We’re in!! Turkey that is.
 
Come close, no closer. We’re in Turkey we left Molivos and told them we were going to Mitilini. That’s what you do, you can’t tell them your going to Turkey. It’s all very complicated. Skipper for the day was Karen. This was the day we got so close to a Russian cargo ship the crew started shouting at us. How was I supposed to know they had fishing lines out! Unfortunately we had to motor a lot of the way. We had a rather cunning plan we were booked into a marina for the following day. That night we were going to sneak into Camlik Koyu bay round the corner from Ayvalik marina (39 18’ 87N 26 41’ 28E) spend the night. Then mosey on round to the marina first thing in the morning to check in to Turkey. Best to try and get your moneys worth (oh how we’ve changed). We didn’t get thrown into a Turkish jail, so as you can see the plan worked a treat. Coming into the marina the next day was shall we say interesting. Helmswoman Karen bringing her in, Lazy lineman Miles on the bow. Turkish marina man in dinghy. My only defence is that it is a very tight marina, with very little space to manoeuvre. We didn’t actually hit anything, but there was probably a time when all three of us thought we might. I had the Turkish marina man shouting at me in Turkish. No point matey, I can’t understand a word your saying! A few moments of hyperventilation then we were in, nicely tucked up. We went through the checking in process which the marina staff helped us with. The Captain was then carted off in a dinghy to see the customs people. We are now signed, sealed and more importantly in! We went over to a place called Kucukkuyu (39 32’ 7N 26 36’ 5E). A nice little harbour. We had an excellent spot on the quay very sheltered. We spent three days there then came back to our little bay around the corner (avoid those marina fees). We’ve just come back into the marina to get Stella settled as we prepare for a quick jaunt back to Blighty. I am glad to report entry to the marina went a lot more smoothly this time. Once again I (Karen) helmed us in, got to face your demons! Turkey is very different to Greece. Where we are at the moment is quite busy, we have only met two English people (in the marina). Nobody outside the marina speaks any English, which makes life interesting. I did at one point think we might have to leave the country as we had a bit of a milk crisis. The captain being a creature of habit has his cereal each day without fail. On said cereal he has his nice cold fresh milk. On this particular day what he had poured on his cereal was a sort of yogurt concoction after tasting a spoonful he declared the milk off and said we had to leave Turkey. All I can say is thank heavens for UHT it’s not the same, but it’s not yogurt either! We are returning to Blighty because Chris and Jules are getting married. Got to see this. 2007 seems to be the year for tying the knot. Meg and Rich remember them the first mad fools, I mean crew to come out on Stella. Well there doing it as well in July. My dear friend from school Nicola married Darren back in April, unfortunately we weren’t able to be there. Will have to wait to see the photeys. We have booked an overnight bus to Istanbul (should be interesting). Then an Easyjet flight back to UK. As it is Easyjet we are going from some obscure airport, which may or may not be in Istanbul. So already you can see the journey is going to be a hum dinger!! Love and Holy Moly’s (sorry it just slipped out). Captain M & Helmswoman K XX
Wednesday, 20 June 2007