After finally escaping Gϋmϋȿlϋk with a functioning refrigerator we wanted to head north and the next stop was Didim, where we had overwintered. This time, though we anchored off and took the dinghy in to connect with Steve and Karyn on Threshold. They had made the big decision to haul for this season and refinish the boat - a huge undertaking as every fitting is removed from this beautiful aluminum boat in order to paint both topsides and hull. You can see her in the YachtWorks shed under the arched structure that will contain the sandblasting and painting. After a couple of days helping them a bit with going over the entire rigging, we thoroughly enjoyed the treat of an evening out at the local restaurant (and, no, adorable as they may be, that's not the Bobbsey twins in blue shirts!).

Of course it's never all work and we escaped for a day to explore the local historical site of Melitos. In ancient times there was a marble paved sacred road connecting the two, which are some 18Km apart. Melitos itself was a thriving center of trade, culture, art and science from the 7th century B.C. The focal point of the city was the 15,000 seat theater that Craig is exploring above. The bottom right view from inside the theater is over a now fertile agricultural valley, but that was a vast open bay in ancient times and the city was on the shore. In the Middle Ages the local river totally silted in the region.
The next set of pics is around the town, with the "Delphinion" columns that formed an open air temple to Apollo Delphinius dominating. Apparently one could make a pilgrimage from here and follow the marble road to the main Temple of Apollo in Didim. Other remnants are of Faustian Baths with it's "palaestra" - a training and wrestling school, numerous temples to other gods and lastly there's another view of the open plain that had been the seaport, with remnants of a city gate remaining.

Cruiser's Note: For more details of the Threshold refit project, visit their sailblog at sailblogs.com/member/threshold