The yachting part of our travels has come to an end. We have returned the yacht to our home marina at Gocek, done some maintenance and cleaning then she will be lifted out of the water until next year. We are extremely happy with Southern Comfort II, although we had a few issues to deal with along the way, all were easily solved in the end. She has been a very comfortable yacht to spend our time on.

Some may ask – what are thoughts and highlights on the experience we have had?

After 16 weeks of living together in close proximity, we are still talking to each other!

The water everywhere is clean, clear and at a perfect temperature for swimming.

The hottest days we had were about 38 degrees and the coldest nights (in September) were about 23. Mostly though, the days are consistently in the low 30’s. When you are living on a swimming pool, its perfect. We only had two days in the whole time where we had uncomfortable weather – one due to a local thunderstorm and one due to strong winds.

We did not do as much sailing as we would have liked (although Nerida is always happy to motor along on a perfectly calm sea). The wind was often too light or coming from exactly where we wanted to go to. We did 180 hours of engine running using 580 litres of fuel in total.

The people – both on other boats and the locals, were always friendly and helpful. There may be the odd Greek harbour master that is the exception……

Worst name for a boat seen – Wet Dreams. Seen on two different boats. What were the owners of these boats thinking?

We never tire of hearing the call to prayer when in Turkish towns – even if sometimes they do start at 4:00am.

There is an incredible number of boats on the water in all of this area including a lot of very very large new power boats. Although we always found a parking spot, it would not pay to arrive in some places late in the day as the harbours and some anchorages are full by late afternoon. In both Turkey and Greece there are many large Gulets (tour boats) that do tend to crowd out some places.


Turkish coast versus Greek islands.
The Greek islands offer a lot of diversity with each island having its own character and lots of options from large busy and lively harbour towns to small isolated anchorages. The weather was sunny every day although it can be quite windy at times. Eating out is a bit cheaper than in Turkey even though we are paying in Euro. Some of this is due to drinks being cheaper. However, Greek restaurants do seem to have the most uncomfortable chairs – wooden frame with a woven rush seat.

This area of the Turkish coastline is quite mountainous with a very indented shoreline with majestic scenery. There are many options of anchorages along the coast and in many places, there are small rustic restaurants setup in what would be an otherwise isolated bay. In Turkey everything comes to you on the water, from ice-creams, clothing, beach towels, massages to supermarket boats - the Turks are very entrepreneurial in their ideas for commercial opportunities in this part of the world.

Highlights
• Watching the blood moon from the secluded bay of Agathonisi – magical!
• Sharing the experience with Caroline and Darren.
• Seeing dolphins up close on a couple of occasions, they are quite rare in this part of the world.
• Waking up somewhere different almost every morning, often to the sounds of goat bells, or roosters. The background scenery is often rugged but stunningly beautiful.
• Going for a long swim first thing in the morning in waters often teaming with small fish.

Will we go back next year – absolutely!

Our next travel adventure is off to Cappadocia in eastern Turkey and then back to Istanbul for a few days. We will keep posting our travels on this blog until we return home in early October.