Iain at 50

Iain invited his lovely friends to celebrate a milestone birthday with him. A very enjoyable evening was passed, where wonderful food appeared (thanks Bev) and we laughed until bedtime. A walk on the common and lunch at the pub topped off a great weekend. 

Back To The Sunshine

Ali and Sam - who taught Jerry sailing (poor things):

Despite 2 weeks of inclement weather back home while we were away, we carefully brought all of that lovely sunshine home again - it makes mid-October so much nicer. Back in resort, for the final regatta, Jerry teamed up with Tony, for a race in a Bahia. Some excellent boat balancing and tactical decision-making got them home as first Bahia, and second in the official race positions after the Portsmouth Yardstick handicaps had been applied. An appeal that the 'spinnaker' handicap had been incorrectly applied, denying us deserved overall victory fell on deaf ears. We got over it in the bar, more easily than you might imagine. The two weeks in beautiful Turkey were wonderful, and a great way to spend the early autumn, with temperatures in the mid to high 20s. Mission accomplished on the sailing qualifications front too. The official video is filed here and the slideshow is here.

Booze And Balls

Another hot, sticky day saw Jerry on a nice bike ride along the coast. Claire again maxxed out her tennis opportunities, climaxing in the dubious event entitled 'booze and balls', involving drinks and tennis -simultaneously! Jerry spent an afternoon capsising catermerans, which is great fun, followed by a bike technical clinic where he discovered everything he had been doing wrong for the past few decades! Anyway it's Italian night in the restaurant so no more time to blog....

Flat Out Again

The level 3 RYA sailing kicked off, definately up a notch in the requirement to be much more precise all the time. On Monday it was spinnakers and on Tuesday's regatta Jerry improved another place to 3rd Laser. Claire had moved up too to the top tennis group, getting those volleys in and feeling fitter. Jerry also got stuck into some excellent bike rides and we 'stretched and relaxed' at JoJo's evening de-stresses. Monday night in a swing chair, under the stars, drinking Turkish raki was sublime.

Ruins

With a one day 'half term' from lessons, we had a watersports day in freshening winds. Jerry got planning on a windsurfer while Claire kayaked; then we set off to find the ruins of ancient Teos: They were where everyone said they were. It was amazing to walk amongst Teos grey stone, carved when Rome still had an empire. Apparently, being good to carve made the stone quarried locally sought after, and much of it ended up in Rome itself. In the evening we ate Red Mullet in Sigacik. On Sunday morning we took 'Jerry's shortcut' over the hill to the local market and did as the locals do: sat on a bench overlooking the fishing harbour, watching the World go by. The people of Izmir think that Sigacik folk are sonewhat slow to take up everything that modern advancement offers; the appeal of the place is exactly that! Blogged from a bench in the shade of a palm by the old town fortified walls.

Back On Two Wheels

After two days recovering from the plague, we both managed to up our game again: Claire launched into the doubles tournament and then managed a bike trip to Seferihihar market. Jerry did the week's technical ride, had a late morning windsurf blast and then made all 3 laps of the regatta without tipping over the catamaran. Midday temp. 30 °, wind strengthening.

All Action

After dining out under the stars Turkish meze style, we enjoyed a great night's sleep in our new bigger room. Tuesday morning saw Claire playing tennis, sailing a cat and then trying waterskiing - all before lunch! She relaxed while Jerry tried to keep his Laser upright, racing in the afternoon.

On-Shore

We started with a familiarity paddle round the bay. Claire found a sea arch and after lunch she got stuck into her tennis while Jerry helmed a keelboat. On Monday an easy off road cycle covered the morning nicely. With temperatures in the mid to high 20s, Turkey was looking good.