Sailing in Gocek

We are now sitting on the back terrace of our boat, the Ergun, with Hasan and the captain and his wife It is an amazing sight, to be anchored off these small islands, surrounded by 100’s of yachts from all over the world. Every where I look, a yacht is anchored off the shore of and island. The captains name is the same as the boat, Ergun, and his wife is Hallva, which means Eve. Hasan says he has never seen so many boats out, moored, but it is also the Bayram, which is why everyone from other parts of Turkey is down here as well as the various other nationalities. The water is so blue and clear, that it puts Chautauqua to shame and rivals if not surpasses the water of Hawaii. A huge sloop pulled up just next to us, it must be 50-60 feet long, sleeps probably twenty or more people, an d it has been rented by a Turkish family for the weekkend, I assume. We spent probably an hour just treading water, talking, enjoying the sun and beautiful water. I went into shore but the bottom is riddled with sea urchines, so it’s hard to walk. Some of the men from the boat closest to us have snorkels and harpoons. Hasan thinks they are a bit presumptuous to think they will catch something and he seemss accurate. They have come back with nothing. Before heading out, we went to Hasan’s favorite café, where we had dinner our first night, and I had my first menemen, set on a couple pieces of toast, interestingly. We then bought some water, beer, and cokes and headed to the boat. It’s amazing to sit here, on the Mediterrean in southern Turkey, knowing two weeks ago we were on a lake in Chautauqua. We both wonder how we are ever going to go home to our lake, after spending a few days in the luxury and spectacular beauty of Hasan’s villa, and also traveling around this marvelous coast. Chautauqua’s beauty is different, no doubt, but it does not seem to compare right now to our surroundings, especially, I think, because of the constant sun, the temperatures in the 70’s, the blue, clean, clear waters, and the surrounding mountains, all green with pine tress, mostly if not all untouched by development of any kind. That’s what makes the sailing so special I think, the untouched beauty of these islands, covered with pines. As I sit here writing, two more 50 foot yachts have pulled up and anchored. We are now anchoed at a cove called Gobun, a lovely spot that, of course, Hasan knows, and it’s filled wit about 20 huge yachts. All have come to relax, swim, and eat at the one restaurant in the bay, Kapi Creek. We tied up at the main dock, and as we were coming in, the owner of the restaurant called out to welcome Hasan. He knows the owner and all his sons, so as usual we have had great care. We swam, then got off the boat, to have a lunch of eggplant salad, corban salata, cacik, and a hot tomate mixture, which we are not sure of its name. We had two fish for lunch, but am not sure of their name, what they are called in English but Hasan said it is close to flounder. As I look out from my table, there a heads of swimmers dotting the bay, jumping of the boat, laughing, talking and having a good time. I have yet to meet an American, mostly Turks on Bayram, and Northern European. At the edge of the hillside, where the restaurant is nestled in the hills, is a wood shed,where the masseuse and barber has his spot. Hasan talked me into getting a massage, which was really quite refreshing, and I did enjoy it, though I could not talk Evie into getting one. I am writing this as Hasan gets a massage, and am sitting at a seaside table under the shade of olive trees. He keeps trying to get us to stay longer, and each time he asks, our resolve to leave gets less and less. We will just hve to see; sometimess offers like this, especially in the Middle East, are a form of friendship but are not to be taken up. We’ll have to see what we do. For now, I am trying to digest yet another big meal. Each time we sit down, we vow to eat lightly and then the food begins to arrive in shifts, and just as you think its over, a dessert arrives, or tea and coffee. We are being treated like royalty and love it. The beauty of all this is that we don’t have to do anything; we don’t have to go anywhere. What ever we feel liked doing we do, Swim, eat, just relax, or talk or not, it’s up to us. What a luxury.

We returned from sailing, after anchoring to watch the sun set behind the mountains and headed home, full of tea, cakes, and fruit, all served on the boat after a huge lunch. We went back to the house, showered, and had a Martini and Rossi Bianco, a lovely light slightly sweet white wine. We all enjoyed it. We then picked up Selim at his house, and went into town for kofte’s. We ate outside as usual, under vineyards and orange and grapefruit trees with Selim, wife and daughter. Believe it or not, the restaurant had run of of kofte, so we ate shish kebobs, some lamb, but once again, wonderful mezze of eggplant puree, white beans and vinegar, tomato and cucumber salad, and wonderful flat bread, a bit thicker then pita. Selim is very different, says outrageous things with conviction, so it is hard to know what he thinks, but he is amusing and interested and interesting. His wife, from Kiev in the Urkraine, speaks English at 78 speed, so she is hard to understand. But we had a great time, and their daughter is so cute, though she fell asleep at the end. We then went for a walk, had Tukish coffee and the restaurants version of apple pie, and talked politics into the night, especially about the Gulen Movement in Turkey. It was a memorable day, one of the best we have ever had. We are both so glad we came to Turkey Gocek.