Recent history:

Byzantium (330 AD-1453 AD)

Ruled from Constantinople, Turkey was predominantly Christian for nearly eight centuries. The late Roman period lasted from 330 AD until 700AD, when the Avats and Slavs invaded the east and besieged Constantinople. Under Mehmet II, Constantinople was conquered in 1453 and it's name changed to Istanbul.

Ottoman period (1453-1923 AD)

The Ottoman Empire spread quickly after the conquest of Constantinople and by the 16th century the empire included all of Turkey, Palestine, Algeria, Egypt, Syria and Southern Europe. The destruction of the Turkish fleet in 1571 prevented further Ottoman expansion and by the 19th century the Ottoman territory had diminished greatly.

1853 saw the end of the Greek War of Independence and the loss of the Aegean Islands. Turkey joined the First World War on the German side and was divided between the victorious powers at the end of the war. Under the Treaty of Lausanne Turkey became an independent state in 1923.

Modern period (1923 AD to the present)

Ataturk was elected the first president of the Turkish Republic. During his rule he made Turkey a secular state, abolished the fez, improved internal communications and changed Turkeys educational system. Ataturk is revered to this day; his picture in every house, shop and office and even after his death in 1938 has a great influence on how Turkey is governed.

KAYAKOY

I am proud to say that, during our whole stay in Turkey we bought not one carpet or Kilim, which due to the constant harassment is quite a feat in my opinion.

We were invited by friends of ours on the boat 'Escape Key' to accompany them on a bus trip to the ancient city of Kayakoy. Although only sixteen kilometers away it took us half an hour to get there, now you don't need to be a maths genius to know that sixteen kilometers in half an hour is excruciatingly slow and at times when we were going very slowly I felt like volunteering to jog beside the bus, to get some fresh air as we were packed in like sardines, and then some.

Kayakoy (Karmylassos)

Although the history of Kayakoy dates back three thousand years B.C. most of the buildings and tombs standing are dated in the fourth century B.C.

The buildings situated on the slopes of the valley were built during the second part of the nineteenth century and the first quarter of the 20th century. A great exchange of "citizens"(prisoners?) was made after Turkey became a republic, the Greeks living in the region were exchanged with the Turks resident in the Western Thrace, resulting in the abandoning of all houses and buildings in the area. Only the stone construction of this once grand city remains, the wood has rotted due to natural causes. Among the 350-400 houses, a number of chapels still remain as well as two churches, a school and a customs house, all built in such a way as to allow a panoramamic view and prevent overshadowing one another.

We felt a sense of awe walking around these buildings built so many years ago, to think that once someone walked down the same road I am now walking down with my sneakers, they walked down in leather or even woven reed sandals.

In and around Fethiye:

Along with all the modern day shops that line the streets, Turkish cities have amazing undercover markets which house everything from fresh produce and spices to jewelry and linen and not forgetting the all important, carpet sellers. The Turkish equivalent of tea is found everywhere and in a variety of different flavours ranging from, peach tea, apple tea, lemon tea, mint tea, gooseberry tea, duck berry tea, e(tea)c.

Although we had to take a bus to see Kayakoy there were plenty of things to see within walking distance, one of these is the Telemessos Theatre, it was stumbled upon during the leveling of land for a new road. When diggers started unearthing remains of the ancient theatre an excavation was lead by the directorate of the Fethiye Museum and financed by local recourses during the years 1992-1995.

The theatre, originally with twenty-eight rows, seating approximately six thousand spectators, was built during the late Hellenistic period. Later, during the second century AD a stage was added while Turkey was under Roman rule. A protective wall was erected at the first row and the site served as an arena during the third or fourth century AD. The abandonment of the theatre happened during the seventh century AD as a result of the Arabic invasion sharing the historical fate of the city.

As we were walking around the theatre dad said it would be nice to have a picture of mom and I sitting up in the theatre on one of the seats. This proved very difficult, as not only were the steps in ruins and covered with vegetation but also the fact that as soon as we sat down we shot back up again because of the sizzling sensation we felt on our thighs. The temperature that day was in the upper thirties so you can well imagine what the stone seats felt like on bare skin. We told dad who was standing below us of our predicament and that he would have to get the camera all sorted out and aim the shot while we were standing. Then on the count of three we quickly sat down and looked comfortable and dad took the picture, not a moment too soon in my opinion, as I could already smell burnt flesh.

In one of our guidebooks to Turkey there was an article on cuisine quoting ' The Turks eat better than anyone else in the Eastern Mediterranean.' I am afraid I would have to disagree with this, although one meal that was very good was a dish similar to what is known to us as a Calzone. It consists of a thin dough base baked with shredded spinach and feta cheese, then folded in half, cooked on both sides and voila, a filling meal costing bir milyon (one million) Turkish Lirasi, about sixty euro cents.

When one walks through the streets of Turkey one cannot help bumping into someone walking, rather importantly with a stainless steel circular tray suspended from above by three small chains, holding a few shallow glasses of an off peach liquid known here as tea. Quite a few times both mom and I have cornered one of these people in order to take a photograph, each obliging and some even posing. I guess they must find us quite a spectacle chasing after them with a camera when they are doing what they consider perfectly normal. I suppose its similar when we are tied up to a dock and are busy on deck coiling lines, adjusting fenders, tightening ropes and generally keeping the boat ship shape, that a number of people walking by stop to watch what they think is a very interesting topic and once or twice I felt like saying to them 'What, don't you tidy up YOUR yard?' The other person that had his picture taken was a boy with a large tray on his head piled high with what we would call really big, skinny bagels. These 'bagels' are really good and at 250 000 (15 euro cents) you can't go wrong. The only problem is that these rings are only good for one day going rather hard on the second because of this, it was my daily chore to chase down, and I say chase because they walk very fast and turn down little paths this way and that so quickly it is difficult to keep your eye on them, and once I got quite lost in the back streets of Fethiye trying to catch up with one of these boys.

Although we only stayed a short time in Turkey I made an effort to learn as much Turkish as is possible in two weeks, which needless to say is not very much.

In case any of you ever decide to go to Turkey, and I highly recommend it here are some useful words you might want to know. The numbers from one to ten are as follows: (I have only put in the Turkish name as I trust you know the English one) bir (beer), iki, uc (ochi), dort (dirt), bes, alti, yedi, sekis, docuz, on.

Yes is evet and no is hayir while please is lutfen and thank you is, well so complicated you are better off just saying merci (mercy for those of you who don't know any French what so ever (like me)).

The Lycian Rock Tombs are found along the mountainside behind the town of Fethiye and date back to the fourth century B.C.

The two types of graves are found on the mountainside, the pigeonhole tombs, consisting of rectangular blocks cut into the rock face. These graves are small, plain and simple and one grave can hold as many as three occupants lying on stone 'beds' along three of the four sides. The Temple like tombs are found higher on the mountainside and are built for only one person. Two columns between pilasters decorate the front of the façade and a false door at the front of the chamber is divided into four panels, which are decorated around the edges with false studs. Even the pigeonhole tombs have this front chamber divided into four. We noticed in all the tombs the bottom left quarter panel has been broken by historians to investigate. It can there fore be assumed that the inside of the grave has been designed in such a way as to prevent the disturbing of the dead when the tomb is reopened.

Amyntas the son of Hermapias is believed to be a governor of Telmessos during the Hellenistic period.

All over Turkey the most well known sight is the Evil Eye. This 'eye' is represented by a smooth glass disk with a collection of coloured circles inside it. It is said that if you have the Evil Eye with you, you will be protected from harm. Needless to say each and every house, shop, office, restaurant and school has one hanging outside the door. Most people also wear the evil eye on them at all times whether in jewelry, tattoos, clothes or key rings.

Well already I have taken up a lot of time and I haven't even moved on to the other bays we visited so I had better be going. The only other thing I can say about Fethiye is that we met an American flagged boat called Danza with four kids on board and whom we sailed with during our stay in Turkey.

After leaving Fethiye we sailed along the coast for a few miles until we spied Danza up ahead tied stern-to the rocks in Wall Bay. Situated in an isthmus, Wall Bay is surrounded by a thick pine forest, which provided not only shelter from the wind but also an amazingly large exploring territory. Although Danza had only arrived the day before they were already hooked up to have fun, having installed a zip line from one of the many tall pine trees to their boat.

WALL BAY

Among the many fun things that we did while at Wall Bay I must say that my rock-climbing trip was the best. I had never rock climbed professionally and was always fascinated by the sport and much to my surprise was invited to go rock climbing with David and a friend of his who is a professional rock climber.

Finding a place to set up was not difficult as there were many small and rather steep cliff faces among the masses of green pine. Ed was first to tackle the opposing face checking all the cams and pullies as he slowly crept upwards belayed by David. Once it was established that everything was in order David decided to give it a go belayed by a rather nervous, me. I can't say which is more difficult, keeping the tension on the line as David climbs up, or not letting him go too fast as he descends. Unfortunately when David was near the bottom he had to overcome one slight obstacle, a bone-dry thorn bush that he had to carefully leap over while I lowered him down. Luckily our coordination wasn't too bad and David managed to escape with only a few mild scratches. I could not possibly describe everything I felt while I was scaling the rock face I can at least tell you that I experienced drastic mood changes.

When I started the ascent I was over excited and I think expended all my energy in the first five minutes, I think I learnt my lesson and soon relaxed, or at least just a little. Nearing the top of the ledge I got into a bit of a pickle, I could not see any more hand holds and, instead of handling it like I should have, burst into tears. Then once a few seconds had past and I had ' Untangled my lines' I warned Ed who was belaying me that I was going to try and jump up and get hold of a tiny ledge just out of reach. I made the ledge with no further problems although I must say that jump as small as it was, was nerve racking as I was already out at and angle from where the cams and pullies were set and if I missed my grip or didn't jump far enough, the people would have seen what would have appeared to be a giant pendulum as I swung from side to side, slowly loosing momentum and then coming to a stop. As I said before none of that actually happened and I reached the top without further ado. I found coming down relaxing and familiar as it is basically the same concept as when descending from the top of the mast, kick out and drop, kick out and drop. I forgot to add that while I was about to make the jump I heard from across the bay my moms whistle and shouts, curse her timing!

A small camping trip also took place while we were in Wall Bay and armed with a steaming bowl of quiche, sleeping bags, Jack and a hearty appetite we set off into the forest to where we had assigned a camping spot the day before and had previously cleared and prepared. I always get excited when a camping trip is on the agenda, and yet when I am lying down on a hard floor with a sleeping bag full of pinecones I wonder why I bother.

Sometimes I think my parents let me go camping just for the fun of seeing if I will ever learn my lesson. Although a lot of fun was had at Wall Bay one cannot escape the fact that while in Turkey everywhere you look there are ancient ruins and escaping them is something you can only do if you close your eyes.

(I've found that I have been apologizing a lot lately and taking a closer look at the subject I came up with two possible answers. Either I am getting nicer and am apologizing for silly little things or that I am naughty so often that apologizing has become a way of life, either way I am sorry to bore you with this little paragraph but I must say that yesterday I had a bit of a panic attack. It all started when I was finishing off my writing on Turkey and, being rather excited I started typing really fast, then, quite by accident while I was typing the word 'fixing' I hit the alt, F, X, N keys consecutively causing the computer to go File, exit, (save changes) No. So today I dedicate my story to the story that wasn't to be, the story that, a mere twenty four hours ago was so cruelly and mercilessly taken from my desktop by a higher power known here on my hard drive as 'The all powerful Delete button'. All of us, that is all eighty six keys, the mouse and his cheese, all the windows and doors and that little paper clip thingy in my word document that continually mocks me and my work by pulling faces, falling asleep and worst of all trying to correct my spelling which really gets at me, we will all miss the word document that wasn't to be but will rest assured that it is in a much happier place with all my other Da Vinci look alike that didn't quite make it off the drawing board. I ask now that we sit in silence for a few minutes remembering what was not to be.

What!?!?!? You didn't actually think I could sit still and be quiet for a few minutes, not a chance. The only time I don't talk is when my mouth is full, anyway I better get back on the ball with what's happening in Wall Bay before I do 'you know what' again.)

Built near the sea and due to numerous earthquakes the structure that was once Cleopatra's Baths now lie partially submerged underwater which proves to be an interesting snorkel, and floating weightless above some ancient script trying to figure out what it says I find is a lot more interesting that trudging around in the noon day heat, in fact if I ruled Turkey I would built a huge fish tank structure around all the ruins so that they could all be visited by persons in swimming gear. However stupid the idea may seem to you, to me it seems like a lot of unnamed tourists have the same idea and visit the ruins in their bathing suits, while this is not only disrespectful to the locals and insults them greatly it also leaves the unnamed persons looking not unlike a lobster. It doesn't take an understanding of advanced thermodynamics to see that the longer you spend in the sun and the more skin you reveal the bigger the chance of getting burnt.

We left Wall Bay for Marmaris, but hitting a bit of headwind as we rounded the corner we decided to duck into a little bay called Kizilkuyruk. Nothing much can be said about this bay as we were dragged on by a Gullet, which is a local wooden tourist boat. The captain of the boat refused point blank to move even though we had arrived a few hours before him and insisted that us 'Bloody yachties have no business in Turkey and that Turkey would be a nicer place if there were no cruisers'. Anyway we decided it was better to leave, as we knew that the damage caused by the Gullet hitting us would not be paid for and that leaving was actually the easiest option. I would love to say that we left the bay with no hassles and had a fast and comfortable sail to Marmaris, but that however is not the case and although my writing might be a poor excuse for humour, one thing they are not is fiction so I have but no other choice than to tell you the truth and in all honesty the hell we went through from just before sunset until three the next morning.

When we left the shelter of the bay and turned into the oncoming seas everything went flying, rolling and sliding all over the place as we had not had much time to stow things and pack them in their proper places. Thankfully one of the first things we did was batten down the hatches and shove towels up the dorades to stop the water that was pounding the deck from getting inside. Unfortunately my shower vent was not closed properly and with the first wave on deck my bathroom was already soaked. Being too sick to care I just pumped out the shower sump which had become full and shut the bathroom door with the motto 'What I can't see won't hurt me'. Recently when we set sail jack goes downstairs and hides in the aft cabin, I think the reason for this is the fact that mom is getting slightly hard of hearing, I SAID she's getting slightly hard of hearing and dad is forced to shout to her from the foredeck. Whatever the reason for Jacks new routine the fact that we were all shouting at each other over the roar of the engine and flying all over the boat smashing into things didn't aid in calming him. We all felt safe inside Gilana's womb as my dad so often calls it. Mom's optimism on the subject was not well received when she added brightly 'Well, at least we can all swim!' Tempers on board increased as the night wore on and the wind steadily increased. Having no ventilation is one thing but trying to sleep while a nervous dog whose favorite meal is fish is panting in your face is another. When asked by friends what I am scared of, I normally reply, loss, losing my family, Jack, and friends, but the one thing that I hate nearly as much, but never voice aloud is seasickness. Yes seasickness those of you who don't get seasick don't know how lucky you are. For those of you who do get seasick generally stay away from the sea, see my problem.

There are three words in the English dictionary that I think are closely related and yet neither one is a synonym of the other. These three words are naivety, optimism and assumption. I have met many people while sailing that, while in conversation say to me, 'You are SO lucky you don't get seasick'. To which I reply 'Yes I guess so', you see the three related words, the person makes an assumption that I don't get sea sick which in naive, and I reply in total optimism 'Yes I guess so' which implies the fact that I don't get sea sick, which, let me tell you right now, I do!

MARMARIS

Early the next morning we were awoken by Gilana's gently rolling hull as fifteen tourist boats left the harbor together and rushed through the anchorage. We managed to get a picture of it and waited several nail biting seconds as the boats in their way got pummeled about in the wakes. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and I must agree, as it is impossible for me to tell you just how close the cruising boats anchored in the bay were. Although we stayed in Marmaris for quite some time most of my time ashore was spent wondering the maze of shops that were linked together by a glass ceiling sheltering the walkway from the sun. Along with all the carpets, Turkish delight and kilims, I was surprised to see designer T-shirts. Apart from the indoor market, mom and I also visited the castle overlooking the bay. Unfortunately there was no information about the castle so we just ended up taking a bunch of pictures of marble statues and rock carvings, making up our own story as we went along.

Without doubt "Yacht Marina" Marmaris is one of the best marinas we have stayed at in our travels. I think the cover of the marinas brochure says it all ' Not only a marina, also a place to live'. The sea in and around the marina, although not clear is clean and a swimming platform can be found near the boats. The taxi service running from the marina to the town was a pleasure as to the frequency of the rides. Turkey has a very family orientated culture and when not enough seats are available one will often find a child placed on their lap because there is insufficient standing room for both mother and child.

BUZUK BUKU

We left Marmaris and sailed along the coast to a little bay called Bozuk Buku, which, despite being in the middle of nowhere the small bay was home to a small village and would you believe it THREE restaurants. Quite honestly I don't know how these people stay I business, not only are there three restaurants for about ten boats, but the menu is bland and the prices are something else. When one enters the bay and sees a rather barren terrain with a few donkeys and goats dotted along the hillside, one would imagine that the people of the village would be very hospitable and primitive, if it's the right word. Instead they came out in little motorboats, one from each restaurant and circled our boat while we were trying to anchor shouting 'Want to buy a carpet, is cheep', 'Meet for dinner you come eet' and so one. It seemed that we would never escape the notorious carpet sellers that are around every corner.

After anchoring we spent a frustrating ten minuets politely telling the locals that we didn't want to buy any, kilims, carpets, wraps, key chains, fridge magnets and of course trying to explain that we didn't want to eet meet for dinner. Eventually they went away and I found myself wondering how these people would ever make a living by selling over priced curios and goat meat. Just then a charter boat came into the anchorage and once more the three boats went out to greet them, this time the locals got lucky and soon nearly all there loot was being loaded onto the charter boat and great quantities of money exchanged hands, so much for a isolated village in the middle of nowhere, these guys were trained opportunists and business men in disguise. The tourists were so eager do buy stuff, an insurance man could have gone up to them in discuse and probably sell the lot of them life insurance without them being any the wiser.

There is a rather large fortification on the one peninsula and mom, Jack and I decided to go for a nice little hike in the heat of the day, which I now know was a big mistake. Once we were at the top of the hill we proceeded to walk along the peripheral wall, which turned out to be a nice hike, although rather long. Jack was in his element and was climbing on top of fallen columns and arches, just for the hell of it. Mom was visible from the bay far below us as she went on this hike wit her trusty bright yellow and green golfing umbrella which embarasses me whenever we go on these excursions. Near the point a sudden gust of wind hit the umbrella and it promptly inverted itself looking rather funny. When I finally righted it again we decided it was time to put it away, and it finished our walk used by mom as a walking stick.

We ended up having to move once more as a Gullet anchored right on top of us and if we swung in the night we would have hit him. Something people don't understand is that if you are in an anchorage where everyone is hanging on one anchor it is stupid to put out a second anchor as when everyone else swings in harmony with one another they will not swing, causing other boats to hit them. Likewise it is also not a good idea to swing freely on one anchor when everyone else is tied stern to, to the rocks. The resulting knots formed by anchors and anchor chains are unbelievable and will often result in one or more parties loosing thier ground tackle.

SIMI

After reading through the Greek Waters Pilot I slammed it down on the saloon table and heaved a sigh. Of course I didn't expect to find pages of history about Simi as it is a relatively small island and there are so many in the Greek archipelago that a few pages on each island would fill a book four times the size of this one in front of me. I did however expect to find at least a little bit of history on the island.

A few houses scattered here and there and then vast open spaces filled with nothingness. If you took a picture of the surrounding mountainside excluding the sky and sea you wouldn't know if you were looking at a huge mountain or a magnification of some gravel on the road. I must however add that the emptiness had its advantages, for one it meant that Danza and Gilana were the only other boats in the bay, besides some fishing boats, and also as the people had nothing, they had nothing to protect and therefore there were no fences and we thoroughly enjoyed a hike that up the mountainside. We took a sharp left as we walked up an increasingly narrow road until it turned into a small footpath which, then became a goat path leading up the hill, we stepped through a rickety open gate frame glad to get out of what we thought was someone's property, unbeknown to us however we had just stepped into someone's property. We walked along a narrow path lined by a fence and guessing that the private property was on the other side of the fences we happily walked on. We were aiming for the highest hill to climb so that I could get a good picture of the bay. When we finally got up we realized that the path we were walking along with the private property on either side was actually a private fenced off path surrounded by public property.

We decided that to be on the safe side we would just head down to the water and follow the coast back to the boat. This turned out to be a good plan, that is until we realized we had to climb a few more fences to get to the sea hopping in and out of private property not knowing which was which. I was trying to guess what we should do if someone sees us run to the nearest fence to get off the persons property, risking the fact that we might actually be on public property and then hop into private property when the person sees us or just act stupid and grovel? Thankfully we didn't have to do either of these things and we soon found ourselves at the coast after dodging around some mean looking Billy goats. Upon arriving at the cliff like shelf leading to the water we realized to our disgust that we would have to retrace our steps back to the boat, at least we knew we could get back that way, even if we had to dodge a few goats and hop a few fences.

I can well imagine some law-abiding citizen is reading this and thinking to themselves what naughty little kids trespassing on private property. Well before you criticize just put yourselves in our position for a minute.

You are walking along a barren landscape when all of a sudden you came upon a fence running horizontally from left to right as far as the eye can see. Which side of the fence are you on? Are you sure? There are no signs, no roads and definitely no people. Then while you are standing, pondering which side of the fence you are on you see a herd of goats walking into your line of sight and they are on your side of the fence, what do you do? Do you hop over to the other side of the fence because you are obviously on some farmer's land where he keeps his goats? Do you stay where you are because the goats are just as obviously wild and the fence is there to keep them out of the farmer's property? Or do you hop the fence anyway, who cares about private property that Billy goats got some mean looking horns atop of his head?

A reasonably long walk away over the hill is Simi town, which is situated in a picturesque valley with traditional blue and white houses, stacked neatly up the hillside. As Simi port is the main port of entry for the island it is dressed up to accommodate tourists and while picturesque is not a traditional Greek setting. Just off the main street, which is filled with gift shops and restaurants, are hundreds of tiny twisting little alleyways, the edges of the cobbled stones rimmed with white paint. It is there that you find old men sitting on turned up barrels playing checkers, pipe in hand and surrounded by fussing wives discussing the latest gossip.

As Greek is one of the oldest civilizations and our own language is derived from it I found it fascinating learning the number system as well as a few other words.

Well I must go, my word assistant has fallen asleep on my screen, the dog has fallen asleep on my lap and my computer battery in about to die. Or as Mr. Portokalo would say 'Computer, it comes from the Greek word 'comister' which means, 'that which has a mind of its own'.

For those of you interested in history you will be glad to hear that I managed to dig some information about Simi out of our archives (namely under my bed) and have summarized it in the following paragraph.

As we all know ancient Greece is...well ancient actually and as a consequence is very old. If you have an old version of Microsoft encyclopedia you might not be able to find any information about Simi. This is because the islands name has changed a few times over the years and you might have better luck searching for it under the following names: Aigli, Metapontis and Kariki.

The first inhabitants other than goats are thought to be the Kares and Leleges. Simi is also mentioned in the Heliadad and Trojan War, in which the Simiot King Nireus participated... with three boats.

From 1309 until the present day the island prospered, with the development of shipping, sponge commerce, boat building, woodcarving and other crafts.

As many of you might know from poring over boring pages on Greek history, or from watching 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' the Greeks and the Turks have been at each other for years. As rule over parts of Turkey and Greece kept changing it is not uncommon to find mosques in the middle on the strict Greek orthodox culture and churches in parts of Turkey, which is dominantly Muslim.

DATCA

After leaving Simi and Greek waters we anchored in the bay of Datca for the night, topping up with water and fresh fruit and vegetables the next day before sailing to Kalaboshi a few miles away.

KALABOSHI AND PALAMUT

Although I found Kalaboshi a lovely anchorage with clear water and good snorkeling the holding wasn't very good and dad, as always thinking about safety first decided we were better off in another protected bay a few miles away. The sail there although only and hour or so was lovely with a slight warm off shore breeze teasing the sails and oily swells nudging Gilana onwards.

We anchored in Palamut as the sun dipped below the horizon and all was silent except for the homey noises mom was making in the galley.

ANCIENT KNIDOS

I think Knidos was the richest place we went in Turkey, rich in history anyway. Not being much of a history boffin I am afraid I am going to keep the history part of Knidos rather short and you will have to read dads take on Knidos if you want more of a history lesson.

It is believed that Knidos was first inhabited 3000 years BC and was home to the earliest mathematicians, philosophers and artists such as Eudoxus, Sostratus and Skopas. Knidos was one part of the six cities of the Dorian Confederacy, and due to its well-placed harbor, was once bustling in trade. Knidos is known for two things, its statue of Aphrodite, which was made in the 4th century BC and was one of the first Greek nude female statues. It was believed that the sexy Aphrodite would bring good fortune to seafarers and brought many early pilgrims to the town. There are many stories told about the statue and how it hypnotized the male species. One relates to how an admirer, captivated by the statue, crept into the shrine and passionately kissed it on the thigh. Thereafter it was said to bear a dark stain on the inner thigh. A more believable answer to the mark on Aphrodite's thigh is that the story was invented by the sculptor to compensate for the fact that the block of marble he chose to sculpt Aphrodite had a chemical flaw in it and that that flaw just happened to be part of the statue.

For those of you who did, are, or will do Geometry you should know that the man responsible for your exams was an astronomer and mathematician who goes by the name of Eudoxos and who lived in Knidos during the fourth century BC. One can only imagine that Eudoxos was one of those private kids, while all the other kids were out playing ball, or watching TV Eudoxos was trying to make sense of why every triangle had 180 degrees and that no matter how big the circle the diameter always goes in 3.14 times (approximately), yip he was a strange kid alright.

The architect Sostratus, who designed the Pharos lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, was also a resident in Knidos.

While in Knidos we also made friends with some people on a charter boat and after a lengthy discussion on the pros and cons or sailing around the world I was invited to go mono skiing with them. I have never been Mono skiing before in my life and let me tell you, I think it showed. I have become quite comfortable with my dads wake board and feel completely at home while skiing on it but it was nothing compared to mono skiing. Firstly I had my wetsuit on which means that my whole body had equal floatation, plus the mono skis, which are also positively buoyant. The only part of me that was not floating was my head, which complicated matters somewhat. I felt so awkward on the mono ski's my two feet where not communicating and were going in opposite directions. When knee boarding leaning backwards comes naturally and prevents the board from nose diving when mono skiing however, I later found out that you are supposed to lean FORWARD and leaning BACKWARDS causes your rear end to hit the water rather hard and then proceed to bounce along the surface somewhat like a skimming stone. For all my hard work all I had to show for it was a bunch of photos that mom took that looked like a big splash that seemed to follow a motorboat around.

We left Knidos after a few days for Greece and although I moaned about the heat and the carpet sellers harassing me I know I will miss Turkey and hopefully one day I will get my own boat and come back for a visit. Until then however, Allahaismarladik!

GREECE

YIALI

The bay of Yali was just a stop off point on our way to Astipalaia although while I was snorkeling around the boat I was thrilled to find the sandy bottom littered with numerous shells and was soon busy adding two shells of each species into my collection. When I had finished swimming for the day the sun had already began to set and the generator had just started providing us with hot water for showering and light for reading.

I cant say that I remember our sail form Yali to Astipalaia as we have sailed so much these last few months and have traveled so many miles that I have trouble distinguishing one sail from the next.

ASTIPALAIA

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and it's so true, for although we only took one picture of Astipalaia I think it is one picture too much. The bay had absolutely nothing in it and I must have been in a bad mood for I didn't appreciate the sarcasm in moms voice when she handed me a shopping list and said that she would drop me off in a few minutes. Quite frankly I don't know how these people, that is the old couple in the one house in the bay live, for as far as I could tell there were no roads, no cars and absolutely no super markets. I assumed that the couple got fresh produce and water from a barge or something that must pass this way every now and again.

IOS

FINALY!!! I thought civilization at last.

The small bay of Ios was a designated anchorage with a long sandy beach and little square white houses in the backdrop. Launching the dinghy was a quick task and soon mom and I were all ready to go ashore and do some grocery shopping. Having not touched land since Yali I was happy to use my legs again and do a bit of walking, enjoying the scenery and we walked the few hundred meters to the corner café. I don't think I will ever get over the fact that I didn't take any pictures and, although the town wasn't exactly picturesque it would have been nice to have at least one photo to put on the web page. Unfortunately the only pictures we took was a blurry picture of a ferry as we left and some pictures we took of dolphins as we sailed out of the bay, around the corner and onwards to the next island, the island of Karavostasi.

KARAVOSTASI

Our sail to the island of Karavostasi was slow going as we had to motor because either was no wind but as a consequence there was also no swell and the water around us took on an oily look. Once we had dropped anchor in the small bay of Folegandros I picked up the binoculars and scanned the shore, getting a feel for our surroundings. It was then that I spotted an official looking sign with some small writing that looked Greek to me. When dad got back from diving in the anchor, which he now does just out of habit as our new Bruce anchor seems to do a pretty thorough job of loosing itself in the sand, I gave him the binoculars and pointed out the sign. Either my darling father can understand Greek or the picture of an upside down anchor is a global icon that means no anchoring, either way we had to move to the next bay, a full five minutes away. As the sun was already slipping below the horizon we didn't go ashore at the beach, instead I hopped in the dinghy with Jack at my heels and went to explore the other surrounding bays and, of course to take Jack for a wee. After spending a quiet night at anchor we left the next day for yet another Greek island.

KAYIO

The gently sloping hills that border the bay of Kayio are scattered with low growing shrubbery and plants that have thorns and thick leaves to protect them from predators and, of course loss of water. Kayio is one of the many designated anchorages along the coast of the Peleponese, which in my opinion look like three cows udders. A monastery situated in a small gully has an almost tropical atmosphere around it, as it is obvious that the monks take great pride in their surrounding gardens and water them habitually. The only other sign of human life is a small one storey-fishing hut, which looks like three separate buildings grouped together. The next bay however is teaming with activity in comparison and has all of a dozen houses scattered along the waterfront.

KORONI

I have two words to describe Koroni ' long beach'. I suppose Koroni really is a nice place but as we arrived there in the evening and left the following morning we didn't really have enough time to enjoy all it had to offer.

METHONI

The bay of Methoni is protected on the west side by the Venetian fort, which guarded the shipping route around the Peloponnese in centuries past. Now however the entire breakwater and surrounding fort are open to visitors who want to stroll around the fortification.

Although the Venetian fort occupies a huge amount of space, the buildings inside are few and far apart. The entrance lies on the north side of the fort and can be approached by a fourteen-arched stone bridge leading to the main gate, which was built by the Expedition Scientifique de Moree in 1829-1830. The original gate how ever was built sometime in the 1700s. A single column constructed from rose granite and boarded by an Anthemia or Honey Suckle pattern carved in limestone. Above the column lies a rectangular plaque bearing the date 1493-1494.

A sight which although I have seen a lot of but I have never quite got used to is a Mosque and a Church within close proximity to one another. It seems strange to think that although at the moment the world is in chaos with the Christians and the Muslims fighting one another there are remnants of both cultures inside one fortification.

The construction of the church is attributed to the French who remained in the region until 1833.

ZAKINTHOS

Upon arriving in Zakinthos we tied up on a government dock that lies perpendicular to the ferry dock, which was already bustling with the days tourists and back packers. Just behind the dock there is a service station and a restaurant run by a lovely family that, upon meeting us took us under their wing. Katerina, Dimitri and their parents Toula and Spyros were very hospitable to us and insisted on numerous occasions that we come and have a glass of chilled coffee with them. One day Katrina offered to take us for a tour around the island, which we gratefully accepted, although dad decided to take the opportunity to do some minor jobs of the boat. Both mom and I were amazed to see how green the island was expecting a dry landscape much like it's cousin the island of Symi. The fact that the island is so small and that most occupants spent their whole lives on the one island, never travelling would account for the fact that everyone knows everyone. This was demonstrated to us during our drive, when we bumped into Katrina's elderly grandmother walking alongside the road. The fact that she was over eighty and two miles from the closest town or village didn't seem to bother her as she makes the trip once a day to visit the church in the next village.

Zakinthos has two main tourist attractions, Wreck beach and the Blue caves. Wreck beach is described as one of those places that only appear on postcards once it has had a good airbrush and all the flaws blotted out. The fact however remains that there are actually no flaws, or at least none that I could see looking down at the beach from about 750 feet (250 meters). The cliff side looked like it had a high limestone content which is highly possible as all along the coast there are deep faults in the rocks, otherwise known as the Blue Caves. Looking down into the sea from the top of the cliff one can quite easily see the shape of a cross formed by sea grass and surrounded by white sand as if to emphasize the presence of the cross. Although in my opinion the cross is a mere coincidence caused by currents or the fact that maybe there is a cross made of some metal buried deep beneath the sand, its disintegration adding to the sand certain compounds that provide the perfect growing conditions for Thalassia Testudinum or common Turtle grass.

The Blue Caves are the main source of income for the people living close to them and more than a hundred trips are made to the caves per day. I decided to go for a hike around the point with Jack to have a look as the caves from shore as all we normally do is look at things from a seaward perspective. It turned out that the only way to view the caves was from the sea so I decided to have a swim around. After stashing my bag containing my clothes, boots and camera I joined Jack and we went for a private tour of the caves. As Jack is getting on in years and he cannot distinguish the difference between a slow steady swim and a flat out charge. We have come to realize through swimming with Jack as often as we do, that as soon as his tail dips in the water he is tired. When this happens I find a ledge in the rock face and help him 'mountain goat' up and out. Jack seemed to have a bit of a complex going into the caves, I am guessing because they were dark and deep and his eyesight isn't very good. Jacks fear of the caves was no problem, as all I had to do was made sure he was safely out of the water situated at the entrance of the cave. When I disappeared around a corner or down a narrow tunnel I started singing, whether I did this to let Jack know I was still ok or to quell my own fears I don't know either way it worked and we managed to visit three caves before mom and dad came round the corner in the dinghy to explore the rest of the caves with us. When I saw mom and dad come around the corner my first thought was 'Oh dear now I'm in trouble!' for in all honesty I hadn't told them what I was doing and geographically speaking I was in the open sea, if anything happened I would not have been able to scale the cliff that ran along the coast. The only reason I felt safe was that I was swimming with Jack, although if something went wrong he would immediately turn from a comfort to a liability and looking after him would have been my main priority.

Now that I think back the continuous passing of the tourist boats was also a comfort and I knew that as long as I got Jack and myself out of the water and up onto a rock ledge we would be ok. Passing tourists took pictures and I assume movies of Jack standing on rock ledges, and not being able to see me as I was in the water I wonder what they must have thought.

CEPHALONIA

When we left Zakinthos we had a lovely two-hour sail to yet another Greek island, the island of Cephalonia. We stayed the night, leaving early the next morning for our trip to Sicily.