Saturday: The switch.

True story: On his last night aboard, Jeff dreamed he adopted a German Shepard puppy on La Mia Stella. We hit shore for their departure and this beautiful boy walked right through all of us and straight to Jeff. That was the first of my goodbye tears. xxx

Turnover days are sad, sweaty, anxious, chaotic, happy, nervous, tiring, and happy again. This morning we said goodbye to 9 amazing guests who leaned into this inaugural trip, and slurped up every drop of the yogurt sauce that is the southern coast of Turkiye. 

Back to the turnover. On paper, Saturdays look like a half day off for a yacht crew. Quite the opposite is true. Yacht crews around the world wake up before the sun rises, and get to work cleaning, provisioning, repairing, planning, cooking, coordinating, and delivering guests to and from their boat. We normally do all of these things ourselves on SwimVacation, with crew we fly in from all over the world, but here in Turkey the crew comes with the boat. After saying our goodbyes to Amy, Jeff, Kevin, Jane, Fiona, Dana, Kendra, Samantha and Natalie, guides Simon, Heather, and I hit the streets of Kas for some supplies, gifts for home, and lunch.  

When Heather and I scouted this trip 9 years ago we found this great shop here that sells locally made lamps, tiles, glassware, porcelain, and all kinds of other cool things. We stumbled onto it again today, and the owner recognized us, and we recognized him right back. 9 years! Hundreds of people walk through this place every day, and for some reason we had retained this connection. We bought more cool stuff, and he gave us a fantastic reccomendation for lunch at a nearby locals joint.

Our guests were delivered to the waterfront in decent shape. They’d all spent some time in Istanbul, many with our partners at Peten Travel, and seemed eager to take another bite of this country.  Hold your horses, ladies, you look a little thirsty. We sat dow for a lemonade with Cynthia, Kathy, Katie, Kerry, Susie, Lexi, and Marianne at Smiley’s restaurant near the Marina then loaded them on a little boat for the transfer to La Mia Stella, which was gleaming in the sun, freshly scrubbed. 

We climbed aboard La Mia Stella to an absolutely spectacular spread for tea time.

Kas sparklers on the bow led to an incredible dinner and a spirited discussion about the benefits of foot flexibility in swimming, which of course led to an exquisite toe point by our treasure, Simon.

This is by far the swankiest yacht we’ve ever been on. Lots of wood, big, elegant rooms, lots of deck space, great food. After a little swim around the sunken artifacts exhibit, I whipped up some Kas Sparklers (peach nectar, vodka, champagne), and we settled into the big comfy couch on the bow. Traditional Turkish dinner that yes included a yogurt sauce. Ice cream. Another drink. Uncle. 

Hopper