Sailing the Aegean

The Aegean Sea: Sun, sand, warm breezes and clear blue waters, or, as Homer more accurately described it, "The wine dark sea."  Throw in some ancient ruins, modern cities, phenomenal food and a welcoming crew that cater to your every need and that was our perfect sailing adventure in Turkey with Azure Odyssey (www.azureodyssey.com). 

Matt and I, along with our friends Todd, Donna, Nadine and Ted, started and ended our adventure at the Su Hotel in the bustling seaside resort town of Bodrum on the southwest coast of Turkey.   We were picked up at the Bodrum airport by the hotel van for the 30 minute drive into town.  Our excitement grew as we passed palm trees and resorts, crested the hill into downtown Bodrum and wound our way through narrow streets and dark alleys.  Our excitement changed to concern when our driver parked and we proceeded on foot down a bustling, narrow side street and into a dark alley.  Where was he taking us?  When we opened the gate into the courtyard of The Su Hotel (www.suhotel.net), we knew - paradise!

The Su Hotel is a group of beautiful, bright white Mediterranean-style buildings just a few blocks from the waterfront, but hidden away from everything by vine-covered walls.  It's an oasis of tropical vegetation - hibiscus, bougainvillea, golden trumpets and palm trees.  The hotel cat greeted us and led us into the main courtyard, where the invitingly lit pool sparkled and begged to be swum in.   The buildings and rooms are trimmed in bright, primary colors.  Turkish mirrors, plates, pictures, amphorae and urns line the walls, enticing you to explore every nook and cranny.   The dining area is a large courtyard with comfy cushioned seats and benches around long white tables.  The delicious aromas coming from the kitchen were fully matched by the great food that followed.  The staff made us feel right at home, except Matt doesn't get service and food quite this good at home!   

There are great sites all around Bodrum.  We explored the bazaar for spices, clothes, plates, tapestries and beautiful materials, pillow-covers and bedspreads.  Vendors sell fresh seafood along the waterfront, and there are loads of treasures to be found in little shops down all the twisty alleys.  The bright, intricate designs of the pottery drew us into Vivaldi, a shop specializing in pottery and ceramics using traditional techniques and designs, as well as exploring new methods and patterns (www.vivaldiceramics.com).  The Bodrum Castle sits prominently looking over the harbor and we spent most of a day exploring its collections on history, culture, shipwrecks, and art. 

As great as the shopping and sightseeing in Bodrum are, the focus of our trip was our cruise.  Azure Odyssey has a fleet of four traditional Turkish sailing vessels (gullets) ranging in size from 19 to 30 meters that can comfortably accommodate 12 to 18 people (2 per cabin), depending on which vessel you choose.   Our fantastic crew - Captain Yavuz, Sailor Mustafa, and Cook Comhur - welcomed us about the Azure Dolunay, a 22 meter gullet with six passenger cabins (each with its own head).  Once aboard and settled into our cabins, we headed out to sea.

Azure Odyssey has a helpful and detailed web site that lets you plan out your own itinerary, selecting archaeological and historic sites, natural areas for snorkeling, swimming or hiking, or whatever your interests are.  We weren't that motivated, so we let the crew know what we were interested in (a little bit of everything, but not too much of it), and left the planning up to them.  We were lucky to have the boat's owner, Darlene, with us.  She's from Endwell, NY (small world!) and we worked together at NOAA in Charleston for a while.  She'd told me about Turkey back then, and I've wanted to go on this cruise ever since.  She answered all our questions about history and culture, food, language, people, the boat, shopping, sightseeing and everything else we could think - a real bonus for us!  

Our five day cruise took us around Gökova Bay.  We visited secluded coves at Oraklar Island, Tekerek Harbour and Tuzla Bay for snorkeling and hiking, a small island with ancient ruins and a white, sandy beach (Sedir Island, also known as Cleopatra's Beach), and a tiny harbor town (one store and a few houses) that served as a departure point for an overland trip to the busy port town of Marmaris for shopping and sightseeing.  We kept up a relaxing daily schedule of eating, snorkeling, eating, hiking, eating, swimming, eating, occasional dancing, and more eating.  Each morning started with our wonderful crewman, Mustafa, bringing us coffee, followed by breakfast.  After only a day or two, we were plotting ways to lure Comhur back to Germany with us so we could continue to eat the great meals and snacks he prepared.  What a cook!

Although the snorkeling in this area doesn't offer the abundance of marine life found in the Caribbean or other sailing destinations, we did see a variety of fish, eels, urchins and lots of fried-egg jellyfish (Cotylorhiza tuberculata) .  These jellyfish are a yellow with an orange circle in the center, thus their name.   Unlike most jellyfish, they don't have stinging cells and are active swimmers, moving to sunny areas to keep the algae that live in their tissues happy.  We also spotted a brightly colored Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis), yellow wag tails (Motacilla flava) and other common sea birds (gulls, cormorants and heron), and a flock of geese that made their home along the docks in one harbor.  Sadly, the most abundant thing we found snorkeling was trash - newspapers, cans and bottles and potato chip bags.  Darlene is on a single-handed mission to clean up the waters they sail and returned from each snorkeling trip with a bag or two of garbage she'd collected. We occasionally tore ourselves out of our food-induced lethargy and picked up a can or two in support of her efforts, too.

Our best wildlife spot of all was Badem, a Mediterranean Monk Seal, one of the most endangered mammals in the world.   Badem was found along the coast in December 2006 when she was 4-6 weeks old.  She'd been separated from her mother, she was rescued and cared for by Underwater Research Society – Mediterranean Seal Research Group (SAD-AFAG, in its Turkish acronym).  A local businessman, Mustaca Koç, and his family, covered most of the rehabilitation cost of the orphaned seal and have led efforts to ensure residents, boat crews and visitors help ensure the future of Badem and the remaining monk seals in the region.   The Turkish Coast Guard and SAD-AFAG monitor Badem's movements and try to minimize interactions between Badem and people so that she'll more quickly adapt back to her natural way of life.  Badem has other ideas.  She's decided that people have better sleeping accommodations than rocky beaches and frequently jumps into the dinghies of anchored boats for her afternoon nap!  She also likes to play with snorkelers.  The boat crews help the protection efforts by letting their passengers know not to approach or try to touch Badem, she is, after all, a wild animal and will bite if threatened.  But, she has no qualms in going for a ride as she showed us when we met her in Tuzla Bay where she was napping in a neighboring vessel's dinghy.  The captain rowed her over to our boat so we could ooh and aah and take pictures while she slept on.  It's illegal to approach her, touch her, feed her or harass her in any way, but she sure makes it difficult not to!   (For more information on Badem, go to:  www.monachus-guardian.org/news/pdf/badem_brosur.pdf)

 All in all, we had a fantastic time and learned many valuable lessons.  Todd won't drink his bourbon starting at 9 a.m., Lynne won't drink turkish coffee ever, Matt won't dance with Comhur, Ted will get a bigger lens, and Nadine and Donna will try to avoid men with big lenses!  And we'd all HIGHLY recommend a blue cruise with Azure Odyssey to all of our friends!

Merry Christmas - or whatever the nearest holiday is to when this finally gets out! 

 
Matt and Lynne are humbugs this year - we're both sick and the holiday spirit didn't want to catch it, so passed us by!  We just finished our holiday shopping, still have gifts to ship, and haven't even begun to think of Christmas cards, but we want to let all of our friends and family know that we're thinking of you!

We've had a crazy-busy year.  Since we're down to our last 5 months or so in Europe, we're trying to fit in as much traveling as possible around the general chaos of Matt's life with SPAWAR-Europe and his second office move in just over a year and Lynne's coaching and teaching for UMUC.  Matt has become the 'official team photographer" for the Stuttgart Piranhas - you can see pics of the team at:http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuttgart_piranhas/

This year we checked off a few more places from our list and got to 2 more continents - Asia and Africa.  In between lots of day trips around Germany, we also hit: the Dolomites in northern Italy for a ski trip, a week skiing and exploring Chamonix, France and Mt. Blanc (the tallest peak in western Europe) in February and March, Athens, Greece in March, Bodrum, Turkey for a sailing trip in September, Spain (Barcelona and Rota/Seville) and Tanger, Morocco in November.   Lynne keeps saying she'll add something about these trips and photos to the blog, but that hasn't happened, yet!  There are loads of pictures from these at Matt's flicker site:

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/drobnikm/

Ryan and Kelly came to visit after their graduation from SUNY-Oswego in May.  We had a great time visiting castles (Neuschwannstein, Hohenzollern and Hohenwerfen), hiking in the Black Forest, exploring the largest ice caves in the world in Werfen, and following in the steps of the Sound of Music in Salzburg, Austria.  The time flew by far too fast, but it was a wonderful visit.

Lynne headed to the states for a few weeks to visit friends and family in Charleston and New York.  The weather there wasn't any better than in Germany, but it was nice to see everyone and spend time with her family, especially the nieces, nephews, and Ryan.

Spike and Spooky continue to love their lives in Germany.  Spike has made friends with all the neighbors and their dogs - despite the "Bisschinger Hund" (biting dog) signs at the gates.  And Spooky still likes to wander into strange houses and yards so we always meet new neighbors through him.  Spike's tumor on his hind leg has returned and is growing fairly quickly, so we don't know if he'll be with us for another year.  We're doing everything we can to pamper and spoil him and he's taking full advantage of it!

Lynne has had 2 stories selected for publication - both due out in January.  One is a short fiction piece (The Visit, in Skylines Literary Magazine) and the other is a creative non-fiction essay (Desperately Seeking Joe, in The Painted Door).  Neither is a paying venue, so Matt isn't going to retire just yet - but, it's a start!

That's our year in a nutshell.  We hope you've had a happy, healthy 2007 and wish you and your family a wonderful 2008!

Love,

Matt, Lynne, Spike and Spooky