It felt so strange today without our extra crew members. For the past month we've had the pleasure of both our childrens' company, plus Steph's partner Chris, who made himself well and truly at home.

This morning we left the (expensive) luxury of Turgutreis marina and sailed for eight hours downwind almost to the end of the gulf east of Bodrum.

Sogut lies at the head of a bay, sheltered by an island and once inside, it was as if the 3metre swell and 25 knot winds had never existed. We're on a sturdy jetty with water and electricity, showers and toilets, all for 40 lira per night. Since we'd already bought minced beef from Tansas for bolognese, we didn't feel obliged to eat at the restaurant but we had a couple of beers and accessed the free (fast) wi-fi.

The owners here are friendly, helpful, informative and very proud of this little oasis and rightly so.

How good it feels to be back in Turkey.