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We left Turgutreis with no wind but eventually got some side wind so hoisted sails. We spoke to Keith and Angie on VHF as we passed each other (they were on their way to check into Turkey).  We rounded the head after Kos town and hit  winds 25+ and then nothing!. We had winds from all directions today which meant we managed to sail a good bit of the way. With just two yachts on the water we had a very close encounter with an Italian boat under engine (whilst we were sailing) that had nobody on deck as a lookout. Caryn managed to attract their attention whilst Svein was fixing the bilge pump in the engine room. They hit the davit fixture but it was a very close call. We  came into Kardamena to find the harbour full but after some negotiations with the harbour police we managed to get a mooring amongst the tripper boats although some of them were not pleased. Whilst there we decided to do a shop and were kindly lent a car by Veronica. The boat is now stocked up again (we were down to our last 6 beers!!!!) before leaving for Nisyros. We had dinner at our usual haunt in town. The evening however was very tense as the town was  teeming with English students living it up after their exams who were up until 6h30 the next morning. There is no way that Caryn is going to spend  2 weeks here on her own with the boat whilst Svein is in Norway.

We left the mooring and made our way to Pali on Nisyros where we were due to meet Prydwen. We arrived late morning to be welcomed with open arms by everyone. It was good to be back. Jean Francois and Francoise had already arrived together with Corinne and Philippe Jeantot who are on their way to Thailand the long way round. Svein worked on satellite telephone problem for Philippe and we all had dinner in Aphrodite. Nikos presented Svein with eggs from his farm.

Time to tidy the boat but only managed to wash half the floor before the heat got to be too much and got the washing done. With the sunshine the first load was dry by midday. It is very hot despite the breeze. Corinne and Philippe left for Crete and Svein helped Jean Francois with his computer. Michael  (from the car rental company) asked him to paint a sign for him. We had drinks on Prydwen after Francoise and Caryn had been to the beach where Francoise had her first swim of the year. We had dinner at Antonio’s and came home with a bag of home grown tomatoes.

Finished the washing and washing the floor before the heat set in. Svein completed the sign for Mike and we all swam off the beach. Had drinks on board C’est la Vie and  finished with a meal at Aphrodite. Unfortunately we have been told that we much leave the harbour for 24 hours as there is a regatta coming. We have had confirmation that Sybaris is on its way so Prydwen has decided to stay and see them. We shall both leave tomorrow morning and anchor of the island of Yiali.

The anchorage is beautiful although the island is very scarred from the excavation of the sand. We went ashore and found a strange phenomenon in the water – bubbles of air coming  through the sand.  We had a BBQ on the beach and managed to get a very good sunset photo. As soon as the regatta leaves we shall return to Nisyros and get the boat settled in before Svein leaves for Norway.

We waited until 10h30 for the  regatta departure. We thought that as there was quite a bit of wind in the bay we would have a good sail across and  prepared all the sails. As soon as we hoisted the anchor and were underway the wind dropped so we motored back to Pali.  We moored on the North wall of the harbour.  Sybaris arrived and we all had dinner together with Prydwen at Aphrodite. Temperatures are rising again.

After a quiet day with visits to the beach we all had a farewell dinner for everyone on board Sybaris with orange cheesecake, far breton and nasi goreng.

Prydwen left to continue their travels. It has been very difficult to finalise how Svein is going to get to Kos to catch his plane as there are uncertainties about the ferries and the taxis so when Sybaris offered to take him as they were going to spend the night in Kos it was the perfect solution. Svein went of board and they left for Kos. It was apparently a bumpy ride that took 6 hours as they battled winds that at one point were 32 knots. In Nisyros it was windy and unpleasant on the beach. Svein caught his flight after a long wait in the airport so he will probably arrive very tired.

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The time had come to leave Turkey so we left Marmaris heading for Bozburun which should have been our last port of call. Unfortunately although we had good winds to start with it soon changed to head winds (20-29 k) that we battled against as well as stormy seas so we halted for the night in Serce Bay. We anchored with line ashore but after a while moved to try to find calmer spot as the wind was not dropping. In the end we copied the gullets and ended up with line ashore from bow so lined up with shore facing into wind. The wind eventually dropped at midnight.

We left early the next morning to head for Bozburun to check out and this time we had calm seas and head winds no matter which direction we headed. We anchored outside the harbour and after lunch and a snooze for Svein we went ashore.  Caryn caught up on emails whilst Svein checked out the checking out procedures. We discovered that if we wanted to  reclaim VAT it can only be done in Marmaris, Datca or Bodrum so we shall now make our way to Datca over the next few days. We went ashore for dinner at Osman’s and also changed some books . The temperatures are definitely rising.

We decided to stay in Bozburun another day and in the evening we were invited to dinner by the owner of Osman where we dined with the staff and ate a very tasty local fish.

In order to try and beat the head winds we left Bozburun early and although we managed to unfurl the genoa for a short time we motored most of the way and eventually anchored outside the new Datca harbour that has been completely refurbished. We explored the town a little but must now go to Bodrum as the customs office does not have the right stamps!

We continued down the coast line but stopped for the night in the anchorage of Knidos because of the strong winds.

In the morning we left the bay under engine and again had very strong gusts heading for Bodrum that increased as we rounded head and crossed the bay. We managed to unfurl the genoa for a time.  Arriving at Bodrum we entered the marina and refuelled at the fuel quay and then treated! (being the operative word) ourselves to a night in the marina as we thought it would be our last night in Turkey. It turned out to be very expensive with staff that were not very pleasant and the marina was like an oven.  Fortunately we did have the shower block to hand and made very good use of its excellent facilities although it worked out that each shower was very costly taking into account the cost of the night (€77). We tried to find an agent to check us out – one wanted 120€ and another 170€ – and we were told that the VAT could not be reclaimed as we had dealt with companies that were not recognised for non VAT products!!! We had a lunch in town and wandered round it again in the evening when it had cooled down. During the day we had read 40+ in the cockpit in the shade. We surfed the web for most of the day and caught up on emails. It is a very busy town and  crawling with tourists. The choice of gullets available for hire was incredible. Certainly not our favourite town and we sincerely doubt that we will return there.

Hopefully our final day in Turkey so after a shower we sorted out the marina and left heading for Turgutreis. The forecast had suggested supposedly lesser winds but it was not to be. We battled against them for 3 hours but then anchored outside Turgutreis harbour. This is a very nice harbour with very nice and helpful staff. We took the dinghy in and started the checking out procedure. It was very simple. We paid a small agent’s fee to the marina who prepared the papers and then took them to the customs building within the marina complex and went from one guichet to the next getting the stamps and removing a page of the transit log each time. It took 15 minutes and that was because one of the officers had to be woken from his nap and he was sleeping soundly and it cost 55 Turkish Lire (25€). Once the check out done we went to do some last minute shopping for vegetables and Caryn then left Svein at the pool and went to spend the remaining lire at the hairdresser with a pedicure, manicure and haircut.She still did not manage to spend everything so there will be some in the kitty for the next trip but the sour taste of Bodrum was removed and we were left with a pleasant memory of our last day in Turkey. Back on the boat decided to open a bottle of champagne to celebrate our Turkish trip and dined on local lamb with potatoes and squash cooked in the Cobb.  There was a classical concert in the harbour but unfortunately it was sold out and we were not able to hear much from the boat.

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We tried to leave Kastellorizo early but the neighbour had managed to put his anchor over ours so we were delayed a little in leaving the harbour. We started out motoring with no wind but that soon changed and for a short time we were able to motor sail but even that did not last long and we ended up with very strong winds on the nose (20+) and a very bumpy sea. So much so that we shortened the journey and stopped for the night in Cold Water Bay. Firstly we anchored in Karacaonen Bay but we changed to anchor behind St Nicolas island when the swell entered the bay and we were rolling like crazy. George came and greeted us having remembered us from our previous visit and we treated ourselves to some pancakes from the pancake boat. Just right to finish off dinner.

After checking the water pump axle and greasing the propeller axle Caryn swam ashore and released the land line. We motored out of the channel and starting making our way towards Marmaris. The swell was still very bad and with strong NW winds forecast we decided to put into Kizulkuyruk bay again to wait for a calmer sea. We anchored amongst the gullets that had a never ending dance of entering and leaving the bay with their different customers. It is a pity that one cannot impart the sense of smell in pictures, film or video as the day we have spent in the bay has been a bouquet of smells. The strongest has been the scent of pine that wafts over boat every time there is a strong gust of wind. There have been some very strong gusts into the bay so very glad that we were not fighting them at sea. It should be calmer tomorrow so we can continue on our way and reach Marmaris where we shall pick up the new sail and fill diesel as well as stocking up on the engine spares that we need.

We have had a change of plan. After checking the diesel we have decided to go into Gocek to fuel as we want to be sure that there is enough to get us to Marmaris with no problems. We had a dicey exit from the anchorage as Caryn had to raise the anchor whilst Svein was taking in the line ashore and then we had to store the dinghy in the davits whilst underway and all this during strong gusts of wind and anchored between big gullets. In fact we even thought that one had put his chain over ours but that was a false alarm. On arriving in Gocek we filled the tank and all the cans and then anchored for the night in Gocek bay and got it right after several attempts

Very bright and early Svein started the engine and weighed anchor (06h00) to get as far as possible before the strong NW winds hit us in the afternoon. We motored for a few hours and round the head and crossed the wide bay where there are military restrictions. We were able to unfurl the genoa for a time that increased our speed by nearly 1 knot but had to furl again on the approach to Marmaris. We finally anchored in the bay outside Pupa at 13h30 just before the winds started. We stayed on the boat in the afternoon as Svein took several naps to recover. We saw Alex from North Sails who sailed passed on a catamaran that was trying out their new genoa. We also saw Orion in the distance.

Before going into town to see North Sails we packed up the main sail in preparation for fitting the new one. Svein saw Ginny leaving the bay early. We went into town and arranged an appointment with North Sails. We did our shopping and then North Sails drove us back to Pupa and fitted the main sail. North Sails took back the staysail to adjust. This will  take a week. We went over to Orion for drinks in the evening

Our wedding anniversary today. We went into town to pay for the sail and declined the compressor. We visited every chandler looking for spinlocks without success and went to Yacht Marina to change books and have a swim in the afternoon.

We finished the evening with a very good dinner at Pupa to mark the occasion.

Today we took the boat out into the bay to try out the new sail. We had very little wind but managed to stay on the water 7 hours before coming back to anchor nearer to Yacht Marina.

A new day and we decided to go into Yacht Marina to get a good internet connection and to have a swim.  We are just filling in time now until we get the stay sail back and can check out of Turkey and back into Greece before Svein goes to Norway to visit his family.