Ahoy, the Aegean!

Is it wise to book a sailing holiday round the Turkish coast with a bunch of strangers? Emma Elms climbs aboard to find out. Photographs by Deirdre Rooney.

Spending a week on a yacht cruising the Aegean may sound idyllic, but the idea of living in close quarters with ten people I’ve never met sounds worryingly like a nautical Big Brother.

The most people I’ve ever lived with is three, so climbing aboard Grandi 1 in Bodrum harbour with my boyfriend, Stuart, I feel secretly apprehensive.

   Within an hour, things are looking up. It turns out that the tour operator, Tussock Cruising, carefully selects guests according to age and interests to aid compatibility. And, unlike the rations of the Big Brother house, fine food, wine and the lethal local beverage, raki, are in plentiful supply on the boat. Our four-strong crew – the terminally cheerful Captain Ümit, shy, hard-working chef Mustafa, and cabin boys Ali and Mehmet – attend to our every need. I could definitely get used to the way I only have to glance at the fridge before Ali rushes over to pour me a cool glass of wine.

   We’re on board an eighteen-berth, 28 metre yacht and, although there isn’t room to swing a cat in the cabin I’m sharing with Stuart, you don’t go on sailing holidays to luxuriate below deck. If cabin fever creeps up, a dip in the sea is the ideal antidote.

   My first day of boating life happily slips by: wake up at 8.30am to the Captain’s calls of ‘Bwekfast is weddy!’; swim all morning; have a delicious lunch of local delicacies such as b?rek (pastry filled with spinach and cheese); couscous and meze (which includes a range of dips – great if you’re vegetarian, like me); play cards and Yahtzee; read and snooze in the sun. The only big decision I have to make is what factor sun lotion to apply.

   The following morning, Captain Ümit discusses where we’ll sail, as there’s no fixed itinerary. We decide to head north first, on a trip that will be a mixture of lazing around on deck (bliss!) and excursions. Our first foray ashore is to the ruins of Euromos, where we travel by minibus to the 400BC Temple of Zeus. Unfinished and partly reconstructed, the imposing white columns standing alone in the arid countryside are impressive – and get bonus points for being tourist-free.

   Our second stop is the beautiful Lake Bafa. As we stand on top of a mountain admiring the views, our eccentric female guide, Jana, passionately fills us in on local legends. Her opening gambit is: ‘I talk too much, I can’t stop talking, please tell me to shut up,’ which inspires us to write a song that we drunkenly perform on the yacht that night, much to the amusement of other vessels moored alongside.

   It’s amazing how two days on a boat feel like two months in friendship terms. Stuart and I quickly bond with our fellow passengers and, soon, everyone has nicknames. The two beautiful Bangladeshi sisters become known as ‘the Glamour Sisters’. For them, every day is a good hair day. They even appear at breakfast sporting perfect lip gloss and glittery tops, while the rest of us have adopted the ship chic look – no make-up, salt encrusted hair and wet bikinis as outerwear. Stuart, meanwhile, is dubbed ‘Captain Smarm’ after having a Turkish shave, haircut and massage for £3 at a small salon on the island of Gümüslük, which leaves him with a highly unflattering, oiled-down fringe.

   Venturing off the yacht the following evening into the tiny village of Sögüt, east of Bodrum, we discover that wobbly sea legs are now a permanent fixture. (Most of us have escaped seasickness so far but, when one passenger later succumbs, Captain Ümit is on hand with acupressure wristbands, which seem to do the trick.) The local disco is almost empty, but two Turkish men invite the Glamour Sisters to dance and Stuart joins a party on a neighbouring yacht. Ten minutes later, he reappears flustered, saying five wild French women are trying to strip the cabin boy. I guess, out at sea, you have to create your own entertainment.

   We sail through the night to the town of Ören, where there is a weekly market. Getting into haggle mode, I buy two sets of spices and some sunglasses for around £10, while fellow passenger Lusty Lisa (don’t ask) buys six fake CDs for £20. Later, sipping Turkish tea under the trees, we notice the artists appear as ‘Kylie Minouge’ and ‘Justine Timberlake’.

   Our home for the evening is the bay of Yedi Adalar (or Seven Islands). The joy of this type of holiday is that you have the opportunity to reach remote areas which few package tourists ever see. It’s here I get my first taste of traditional island life in the form of Robinson (as in Crusoe) – a weather-beaten Turk with long grey hair and a beard, who is busy watering tomato plants. Robinson is a member of one of the three families who inhabit the island. They grow their own vegetables, produce their own milk, bake their own bread – all with no electricity or home comforts.

   On our way back to the boat, we meet a young girl selling baskets and hats made of bright yellow mimosa. In a romantic island mood, I buy a basket for £12. Another surprise greets us on returning to Grandi 1 – our crew have set up a candlelit table onshore and are busy cooking kebabs on the barbecue. As the sun sets, I feel utterly, deliciously spoilt.

   The following day, we visit the remote village of Mazi, passing women carpet-weavers nimbly threading wool onto giant looms. After donning headscarves to visit the local mosque, we sip tea in a nearby café, the hub of village life. Three adorable little Turkish boys collapse in fits of laughter when we video them and play it back on a digital camera.

   That evening, the Captain arranges for us to dine at the home of a local family. We sit on cushions in the courtyard and tuck into a fest of dolmasi (stuffed vine leaves), chicken stew, cheese and spinach pancakes, poached eggs, salad and fresh bread – all for £12 a head. Afterwards, we’re treated to a cabaret of traditional folk dancing accompanied by a guitarist and bongo drummer. The daughter of the house leads the dance, wearing a black scarf edged with jingling gold coins around her waist. More and more faces appear under the trees as villagers gather to watch us bopping to the local beat.

   Tomorrow is our last day, and despite numerous attempts at fishing, Stuart and ‘New Best Friend’ James haven’t yet caught anything. Well, the Captain loves a practical joke almost as much as he loves calling Lusty Lisa ‘daahling’ , so this afternoon, there’s much excitement among the boys as they appear to have at last caught a giant fish. It’s only after much whooping and scrabbling for cameras that they finally reel the blighter in – only to reveal a giant aubergine on the end of their line (and a quietly chuckling Captain). Spotting a school of dolphins diving through the water a couple of hours later appeases their disappointment.

   Of course, you can’t visit Turkey without sampling a traditional bath, so for our last group outing we take the plunge back in Bodrum. It’s a mixed bath, so we wear swimsuits, but single-sex baths are often nude.

    We enter a small domed building with holes carved out of the roof, letting in streams of sunlight. Surrounded by steam, the washers ask us, one by one, to lie on a stone slab in the center. After being scrubbed with a loofah (an incredibly bracing experience), I’m told to take a cold shower before being gently washed with rich foam and a soft cloth. I feel suitably pampered as my washer finishes by washing my hair.

   We sit wrapped in towels in the courtyard, before having a massage with banana oil. Two hours later, I leave feeling clean, serene and smelling of bananas – it was £20 well spent.

   There’s just time for a spot of last-minute shopping and, one fake, pink Louis Vuitton bag later (£35), we head back to the boat for a final lunch. Our cruise has been an ideal mix of relaxation, sunshine, laughs and culture – and six of us have since kept in touch. If this week of paradise is anything like Big Brother, then, Davina, I’m all yours.

(Box) Book now Tussock Cruising (020-8510 9292; www.tussockcruising.com) arranges Turkish and Greek sailing holidays on yachts that sleep from six to sixteen guests in en suite cabins. Cruises depart from Bodrum and Marmaris and cost from £355 per person for one week, including a three-man crew, all meals on board and unlimited drinks. Flights, visas, transfers, meals ashore and excursions are extra, but there are no single supplements. Holidays run from April to October.