After breakfast we were driven to the end of the pier, where the highly rated Museum of Underwater Archaeology is housed in the castle of Saint Peter. Our boat for the day, Çagselen, was anchored up right in front, so we could drop our bags and meet the crew, Ugur, the young, handsome captain, Mustafa, the short, stocky deck-hand, and Fevzi, the cook, a skinny teenager with gel in his spiked hair. Ugur explained that the name of the boat was an amalgam of the names of his daughters. We noticed that the boat was impeccably kept - everything gleamed. Ugur obviously ran a tight ship!
It was quite early, 9.30, when we headed into the castle, so we could wander through the very impressive collection of artifacts from ancient shipwrecks - many of them gathered by a team from UPenn - almost alone. On our way out we saw how lucky we had been, when we had to press through hordes of excited schoolchildren and numbered groups from many countries with their guides.
Back on the boat we changed into our bathing suits as Ugur maneuvered us out of the busy harbor. Soon Bodrum became a distant coastline as we headed for a bay called the Aquarium. Our boat, similar to a saveiro, but different in that it was all for the 4 of us, had a comfortable seating area in the stern with blue cushions under a blue canvas stretched out for shade; in the front were mattresses, some under a blue awning and others in the sun.
Below were 4 suites, apart from crew quarters. Ugur, who had both a Garmin and a laptop at hand, showed us his cd with photos of the boat (and himself) surprisingly set to the theme of “Mission Impossible” - ta-ta-TAAAA, ta-ta-TAAAA...When we had anchored up in the Aquarium, Mustafa hung a ladder for us and Oswaldo jumped in as the first. His surprised shout indicated to us that the water temperature was less than we thought. Ugur had said 32 - it wasn’t 32C. I managed to get in also, and although it was initially quite cold, it was wonderful and exhilarating to be for the first time swimming in the Aegean sea. The water was intensely blue in that particular spot, but we couldn’t see anything in the water, except that it was very clear.
After that bracing swim, and a refreshing cup of tea, we lifted anchor to find a suitable spot for fixing our lunch. We were having grilled fish, so the wind had to blow the smoke from the grill away from the boat. We found a lovely spot on the ocean side of a rather barren looking island, and here, closer to the shore, the water turned a beautiful turquoise. Oswaldo and I swam in to the beach. It was a pebble beach and we had to float over the barnacled pebbles until it got too shallow and we were able to stand up. Not like the fine sand of Angra, but still spectacular. Here we could see a couple of small fish in the water, but back on the boat Ugur explained that the area has basically been fished out for the last 20-30 years. Sad. Then lunch was served, rice with little pasta sticks, rocket leaves in yogurt, braised wild asparagus with garlic, a local form of cold mashed beans, french fries, salad and one perfectly grilled fish each. We couldn’t believe how good it was.
After lunch, when we were maybe considering something sweet, a guy in a tiny motorboat (just like in Angra) appeared out of nowhere with his cooler and sold us the Double Chocolate Magnum ice-cream that we have become possibly too fond of. Life was intensely good at that moment!
Now it was time for a little snooze in the shade while Ugur lifted anchor for our third and last stop. We went around the island to find a spot on the mainland where we could see that the whole hillside was without vegetation. Ugur explained that a couple of years ago a terrible fire had started further inland and been so intense that the smoke had been all over the city for days making it hard to see and breathe, and the air had been filled with helicopters trying to put out the fire. We swam again and the water was, if possible, even colder, but wonderfully refreshing in the afternoon heat. Fevzi served us a beautiful fruit plate and later Turkish coffee. When tour-boats filled with happy, dancing tourists anchored up nearby and their music carried across the water, we lifted anchor again and headed back to the harbor.
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