The merry month of May

The month of May has seen us slowly making our way south, from Eski Foça to Bodrum.  During this month we visited some ancient ruins, picked up a variety of crud on the anchor, and scrubbed the hull of the boat.

The highlight of the trip down was definitely Siǧacik. The town has an old walled section by the harbour which is beautiful, full of decorated buildings. We enjoyed a night out here, with good food, a live band, and a bit of dancing about the restaurant in a fully shameless manor.   

A short walk through the town are the ruins of ancient Teos. These ruins are impressive and set in a nature park. The olive trees were properly gnarly and red squirrels running about were a treat, however too quick to catch on camera.

On this journey south we have enjoyed Çeşme, with a very picturesque castle and numerous deserted bays, some with hot springs.

We have been unlucky to have got the anchor caught in rubbish left on the seabed a few times this month, first in Eski Foça, then again in a deserted bay. To be honest, there warnings about the harbour in Eski Foça, but we had also heard that it was fine in deeper water. Phil did a great job with the knife to free most of the line and stuff from the anchor.

More of a surprise was our second entanglement where we seemed to pick up half a tree wrapped in the anchor chain. This bay had crystal clear turquoise water and no sign of a tree when we dropped the anchor, but the next morning there it was. Phil got in the dinghy and, the help of a line and some 'up a bit and down a bit' on the anchor we were able to get ourselves free.

The sea water temperature has started to warm up and this meant it was time to scrub the green carpet of growth of the underside of the boat. Unfortunately, it turns out that I can fit in Phil's shortie wet suit, not having a wet suit having been my excuse for avoiding this task for a while now. With this excuse gone, it was time to get in the 18°C water. The job took a number of sessions, as even in the wet suit, I could only manage an hour maximum before shivering set in and the job has to be done by duck diving, meaning at least half the time is spent getting your breath back. The growth came off easily enough with a scrubbing brush, and I did get quite into it in the end. With the job complete we noticed a significant improvement in our speed, which made it feel like time well spent. With the weather and sea temperature increasing weekly, this will need to be repeated each month. 

June will be our last month in Turkey as it will be time to start moving back across the Mediterranean. The month is looking busy with friends visiting and a long trip over to Sicily planned. I just wonder how interested our guests might be in taking a turn scrubbing the hull. We can always live in hope.