This is story of our weekend boating trip and yet another lost prawn trap. My husband and I have been boating for several years with friends on their Bayliner on west coast and enjoy our excursions through San Juan Islands in Washington state and Gulf Islands in British Columbia. Crabbing and prawn trapping is very popular among both pleasure boaters and commercial fisherman in these areas.

Our friend Jan had just had another birthday and her husband Hank decided to buy her something that they could both enjoy. You guessed it, a prawn trap. Out they went at first opportunity early one morning in July and dropped their prawn trap over side of their Bayliner. The attached float was clearly visible to other boaters and had their name and boat registration number painted on side. As day progressed, they decided it was time to check prawn trap for booty. Dreaming of delectable dinner that awaited them, they took off in their dinghy to check trap. Around and around they went looking for their trap, but it was not to be found. They took their bearings from land and were sure that they were in correct spot, but no such luck. Once again, yet another prawn trap had disappeared. Back to their yacht and a dinner of pork and beans.

The next morning they weighed anchor and started off for next day's location, looking as they went for missing prawn trap. It was becoming obvious to them, that it was gone.

This quotation, attributed to American author, Henry James, captures perfectly mood among property buyers in Altinkum, Turkey. James would have been intrigued by excitement rushing through this Aegean resort - an excitement that started in 2002 with change in laws allowing foreign nationals to own property in Turkey in their own names, and now fuelled by intense interest from British media and experiences of early investors.

Until a few years ago, Altinkum was purely a holiday town. An arc of golden sand running gently down into a turquoise sea, so perfectly clear that in shallows, fish skimming around a bather's feet appear to be swimming in glass. A beachfront lined with small bars selling typical Turkish food and international favourites, a small central square with stalls of trinkets for souvenir hunters, and one nightclub summed up total of Altinkum's tourist facilities.

Now property is main industry of Altinkum, and once minor resort in Turkey has become an investor's dream. Specialist magazines like A Place In The Sun and Homes Overseas have featured articles on Altinkum gold rush, and property boom has even caught attention of national press and television stations with news stories and TV programmes hailing Turkey as next Spain and Altinkum as new Marbella.