After more than a week of cleaning, organizing and maintenance work, I'm happy to report that Interlude departed the Turgutreis marina yesterday and our 2013 cruising adventure has officially begun.

We're anchored this afternoon in the shadow of the Bodrum Castle, once the most heavily fortified castle in the entire Mediterranean. Built between 1406-1522 by the Knights of St. John, the Castle now is home to a fascinating underwater archeology museum. The museum chronicles the evolution of maritime commerce in the Med, with amphoras and bronze, gold and glass artifacts recovered from shipwrecks dating back to the 14th century BC. We rented a car last week and spent an afternoon here --- it's definitely a 'must see' stop for anyone visiting Bodrum.

We had quite a scare last night while anchored in a small fishing village just 1 hour south of Turgutreis. We had just finished dinner and were sitting in the saloon playing cards when suddenly we heard a loud BANG as the boat lurched to the starboard side. As I dashed up the companionway steps I heard Chris say "someone hit us!" Sure enough, when I reached the cockpit I saw a local fishing boat, perhaps 20-25 feet long circling back on our port side. They were hollering at us in Turkish and it was clear that they were angry. I began hollering back with mostly adrenaline-fueled four letter words but it was pointless because neither of us could understand the other. The immediate priority was damage assessment and I hopped down below to grab a flashlight and our high powered spotlight. Once back on deck I discovered two long scars on the port stern. I saw no sign of the hull being breached but hopped back down to our cabin and lifted the floorboards to make sure we weren't taking on water. Thankfully, we weren't. Once we were sure that we weren't in any immediate danger, we began to deconstruct what had happened. The anchor light was on and I knew we weren't anchored in any kind of channel. But as I assessed the situation further, I realized that our anchor light may have been lost in the clutter of lights on the hillside behind us. Also, because it is early in the season, the local fishermen probably weren't used to watching for pleasure craft at anchor in the bay. And although our masthead anchor light meets the legal requirements, it IS more than 70 feet off the waterline which is hardly at eye-level for a small boat closeby. So while the other boat clearly failed to maintain a proper and effective lookout, the legal niceties become quickly irrelevant if your boat is holed or a family member is injured. From now on we will be hanging a flashing white stobe light from the boom, much closer to the waterline and much less likely to be confused with other lights ashore.

This accident could have been SO much worse if we had taken a direct hit instead of a glancing blow. If the other boat had been just one foot closer to the centerline, it's likely that their bow would have slid right up (or through!) our transom. At a minimum, the dingy and the davits would have been completely destroyed. Or if we had been turned 90 degrees, we would have been T-boned and the impact would have been directly where we were sitting. So rather than be angry or upset about this incident, we've chosen to be grateful that no one was hurt and that our journey can continue. The ugly scars alongside the stern will remain there until our next haul out, reminders of our good fortune and of what could have been...

Our plan is to begin heading South towards Marmaris in a few days. We're lingering around this area for a while longer while we wait for our EPIRB to be returned from Istanbul where it is being serviced. With luck, the weeks and days ahead will be filled with considerably less drama than what we experienced during the first few hours this season.