We arrived in Turkey at the end of January, shortly before our 90-day Visa ran out for Europe. Turkey had never really been on my radar for countries to visit but it has blown our minds with its beauty, pedestrian-friendly towns, and kind people. After checking into the country we anchored in front of Bodrum Castle, a medieval castle built in the 1,400s. 
The first thing we noticed upon arriving in Turkey was how many businesses were open, unlike in the Greek Islands. Tourist season in the Mediterranean doesn’t start until April/May and the villages in the Greek islands are so small that they were mostly deserted. It really doesn’t get much better than enjoying a meal on the beach while keeping an eye on the boat with the backdrop of an ancient castle.
Sidenote: If you are interested in the cruising lifestyle, the owner of the boat we are currently on wrote a great book: Losing Sight of the Shore: How to Live on a Boat Without Killing Your Family. Look for the story of the first delivery we made for them from the Bahamas to Florida around page 140. 
I love the feel and shape of the traditional Turkish tea glasses. We started using them for wine (and tea) on the boat since they are very durable. Fun fact: Turkey has the highest per capita tea consumption in the world and black tea is grown in the Black Sea region. In Turkish tea is “çay” pronounced chai, though there are no spices in Turkish tea, just black tea. 
The southwest coast of Turkey is known as the Turkish Riviera, Turquoise Coast, or Lycian Coast. There is a 300-mile trail, the Lycian Way, along the coast that passes by traditional villages, ancient ruins, and secluded beaches. This region is also the breadbasket of Turkey and everything from greens to bananas is grown here. Fruit juices are squeezed fresh at most restaurants, our favorites are orange and pomegranate. We stumbled upon the farmer’s market in Fethiye which is so big it took us over an hour to explore. 
Here is what $60 at the farmers market will buy you. Not shown are a lot of potatoes, garlic, and onions. In the back corner are one pound of walnuts, one pound of olives, spices, pomegranate syrup, honey, a pound of handmade pasta, and 10 eggs. There is also a pound of white feta-type cheese.
The west coast of Turkey is reminiscent of our home cruising grounds of Washington and British Columbia in that the anchorages are “steep-and-deep” and hillsides are covered in trees, a drastic change after the mostly barren Greek Islands with fairly shallow anchorages. When anchoring in deep water, we secure the boat by running lines ashore using the SUP after setting the anchor.
If you follow us on Instagram or YouTube you’ve probably already seen this drone video. We lost our drone last summer in Hawaii but a nice guy also visiting Cleopatra’s Bath shared his footage. If this was summertime we probably wouldn’t have been able to anchor right next to the ruins.
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As in the Greek Islands, most anchorages are visited daily by goats and sheep. They mostly roam free but have bells so they can easily be found. Their bells are like relaxing windchimes but they can get quite chatty. We encountered these guys while hiking to the ruins of the ancient Roman village of Lydae.
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Our favorite building in the ancient village was this cistern from the Ottoman Empire, which is still used to store water for goats and sheep over 500 years later. 
The stray dogs and cats here are treated like royalty. We watched one dog nap (for at least two hours) directly in the entrance to the supermarket and people carefully stepped around him. Other dogs wait in front of the butcher shop for their daily scraps. Sadly, many of them are overweight because they are so well-fed.
Turkish gulets are 20-35 meter, two-masted, wooden sailing yachts built mostly on the Turkish coast. They are beautiful, though I imagine varnishing them is a never-ending process. While originally built for fishing, they are now used for tourist charters.
I’ll leave you with our favorite thing to explore: a sea cave or grotto. This “Blue Grotto” is filled with bright blue light when sunlight enters through a submerged entrance.
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We upload new content to our photo albums almost daily if you want to follow our travels.
This adventure has been a delivery of the boat from Spain to Greece. We’re currently boat-sitting while cruising Turkey before we head back to Greece to turn over the boat to the owners. If you are looking for captain services for a charter, delivery of your boat, or boat-sitting, please contact us or visit our professional website PacificCaptains.com.
For recent photos from our adventures see our Photo Albums, and please subscribe to our blog to be notified of upcoming posts.
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