After 'maxing-out' a full marina day before leaving D-Marin Didim's dock in the late afternoon, almost as soon as we sailed into Altinkium's harbor we were met by another speedy dinghy, this time not the marina's but the "welcoming committee" of Jeanne and Trevor from the Canadian flagged s/v Onward. They excitedly introduced themselves saying they'd been keeping an eye out for us (and we for them) ever since last season when mutual pals Steve and Karyn aboard s/v Threshold told us they were friends to be sure to meet up with.

So, indeed we did, that night and for another five in the nearby anchorage of Talianaki. Jeanne and Trevor knew the area well and were excellent guides and great fun.

And, as the small world of sailing would have it, Steve and Karyn were, this same week, on their way to Turkey. Onward and Sangaris were quite confident that we'd be the draw to encourage their check-in to Didim (vs. Turgetreis or other points south) but decided that we'd 'up the ante' and email them about a wonderful "Wine Festival" that was going to be held in the Talianaki/Altinkum area. Although surprised that she'd not read anything about a wine festival Karyn nonetheless was keen on attending and wrote to us many times for dates and details and began adjusting their plans to be at the big event.

And what a thrill to see Threshold sail into Talianaki harbor and rendezvous with us and s/v Onward while the north Meltemi winds blew a hot 20-25 kts, much like a hair dryer on steroids. But the anchorage and holding was good and the reunion great fun, highlighted by the "Wine Festival". Oh OK, it was surreptitiously sponsored by Onward and Sangaris, not by the local Muslim Turks (surprise, surprise). Dinner aboard Sangaris was served with a fine selection of Rose and Chardonnays ... and Threshold's crew was chuffed to have a festival in their honor! (Sorry no pics of the crews nor the 3 boat reunion - too much wine!)

Threshold's Steve and Karyn and we often laugh about the odd ways we get together ... having homes within 30 minutes of each other in Florida yet not meeting there but getting acquainted for the first time in the middle of the Atlantic ocean (Azores 2004), over-wintering in St. Katharine Dock, London, sailing the Portuguese coast and then catching up in Turkey, having only seen each other a handful of times in Florida over the past eight years.

But back at anchor in Talianaki, Jean and Trevor had shared their vast local knowledge and Threshold and Sangaris' crews set out for town to sort out mobile phone service and do some provisioning. After about a mile walk to the nearest road, we hopped a dolmuş and headed for the Turkcell store across from the Didim mosque whose twin minarets you see below.

Then it was off to the local grocery store where Karyn is bemused by the eccentric display of used pots seemingly marked down from 39.90 to only 19.90, but it was only a clever attention getter to sell the new pots in the boxes behind. The image at the bottom of the photo montage were from another store with classic hand crafted Turkish embroidery depicted the "tree of life" and other symbology - all quite beautiful.

The wonderful rendezvous finally wound down when the Meltemi winds did the same - we sailors do live by the winds - and Threshold and Onward went back to the marina at Didim with Sangaris carrying on to explore Iassos and points east ... but more on that in the next post. We had another rendezvous with Threshold a few days later and were together at anchor at Salih Adasi, Turkbuku (which the NY Times calls "the new St. Tropez" - la de dah!) and Yalikavak.