Welcome to the Lucky Bastards Club

From Turkbuku – the little seaside village with a reputation (“it’s the place to see, and ‘be seen’”) – we headed off to one of our favourite anchorages in the Turkey’s Aegean Sea.

Kıyıkışlacık is that delightful village mentioned in previous blogs where time appears to be standing still.

On the way there we were very excited to unfurl our new Code Zero sail for the first time. This large light sail rolled out perfectly and we had a lovely sail despite the light winds – getting to a modest five knots in ten knots of wind which wasn’t bad at all.

We had one scary moment when a large carrier ship and Sunday were on collision course. The ship was miles away but those things travel fast! As it got nearer we changed course slightly – and so did the boat. It ended up overtaking us ever so sedately!

We arrived at the lovely anchorage and anchored snuggly behind the remains of the old fort at the entrance.

When we woke up the next morning we were delighted to hear several thrushes nearby singing their little hearts out. We could also hear the bleating of sheep and goats and the gentle lowing of cattle. What a great way to start the day!

We walked round the promontory that once was an island. Every time we walk round this headland we feel transported back in time.

We love strolling between the elderly and wizened olive trees, watching the sheep graze and gazing at the spectacular views, as well as finding parts of the ancient wall that once encircled the whole area.

There are many ruins – some that look like stone warehouses which probably housed provisions brought in via the small harbour for many hundreds of years since before the current era.

Our wandering eventually reached the wonderful site of ancient Iasos – inhabited since before 500 BCE. For the first time we entered from the north.

As we scrambled down into the excavated area we were very surprised to see three cows grazing amongst the ruins.

Later, when we were enjoying a wonderful meal of fresh sea bass in the local hotel, we watched as the local cows walked slowly home from their feeding grounds amongst the historic ruins on the opposite shore.

After a couple of days in Kıyıkışlacık we set off to return to Didim for the “break up” barbecue with all the other cruising yachties that had wintered their boats in the marina.

We anchored very comfortably outside the marina and in the late afternoon took our dinghy to join the others for the BBQ.

It was a great evening although bitter sweet as we were saying goodbye to so many friends – both old and new.

Adrian, from “Aussie Anthem” who is very fond of the saying “Aren’t we all lucky bastards” and “Here’s to all the members of the Lucky Bastards Club” (there’s a story to this that is his to tell) was presented with a Lucky Bastards Club t-shirt by John and Sue from S/V Catabella.

We all loved the t-shirt and agreed we were indeed, very Lucky Bastards for meeting such wonderful people and living such an amazing life despite there being many challenges and difficult times in between times.