En route to Turkey
first our encounters with the locals
April / May 2018
Our departure from Cyprus was delayed several days.
Wednesday the marina was host to a terrorist drill. All marine personal would be needed for their event and boaters were restricted from departing during this time. The local Fire department, Police, ambulance, emergency personal etc… would be participating in and around the marina. Actors playing the part of victims with ‘blood and wounds’ were staged at strategic points around the complex. Helicopters swooped in and dropped cargo, divers, swat teams… pretty interesting. All morning ‘pops, bangs, rat-a-tat-tat, and sirens echoed off buildings. Jim was able to catch some action while trying (again) to reclaim our propane tank from the marine supply store… His route took him through one of the settings. The wounded were being tended to while film crews got footage for the TV news and papers. Police and emergency participants ‘secured’ the area… Kind of surreal …
The propane tank that was due to be returned the week prior, was still MIA. Jim would check nearly everyday to be met with a similar response….” tomorrow, it will be here”… Like a promise written in sand. At Jim’s polite insistence that the tank be returned full or empty by Thursday, our contract at the marina expired Friday and we MUST leave.. and not on a Friday because mariners DO NOT depart for a voyage on Fridays according to superstition… Finally the provider came through late morning Thursday. Power cords and wifi (reluctantly) were disconnected. We clear out with customs and police and finalize our marina bill. The marina sent a tender to assist with the lines and we were underway. 6 months after arriving.
A side note… once we were tethered to the dock after arrival, we did not go out for day sails etc… First; the marina has strict rules and require ANY vessel to report their departure and arrival with them. A crew list is required and permission from the officials. Also, being tethered to the dock meant power and wifi cords had to be unplugged and stowed and then we would have to stow all the things that would tumble about or break if not secured on a rolling, moving vessel. So we stayed tied fast to the dock all winter.
The sea was calm, next to no wind for our departure and most of the passage. We planned for 2 overnights but secretly hoped for one. Night shifts went well, 3 hours on, 3 off. Motoring. The dust of Cyprus behind us. Cyprus is prone to weekly, multiple day dust events, that originate in the Sahara. The weather reports are accompanied daily with air quality reports. Often cautioning those with breathing difficulties to limit outdoor activities… The hills directly behind the city of Limassol were often obscured with these dust clouds. This will not be missed.
We called the marina.
The conversation went something like this… ‘We will arrive after dark. We need a dock…” Turkish marina man(TMM) , ‘a doc?’… J: ‘yes, a dock”… TMM, ‘Ill call you back in 5 minutes…’ 5 m i n u t e s l a t e r …. TMM, ‘ hello, what is the emergency?’ J, ??? ‘no emergency, we need a dock…’ TMM, ‘yes, what is the nature of your medical emergency?… ‘ J… realization hits! … ‘We need a berth… not a doctor.” TMM… ‘OK… we will be ready for you”
So… our fault. We need to use more universal language… in the Mediterranean they have berths… not docks… easy to see the confusion…
We noticed a boat skirting the shore at a high rate of speed. then turn sharply… toward us. Pirates? no. Coast Guard? yup. Prepare to be boarded… just in case. Kathy stowed the ‘extra’ boxes of wine out of sight and waited as they approached, did a circle around the boat then hailed Inishnee. Jim responded. Questions about crew and destination. Previous port etc.. Another circle of the boat and we were alone again.
The wind piped up again and we again questioned going in to the unknown marina after dark with a “hazardous underwater wreck” squarely at the mouth of the marina entrance… or motoring in circles all night just off shore… OMGosh… Kathy has a realization… ‘We did NOT give the customary toast to the sea ‘gods’ upon departure of the voyage! This was remedied quickly, with sincerely apologies… The wind died down to a respectable (seriously !!!) 5-6 knots. The sun set and and we closed in on the coast and the marina. We switched on the spreader lights, Kathy on the bow, Jim and the wheel. Around the ‘wreck’ and through the break wall, stay clear of the HUGE bow sprint of the ‘pirate ship”… there were several… when down below in the dark appears a tender… no lights.. Marina Man to the rescue! “follow me…” we wove our way around, eyes bulging to find the tender in the dark… with no lights! He guided us to our ‘berth’ and helped us secure. Very uneventful… Thank you sea ‘gods”!!! et all…. Dinner; taziki, pitas and a bit of grog.
We slept like rocks
And woke up to rocks… a huge frickin’ mountain range of rocks backdropping the marina. Stunning.
We re-settled the boat. Then went ashore to clear customs etc. Paper work and stamps. A few rules and regulations to note. Then the Marian man… aka TMM says.. ‘by the way, what was the medical emergency?…’ As it turns out, he was the man on the phone last night. We apologized and explained that our country calls the berth a ‘dock’ and that we should have used the term berth…. He was quite understanding…
The marina has a lively live aboard community. Gatherings and outings. We rested. Explored the town a bit. Were greeted by shop owners with promises of good prices and a cup of tea… Tea is king here. All day. Hot and sweet. sip while playing cards or backgammon. Chatting with friends. etc. Turkish delight (candy) is every where… Showers and dinner out. Cassoulette, served on a clay baking 
dish, bubbling from the stove… DO NOT eat immediately… have that steaming hot tea or a chilled wine but DO NOT attempt to put the stew near type mouth… it’s hot ALL the way down… experience the best teacher.
An early night. hit the pillow by 10pm… Jim woke to a noise on deck.. We are bow in to the cement pier. the boarding ladder suspended over the dock… yes, dock. He went topside and found the ladder grinding on the cement… He lifted the ladder just as a cat jumped from our sail cover onto the deck next to his feet… we gave the international gesture (its a Turkish cat) to get the heck off the boat … lowered the ladder and the cat obligated… As Jim made his way aft, the thought occurred to him… Only one cat? he batted the sail cover and out pop another cat… Jim ‘gestured’ to him to vacate, which he did; jumping onto the next boat and off their ladder… As boat visitors go, well take a cat over rats, or bugs or pirates ANY day… but, we will make sure the hatches are secure…
Touring Turkey
We met several cruisers at G-Marina Kemer, our temporary home base. They were very helpful giving us information on local attractions, shopping and places we would / should stop at as we make our way along and around the Turkish ‘Riviera’ coast the next 6 weeks.
Wolf, our berth mate, took us to the fresh market held once a week. Amazing. Tons of fresh produce. A fish market too. Local honey with or without the comb. Cheeses and breads. Garlic with dirt still clinging to their roots. Artichokes, peeled while you wait… seconds, then plunged in a water bath. Green sour plums, beans, lettuce, quince, pomegranates, peppers, eggplant, strawberries, oranges… and lots, LOTS more.
and Turkish Delight!
Over night the street transforms into the clothing market. 1 kilometer in length. Jeans, shirts, dresses, shoes. Turkish towels. Leather belts and purses. Jewelry; plastic and silver. More Turkish delight! Tea cups… which are small hourglass shaped made of glass. Hot to hold… a few dry goods like you might find at a dollar store…
Our new friends told us about ‘Fire Spitting Mountain’…a short bus ride, x2, to the seaside village of Cirili, then on to the National Park. Hike up the old trail till you find fire coming our of the mountain. The legend says the a greek youth called Bellerophontes with his flying horse Pegasus, killed the fire spitting dragon Chimera… Flames rose out of his mouth as he took his last gasp of breath. Science tells us the fire is from natural gases… that burn 24 / 7… At the base of the fire are are the remains on an old settlement. Possibly a church. 
Turkey is also a cat loving nation. There are a few dogs, BIG, but the cats out number them. And they seem to have a mutual respect for one another… Several business put out trays of food and water for the strays. Along the main road along the old city there is even a cat house… actually several. A keeper is there to look after the the cats and a few dogs. Donations gladly excepted. Another area even had a condo for cats… many boxes in a screened in house. 
As the time neared for us to catch the return ferry, we strolled along the water front admiring the tour boats and fishing vessels. One of the Gullet Boat Captains, Torgai (sp?), invited us aboard to watch him make a net which he will use as a gangplank support netting. Jim tried his hand at knotting… Torgai was a very patient tutor. Jim managed to get a few knots made… just a bit ‘off’ from the captains… we hope he’ll think kindly of us when he looks at the slightly different knots… 
We also got a tour is one of the big day tripper boats based here at the marina. The Kaptan, Faith Murat Kaygusuz invited us aboard “Medusa” and conducted the tour. His boat is currently being refurbished and out of commission… These boats are made to look like pirate boats with a mythological theme… and a Disney attitude. They hold a hundred or more tourist each. 9 of them! Everyday, precisely at 10 am the parade starts. The exodus of ships, one by one. Each boat has its own theme song and is proudly broadcast for all to enjoy… They go for several hours. Anchoring about 8 miles from here at a bay with an ancient archeological site both above sea level and below… *it’s on our list of places to anchor…
Having exhausted most of the nearly attractions… we decided to go to Cappadocia…
Amazing. Stunning. A fairy land of stone.
There was / is soooo much to see and soooo many pictures… it will get its own blog post…
till next time, safe travels all…
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