Crew: Bill & Pat Collins and Hector & Ginny Martinez
August 10, After saying good bye to our new friends Jane & Don Horton, we enjoyed a wonderful lazy, dreamy evening aboard Migration. First Mate Sheila, (a.k.a.) "The Owner" but best known as "Master Chef." made a fabulous meal. In the meanwhile we soaked up the ambiance from the cockpit of the 400+ year old Bodrum Castle, watching a multitude of sailing yachts, gulets and hydrofoils, power yachts and ferries maneuvering in and out of the harbor. The evening stars were almost as brilliant at the light shows (don’t forget the thumping sounds) from two seemingly competing, discos.
August 11, A lazy morning of laundry, grocery and souvenir shopping, scrubbing the dinghy bottom of two weeks’ growth, etc.
Later the Collinses ran into Sheila in the Market. They had arrived yesterday from Istanbul, but the quiet place they had reserved (pool, privacy and air conditioning) was enough to prevent them from the obligatory phone call to Mike. Hector & Ginny arrived by high-speed ferry from Rhodes. Weather was hot. The new gift fan from Bob Prokop was a godsend. We showered, enjoyed hors d’ouevres and then headed off to a lovely garden restaurant.
August 12, After breakfast we decided to move to a more protected spot. After Mike asked Sheila to check the dinghy, so the dinghy painter would not foul in the propeller, she reported, "The dinghy is gone!" After we looked everywhere for a drifting dinghy, we decided to go into the harbor, tie up and report the stolen dinghy to the authorities. As Mike was leaving the boat, one of the still observant crew reported a Caribe Dinghy across the harbor tied to a gulet. Mike, Hector and Bill went and confirmed the dinghy had been found. When Mike reported the find by walkie-talkie, the women found themselves dancing and singing on the deck of Migration. However the excitement was premature. Though it was Mike & Sheila’s dinghy, the brother of the captain of a gullet claimed to have found the dinghy on Black Island, so salvage law applied. Mike, Bill & Hector were invited on board the Lady Q. Salvage during the first 30 days was 50% of the value or $1,000. Mike said $1,000 was a lot for a morning’s work and counter-offered $500. Finally, $800 was agreed upon. After going to the bank, the poor Caribe was ransomed. We moved Migration to a new protected cove and Sheila, Pat & Ginny went shopping. That night we had a great dinner at the Hidden Garden.
August 14, We set sail in the early afternoon to Cokertme. After snorkeling and swimming, we lunched at Moma Rosa.
The highlight was smoked fish. After a nap & generally relaxing we had dinner at Captain Ibrahim's. It was expected for free dockage to dine at the Captain’s. The owner, dressed in costume, put on quite a show reenacting a famous battle, shooting his rifle in the air and blanks from the pistol he pulled from his belt. He proceeded to dance with all the girls and consumed much raki. Unfortunately, Bill and Sheila suffered Montezuma’s revenge that night. It went from bad to worse as they were joined by Ginny in the middle of the night.
August 15, We sailed all day to Palamut after a short stop in Knidos. All patients feeling better, we went for a light dinner at Liminos’s Restaurant. It was a long time since finding a money machine. The lovely owner graciously offered to let us pay for our meal next year. Somehow we were able to handle it.
August 16, We were invited by the restaurant owner for coffee and breakfast. We had a nice time talking with his son, who was our waiter. The name of the restaurant means Harbor. After promising to see him next year, we set out for Datca (Datcha). Our Captain picked his way through the skinny strait of Simi. We trespassed into Greek waters and back to Turkish "territory" ASAP. We had a little extra excitement spotting a dolphin in the bow wake. About 5:30, we arrived at Serce. Dinner reservations were made for 9:00 pm. A young man motored over to us with hats, rugs, plates, etc. for sale. After some haggling Bill & Hector chose two Turkish hats agreeing to pay 8 million, but actually paid 10 out of the goodness of their hearts.
Hector put his hat on and immediately declared his name to be Malik Mohamad Nomomoney. He, not shaven for over a week, is beginning to look like a local. Pat began negotiating with the other Malik for the purchase of the first rug she saw. He wanted 90 million but finally agreed on 40. Pat is very happy and invites all to 56 Bay View Ave, Port Washington, NY to see it. At dinner, Hassan, the owner of Captain Nemo’s Farm Restaurant, asked for his "sweety" Marcy from the former crew. He was very disappointed to hear she was on her way home. As usual we drank more than we ate and stumbled to the dinghy. The last to exit the Caribe were Pat & Mike. Suddenly a loud splash, Pat had fallen overboard! She attributed it to her left-handedness. We think it was to get out of making journal entries! A bump on her Texas ear improved her spelling. We all celebrated her hair drying with Paddy’s, raki, etc. She was fine until about 4 am when she was so disoriented she could not find the head!
August 17, We returned to The Farm Restaurant for breakfast and watched his goat herd fill up the nooks and crannies of the steep adjacent cliffside. Hassan told us his ideas on love and marriage. He also explained how he got the large scar on his right side. We were not sure if we were swallowing the damsel in distress story. How many men does it take to count to 180 million Turkish Lira (1.6Mil/US$)? Three. We bid a fond farewell and set sail. Arriving in Marmaris, we were impressed by its lush green contrast to much of Greece and Turkey. Dinner was wonderful at Sheila & Mike's favorite Caria Restaurant. We walked down Bohemian Bar Street and enjoyed an ice cream from Mr. Cone Head’s stand.
August 18, a Migration fresh fruit and French toast breakfast, then onto town to resume shopping. We met Mike at 2 pm for lunch, and then it was back to the Turkish Bath. The girls were glad they remembered to take their bathing suits, because not only was the masseuse a man, but it was co-ed! Hector & Bill walked into the sauna and the girls screamed and ran out. When they returned Hector playfully began filling bowls with water and throwing it at them. Two employees of the Bath came in and pried our sarongs from our death grip, leaving us exposed to each other in ways we never hoped would occur. After capitulating to serenity, Hector began driving the Bath manager crazy with questions on how to use the special Turkish Llama Tail Mitt, etc. Hector told the masseuse his name was Malik Mohamad Nomomoney. The reaction was mixed and indescribable. The masseuse was wonderful. After Hector and Sheila each got haircuts we returned to Migration for Sheila’s spaghetti carbonara and tomato salad. We reminisced with some old rock tapes while Da Boyz did the dishes.
August 19, This last day we packed, cleaned and prepared for our departure. Sheila is feeling much, much, much better.