09/30/2012, Didim Marina, Altimcum, TK

Gumusluk: last stop for this short year of cruising. This is an ancient fishing village that now bills itself as such to the tourists by lining the shore with fish restaurants and very small hotels. Attractive as in "not over the top tourist", no vehicles other than boats, and an active archeological site covering the small islet in the center of the harbor. This was a very pleasant finish to our Greece and Turkey cruise. With only 18 miles to move to get to Didim Marina, a too fancy marina in the middle of "nautical nowhere", we spent most of the day walking the shore line and then snorkeling around the island looking for antiquities and the sunken rock structures from thousands of years ago. The afternoon forecast of very light wind had us anticipating motoring north to Altimcum, Didim Marina for 18 miles. But once out of the harbor and away from the influence of the land we found perfect wind; light from the NW. At just the right angle we could sheet in tight and sail directly on course. Three hours, anchor up to anchor down, was a fast dry sail and excellent exercise for Threshold. What a great boat she is. We are sorry to be leaving her so soon but we are lucky to have had five months in Greece and Turkey. Where did the time go?

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09/18/2012, Bodrum, Turkey

Okay! Okay!
It has been a difficult year for this blog. I have not been inspired to write and the photos have been unexceptional. Not sure why on the photos but I think I know part of the reason for the lack of writing. Technology. That's it! Technology has over taken the need to write. The blog was always a way to stay in touch. I thought it was only the family that was following the blog as there were very few comments made (my apologies Clint, you are always there and never lurking). This year we have had almost continuous Internet connections. This was never economically possible in the past years. So, we have used skype video calls, instant messaging, and daily e-mails. No blog entry was needed to keep worries and concerns at bay. So those of you who happen to return to the blog were frustrated. Sorry,
So, a quick recap: We arrived in Preveza, Greece in early May and cruised the Ionian Islands until the end of June. Then we sailed around the Peloponnese and into the Aegean Sea for the month of July. We were forced out of Greece by their enforcement of their immigration laws (which the rest of Europe ignores for us yachties) at the end of our 90 day visa. We would have stayed longer but instead the Greeks, who don't need a tourists money eh?, made us move on to Turkey. Turkey has been very good, very hot at first but very comfortable now, and we have made plans to leave Threshold here for about six months while we return to America. All of this part of the world is easy cruising. The wind blows in the Aegean but modern weather forecasting makes that easy to deal with. It is tough to have an adventure here. Possibly that is why so many people are here on boats. I prefer sailing where it is a little more sporty myself. But, here we are.......
....not in the photo though, that is Santorini in the Aegean

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08/04/2012, Didam Marina, Turkey

Thirty hours after leaving Parikitia, Paros Island, in the middle of the Aegean we arrived in a new country, a new continent even, including an eight hour night of rest anchored at Lipso. A quick trip of 105 miles with about half of it sailing; the other half had light wind or bad wind, all of it hot, so we motored when necessary. Government formalities were a minimum hassle because we were prepared by the briefings our friends gave us regarding their experiences. Pay the agent, see the health official, then customs, then immigration man, then the harbor master, and finally back to the customs guy. All done in two hours and about $96. We are good here for 90 days and the boat is good here for a year.
Our friends Craig and Catherine on s/v Sangaris along with Trevor and Jean aboard s/v Onward (Canadian) were waiting nearby at anchor with a party planned, a "wine festival". A

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