From Bodram to Fethiye

live by the rules, learn to respect the fools,

you won't get very far try to hide who you are!

now you don't understand, why i'm mean as a man,

'cause to put on a skirt, i'm only ending up hurt.

lost one in a million, carma camelion,

as hard as you try, you will never fit in.

if you don't fit in, you know you never will

Anna and the Barbies

Recep went about starting to tidy things around the boat. It is standard after a long sail. He was trying to find all the pieces for the power washer and other cleaning supplies. He brought out a full sized upright vacuum, and asked me to vacuum. I have to say, I wasn’t particularly in the mood. I also have to say that I am not used to using a full sized vacuum on a sailboat. Maybe on a Catamaran… But, I made a half-hearted attempt. Recep questioned me, because he could see something was wrong, and at first I sloughed it off with some quip about having people for that. I decided to be straight forward, and I said to him that I was just no longer comfortable on the boat. He was cool with it. He said “you are free to go” and added that he would arrange to have a water taxi come take me right away if I would feel better. I really don’t think he is a bad guy, just maybe a really stressed one. I said that I was ok, and I was happy to help him clean the boat, and it would be fine the next day when we got the dinghy inflated and ready to go.

As we searched high and low for the missing nozzles to use the power washer, and scrubbed the salt off of the deck, the tension melted away. I was sort of sad I was leaving, but I also knew it was time. He was really lovely that last night. He took me to dinner, and opened up to me about some of his life. He said that his girlfriend was going to come down and join him on the boat, and I was very happy for him. He even arranged a ride into Bodrum for me with the guys that were coming out to bring solar panel parts:)

I was looking at joining a 61 foot catamaran going to New Zealand, leaving in a week. so I decided to go and meet with them. They were up on the hard just south of the city. We met, and we talked for a long time, and then I had a conference call with his wife later. Alas, my Pacific crossing has once more fallen through. The next morning, he texted and said that “the chemistry wasn’t right” so I would not be part of the team. I think that he just could not understand that I have means, and just want to do a sail, and can go away for an extended period, and don’t need paid to do it. I am not sure of all the reasons, but the guy was pretty freaked that because I came to see him right from the other boat, and still had my bag with me. I told him that I just hadn’t gotten a hotel yet, but something in that really triggered him. He kept asking if I was a “sea gypsy”. That is kind of a derogatory term for a person that is homeless and virtually penniless and just tries to get on boats to be taken care of, kind of “homeless vagabond on the water”. He also was very concerned that the boat was big, I was small, so I might not be strong enough and I wouldn’t be able to handle it. No one is strong enough for a boat. Even a small keel boat is stronger than the strongest bodybuilder. If you have to use brute force, it is often because you are doing something wrong. On my first Atlantic trip from BVIs to NYC, someone got an over ride on one of the winches. The guys pulled and pushed and grunted and twisted, but no one could get it out. Finally, they got out a knife to cut the line. I asked If I could have a go. They laughed and said if they couldn’t get it out, then I wouldn’t be able to. True I said, but it will be worth a laugh to see me try. They laughed just at the thought. I calmly ran the end of the line to another winch, and proceeded to use it to winch the line free. “That’s cheating” they said. That’s using the one muscle that you guys forgot to. Handling a big boat is not about strength. I had another guy wheeze and struggle to get the main in tight enough. I popped the boat up a few degrees, and easy as pie. Don’t get me wrong, there are some times where it is nice to have a strong young buck to do the heavy lifting, but I have dragged a full sized heavy weather spinnaker, twisted like a sea anchor and full of the entire ocean,. out of rough seas pretty much by myself.

What it boils down to, is that some people just don’t understand me. I do not fit in anyones little boxes, and that makes some people uncomfortable because they can’t categorize me. So, they think I am lying about myself, or that they have mis-understood, or that I am some kind of crazy bitch that will go off my rocker at some critical moment. But I’m not.

I found a great little apartment with a Canadian guy name Nader. He was a pretty cool guy. I am so sorry I didn’t get his contact info. Anyway his little Apartments are at 55 Ataturk. Nader and his friends offered me rain and mezzes, and I drowned all my sorrows. The next day, I met a couple fo companions at the castle gates Rick is from Arizona and John is from Ireland. Rick and I went all over Bodram, right up to the Mausoleum and the Theatre. What a great day. I have decided not to get on another yacht at all (there are lots of people looking for crew in Bodram). Instead I will go overland though the East of Turkey to Armenia, Georgia, and maybe Azerbaijan.

I struggled with where to go, because there were so many choices. Do I go to the Bulgaria, Macedonia, Moldova, etc route, or do I head over to the Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan area? I think I have chosen to go east. I investigated going overland, but it is a long way across the bottom of Turkey. It would probably take a week to get across. I looked at flights, and was kind of settled on flying into Armenia. However… Greg talked me into doing the overland route. He’s right, I have always wanted to see the east side of Turkey. The furthest east I have been is Capadoccia. So today I am off, to see if I can get to “Side” (pronounced sea-day), which is a lovely seaside town that has an ancient theatre. I will stay there for the night, and then see where I can go next!

We walked all over Bodrum yesterday. I met John and Rick at the entrance to the castle. John is from Ireland, and Rick is from the USA. The castle is a crusader castle, built by the Order of St. John. It is in pretty good shape, and has been greatly restored. the only negative is, that half of the castle was closed and had big cranes etc doing more restoration work, and I think someone said they may also be building a hotel inside…

Rick and I climbed up to the Maussolleion at Halicarnassos. There would be more to see of this building, built around 350BCE, except that it was knocked down by an earthquake 1600 years later, in the 13th century. When the Crusaders came in the 15th century, they decided to use this pile of lovely squared off stones, to build a castle and fortress. I would guess that it would pose a dilemma to archeologists that want to rebuild a structure. What do you do, when one antiquity, is built with the older antiquity’s stones? It’s not like you can rip down the castle, to get them back!

We finally walked all the way up to the Theatre. It is a pretty big one - had enough seats originally for 10000 people. About 4000 seat bases are still there, of course the marble and cushions etc are all gone, leaving some uneducated tourists believing that people sat on the rough hewn stone seats that remain. I always wish they would restore a piece of it back to it’s original spender, so that people can imagine what it was like, with food vendors and ticket sellers and all the things that go along with a modern theatre experience.

We had dinner at a seaside restaurant and drinks in the nightclub area of the city, and then off to another little restaurant with live music. A late night, but a good way to end my time in the Mediterranean holiday town of Bodrum.

The next day, I packed up and headed off on the bus to Side, only I didn’t make it there, well, not yet at least…