TurkeyWriting and Sailing in Caria

Writing and Sailing in Caria: A creative writing cruise in Turkey with Jeremy Seal

The ancient coasts of southern Turkey, rich in history and myth, have been drawing writers since Herodotus. September 2009 sees award-winning travel writer Jeremy Seal host a week-long writing course on one of our beautiful Turkish gulets. Jeremy, author of Turkey-based travelogues A Fez of the Heart, and Santa: A Life, and a regular contributor to the travel pages of the Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph, will lead daily group sessions on all aspects of travel writing.

Jeremy, who has tutored on numerous residential courses in travel writing, will advise on writing technique and structure, on inspiration and story sources, and on how would-be writers best go about getting published. Group sessions will be complemented by one-to-one tutorials, and Jeremy will be informally on hand to help with particular problems that students may encounter.

Jeremy is also an old gulet hand (he sailed on the very first Sailing the Lycian Shore tour in Turkey with Peter back in 1997 and wrote about this inaugural gulet cruise for The Sunday Times), so he knows that swimming, lazing and plain good living are integral parts of the week.

The atmosphere will be inclusive and creative, and as intensive as participants wish to make it. There will be onshore visits to ancient sites and villages, some portrayed by writers such as Freya Stark and Patrick Kinross, where participants can pit themselves against the experts.

This promises to be a memorable week in the company of a charming and witty writer who has acquired an extensive knowledge of the Turkish coastline.

Day 1: A short transfer to our gulet anchored near Bodrum, on the south west tip of Turkey. Introductory drinks and informal discussions over dinner about the week ahead.

Day 2: We leave harbour, sailing east for a snorkelling lunch stop at Orak Island. Then it’s on to our overnight anchorage at Çökertme. We’ll visit this typical Anatolian village in the late afternoon, perhaps for a glass of raki to trigger your first few lines of prose.

Day 3: After a swim and breakfast, we’ll discuss what you’ve written during our daily on-deck morning seminar. Then it’s onto the head of the gulf at Akyaka for our overnight anchorage.

Day 4: After our morning seminar, we take to a minibus for a beautiful one-hour lakeside drive to Lake Köyceğiz, where we visit the Sultaniye kaplıcaları, a traditional Ottoman outdoor thermal spa with plunge pools and mudbaths. Back onboard our gulet for the short journey to anchor off Cleopatra’s Island.

Day 5: Explore the renowned antique ruins of Cedreae before sailing on to explore the inlets and islands of Degirmen Buku and Yedi Adalar to reach our overnight anchorage at Amazon Creek.

Day 6: A four-hour sail to the beautifully sited ruins at Knidos, an influential port of antiquity and home to perhaps the first female nude statue in all history.

Day 7: Today we return to Bodrum, with time in the late afternoon to explore this bustling city’s sights, the great mausoleum, once one of the Seven Wonders of the World and the imposing knights’ castle with its impressive maritime museum.

Day 8: Transfer to airport for the flight home.