Please note that I am a "K" and Peter is a "Y" in the photo above. Great planning and execution by all. We had to "try out" for our letter to spell TURKEY. Of course "T" had to go to Tricia and "E" for Erik. Many jumps attempted before the judges Brielle and Andrew officially assigned us.

Datca had it all a good hairdresser and a vineyard. The vineyard overlooked the countryside and the sea beyond. It featured a nice variety of pizzas and simple apps, a good selection of reds, and a friendly dog. The tables were low coffee tables against a wall that terraced down a good 10 feet on the other side. The dog would go back and forth along the wall patiently waiting for the food to arrive, from the wall his head was table high, so we had to pay attention. We asked the waitress what the dogs name was and she had no idea as he just appears every day. I picture the dogs owner taking him to the vet because he's not eating the food in his bowl at home. The Datca hairdresser had an army of helpers working simultaneously on my feet hands and hair. It was very disconcerting when the lady working on my feet asked if I spent a lot of time on a boat. I affirmed that yes I actually live on one. She then shook her head and said much to my dismay that she could tell because the bottom of my feet looked like her husband's who is a fisherman - dark from the teak and rough - ugh!! Well, Transforming in a mere hour was wonderful, only to be put back down when the door opened and the baking heat outside with high winds attacked what the air conditioned wonderland of the salon had wrought, but it was worth feeling like a superstar for an hour!

This area of the coast is riven with deep little coves that invariably have a restaurant. We backed into one and no sooner had we tied to the dock Colleen had invited two other boats over for happy hour, then we all headed to dinner. The one couple had sailed up and down the Caribbean islands for a lot of years then switched to the med. The other couple had an Oyster sailboat and had just gotten started, the husband a retired surgeon was keen to use his new 3D printer and had been printing parts for his boat. Another restaurant we stopped at wedged us in between the boulders and the dock on the inside. We had to back straight out to avoid colliding, Colleen was not happy. The spot featured a fort where we ran into a large crew from "bucket list" as we watched the sun set. They were all young, mostly Americans, and played good music dancing on the ramparts. We ended up drinking beers with another Reinhard (my middle name is Reinhard) and his wife shutting the place down.

Kumlubuk had a 101 meter tall cliff with an ancient village atop it. We climbed to the top and were rewarded with a beautiful view of the bay and a deep understanding of the difficulties any assailant might have in attacking this village. We headed back down the shortcut, which was basically a straight line to the bay. The reward, an expensive cocktail and sushi?

We were blessed with visits from our great friends Kathi and Mike, Pete and Michelle, and the finale was Brielle and Andrew with our nephew Erik and Tricia. It was a wonderful whirlwind of activities. Much laughter and shared adventures. It is not easy hooking up with a moving target and again we appreciate so much the effort it takes to fly to Turkey (or wherever we are) and then take a taxi or bus to meet us in whatever remote location we are. We do try on our side to make it as easy as possible going into more busy towns but it is still an effort on both sides. Having people visit is such a highlight for us and we thank you all so very much!

We have seen strings of Elon Musks Starlink satellites streaking across the sky two times now. They go over head in rows of three in a long belt. The first time we were at a cookout on the beach and couldn't figure out what the heck it was. We searched the internet and they had been reported over Jerusalem earlier that night.



Marmaris had a place on google map called bar alley, with a name like bar alley we had to go. Kathi and Mike joined us here. Hidden one row back from the tavernas the discoes lined either side of the road. They vied for customers with thumping music, dancing on the bar, and cheap shots. Colleen went right by the one with the band playing Led Zepplin (my choice) and chose the one with scantily clad flamenco dancers. Heh we all have to bend a little to get along. The scene inside was bottle service with sparklers and high energy. We ended up spending more at the bar then a full dinner with wine. The next morning came way too early with what I thought was a faulty bilge pump going on and off. Colleen thought it was from outside and when she went topside, in her pajamas, was greeted by the Turkish coast guard pushing their buzzer. They nicely asked us to move the boat as it was "Victory day over Greece" and a warship was meant to park here. As we rubbed the sand out of our eyes we realized the harbor was already half empty and a destroyer was blocking the horizon to the south. We had planned to leave that morning, but it would have been after brunch. Welcome to Turkey Kathi and Mike! It was a rough morning with the adrenaline pumping from the very very early morning's events.

The Dalian river miraculously keeps its natural beauty despite being wholly over run with tourist boats going up and down it. We took a ride in one of the wooden, diesel, chugging boats, stopping to see the turtles, the miles of wetland grasses, the ancient city (which was wiped out from malaria from all the mosquitos in the wetland grasses) and the super cool Lycian tombs in the cliff. We were greeted as we got off the boat at the ancient village by a friendly German shepherd that showed us all the main sites in the ruins. He was very friendly and as we were the last boat to leave climbed aboard to go home with us. The captain would have nothing of it and put him back on the dock. Needless to say this caused great consternation especially with Kathi and Colleen. This was further compounded when the dog, whimpering loudly, leapt from the dock into the water and swam after our boat. Kathi and Mikes dogs came super close to having a brother.

The name Cleopatra is a sure draw for tourists so when ever possible the local tourist boards draw on any possible connection. The US equivalent would be George Washington slept here. We had seen Cleopatra beach, which was a roped off strip of sand and now Cleopatras baths. The story goes that Cleopatras hand maidens took it upon themselves to build her a bath. It looked a lot like an old farm house with a dock, we should have known after the beach.

Gocek bay is large with many inlets and harbors and boats backed up to the shore all along the way. There are so many boats that there are two full blown grocery store boats and many other store boats selling everything you need. The Migros supermarket boat was just leaving the little cove we were in and Colleen said we needed some meat. Michelle and I quickly jumped in the dinghy in pursuit. The supermarket kept going and going, about two miles before finally reopening. It never anchors the boat just slows down to a crawl. You pull up behind it and a guy ties your dinghy up and you step into piles of potatoes and bottled water everywhere. We bought the meat and some cookies and decided we needed to quench our thirst from the long ride at the fancy bar where the Migros had slowed. According to Colleen and Pete they were back at the boat scrubbing the hull and the decks the entire time. Luckily our charge for the drinks dinged Pete's visa app so they knew we were okay as we had both left our phones on the boat. Hmm, I swear it was an accident?? In the end Colleen did not like our meat selection and hailed down a smaller grocery boat that pulled up along side of us. She vaulted in like a gymnast and proceeded to select meat that wasn't a mystery. The grocer boatman asked if she needed alcohol. We hadn't seen any, but like a prohibition speakeasy he pushed the potatoes aside and the compartment below had a variety of Rose wine.


One of the forced marches with Pete and Michelle found Pete scaling a cliff to reach the Lycian tomb above for the ultimate photo shot. My hope was that he would climb into the dank dark tomb, but he chickened out remaining on the six inch ledge outside. Pete was bitching that tomb raiding was not part of the mission but he would have made Indiana Jones proud in his efforts.


We were heading to Kas on a long run of 46 miles. We had planned to go all the way to Kas but the wind wasn't cooperating and KalKan was just to our port side, we ducked in, and from the boat it looked like a sleepy fishing village with some beaches. We lowered the trusty dinghy and headed in for dinner as the sun set behind the mountains. It's always a thrill to dinghy into a little harbor and see all the fishing and tourist boats backed in with the restaurants pushing back with their tables to the waters edge. The Turkish harbors are typically packed so what is an empty spot now, will soon be filled. We always look for shallow spots, or corners where large boats can't be docked to tie up the dinghy. Hopping up onto the wall of the harbor we headed off into the village. The place was full of narrow medieval streets that were overflowing with places to eat and stuff to buy, big surprise. Homecoming has a clock that looks like it was bought at staples, so we had been looking to upgrade the clock for a while. We stumbled upon a little shop with a jigsaw out front and a ton off wall clocks. We were tempted to get the one with Ataturk on it. (Peter was not me) We were trying to explain what we needed as the craftsman only spoke Turkish and we can barley say "hello". The other customer (Izmir) in the shop interpreted and the craftsman agreed to take the olive root wall clock we liked and make it able to stand on our shelf, whilst carving Homecoming into it, pickup 1pm the next day. Colleen quickly latched onto helpful Izmir and we all found ourselves in a narrow alley eating a meal at a local restaurant with just a few tables. Izmir was on vacation, coming from Antalya a city too far south for us to visit. He said there is a large USA air base there, with a rumored 120 nukes. The next day because the pick up for the clock was later than we wanted to leave for Kas Brielle and I stayed behind. We went back to the local restaurant from the night before for breakfast and grabbed a taxi to Kas after picking up our made to order clock. We were meeting Erik and Trisha in Kas to join us so it all worked out beautifully.


The closer history is the more it effects us, I guess its more relatable. In the big realignment after WW1, in the 1920s, the Greek Orthodox were relocated to Greek islands and the few Turkish left in the Greek islands were moved to Turkey. It wasn't a pretty thing and many were slaughtered on both sides. We visited a village that had been cleared of Greeks, and the Turkish locals refused to move in leaving the village empty for all these years. The Turks believed it was haunted by those that had been killed or relocated. It definitely felt like that walking through the squares and chapels of the village.

St. Nicholas island was a thriving monastery with several churches till the 1920's. We backed up to a cliff and tied off. We were able to swim a few meters and climb up the cliff to see the ruins. The churches still featured mosaics and many of the structures were semi intact. Little boats often go boat to boat selling stuff; fruits, vegetables, ice cream, or crepes. After hiking up to the top of the island with Pete and Michelle along the goat path (we later found the well human traversed path) we found the crepe boat strategically positioned on our way back to the boat. The crepe ladies smile won our business. She squatted on the front of the boat ladling out the batter onto the crepe iron. We got a lemon and a Nutella. The next time we saw her we got the spicy cheese. If Colleen had her way we would just tow the crepe lady along and forget the Tavernas and markets.



Fethiyes' Lycian tombs were ancient beautiful repositories of the kings the fronts flanked by columns set high up the steep cliff side. From the height of the tomb you can see the entire city of Fethiye. Andrew ran up to the tombs racing Brielle to the top, glanced at the tombs, turned and saw the white lights of the "football" stadium beckoning. He immediately new that our dinner at the fish market would have to be delayed. Six dollars a ticket and we had midfield seats and a mystery meat sandwich to tie us over. Soon as play started the young posse of fans next to us whipped out drums and climbed up on the scaffolding flanking the field. The fan conductor miraculously stood on a rung 25 feet up, waving both hands, smoking and leading the chant, Fethiye, Fethiye rang through the night. It was like watching a runaway Hockey game, Fethiye won 3-1, they didn't serve beer just Turkish tea or water, and the energy couldn't have been better.

The night was black with no moon, we were in a fjord like inlet, shaped like a seahorse, on the isle of Kekova. We had backed up to the steeply rising wall and tied to fissures in the rock. The water went from 60ft deep to 10 feet next to the wall in just a few boat lengths. The island of Kekova has no current inhabitants, but the ancient Lycian settlements with their ubiquitous tombs were liberally sprinkled along the coast and up into the hills. Erik peed off the side of the boat into the darkness and was surprised to see a pool of light in response!! The harbor was full of phytoplankton!! We all jumped into the blackness (on the other side of the boat) and it was amazing. The stars in the black sky above us had no separation from the stars of the phytoplankton made in the water below with our every movement. We put on masks and dove down and the light from the tiny creatures and the blackness all around gave us the sensation of flying. Peter agreed with me that not only was this one of highlights from sailing but life in general. We have never experienced anything like that before and I hope it was not a one and done.





We checked out of Kos Turkey with a hearty teşekkür ederim (thank-you very much) Turkish people were beyond helpful, nice and kind. The lands beautiful, food was wonderful and the sailing areas were top notch! It took us longer to shoe horn our boat into the customs dock than for the officials to stamp, stamp, stamp, and wave us goodbye. We pointed Homecoming across the strait to Kastellorizo a mere 3.5 miles away and spent the rest of the morning/afternoon with the Greek officials who relish their quadruplicate receipts and forms for different offices much more than the Turkish side. We took a break while customs was at lunch 11:30 - 3 and headed down the coast in the dinghy to see the famed blue cave of Kastellorizo. The ride took longer than anticipated and there was some question as if we had actually found the right hole in the cliff. Picture opening your garage door about 2-2-1/2 feet high then toggle it up and down, this was the opening to the blue cave what with the swells coming in, the opening got smaller and larger. I looked at it as a laying down on the floor of the dinghy and timing it thing, Colleen saw it as an insanity, a torn dinghy, cracked head, and probably not blue at all. After some back and forth her fear of missing out and the fact that we had bounced along for 2-1/2 miles overcame her common sense. We laid down on the floor and squeaked through. The cave was immense and the light shooting through the opening bounced off the sandy floor painting the wall and ceiling in a wonderful blue color. It was truly a sight to behold. We ducked back through the opening and headed to our first Greek dinner replete with our welcoming taverna cats and a 1/2 liter of house wine at 4 euro.

Rhodes is a popular stop for cruise ships and as such the medieval old town is packed with tourist traps, one of which we fell prey to. The friendly taverna owner buttonholed us as we walked by and asked us if we wanted a beer. Looking out on the square was pleasant and we thought a large and medium beer would be nice. He brought us two huge boots full of beer. Never one to back away form a challenge of this sort we took to the task at hand. Down around the ankle of the beer boot I noted a green parrot eying us from under a table. I am sure he was thinking what rubes. Besides the parrot, Rhodes had been rebuilt and reimagined many times through the centuries the latest when the Italians took over from the Turks in the 1920s. They "renovated" the ruins into fanciful fortifications and left Rhodes with an enduring cruise ship stop.

Now we island hop North then West ending near Athens to leave Homecoming for the winter.