When I took over from Salih on our anchor watch the sun was coming up so I made myself comfortable in the cockpit. It was only then that I realised we had moved at least 50 metres from where we had originally anchored! Hmmmmm.
After a cold swim (the southerly had cooled down what warm surface water there was) we made our way over to Ortakent and anchored off the beach. This was to become a regular spot over the summer months and one of my favourite places to anchor. With water-sports and a bar it’s a lively enough place without being too in your face. Bodrum marina was starting to get noisy, what with all the bars and clubs that pump up the volume after 11pm. Every night. Until 4am. I often think back to the advice Mark gave me about not bothering with Bodrum marina and going with one of the smaller places and I was beginning to see why.
For some reason the Turks insist on playing music really loudly at any opportunity, and this is no exageration. Those who know me know I love my tunes and love my music loud, but there really is a time and a place for it, and early Monday morning is not one of them. Worse still, and I’m going to stick my neck on the line here, it doesn’t seem to matter what music it is that they play loudly, as long as it’s shit! Now don’t get me wrong. I’ve purchased some really good Turkish-produced music since I’ve been here, but I never hear it out in the bars or clubs. It’s either Euro-pop, Turkish pop, or Turkish-Euro-pop. And there are sound systems everywhere, some of which aren’t switched on until you come into close proximity to them. Take, for example, the bar I went into with my parents. We chose it because we were the only ones there, it was quiet and it gave us a chance to chat and chill out. As soon as the barman had served us our drinks he whacks the music on so loudly we can’t hear what we are saying. Another restaurant in Gümüslük started playing Celine Dion as soon as we sat down. We had chosen that restaurant because there was no music. I’ve even had to ask Turkish crew to turn music off whilst sailing because they insist on playing CDs so loudly they can’t hear my instructions. I could go on, and I probably have, but it’s a phenomenon I’ve yet to get my head round.
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