pontoon, so we tried to call another, but received no reply. We finally called up the smallest of the pontoon operators, but were told to go to the middle one, and although they hadn't replied on the radio, someone would come to take our ropes when we approached the pontoon. Sure enough, they did, which was just as well, as our thrusters had again gone awol, and with a strong wind blowing, berthing was not the easiest operation.