Trip Report #1-2003:  Capadoccia

Filed from Kos, Greece

36  53.9 N    27 17.4  E 

May 31, 2003

Photo:  Rock Formations in Goreme, Capadoccia Region of Turkey

    Tom returned to the boat on February 26, 2003, just before Gulf War II began.  Prior to his departure, we must admit that we were somewhat nervous about his returning to an area where war was imminent and the Turkish parliament was reluctant to join forces with the U.S.  But our fears were unwarranted.  The Turkish people, although against the war, seemed to have no change in their attitude toward American people.  Tom was picked up at the airport in Izmir by our friend, Samel and his wife, and driven back to the boat in Marmaris.  Izmir is a 5 hour drive from Marmaris, so this was a great favor.

Photo:  Tom & Friend, Sammie at Sammie's Electronics Shop

    Tom went back to the boat early this year to get some projects completed before we started cruising again.  During the cold, often rainy weeks of March, he was busy rebedding the chain plates and stanchions, replacing some stanchions and replacing the lifelines.  He used 5 mm. and 6 mm. wire for the new lifelines and lashed them to the stanchions with Kevlar line at the bow on each side of the boat. The lashings were used to make it easy to cut away the lifelines quickly in order to facilitate getting a man overboard back on the boat.  New stainless steel fittings were used to attach the wire to the other stanchions.  Our old lifelines were covered with plastic and rust was beginning to bleed through in many areas, leading us to believe that we would not be able to trust them to keep us on the boat. The bare wire on the new lifelines takes a little getting used to, but eliminates the possibility of hidden corrosion. 

    He also removed an old gel cell battery from the boat, which was no easy task, as it was in a very inaccessible place and very heavy. He cleverly cut a small hole in the deck (later refilled) and used the spinnaker halyard to lift the battery.  Once lifted, he could move it where he could get at it in the engine "room" and was able to cut the top off and scoop out enough contents to make it light enough to struggle out of the boat.  He then bought 2 more manageable Bosch 140 ampere hours lead acid batteries and installed those. 

     Another project this year was the reupholstering of the salon cushions.  Peg brought Ultrasuede material back with her, carrying it on a roll and tucked into a long, skinny sail bag.  The Turkish shop, Star Doseme in Marmaris, did a beautiful job, using new foam and batting and creating covers that can be removed and laundered.  The labor cost was less than $10 an hour and the job was completed by the 3rd day.

Photo:  Starboard Home's New Upholstery

    At Marmaris Yat Marin, while we were working, we renewed old acquaintances and met some new friends.

Photo: Newly Painted Erin O'Lyrr      Photo:  Astrid and her Collie

Photo:  Terry & Sue on Rhythms        Photo: Helge & Benta, Great Dane

Photo: Jean & Graham, Minaret         Photo:Thomas, playing & singing

Photo: Teresa & Mike, Fraca III       Photo: Dinner with Erin OLyrr 

    Before we left Marmaris, we took a trip with the crew of Madrigal, Jeannie and Joe Miller, to Goreme to explore the Capadoccia region.  The fantastic rock and sandstone and tufa formations one sees in Capadoccia were begun millions of years ago with the eruption of the Erciyes and Hasan mountains. Lava flows from the active eruption of Erciyes, thousands of years ago, covered the area (said to be 20,000 km).  When the volcano became inactive, the area was buffeted by strong winds, carving the cooled lava and rocks into conical shapes.  The soft rock was then carved into dwellings, churches, and underground cities by subsequent settlers. It is rumored that some scenes in the movie, "Star Wars", were filmed here.

Photo:  Stone Formations in Goreme, Capadoccia

    The first people inhabiting the area were proto-hittites and a very powerful Hittite state flourished in the region until 1200 B.C.  After the  destruction of the Hittite state, the Phrygians, who were famous for their horses, moved into the area.  The Persians, who came to rule in 550 BC, named the area Capadoccia, Persian for Beautiful Horse Country. The influence of Christianity can be seen here in the many rock churches that were built with frescoes portraying the Virgin Mary, Jesus and the saints.

Photo:  Tom in one of the many churches in the Open Air Museum, Goreme

Photo:  Dwellings among the fairy chimneys, Goreme

    In Avanos, we stopped at a ceramics shop, where beautiful pottery is being made.  We saw urns and dishes made using the same techniques that were used to make Hittite pottery and other ceramic pieces beautifully hand-painted and decorated. One of our group was invited to try her hand at the potter's wheel.

Photo:  Csenya tries her hand at the potter's wheel.

    Part of the tour was a trip through the underground city (one of 36 discovered) at Derinkuyu in Capadoccia.  These cities are 8 stories deep, have effective ventilation systems, wineries, stables, churches, and could house up to 20,000 people.  They were probably built for defense and have communication devices and traps to stymie any enemies that were able to find their way into them. Some of the ceilings are very low and we were warned that it could be difficult for people with claustrophobia.

Photo:  Scenes inside the underground city at Derinkuyu

    After touring the underground city, we stopped and had lunch beside the Melendiz river, which over many years has formed a 150 meter deep canyon.

Photo: Lunch with Serhat (from Turkey) & Csenya (from Moscow) 

    After lunch we hiked through the canyon, through beautiful scenery and climbed 192 steps to a panoramic view of the canyon and to marvel at the frescoes in the Snake Church carved into the mountain.

Photo:  Jeannie & Joe Miller in the Melendez River Canyon, Ilhara

Photo: Standing: Joe, Csenya, Serhut, our guide Abu, Tom & Peg

Kneeling: Jeannie, Yung

    Our last stop on the tour was at a caravansary on the old Silk Road.  These very large, ornate structures provided shelter for caravans of camels, horses, elephants and people carrying goods along the trade route, an old time truck stop.

Photo:  Inside the caravansary on the Silk Road

Photo:  Jeannie, Peg, Joe & Tom at dinner in a Capadoccia cave restaurant

Photo: Our room in the Cave hotel - cool, very cool

    We arrived back in Marmaris very tired and very glad that we had taken the trip to Capadoccia.  We are planning now to travel southeast to see the bays and coastline on the way to Fethiye.

                  Allahsmarladik,

                  73's, 88's, love & hugs,

                  Peg & Tom

                  Aboard s/v Starboard Home  

Next Trip Report 

Grand Daughters' web pages: Anna's Home Page,  Anastasia's Home Page  Isabelle's Home Page