As this week has seen another heatwave, with temperatures soaring into the upper forties, we spent much of the daytime indoors, catching up on housework and spending a lot of time on the computer booking flights and accommodation for our trip to Thailand in February.
The evenings are marginally cooler, so, as we have many of our part-time friends here, we been out for quite a lot of meals. Wednesday we were at the Police Academy with Paul, Gaynor and 3 boys, as well as Carolyn, Mick and their family. It was a lively evening rounded off by drinks at Paul’s house, with entertainment provided by the Turkish neighbour, trying to kill a scorpion. He believed that if it was set on fire the house would never be troubled by scorpions again. To that end they had a deodorant spray which they were using as a flame-thrower. Hmmm!!!
There were many discussions going on at this time about the road in front of Paul’s house, which was about to be given a surface. His Turkish neighbour was trying to persuade him and the Irish contingent at the other end of the road that he had given the council a bung to speed up the process, and that they now owed him £100 each household as their share towards this. This however was patently untrue as we had been present in the spring when the Sea-Horse complex came round with a petition (which we and many others signed) to get all the roads re-surfaced and that included this particular one. We were also told more recently by the people in the Sea-Horse that THEY had indeed provided the council with an incentive to put it on their more urgent road-building agenda. Needless to say, as our neighbours decided not to pay, our Turkish neighbour has got the hump with us as in his mind, he thinks we told them not to pay him. In fact they made up their own minds, and reached their own conclusions.
We were making full use of the shade under an olive tree after sailing on Thursday, when we noticed a plume of smoke on scrubland behind the road between Didim and Uslu. As we watched, the fire spread rapidly, whipped up by fierce winds. Eventually the fire brigade arrived, but by this time there was little they could do except keep it from crossing the road. Then a helicopter arrived and by dipping a large container into the sea and then dumping the water on the fire, he gradually got it under control. If it had crossed the road, there were villages that would have been seriously at risk. We later learned that it wasn’t just scrubland, but contained a young conifer plantation that had been planted by local students. All their hard work ruined in a couple of hours. We’ve had several fires around here lately, as everywhere is tinder dry in all this heat.
Friday we had the chance to have a little sail, but returned home early to make a couple of phone calls only to discover that not only were we in the middle of a power cut, but when it finally returned, Skype were also having problems and the whole world had been shut out of their phone system. So we had to use the more expensive land-line system. That evening it was more eating out, this time with Sarah and family up at the top of town. After, Sue and I decided it was such a lovely evening we’d stroll down to Altinkum and along the sea-front. On the way we picked up the post, and discovered a letter that had to be dealt with and back in England within 3 or 4 days. That’s the trouble with the post here .. it can take a fortnight to reach it’s destination. That means that even bills sent out by Turkish companies arrive after the due date, and English mail has no chance. As luck would have it, our temporary neighbours were leaving at 2 am the next morning for the UK, so we quickly dealt with the letter and gave them the response to deliver for us.
Saturday as ever was market day. We went early to avoid the heat, and met several of our fellow Brits doing the same thing. That gave us the rest of the day to devote to sailing. We went down to Sultankent, quite a stretch from Gaye 2 and Yesilkent, and used their almost deserted beach. However, when we cleared their little secluded bay and set sail for home the winds had changed. That coupled with a strong current meant that each time we tacked for home we were being driven back into Sultankent. Having seen it for the 3rd time we decided to use the motor to help us get clear. The winds got even stronger, the boat was slamming down between waves and Sue was busily getting rid of water as fast as it came in over the bows. The boat heeled right over many times and it took all my skill, built up from the last few weeks, to keep us going in the right direction. Sue says that the journey back gave her the confidence in the boat that she was lacking before, and that has made her less scared.. We are definitely moving out of novice class now.
Sunday was another hot one, so we did another big clean-up and then had Phil and Lynn round for dinner, to share the generosity of Gavin and Tania, who had brought us a gammon joint.
It is still very busy here, so it’s a relief to be able to get on the boat and get away from it all. Monday, as we sailed round the bay, we were invited aboard a huge catamaran for coffee and wine. Deiter, the owner, had anchored between Gaye 2 and Konya while he carried out repairs. It had 4 double bedrooms, 
3 bathrooms, one with a bath, a lounge bigger than ours and a well equipped galley with a 10 cu ft chest freezer ... and loads of storage space.(USD 4.1)
He was a very pleasant chap who hails from the German side of Lake Constance, but now spends all his time living on the boat, just moving up and down the coast and in and out of the Greek islands following the better weather. His wife, Marianne, spends the summer with him but prefers to go back to Germany for the winter. 
He’s a clever chap as he and a few Turkish workers built the craft in Fethiye. It took him 4 years. It was very stable ... you could hardly feel it move. Apparently he started on the water windsurfing, progressed to a boat like ours and then started this massive project. We wondered if he’d like to swap back again, but no takers ... oh well.
Tuesday was not a bad day for sailing, and so after we’d spent about an hour out, we went back to Gaye 2 to pick up Sam, one of Paul and Gaynor’s lads. He had said he would like to come out sailing, so I took him around the bay for about an hour, showing him the various villages that border the shoreline, while Sue chatted to his parents onshore. As the day drew to a close, Sue and I decided upon one last sail. BIG MISTAKE!! As the winds increased, we made a real pig’s ear of raising the sails and everything else really; so much so that once we had sorted ourselves out we turned back round and headed back home. We usually like to finish on a good note to boost our confidence ... this wasn’t a good note!
The temperatures continue to rise, and with them the winds also increase to levels higher than we can cope with, so on Wednesday we resigned ourselves to the more mundane shopping, PTT (post-office) and odd jobs around town. We bumped into Remzi, our plumber and pointed him in the direction of Paul and Gaynor who were having problems with a leaking loo. When we got back, we spent the afternoon with Phil, Lynn, Tania and her mum, discussing anything and everything. That evening, we decided we ought to catch up with a few friends we haven’t seen for a while and the easiest way to do that was to go to the Blue Restaurant, where all the ex-pats meet up on Wednesdays and Saturdays. There were not many people in but we did see one or two of the people we hoped to see, and we met another couple, Kevin and Annette, who have apparently been living here for nearly 18 months and we’d never seen them before.
We were expecting Yo and Nigel on Thursday, but not till after midday, so we decided to walk down to the seafront on Gaye 2 to sit under one of the olive trees and watch the world go by. And there were Kevin and Annette. Isn’t it strange, never seen them here before and now we see them 2 days running. Had a chance to talk to them without the general hub-bub that always accompanies any conversation in the Blue Restaurant. When you are competing with the TV at full blast and other people trying to make themselves heard above it, it is very hard to hear what people are trying to tell you. The morning passed very quickly (they all do), and so we had to pack up and return to the house to welcome Yo and Nigs. After catching up with their news and feeding them, we all went for a walk to Mandy and Lawrence’s place to catch up with them. With it being so hot and windy, we all took refuge in the cool of the aircon. The construction of Paul’s road began today, and despite dire threats from his Turkish neighbour that the road would not be constructed in front of his house as he hadn’t paid over the £100, the Belediye put down the base of the road, without any gaps in front of either his or Tania’s house, just as we thought they would. The base will now be left to bed itself down for a couple of weeks, before they return with the machinery to lay the tar and asphalt.
It was already 35 deg when we got up on Friday, so it was down to Gaye 2 for an early morning swim to cool off. Then, we checked our emails as we do every morning. We had a couple from Paul and Gaynor’s friends with messages for them, so we duly trotted over there to pass them on, before settling down to read in the shade up on the top terrace. Tania and mum were off back to Ireland at some unearthly hour of the morning, so we popped in to wish them a safe and trauma free journey. We heard later that they’d had a 2 hour delay poor things.
And so we’re already back to Saturday, market day, PTT, Sue had a hair cut, and then we retreated from the hot high winds back to the comfort of the aircon. On Sunday we were similarly esconced in the comfort of AC when we were visited by Tom and Linda. In the afternoon we caught up with Phil and Lynn and in the evening we were supposed to visit Nevin and Vedat, some Turkish friends on holiday here from London (yes that’s right), but they were not in so we continued our walk and ended up in the Blue Restaurant for the second time in a week (and only the third time in a year).
Monday when we checked our emails in the morning we had a frantic request from Pat. Sarah thought she had left some wet towels in the washing machine. As Sarah had been gone for a week we hoped not ... can you imagine the smell in this heat. Fortunately, she must now be old enough to have senior moments, as the washing machine was empty, and the towels that she thought she had left in there, were hanging up to dry. Still too hot to venture far from the aircon.
There was a small drop in temperature on Tuesday, so we did a bit of gardening, pruning some of our rampant plants, and some of Nicky’s next door as well. If we hadn’t done their’s they wouldn’t have been able to get through the gate when they arrive on Sunday. We continue to try to nurture our garden, but the hot weather has taken it’s toll. The lawn definitely hasn’t survived. It won’t without constant watering day and night. As there is a water shortage, and it’s an unnecessary expense, it’ll have to go. Anybody got any ideas on what to put in it’s place? That evening we, and Paul and co, tried a new restaurant in town called Sabila. They had one of the best menus we’ve seen here and the food was excellent. We shall be going there again.
With the temperatures dropping, so are the winds, so we were able to sail on Wednesday. In fact the winds proved to be too light, so we called in at Zongulduk for a swim. As usual, the vast expanse of beach was empty apart from one small corner in front of the restaurant. Very peaceful. However, once again, when we sailed out of the protection of the inlet, the winds had whipped up leading to a very interesting trip home. Not quite so much of a problem this time with our newly found confidence, but interesting. In the evening we did manage to catch up with Nevin and Vedat, just in time as they are back off to London on Tuesday. That’s 4 weeks up for them and to us they seem to have only just arrived. Time really does fly by here.
