End of the summer

And so we come to the final chapter for 2015.

An unruly gang joined us in Palmarina one warm Thursday evening. By now it was the beginning of October, but the mad weather we had the week before had passed through, and although the temperature was a tad cooler (down to the high 20s during the day), the skies were pretty much clear again and the seas relatively calm.
We had been sitting in the cockpit sharing a glass and a few laughs with Bob and Janet and Annabel for about an hour after their arrival, when Annabel finally asked if dinner was on the way...which caused huge embarrassment! I assumed that they had eaten on the flight, they hadn't!! Fortunately the nearby restaurant was still open, so starvation and disaster were narrowly averted.
After a quick dash to the bakery in the morning (I wasn't risking any more food faux pas) we set off again. Our guests were having breakfast as we came out of port, which may not have been the best idea as there was more swell than we'd expected, and for the next fifteen minutes they played an interesting game of "catch the jam" as jars, pots and mugs threatened to spill off the table! As ever, once we'd turned from west to south a few miles out of port and the waves were no longer catching us straight on the beam, things improved dramatically.
We bypassed Bodrum, just pointing it out to our guests, and set a course for the now familiar village of Cokertme, and were pleased to see that our usual place was free in the anchorage. There were a surprising number of dozy bees around, many deciding to eke out their final hours on Zaffina before dying on the decks, which was a bit of a nuisance - especially when one had a final spurt of energy and stung Frank before its demise! Dinner on board that evening was laughter filled, and the spread of glittering stars overhead in the dark velvet sky was awesome... but sadly no shooting stars to be seen.
We had a brief sojourn ashore in the morning for a freshly squeezed orange juice; well, we had gone ashore for breakfast, but to be honest the Turkish breakfasts can be a little on the odd side, so the final decision was to buy a still warm loaf from the cafe and spread it with jam and butter as we made our way to our next anchorage, which was just a half hour trip along the coast.
This was our second time in Akbuk, and again, our chosen place was free. In fact, at this time of year, most of the anchorages we were in had plenty of space. There are still yachts and a number of gullets plying the waters in October, but most of the motorboats gave up earlier in the season and we were one of just a handful still enjoying the fabulous early autumn conditions. Our anchorage was quite shallow and over sand, giving us beautiful warm and clear swimming conditions, and when we went ashore for dinner, the restaurant immediately carried a table across to the water's edge and set it for us there. Our pre-dinner cocktails were interesting, putting it mildly, and the service was somewhat slow as only one member of staff spoke any English, but we had a great meal and enjoyed the company of a couple of local dogs who befriended us for the evening in the hope of getting some leftovers. One of them also seemed intent on following us back to the boat, and the waitress was quite keen that we should adopt it, but with five of us crammed into the dinghy (which had a slow puncture and required constant pumping up) there wasn't any room for a stowaway!
We crossed over the Gokova channel the following morning and visited Castle Island, showing our guests the amazing amphitheatre and ruins there. Last time we visited, the beach was packed and the island thronged with tourists; four weeks later, it was almost deserted. After a late lunch at anchor, Frank decided maybe there was a bit much swell building and we should move to the more sheltered English Harbour, so I swam ashore and detached the ropes (oh, I forgot to mention, as we were tying up, another errant bee flew up and stung him...the air turned somewhat blue!) and off we went. As we came out from the shelter of the island, we were in for a bit of a shock! The wind had risen more than we'd realised, and our 15 minute journey to the entrance to English harbour (a deep, amoeba-shaped inlet offering excellent shelter from every wind direction) was pretty traumatic! I spent the time in the galley, holding the cupboard doors and drawers closed, for fear that they'd open and everything would spill out. It was a relief to get out of this surprisingly high sea and into very welcome shelter, but tying up was also a bit of a disaster, with ropes tangling and a moment where we drifted uncomfortably close to a gullet already in situ! All this with an audience on the two boats already moored on either side of our chosen place...red faces on Zaffina!!
There were still a few jellyfish in Sogut the following day when we tied up on the little pontoon we'd used last time we were there, but nothing like the hundreds that were swimming around in early September. It was a relief to re-provision in the very good little supermarket there, although even their supplies were running low so late in the year. Fortunately they had some very good peaches, which meant that Bob would be able to produce his speciality for us the next evening, Peaches a la Bob! Back at the Yacht Club in Sogut and we were welcomed as old friends and enjoyed another excellent dinner and some even more excellent wine.
We were sad to leave Sogut; it's such a pretty little place - a tiny hamlet with three separately operated pontoons for boats to tie up to, four or five cafes or restaurants, a supermarket and a yacht club. The trees reach right down to the water's edge, and a flock of noisy geese are always in residence, squabbling over any bread thrown into the water. (When I say squabbling, I mean almost killing one another in a bid to get there first; we gave up feeding them after an argument between the birds almost ended in a fatality!) Lots of gullets use this as a start/finish point for their guests, as it's easily accessed from Marmaris, and is the best place for buying provisions between there and Marmaris. We don't know if we'll ever get back there, but we'll hold some lovely memories of the port.
We had one more night at sea before heading back into Bodrum, and it turned out to be our worst night at anchor for a long time, possibly this entire season! Although we anchored in good shelter, the wind changed during the evening, as it frequently does in this neck of the woods, but instead of changing again once stars were out, it continued to blast us until sunrise. That meant a noisy few hours, with waves slapping on the hull, and we were all relieved to move on as soon as we were up in the morning. With the wind still blowing, we anticipated going straight into port, but decided on a whim to check out The Aquarium Anchorage, just the other side of Bodrum, and for once that turned out to be a great decision. Here was the shelter we'd lacked the night before, and as we arrived several tripper boats were just leaving, giving us pole position to anchor for a few hours and let Annabel, Bob and Janet enjoy a final swim or two. To Janet's delight and to complete the idyll, an ice cream boat came around after lunch, and we were able to buy Magnum's for our pud!
Mid-afternoon saw us safely installed in Bodrum Marina, and gave us the opportunity to have a last night out in town and a bit of retail therapy in the morning. Suffice to say, the shopkeepers of Bodrum will be having a good Christmas this year thanks to Mrs Marshall and her handbag fetish.
We waved our guests off for the evening BA flight to London and treated ourselves to one last dinner in Turkey. In the morning we were off the pontoon by 10am and on our way over to the customs area, where we intended to check out of the country and refuel before heading back to Greece. And there we waited. And waited. And waited. Tempers were fraying by the time the paperwork was completed two hours after we were due to leave, and with the wind rising and no sign of the fuel tanker, we were on the point of abandoning the opportunity to fill up with duty free and heading straight to Kos when it finally turned up. Fortunately the refuelling process went remarkably swiftly and within minutes of twisting the fuel caps back into place, we were casting off our ropes and waving goodbye to the country that has given us so much pleasure and shown us so much beauty over the past couple of months.
To our surprise and relief, the crossing to Kos was better than expected, and half an hour after leaving Turkey, we were approaching the marina where our Azimut is to spend the winter months. And an hour later, we were tied up in port and cracking a bottle of champagne to celebrate the completion of another fantastic, amazing, fabulous chapter of this awesome adventure on Zaffina.