We arrived in Turkey at sunrise, after two slow nights of thunderstorms and headwinds. We are much taken with Sinop. The harbour is small and secure. The bows of fishing boats have that elegant, excessive flare…

  I look at my lonely swimmers on the clothesline and think of all those lovely women – Max, Rosie Beth and the little bird – with their mess, their noise and their life-affirming enthusiasm.…

After the Inebolu to Cide leg, by any measure the trip down here to Amasra should have been a doddle. But with continuing fresh headwinds, it was anything but. Motor-sailing into short, steep seas was…

In Eregli a passing shipping agent drew my attention to our tattered Turkish courtesy flag and warned that the Coast Guard would not take kindly to it. Yet another thing to do, I thought. But he…

We turned south into the Bosphorus just after dawn. There were more AIS targets on the chart plotter than I had seen since the entrance to the Elbe. But across the separation zone things went…

On a cold, wet and windy morning we set out into the Sea of Marmara. There could be no more stark contrast with the colour, noise, smells and exuberance of Istanbul. This is Tainui’s 5th…

Sipping coffee I watched brilliant little emerald kingfishers swooping over the water. Pasha and Tatiana were shopping and Rosie was planning today’s meals. It is cold and a fresh northerly is blowing. This breeze has…

3 am. In the cockpit a cold land breeze is held at bay – only just – by our aged side curtains. Jupiter is up and about, shining bright, but apart from the barking dogs…

The pod of large dolphins took their leave and the long coastline of Lesbos slowly faded into the dusk. We slid south between the brightly lit towns on Greek Kythos island and the Turkish mainland…

Another late start. We do them so well. The 70 mile trip to Bodrum was a sleigh ride in flat water with warm sun. With Tania’s expert touch the dead remains of my casserole ascended…

We have decided to split the final leg to Marmaris into two short days. Refreshed and with no regrets we left at 9 am, something of a record for Tainui. South, past the east end…

After a long and eventful summer Tainui has finally arrived. We ran east down Rhodos Strait stopping at secluded anchorages. But we were no longer alone, sharing our journey with Turkish guletts, Eurvision Song Contest…

…well, for this year, at least. Tainui and I are still reeling from the shock of Yat Marina Marmaris. This winter 1,000 yachts will sit in silence on the hard here, with another 700 in…

The tourists do little to diminish the grandeur of Ephesus. For 2,000 years it was a tourist town and today’s visitors are nothing new. It may be a bit ruined, but then again Ephesus has…