Shared Dreams: Turkey - Part 1 (lost but now found)

So the final count for miles traveled was 4,253 NM. Some more enjoyable than other, but in the end we reached our final destination ahead of schedule and more importantly, both Captain and crew were safe and sound, ready for the next stage in our journey together… the burca, lamb and morning prayer… all to be explained later!

As we walked down the dock the first thing that became very obvious was that I wasn’t the only American here, in fact probably 40% of the boats are registered in the US, (most have never been there ) The US is a tax haven for Turkish boats.

As we continued to explore the marina we discovered this boat, totally submerged.

As we learned more about the place Zim would call home for the next few months we realized that no all was as it might first seem. First of all, the owner of the marina was in prison as he was a member of the Turkish mob. The marina was most likely illegally built over time and they continue to add to it without proper planning permission. Sea walls are constructed each winter season at the marina entrance only to be torn down by the government each spring. The marina was once just a sand bar, but now there are some 600 boats ashore and some 300 in the water.

After a long walk around the marina a special guest followed me home, she boarded without the sightless worry of falling in and cried until I gave her some milk. She stuck around for a few hours hoping to be let inside, but that was never going to happen on Josephs watch…in the end she left the boat.

Next day it was off to do some shopping. We both wanted fish and Joseph offered to cook it.

Kipa is one of the local markets and were we headed there first. It is kind of like a Walmart or super Target. The weather was supposed to change and Marmaris was expecting 40 inches of rain !!! Now this seemed impossible, but after everything we had seen… we decided to take the warning seriously.

In the morning we woke to what can only be described as a lake of mud. It was believed that more than 40 inches fell, but due to the damage it caused, no one was sure of exactly how much fell. The picture below was taken 3 days afterwards.

Land slides were common place on the road from the marina to the town, and the road was almost completely destroyed. Huge sink holes opened up and swallowed the road leaving just enough room for cars to pass.

One local bee keeper had 100’s of bee boxes washed of their perch displacing tens of thousands of bee… the pictures don’t really show the extent of the damage and loss.

The next day the weather cleared up enough for us to head out shopping again… this time to a real market. The fruit and veg are some of the best we have seen anywhere and the price is right. Food, or at lease fruit and veg is really cheap !!! Joseph was in his element and had to be dragged away from the spice section.

After a few more days of waiting around the weather was perfect to lift the boat. We planned to have some of our decks replaced so we needed to take the mast out. Because of all the damage from the rain, the government had contracted all the local cranes to help remove fallen trees, the company responsible to take our mast out had to hire a tow truck with a boom lift to take our mast out. At first they were not sure if it would be big enough, but in the end it all worked out perfect.

The next step was to lift Zim out. The travel lift made light work of this and soon Zim was sitting in her cradle on which she will stay until March.

At this point we had found an apartment and had moved in. A nice two bedroom with just enough room for our future guests. We had already began to miss the boat life but it was Thanksgiving and that night we spent the evening with some fellow sailors at the Pineapple restaurant enjoying a delightful turkey dinner with all the trimmings. It was a great evening and the company and entertainment was fantastic. I saw my first Christmas tree of the season !

The next day the building began. We needed to cover the boat for the winter. It needed to be big enough so that we could work under it during the winter as we tried to complete the long list of projects. We worked into the night. The next day was Sunday so we planned a day off with a trip to Mugla, 1 hour away. The view from the road was amazing. Some locals used the road to sell their hand made “stuff”everything from stuffed donkeys to honey to bird boxes. All very colorful and beautiful. The plan was to do some Christmas shopping, not easy is a country that doesn’t celebrate Christmas! Of course, Joseph found the food and was happy to try and spend his time bargaining over apples and oranges.

We did find a few things… but I knew we would have to find a few more days to shop before we headed back to the States. On the way out of the market… I saw where chicken nuggets came from !!! Not easy to see in the photo, but the lady on the left has a chicken between her feet. Not sure I would know were to start !

A week has passed without much to report. Back and forth to the boat most days as we try to be ready to leave for Christmas. This week we headed to Izmir to try and do a little more shopping… This time we took our side kick Orkin with us. Not only as company be also as our bargaining tool… but also as our interrupter. Again food was the order of the day but I did manage to get some good shopping done also.