The skipper and I have just returned from a couple of days sailing with friends.

On our first night away we stopped at a little place called Orhaniye on the Bozburun Peninsular, near Marmaris, where we made our way to the bar for a beer or two. I was impressed with the dedication of this lady who was on a sailing holiday with her family, studying for her Day Skipper qualification at the same time.

When I was working on my Day Skipper, quite a few years ago now, it was in the far less hospitable waters of the Irish Sea. North Wales to Scotland, via the Isle of Man, in fact. It was June…the sun came out once, just for a few minutes, somewhere near Holy Island and the Isle of Arran. It’s a bit different here. For one thing, being the Mediterranean, we don’t have to contend with tides and all those calculations for tidal heights and streams, so for the purist Turkey won’t provide the experience or the qualifications needed to sail in tidal waters. But if it’s 40 odd degrees of heat you want, and stunningly beautiful coastal waters, Turkey is a great place to sail.