After a good night’s sleep and a lovely morning swim in the clear water, we headed off to Datca on Tuesday 15th September. No wind today so the iron horse is now earning its keep.
After anchoring off the beach Charlie, Kathy and Chris went ashore to get some very important supplies, (wine!). It is very hot here in Turkey especially on land so it is a welcome relief to get back to Clio and dive in off the back deck.

Francis was very excited to find a Bonellia veridis (top-right photo) under a rock. In all his years of diving the Med he had never been able to find one other than see its proboscis that it uses to transport food into its mouth while hiding in rock crevices. Bonellia is one of only two species of worms (the other is Thalassema gigas) representing the phylum of Echiura in the Mediterranean. So the intact specimen was popped into a jar to be shown to all on board, and photo- and video-graphed extensively before being released back from whence it came. We were all fascinated to watch it expand and contract its body like a sausage balloon.

We enjoy Cathy and Charlies company and very good spirits while sipping white wine and nibbling chips and nuts on the back deck adhering to the very strict Clio sundowner rituals. After a lovely (and exciting for Francis) day we were serenaded to sleep by a Turkish singer in a taverna on shore, and wonder how his Turkish music sounds so much like the deep and dark songs (canta jondo) of the spanish flamenco.

It is now Wednesday 16 September and as Kathy and Charlie's trip is getting near the end we have to start making our way to Marmaris for them to be able to get to the Dalaman airport on Sunday for the next leg of their holiday: Istanbul. So we are off to the lovely little port of Bozburun where we refill Clio's water tanks.

After a swim in the very (too) warm water off the beach, Kathy and Chris went off to explore a little and found the establishment of Mr Pub. It was a very rundown and ramshackle looking place with very old and tired looking outdoor furniture. We then encountered Mr Pub himself as he came up to us to sing the praises of his establishment. He tells us it is open 25 hours per day and offers backgammon, chess, darts, billiards and a stream of other such delights. After promising to tell everyone we meet about THE PUB we managed to scurry away.

Now it was time for Chris's favourite indulgence: a long, hot shower ashore. Kathy and Chris set off with soap and shampoo and a chap spotted us and offered a dus (shower) only 5 Turkish lire. Ok we said. The facility looked clean so we found ourselves a cubicle each and Chris turned the tap. A tiny spurt of water came out and then stopped. Kathy checked hers and the same result. No, this will not do. Chris went back out and told the man that his showers do not work. He willingly refunded us our money and then proceeded out the back of the building with a screw driver, obviously a problem with his pipes.

So we moved down the street a bit further to the "Yacht Club" which Chris had used when we last visited and at last they enjoyed a long and luxurious shower and shampoo. When offering to pay, the woman said if we come back for dinner in their restaurant we do not need to pay for the shower. So we enjoyed dinner there, later in the evening. The showers turned out to be fairly expensive.

Although the evening was a bit warm it was quiet, at least Chris thought so, who slept through an alarm going off and the cat fight on the quay which woke everyone else.


Thursday 17th September and Kathy and Charlie enjoyed an early morning walk around the village before the heat kicked in again. After some issues with our internet and Francis visiting the Turkcell shop we got underway again in direction of Bozuk Boku (bay). The entrance of the bay is marked by an ancient citadel perched on the cliffs and overlooking both the bay and the coastal waters. We dropped the anchor in deep water onto a weedy bottom. As we did not plan to stay the night, and there was no wind worth worrying about we left the anchor lie and Francis stayed on board after transporting the rest of the crew ashore to indulge in a Turkish tea in the very traditional little restaurant complete with donkeys and goats.

After some lunch and a swim we motored around the corner to beautiful Serce bay to spend the night. It was not long before one of the put-put boats came out selling his wares and Chris managed to beat him down on the price of a bag of cashews, pistachios and sugar coated peanuts, our nibbles for this evenings drinks on the deck.

Friday 18th September and it is so delightful here in Serce Bay, we have decided to stay one more night. Kathy, intermittently suffering from light insomnia, has now broken her record of most nights sleep in a row. It is agreed that she should purchase a small boat when she returns to the States and put it in their swimming pool to ensure she gets a good night’s sleep. The morning was passed with lots of snorkelling and the discovery by Francis of a little cove that was an underwater garden of many shades of purple. It was filled with all sorts of fish and a very shy moray eel (or conger?), which popped its head out only the once and had retracted before it could be photographed by the UW paparazzi.

Francis took Charlie and Kathy on a tour of the bay (bottom-right photo) in Cloe and the rest of the day was spent napping, reading and swimming. Oh, and especially Charlie was being entertained by and conversed with the local goats.

This morning, Saturday 19th September, Charlie and Kathy made the most of their last swim in the Med and Francis was able to show everyone a sea cucumber(Holothuria fokali) that liked to squirt out a spiderweb-like substance which when Chris was holding it completely covered her hand and bound her fingers together. What an efficient defense mechanism, and a bit scary too for the first time. We know now where the idea of Spider-Man shooting his web came from!

Finally it was time to bring up the anchor for the last time of Kathy and Charlie's holiday and head into Marmaris to spend their last night back in Yacht Marin. As usual, the wind piped up considerably when getting close to the marina but we reverse-parked Clio without problems on the very convenient (close to shops and amenities) Hotel pontoon.

We all headed into town in the dolmuş to partake in a traditional Turkish meal in a little restaurant in the backstreets of Marmaris. It really pays to go where the locals go, the food is excellent, the atmosphere unpretentious, and the price very reasonable. You go up to the counter and choose and point to the dishes that you want from the large containers. The friendly waiter delivers the goods and you’ll have an excellent meal. The owner comes out for a welcome chat. And once you finished your dinner he comes and wet your hands with some very nice citrus-smelling eau de toilette. After dinner we indulged in some very sticky (chewing gum like) Turkish ice-cream before catching the bus back to Clio. As it turned out, the ice cream in the tourist area was almost as expensive (thanks Kathy and Charlie) as the whole dinner.

Well, all things must pass and on Sunday 20th September it is time to say goodbye to Kathy and Charlie after two weeks on board Clio. We thank you guys for pitching in and will miss Charlie’s excellent dishwashing skills and Kathy’s participation in fender duties. After the obligatory photo (top-left), we headed into Marmaris at lunchtime to deliver Kathy and Charlie to the bus station to catch their bus to Dalaman airport. We were unsure of how to get from the dolmuş station in the center of Marmaris to the big bus station with busses to Dalaman airport. We ask our bus driver who just steps out of his bus, nods us to follow him, walks 400m to the main street, and stops the right dolmuş for us to get on to the other station. On offering him a bit of money he indicates that he doesn’t want that, its from the heart. So we get on the next dolmuş and are delivered to the bus station. The big and luxurious Havaş bus will leave at the right time for Kathy and Charlie to get to Dalaman airport and catch their flight to Istanbul for some air-conditioned comfort (he said jealously) and exploration before heading home via Amsterdam. We say our goodbyes and walk back into town. It always feels a bit sad to leave our crews that we’ve enjoyed so much sharing the Clio experience with, especially as this is our last crew of the season. Bye guys and thanks for being such great crew and good company.

With Kathy and Charlie, it seems that summers clear blue skies have left too. Today we had a decent storm with a heavy downpour of rain for the first time in six months which is good to clear Clio's decks of salt. There is much more to come and over 50 knots of wind (gale) are predicted for Tuesday and early Wednesday. We’ll stay in port and read a good book.