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Trip Report # 8-2001: On to TurkeyFiled from Marmaris, TurkeyNovember 2, 2001Merhaba (greetings) from Turkey, family and friends:
Photo: Starboard Home at anchor in Keci Buku, Turkey On October 9, we set sail from Simi, Greece, for Kargi, Turkey and were anchored in the bay at Kargi by 3 pm. The coast of Turkey is mountainous and rocky, but unlike Greece, it is also covered with green trees, conifers, hardwoods and eucalyptus. It was a welcome change from the barren and rocky landscape of the Dodecanese. The next morning we sailed into the harbor of Datca and checked into customs there. We had read the pilot (cruising guide) description of the process of checking into customs and decided that we would do it ourselves, even though it would mean checking with several different offices and would be time-consuming. After being shuffled from office to office and waiting hours for officials to show up, we decided we would have someone do it for us. We paid the harbor master $20 and gave him our papers and within an hour, we had our visa and travel permit and were free to take down our quarantine flag. It was well worth $20. All in all, entry into Turkey cost us about $150 US, which included $45 each for visas, $30 for a travel permit for the boat and $20 for the agent. This is probably the most expensive aspect of cruising in Turkey.
Photo: Peg takes down the Greek flag and raises the Turkish courtesy flag That evening, we had dinner in Datca, in a local restaurant with tables right on the beach. We were served a long flat bread with a large and varied assortment of "starters". We then had a green salad with fresh arugula and basil and a lemon and oil dressing. This was followed by a main course, dessert (for some of us) and coffee. With wine and other drinks, the cost was under $12. The food was delicious and the waiter, who was the owner of the restaurant, enjoyed hearing that we were from America. He very proudly told us that Turkey had just sent 1000 soldiers to help the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan. Before leaving Datca, we filled up with diesel fuel, which cost $2.32 per gallon. The price of diesel fuel in Greece was $2.79 or more. I also stopped at the grocery store for a few things. While there, I remarked to the grocer, who was arranging bunches of fresh basil in the vegetable bin, how good the basil smelled. He promptly picked out a big bunch and gave it to me - as a gift! I made a mental note to give out more compliments.
Photo: Russell, Ryan, Tom, Lynne, Peg & Tamra at dinner in Datca, Turkey With our visa and travel permit in hand, we then sailed to Keci Boku at 36 46N 28 07.5E, a beautiful bay, that our friends, Ingo and Espie on Seeadler, had been telling us about. They spent over a month there in summer, 2001, and loved it. We anchored near a small beach behind an island in the bay. Ryan and Tam on Valkyrie were also spending the night there before continuing on to their winter berth in Marmaris. While there, we checked out Marti Marina, a very nice marina on the northeast side of the bay. They had excellent prices for winter storage in the water, but unfortunately, since their hardstand area was very limited, they had high prices for storage on the hard. They are also a 40 minute dolmus (little van-like bus) ride into Marmaris, which is the center for social activity in this area.
Photo: Valkyrie at anchor in Keci Boku, Turkey We stayed in Keci Boku for almost 2 weeks. There are several restaurants in the harbor, and most of them have a dock and invite boats to tie up to them free of charge with free water and electricity. Our favorite restaurant was the Palmiye, a family-run hotel and restaurant. "Mama" was the cook, the laundress, the purchasing agent, the gardener and the overall manager. She is really a remarkable woman. We enjoyed her special chicken and lamb dinners, both of which were delicious and more than one could eat. Before we left Keci Boku, I asked at Palmiye if they could recommend the best place in the area to buy fresh vegetables. Mama and her daughter asked what I was interested in and when I told them, they informed me that they could sell me those things from Mama's garden. The vegetables that Mama picked for me that morning were perfect, without blemish, delicious and so inexpensive. I also purchased a quart of Mama's homemade yogurt, which was the best I have ever tasted - watch out, Dannon!
Photo: "Mama" buying vegetables for the Palmiye hotel and restaurant A forty minute walk over hill and dale from Orhaniye, the town at the head of Keci Boku, is a Turkish Carpet Cooperative. We spent 4 hours there, being educated about the process of making Turkish wool and silk carpets, and looking at many, many different types of carpets. It was an interesting educational presentation and there was very little pressure to buy carpets. The co-op is sponsored by the Turkish government as a way to teach young women the art of carpet weaving, which many think is a dying art in an evolving Turkish economy. Other objectives include educating tourists about carpet buying and providing a market for the carpets with some assurance of standards of quality and price to buyers. The time we spent here was invaluable, as we then went to rug dealer after rug dealer in Marmaris, looking for carpets to purchase.
Photo: Woman spinning wool for carpets
Photo: Weaving the wool into carpets
Photo: Cocoons from which silk is spun
Photo: Carpets from the Turkish Cooperative The process takes hours, as each rug dealer must show you many, many carpets. We also had to sit, chat and sip lots of apple tea. The offering of a beverage is an important part of the negotiation process. Then, the haggling begins. And we went back to certain rug dealers several times before we made a purchase. We purchased two carpets at the co-op, because they had the best quality and the best price for the wool carpets we bought. But we purchased silk carpets from a commercial vendor and got a very good price for them, about 1/4 the price we would have had to pay in the US for carpets of comparable quality. It was an interesting process, but I really prefer the US shopping experience, where the price tag is on the object and one compares prices of various vendors. We tried to do that - getting vendors to name a price and then comparing similar carpet and prices of other vendors, but it is an extremely time-consuming and fatigue-producing process. The institute of haggling is not just associated with carpet buying. It is an institution throughout the commercial sector in Turkey. I went into a "perfumerie", a store that sells cosmetics, to purchase a couple of hairdressing supplies - hairspray and mousse. I brought my selections to the cash register and when the cashier rang them up and reported to me that it would cost 23 million lire (almost $15 US), I said, "Oh, that's so expensive", and the cashier immediately said, "OK- 12 million lire (about $8 US)". I was startled. I just didn't expect it. From the town of Orphaniye, we hiked several times into the hills through fairly rural areas. It was like stepping into the past. Each homestead had cows, goats, donkeys, chickens, orchards and vegetable gardens. All of the people were very friendly and many offered oranges, tangerines or pomegranates from their trees. Women were dressed in loose "harem" pants or long dresses with blouses that covered their arms and scarves that covered their heads. We saw many women carrying great loads of sticks, straw or herbs in bundles on their backs, carrying machete-like instruments that they had used to cut their crops. Most of the women, whatever they were doing, refused permission to photograph them.
Photo: Turkish woman transporting a large bundle We met an elderly man on the road one day who saw us taking photographs and insisted on taking us to his farm to meet his family. He also asked us to take pictures of his grandson, granddaughter, wife and sister. The older women were a little reluctant to be photographed, but finally agreed. The young granddaughter, however, was delighted.
Photo: A Turkish family From Keci Boku we motored just a few miles away to Bencik Limani, another beautiful bay. A small fishing boat helped us tie to the shore, then came over to the boat and showed us his wares. We felt compelled to purchase a Polo shirt, very nice and less than $8 US. We felt like a couple of soft touches, but we didn't buy anything we would not use. Photo: Local fisherman in Bencik Limani
Photo: The view from Starboard Home at anchor in Bencik Limani Our next stop was at Kizil Adasi, near Bozburun, where we anchored behind an island, near a reef, in sight of Byzantine ruins. Fishermen stopped by trying to sell fish, but we had loads of vegetables, pasta and chicken to use and our cruising time was running out. The fish were tempting, however. They were very good size and beautiful. Fish in Turkey, for some reason, is comparatively expensive at about $12 per kilo. While here, Tom used the hookah and his wet suit to dive under and scrub the bottom of the boat, which appears to be in good shape.
Photo: Byzantine ruins on the shore at Kizil Adasi
Photo: Rinsing off after diving to clean the boat bottom We finally sailed into the marina at Marmaris Yacht Marine where we have now had the boat hauled out to be stored for the winter on the hard. We have cleaned everything that needs to be cleaned and stored canvas and covered hatches. We have sent our chain out to be galvanized, to a firm in Izmer, where they will use the proper method of shaking the chain to assure that it is properly coated. The boat bottom was in excellent shape except for the tube barnacles (worm-like calcium deposits that are common in the Mediterranean) that had attached themselves to the special bottom paint for metal that Tom had used on all the underwater metal. They came off pretty easily with an application of Aqua Forte, which we think is a weak muriatic acid solution, but Tom has vowed to continue his search for a good antifouling paint for metal that actually works.
Photo: Starboard Home being nestled into place for the winter at Marmaris Yacht Marine, Turkey We have also paid an additional $45 US to get a customs stamp that enables us to leave the country and leave the boat here. We will then pay $45 each to get another 3-month visa when we return in the spring. As I've mentioned, the customs fees are the most expensive part of cruising in Turkey. Turkey has provided us with some excellent cruising. It has been the best in the Mediterranean so far and we are really looking forward to seeing more of this beautiful land when we return in the spring. Until then - Allahaismarladik (farewell) for now and we'll see you in spring. 73s, 88s, love & hugs from Peg and Tom
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Grand Daughters' web pages: Anna's Home Page, Anastasia's Home Page Isabelle's Home Page
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