Peter Sommer has spent many months cruising Turkey’s famous blue waters, lapping up their pleasures as well as their long and illustrious past
With more than 5,000 miles of coastline, Turkey is a paradise for cruising. Its south and west coasts offer perhaps the most spectacular sailing in the Mediterranean, full of craggy coves and sleepy fishing villages, bustling harbours and deserted bays. Littered with antiquities protected by law, large sections of it have remained undeveloped, still lapped by the clear waters on which the giants of ancient history sailed: Achilles, Cleopatra, Julius Caesar...
In places, mountains of limestone drop sheer into the sea; elsewhere pine forested peninsulas stretch out like sinuous fingers hiding a cornucopia of golden beaches, deep gulfs and tiny islands. With such a stunning backdrop, there is no better way to see Turkey and explore its culture than to set sail on a gulet. Spared the need to constantly pack, unpack and change hotels, instead one travels in luxurious style. Perhaps the key thing for me is that sailing was the number-one way to travel in antiquity. Following in the wake of the ancient mariner, the past 2,000 years can literally dissolve in the waves.
Gulets are the vessel of choice for exploring the Turkish coast. Handcrafted in local shipyards that stretch from Bodrum to Fethiye, they were originally built using such wood as pine and cedar from local forests. Nowadays, harder, more durable woods, such as mahogany and even teak, are frequently used, giving the interiors a darker, richer feel. Stroll around any of the lively harbours on the Mediterranean coast and you’ll see these characterful boats in a wide range of standards, from basic designs just 18 metres long to super deluxe boats more than 35 metres long with glittering marble bathrooms. With anything between two and 12 cabins, they can cater for small families or large corporate groups.
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