Declaration of love to the district

I actually wanted to sail to the South Seas. But then everything turned out differently. I sailed from Amsterdam through the Bay of Biscay, arrived in La Coruna on the Spanish coast, took the Portuguese North to Gibraltar. It has been 25 years since then and I, except the short trip to the Caribbean, have not been able to let go of the Seas of all Seas.

The Balearic Islands pleased me well, I also found pretty places in Croatia and on Malta. I also favored the Islands on the Ionic Sea, especially the odyssey-island Ithaca and felt well in the Sporades located in the North-Aegean. There I loved most of all the small bays and ports. However, I found my second homeland at the Turkish Coast.



It was exactly the same here as I had imagined: Lonely gulfs, which cut deeply into the country inside, green bays with good protection against all kind of wind, trees, on which one can fasten the boat with a line. Bald coastal mountains in contrast with gentle green pine forests, olive groves and small fisher and farmer villages between them. Some larger bazaar locations with weekly markets, clean supermarkets and completely oriental. Over everything the chant of the muezzins and the chirping of the cicadas. At the long coast from Troja to Side, I found antique ruins, great theatres and temples of white marble. Everywhere I met friendly people, who taught me how to be satisfied with one piece bread, a tomato and a glass of water.

Nevertheless, for me, the most beautiful at this coast is the sea!

I was happy when the bow of my boat cut with the foaming wave of the low-blue water of the Aegean-Sea. Over me the far tent of the blue sky, sometimes fitted out with white sail clouds, which most of the time was spanned only by the aegean blue. Underneath me, the rushing sea in which often a group of dolphins accompanied our journey for a while curiously while whistling. Sometimes we also met large water turtles, which slowly drift on the surface, but never agonies or sharks.

The Turkish sea of the west and south coast is crystal clear. Nowhere is there industry, which leads its waste water into the rivers or directly into the sea. The current flows anti-clockwise from South to the North. And since there is nothing in the south, which could produce dirt, is the sea marvelously clean. Nowhere in the Mediterranean, is so much attention given to make certain that this condition does not change also - e.g. all yachts and ships, which cross the coast, must be equipped with waste water and toilet tanks, in order to avoid the over-fertilization of the gulfs and bays.

From Sinop, at the black sea, to Mersin, at the southeast coast, the Turkish coast with all indentations is about 8,000 km long. Mainly, for the blue journeys the section between Kusadasi and Antalya is preferred. Bodrum is the center of the gulets and the center of the blue journey. Marmaris, Göcek, Fethiye and Kemer/Antalya are likewise popular exit ports. The airports Bodrum Milas and Dalaman are just in each case a half hour distant from the port Bodrum and/or Göcek.

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