Retreat-Holidays
Make retreats a treat and holidays holy
Turkish Gulet
JUST ONE CABIN LEFT!
If you have ever had a holiday on the Turkish coast, you will almost certainly have looked longingly at the gulets (traditional wooden boats similar to ketches) and thought, "That's the way to do it!" Then perhaps you were put off by the prospect of finding yourself stuck on a boat for a week with a group of lager-louts. This is one of the great advantages of travelling with Retreat-Holidays: you will be with other Christians who are there to still down and savour the beauty of God's creation.
We shall be sailing in the wake of St Paul on two of his journeys, including the dramatic final journey to Rome. Our exact route will depend on weather conditions at the time.
This cruise is the ultimate in relaxation: you don't have to do anything!
Late September / early October is a good time for sailing in Turkey. The average maximum temperature then is 25°C (77°F). Although the air has cooled down from the blistering temperatures of summer, the seawater retains its warmth and is very comfortable for swimming. There are also far fewer other boats around, so we often have a whole bay to ourselves.
The boat is equipped with snorkels and masks - and some of the underwater scenery is spectacular.
A member of our 2011 group, was inspired to write this meditation by the sunlight she saw dancing on the seabed when she went snorkeling:
You lightened my darkness today Lord.
You came to me in shafts of light,
stretching from the bottom of the ocean;
In filaments of sunlight, calling me and saying
“You are mine and I love you. You must never be afraid.
The immenseness of the sea is but a particle
of the immenseness of the love I have for my children."
You held me on the water as a babe held in its mother's arms.
I was safe in the knowledge that you will never let me go.
That you will protect me and surround me in the twilight of my life.
What twilight Lord? Not yet old age for me?
As your sunbeams dazzled and danced the patterns said to me,
“You still have time to dazzle and dance and laugh!
You still have work to do!
There are those who still need your care,
and those you must guide towards the light.”
No darkness yet Lord – me who am often full of doubts?
Who abandon ship more often than I should!
And yet you claw me back;
stretching out your arms to grab me from the abyss.
You warm my heart; you put away my fears,
And in the depths of my despair you walk beside me.
Drawing me back from the darkness
Into your amazing light!
God – I thank you!
Anne Witherington
Turkish gulet: the Prenses Begüm
Turkish gulet: Dates, prices and flights