Esenkoy Turkish Folk and Dance Festival

Posters on store fronts and at the pharmacy said there was going to be an Esenkoy Turkish Folk and Dance show.  I’m never really sure what day it is, but the festival was close enough to the port that Dad and I could hear the announcer and music so we decided to go over and check it out.

There was quite a crowd present but it consisted mostly of mothers and fellow students.  There were a few men off to the side but they didn’t stay very long. The building is the Esenkoy police station or police offices, I’m not sure which.

This was the most authentic costume and dance that we saw the entire time.  It was more like a dance recital at a VFW or a talent show at school.  Student aged kids dancing to all kinds of music with raffle prizes given out between performances. 

I questioned the authenticity of the Turkish folk dance and music when later on in the day a group of 10 year olds came out and danced with pom poms to Keisha’s Tik Tok.  The version sounded like it was being performed by a chipmunk and I’m certain they had no idea what was being said.  You couldn’t buy a bottle of Jack in this country without putting a spleen on deposit and even then you’d probably still owe money.

A sea of scarves.  These are the proud stage Moms sitting in the audience and purchasing raffle tickets.  If you look at the blurry table of red and blue presents in the background you will see the raffle prizes.  They were also giving out small kitchen appliances, rugs, and a shiny new bicycle.  I would’ve bought a ticket but I didn’t know how much they were and the numbers were being said in such fast Turkish that I would understand “3” and then have no idea what was before or after it.

Who doesn’t belong in this picture?  There were groups of kids sitting on these piles of bricks that are used to pave the streets of Turkey.  Dad was hanging out having flashbacks of having to watch my brother and I perform at such events back in our Miss Jan days.

It was a fun place to people watch and good chance to get off of the boat and enjoy the Spring weather.

How to: Make a Tile and Grow and Artichoke

Dad and I got on the 7:15am bus to Yalova… which was also the 7:15am school bus to Yalova.  The bus was full o f teenagers and a few adults scattered around.  There was standing room only when we got on, but one of the boys got up and offered me his seat and Dad ended up sitting on a raised hump between the first row of seats and the driver.  There were three boys sitting up front with the driver, every seat was full, and there was a row of guys standing up and holding on as we wove our way through the mountains to Yalova.  At one point we were going over an unpaved part of the road and dust came billowing in through the sunroof.  Instead of just waiting for it to settle and driver just opened the side doors and let the air get out that way… with students standing in front of them.  It was a hoot.  Apparently there is no such thing as a free bus to school here.  Students generally walk, no matter the age, or take the public buses to school.  These students had a patch on their uniforms that I think indicated a technical school of some sort so I’m assuming it’s a specialty school that they commute an hour and pay 7TL to get to every day.  It was an interesting trip.

Once in Yalova a guy who spoke a little English walked us to the area of the bus station where the Iznik bus was and took the time to get the time and point out the exact bus we were going to get on.  Everyone has been so friendly and helpful, I just wish I could say people would get the same help if they were in New York City and unable to speak English.  We had an hour to kill before the bus for Iznik left and the bus driver bought us a tea and we proceeded to carry on a conversation in French… in Turkey.  He spent 7 years in France and loved it and I knew more French than Turkish so we had a very limited conversation.  The trip to Iznik took an hour, exactly, and when we were going through the town the driver point out the good places to eat and where the main square of the city was.  The bus returned to Yalova on the hour until around 8:00pm so we decided we would be able to get back in one day and started site seeing.

We got a little bit lost looking for our first destination but found an unexcavated Roman Theater instead.  There was a path around it that someone told us to take to get to the water, where our destination was, and as we were walking there it was.  There was a sign that said “Roman Theater” and that was it.  It was great getting to see one that hasn’t been restored at all.  The theater seems to be the first thing that gets restored in most of the ruins we’ve seen.  This one has been spray painted and out of all the bad words the painters could’ve written they chose “seven day cash flow”.  Amateurs.  We continued around the theater and walked under part of the Roman wall that was built around Iznik.  It was pretty impressive.

Our destination was the Iznik Education and Learning Foundation.  Fodor’s said it was out of town along the water front, but a great place to see the tile-making process.  We were shown to a showroom first, and I asked if we could have a tour of the workshop.  Someone was called who spoke a little bit of English and we were taken up to where the tiles are actually made.  This is half of the painting workshop.  It was a huge, well lit room that had desks of college aged girls painting and tracing the tiles. 

The tiles are made of soil with high levels of quartz so they are very durable.  The patterns are traced onto a tracing paper and then little holes are made along the patter.  Then a coal dust is used to transfer the pattern onto the blank tile.  This girl was going over the coal dots with a coal paint to created a raised pattern and defined outline of the pattern.

The pattern is then “colored” with various paints made from oxides of minerals, for example the blue paint was cobalt oxide.  The painters have examples of what colors go where and it’s essentially a paint by numbers with a very runny paint and very precise numbers.  After the tiles are painted with the color they are covered in a layer of quartz and a special glaze and then put in the kiln. 

The tiles come out bright and shiny after the firing process.  It was fascinating to see the whole thing from start to finish.  The handmade Iznik tiles start at around 40TL for a tile the size of a coaster and go up from there.  Aside from being crafted by hand, the value comes in the durability and quality of the stone.  They are ideal for decorating big spaces like the Blue Mosque or the bathroom in my next home.

I loved this mirror.  Something told me a mirror half my size made of tile though wouldn’t quite fit the requirements for a 747 on the way home.  A fun fact about the Iznik Education and Learning Foundation is that they made and presented tiles to the Queen of England.  I’m not sure if she was in Turkey at the foundation or if someone flew out to England to present them, but there were big photographs of the event all over the showroom.

On our walk around the area we saw a small farm and I learned how an artichoke grows.  I don’t care for them myself but my Dad loves them and the Turkish artichokes are huge.  So now we know they grow from the ground up in a big bush.

We walked back to the main town along the lake.  Iznik Lake is a huge freshwater lake with a beautiful waterfront.  A lesson in geography: Iznik is inland about 37 miles from Yalova.  It’s located on a freshwater lake and is a lovely town. 

We visited the Iznik Museum after lunch (the museum was closed from noon – 1:00) and weren’t allowed to take photographs inside.  The building itself used to be a soup kitchen which was built in 1388 by a wealthy Muslim as a demonstration of his charity.  Inside were a collection of old ceramics, tiles, Greek tombstones, and Ottoman weaponry.  It was a nice little museum.

The rose garden was really impressive.  Huge rose bushes all in bloom.  They didn’t smell like much but were beautiful.  These weren’t actual graves but the headstones on display as part of the museum collection.  I really liked the one with the fez on it and Dad liked the turbans. 

Yesil Cami is a Seljuk style mosque across from the Iznik Museum.  It’s known as the Green Mosque because of the color of the minaret, which is overlaid by blue and green tiles.  The doors to the mosque were closed and we didn’t want to intrude on anything so we admired from the outside and sat on a park bench people watching for awhile.

We stopped at a few other tile shops on the way back to the bus stop and had time for a tea before getting on the bus back to Yalova.  We made it to Yalova with about 30 minutes before the bus back to Esenkoy departed and was back in Esenkoy in time for dinner.  Dad and I had a great time in Iznik and it was fun getting to see something a little bit different than the popular beaten path.

Istanbul: (half) Day 3

We decided to take the early ferry back to Esenkoy on our third day.  We had done a lot of site seeing and were ready for a little break.  It was a beautiful morning so after grabbing a Starbucks to go we walked to the ferry port.  Dad pet a stray dog when we were leaving our hotel area and he ended up following us the entire way to the ferry port.  I wanted to take him home, but wasn’t sure he’d fit in a carry on.

This is the Eminonu port where the ferry is.  The wake was so incredible that the boats pictured were rocking and rolling the entire time we were there.  The boats had grills on them and there were actual people cooking with that rocking.  Also in the picture is a tour bus and the tramway.  Eminonu is the transportation hub of Istanbul.

All of the ferries were leaving at the same time and waiting for a ferry coming the other way to get through a bridge at the entrance of the Golden Horn.  We were amazed at how fast everyone was going and how well the ferries are maneuvered. 

The boat was still in Esenkoy and floating when we got back.  It was a little bit chilly and after going out for lunch I had a nice warm nap and then spent the rest of the day preparing photos for Bryan’s birthday photo scavenger hunt.

Istanbul: Day 2

Day 2 in Istanbul started with a stop at our local Starbucks for a special treat.  I’ve decided that Starbucks is the same everywhere, including Istanbul.  It was very similar to walking to the one by UCF or the one in Orange Park, they are all the same down to the kind of lights they use.  The differences are the merchandise, in Istanbul they had Istanbul Starbucks themed mugs and had a larger tea selection then I remember in the states.  The snacks are a little bit different, for example instead of selling a plain croissant they sell a croissant with cheese.  And the prices are different, I spent 7TL for a tall White Chocolate Mocha.  Now when converted to dollars it’s not that much more expensive, but to see 7TL when paying is a bit of a shock.

The Topkapi Palace and Archeology Museum were in the same area and were a 10 minute walk from our hotel.  We decided to see the Topkapi first because the book said once the tour buses start rolling in, it’s impossible to see everything.

We were apparently late.  This was a line to get into the treasury building, which we voted not to visit.  There were crowds of people from every nationality everywhere.  We kept waiting in lines and there wasn’t even a ride at the end to look forward to.

The palace, which overlooks the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn, was the residence of the sultans and their harems as well as the seat of Ottoman rule from the 1450’s until the middle of the 19^th century.  I’m standing in front of the audience chamber where foreign ambassadors once groveled to the sultan.

We weren’t allowed to take photographs in many of the rooms and there were so many people we would’ve have been able to get anything good anyway.  The building behind us was the library and we thought the fountain was especially beautiful. 

*On a side note, I was reminded why Americans get a bad name while traveling sometimes.  We were in a mosque built in the palace and there were signs everywhere (in 4 different languages and with an illustration) that said no photos.  Not no flash, not no video, just straight out no photos.  The mosque doubled as a museum that displayed swords and other artifacts from religious crusades that were housed at the sultan’s “home” to show the religious power.  Well we were on our way our when I heard a guard tell an American woman “No photos”.  She turned to this man, who had a gun, and said “I’m just taking photos of the tiles.  I can take photos of the tiles if I want to.”  I wanted to punch her and ask what makes her so entitled that she doesn’t have to follow the rules at all.  If you travel and the sign says no photos, please don’t be a jerk and test the system ok?

This was the Sultan’s private living area.  There was a little house for his turbans, a place for him to live away from anyone who would try to kill him, and a circumcision room.  There was also this great fountain/reflecting pool.  I would’ve loved to see this place with water running through it because the fountains were spectacular. 

This was one of 4 fountains in the circumcision room.  The princes would be taken here to have the ritual circumcision at the age of 9 or 10.  There was a giant Harem that housed over 200 concubines within the palace walls.  The most beautiful women would be sent to the Sultan and kept in the harem.  We didn’t visit the harem because it was an extra cost and there were lines of people to go in so we will probably visit when we return with Mom. 

This is one example of the tile work inside of these rooms.  It was nothing less than grand in scale.  There were Iznik tiles, and tiles from the Ottoman Empire decorating every room inside and out.  I loved it.

We searched high and low for a decent lunch place and ended up going to a touristy place for a subpar lunch.  But they served beer so Dad got to get his Efes.

We made it back to the Istanbul Archeology Museum and after some confusion about how to get in, we paid our admission and went inside.  This is the main building of the museum but there were two smaller buildings that housed Iznik tiles and the one I’m about to enter which had an Egyptian collection.

I didn’t think I would get to see a mummy on this trip – but I did!  We had originally planned on going to Egypt and that was shot down when they had a civil war.  So I was super excited to see an actual mummy and Egyptian sarcophagus. 

This lion reminded me of the Cave of Wonders from the movie Aladdin.  When we watched it a few days later I realized the Cave of Wonders is a tiger, but if you look super close at its head you will see the resemblance too.

This snake was part of a man’s leg on one of the reliefs we saw.  I just thought it was a really cool snake and very well done.

When the Turks were invading Constantinople the Constantinopolitans used chains like this one in the water to keep any boats from traveling up the Golden Horn or the Bosphorus.  Dad had just read “The Fall of Constantinople 1453” so it was cool getting to see the chains.

There was a room called the necropolis where a series of Greek and Roman sarcophagi were displayed and this guy was located in the center of the room.  He had been in a giant marble tomb and had undergone some sort of mummification process.  We were amazed that his deflated organs were still there and that he still had a tuff of what looked like hair on his head. 

Dad and I were ready for something other than a doner for dinner and went on a quest for the Chinese restaurant we had passed the day before when we got lost looking for our hotel.  We found it and it was full of Chinese tour groups.  The food was authentic Chinese which was a bit different than the Americanized Chinese we’ve grown to love, but it was good anyway.  And we got a show.

We were seated in the corner of the restaurant which was on a 4 way intersection.  One of the roads was closed so the one way traffic was being detoured down the hill.  Well a tour bus, that I assume was enroute to a hotel, came down the street and had no other choice but to make the turn.  After what must’ve been a 27 point turn, the aid of men on either side of the bus, and the moving of parked cars later the bus was able to get around the corner and didn’t hurt anybody or destroy any property.  We were very impressed and a little bit scared as we saw the bus get closer and closer to the windows we were seated by.  At one point Dad was sitting with the front of the bus on one side and the back on the other.  It appeared to be wedged in the intersection but wiggled its way out.  Oh the driving in Turkey.

Dad and I went to a movie that night.  We were able to see Pirates of the Caribbean 4 before it came out in the states.  The movie going experience was like seeing Harry Potter.  There were assigned seats and an intermission.  The movie itself was entertaining but like most sequels not as good as the original.

Istanbul: Day 1

Dad and I got up with the sun and took the 6:15am ferry to Istanbul.  We had been told it was a three hour ride and it was either this ferry or one that left at around 5:40pm.  The ferry reminded us of the Ferry at Disney.  Not in exterior appearance, but inside there were benches and it moved like the Disney Ferry.  We had a tea and tost (which is like a panani but only has cheese inside) and watched as the land passed us by.  We made two other stops on the way to pick up people and I slept the rest of the way.

We had seen Istanbul out of the window and weren’t sure where to get off, and we got off at the wrong stop.  We got off at Karakoy which is on the wrong side of the Golden Horn, a peninsula of water that runs through the city.  Luckily there was a ferry that could take us to Eminonu (where we were supposed to get off) and we made it there without a hitch. 

Dad and I were going to take the Pipedream all the way to Istanbul and when we looked out of the ferry window we were pleased with our decision to stay in Esenkoy and “commute” into the city.  The water was a hot mess of cargo ships, high speed ferries, fishing boats, and what I call traffic boats there to guide the big ships through the tight spots.  On the approach Dad counted 21 big ships waiting to enter the Bosphorus and there were ferries zooming all over.  We would’ve had to fight though the arsenal of ship traffic going against a 5 knot current in a channel that was about 2 miles wide… right.  And of course with our luck there would be a strong wind on our nose and we would’ve gone backwards… into a ferry.  The chop in the area was incredible.  We would’ve been rocking and rolling in every direction and probably would’ve been too scared to notice.  When you combine a 5 knot opposing current, high speed ferry wake, the wake from cargo ships, and wind the chop is extreme.  We made the right choice.

This was taken from the top of a hill in the city, but if you look at the water you can see the sea of cargo ships just hanging out outside of the city either waiting to be filled or waiting to enter the Bosphorus.

We found the tramway which is a light rail that runs through Istanbul.  It’s a great public transport system and made me appreciate public transportation even more.  For 1.75 TL you could get a token and ride it anywhere in the city.  The trains were new and well maintained.  The hostel directions told us which stop to get off on and then walk 40 meters.  With some turning in circles we found the Cordial House Hostel and were too early to check in.  So we decided to start the site seeing.

Dad stopped at the McDonalds right by the hostel for a sausage egg McMuffin, made with beef sausage, and we walked the 5 minutes to the Blue Mosque. 

This is the Blue Mosque.  The exterior was impressive because of the six minarets and many studded domes, but the interior is where the wow factor really takes place.  We saw a lot of women in burkas in Istanbul and thought they may have been tourists since the display of religious dress like this is outlawed in Turkey, but we saw two more on the ferry back to Esenkoy who were looking to purchase a summer home so maybe the rules are loosening?

This is where you walk in and go “Wow”.  There are over 21,000 blue-green Iznik tiles that are interspersed with 260 stained-glass windows.  Sultan Ahmet I commissioned the construction of the mosque beginning in 1609 and many believe he did so to outdo the splendor of Aya Sofya, located a park away.

Women are required to wear head scarves inside, which is understandable so I borrowed one that is provided.  I still don’t know how to actually wear a head scarf, but I think this was sufficient.  The sign said long skirts are also required, but long pants were acceptable too.  No shorts, short shirts, or tank tops would’ve been permitted inside of the mosque.

We were also required to take off our shoes when entering the mosque.  This is the rule of every mosque and we’ve noticed that men generally wash their feet before entering too.  There are gazeboswith running water, bars of soap, and little stools where a man can wash his feet before entering.

There were so many tourists visiting.  There were a few people there to actually pray, and apparently the Blue Mosque is closed to tourists on Friday afternoons because so many people come to actually pray there.  I think it would be like attending a normal mass at St. Peter’s Cathedral.  The architect, Mehmet Aga wanted it to be so grand that he built the 6 minarets which is the same number as the Elharam Mosque in Mecca so he had to go to the Holy City and built a 7^th minaret for the Elharam Mosque so it maintained dominance.

After our visit to the Blue Mosque we returned to the hostel and checked in.  The room wasn’t much and we shared a bathroom, but that isn’t any different than sharing the bathroom at a marina so we didn’t care.  We decided to take an early afternoon nap and then continue site seeing once we were rested.  It was fantastic.

The next stop was Aya Sofya, which was my favorite place in Istanbul.  It was a 5 minute walk from the hotel and while there were a lot of people there, it was so big we almost didn’t notice.

This is Aya Sofya.  The building was originally built by the Byzantine empire in 537 and was one of the world’s largest and most important religious monuments until the construction of St. Peter’s in Rome in the 17^th century.  In 1453 Mehmet the Conqueror came in and turned the building into a mosque.  Building four minarets around it.

The crown jewel of the building is the giant dome located in the center.  Emperor Justinian wanted the church to be the grandest ever constructed so the craftsmen came up with the dome.  Nothing like the dome had ever been attempted before and the rules made up were not foolproof which was made clear when the dome collapsed two years after completion during an earthquake.  They tried again and discovered the flying buttresses which made it the long lasting symbol of Istanbul’s skyline it is today.  This is a photo from the second level looking out over everything.

This is Dad and I posing inside.  Again because of the sheer size of the building it seemed like there weren’t that many people inside, but once you walked outside and saw the crowds it was amazing. 

We got to see more Iznik tiles in Aya Sofya.  This was a passage to the main area of the church/mosque.  It was where the sermon would’ve been held or later where the prayer would be led. 

This is where Christian and Islam meet.   The stair looking structure is the minbar which is a pulpit where the leader of prayer delivers sermons.  Every mosque has this and a mihrab which is a decorated niche that indicates the direction of Mecca.  The Arabic circles were clearly added when converted to a mosque, but if you look closely at the upper right of the photo you will see a mosaic of the Virgin Mary and Jesus.  This would’ve been where the Byzantine altar would’ve been also. 

Most of the mosaics were “preserved” on accident when in the 16^th century Suleyman the Magnificant ordered them to be plastered over in accordance with the Islamic proscription against the portrayal of the human figure in a place of worship.  They were uncovered in 1936 when Ataturk made the Aya Sofya into a museum.

The circles shown are where the Byzantine Emperors were coronated which Dad thought was pretty cool. 

After Aya Sofya we went to the Grand Bazaar which was right up the street from our hotel and wandered the streets looking at everything from magic carpets to lamps that you could purchase with or without a Genie.  The whole point of the bazaar is to barter for a good price and never settle for more than half of what the asking price is.  We didn’t purchase anything this time but will be back with Mom in June ready to haggle.

Dinner was a chicken durum (like a chicken wrap) and then Dad went back to the hotel.  I went on a hunt for a beer.  We thought being in the big city that Efes would be sold at the grocery store like everywhere else, and we were wrong.  I wanted to go for a walk and this gave me a small mission which I accomplished by turning left at the Burger King and walking towards the water.  There was a tiny liquor store that did indeed sell beer. 

We had an early night after a long day and wanted to be rested for day two of our adventure through Istanbul.

Bryan's Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRYAN!!

You say it's your birthday

It's my birthday too, yeah

They say it's your birthday

We're gonna have a good time

I'm glad it's your birthday

Happy birthday to you.

Yes we're going to a party party

Yes we're going to a party party

Yes we're going to a party party

I would like you to dance (Birthday)

Take a cha-cha-cha-chance (Birthday)

I would like you to dance (Birthday)

Dance

I would like you to dance (Birthday)

Take a cha-cha-cha-chance (Birthday)

I would like you to dance (Birthday)

Dance

You say it's your birthday

Well it's my birthday too, yeah

You say it's your birthday

We're gonna have a good time

I'm glad it's your birthday

Happy birthday to you.

- The Beatles

Happy Birthday from Esenkoy, Turkey!!

Today is my boyfriend's birthday and I have "hidden" 29 photos on the internet I have taken on my travels wishing him a Happy Birthday!  

Domestic Engineering 101

The first day spent in Esenkoy was spent doing things we take for granted at home.

I got to shower for the first time in 5 days the night before since we filled up with water which was much appreciated.  One of our tanks was almost completely empty while the other one was under half way full so we were on water conservation mode.  We need the fresh water to drink, brush teeth, do dishes, cook, and most importantly flush the toilet.  It is possible to set the toilet up to flush with sea water, and that’s how they did it during the crossing, but everything living in the sea water takes up residence in the toilet and well it starts to smell worse than before. 

I woke up and tried to renew our Turkcell dongle online before the internet died at the end of the day on the 15^th but was unable to figure out the website.  It was asking for a password… I finally figured out how to set a password and then the security certificate wasn’t working and I got stuck.  I had Google’s translation site open and was allowing everything to translate as I went along, but I still got nowhere.  So after a very frustrating morning we went back to the restaurant we had eaten at the night before and had a great lunch. 

I decided to go for a walk to see if I could find a Laundromat or Turkcell place and walked for about 2 miles before deciding I wasn’t going to find anything and walked back to the boat.  It was a really great walk along the water front though and I got to see the residential area and two mosques.

When I got back to the boat it was time to tackle the laundry.  We hadn’t been able to do laundry in 3 weeks so pretty much everything I had on board needed to be washed (and that isn’t an exaggeration).  Hand washing clothes is not an easy task and Dad and the guys crossing had worked out a system using detergent, the mop, and the garbage can… so I washed all of my clothes in a garbage can… with a mop.

Isn’t laundry fun?  A cap full of detergent, about 6 pots of hot water, and a small pile of clothes: insert mop and churn like butter.  We were lucky enough to have a hose that we could use to rinse the clothes out, but it seems to take forever to get all of the soap out so clothes tend to smell great but are a little crunchy to the touch.

Everything was ringed out the best I could get it, but it still seemed full of water when I hung it out to dry.  There was so much laundry we used every bit of lifeline space and I was washing up until around 5:00pm.  The sun is only up until 8:00pm so this will be a two day drying process.  I could’ve left the clothes up overnight, but there is a population of cats in the area who already sprayed our boat once and I didn’t want all of my hard work to end up smelling like cat.

My day was spent washing clothes while Dad spent his morning cleaning the interior of the boat, fixing the engine mount, and desalting the deck.  The deck was so salty that when the sun hit it just right it looked like a Twilight vampire.  He was then assigned the task of provision shopping.  We managed to not only almost run out of water, but food too.  We would’ve never gone hungry because there are so many cans of SPAM and tuna on board, not to forget pasta and what’s left of a 10lb bag of rice.  We had a single lemon, a single potato, a single onion, a small baggie of raisins, and a loaf of very stale bread.  (There were no weevils in the bread yet, but I’m sure it was only a matter of time)  Plus I was out of Coke Zero.  Three trips to the grocery store and butcher later and we were fully stocked with some to spare. 

For anyone who thinks I am on a great vacation, you are partially right.  I don’t have to work in an office and my sleep schedule is a little bit more relaxed.  I am getting to see the wonders of the world and have all sorts of cultural experiences.  But on days like today I am reminded at how much work really goes into it.  The repetition when we are on the water of bringing the fenders and lines in, getting the main sail up and any other sails we want to use, adjusting those throughout the day, taking them down, putting the fenders and lines back out and then docking which includes getting the gangplank out and plugging all of the electronics in… and then doing it again the next day.  It’s like camping but we happen to have a toilet, beds, and are floating.  Again the simple things like laundry, food, and showers are things we no longer take for granted and when it all comes together in one day it makes a very happy crew.

We are going to take a bus in Yalova to hopefully get the internet taken care of and to check out the town and marina.  We will decide within the next couple of days if we want to actually take the boat into the Istanbul area or just stay here.  There is a ferry that runs to Istanbul and a bus that runs to Yalova.  The Black Sea is pretty much out because of how the weather has been beating us up and because of the cost of fuel.  It’s roughly $10 a gallon here to fill up and we use a lot of fuel.  As always I will try and keep you posted.

This is Esenkoy, the town we are staying in right now.  The sun sets are beautiful, the people are friendly, and the town itself is comfortable.  Plus there is a cow up the street from the marina.  My vote is to stay here until my Mom comes and we start heading out of the Sea of Marmara, but there are a lot of factors that contribute so we are still weighing the pros and cons.

Lock 'Em Up

Our wishes were answered again and it warmed up.  With the warmth though came a serious lack of wind and the days spent on the water were pretty uneventful.

We anchored at a place called Cakikoy which showed the possibility of a quay in the book, but when we got there realized the fishing boats of the Sea of Marmara had claimed the quay and were in 5 deep at least, meaning there was one guy tied up to the dock and 4 guys tied up to him.  How anyone would get out is beyond me.  So we decided to anchor in the harbor which wasn’t a problem until around midnight when a row boat full of teenage boys was circling our boat and the other two boats anchored out.  They considered themselves the welcome committee, but were just annoying.  Dad and I were at the end of The Departed, which neither one of us had seen, and it sounded like someone had boarded our boat.  Dad went up and ended up sitting on deck for about 20 minutes while they circled yelling out “Hello” and then speaking in rapid Turkish.  The next day we found cigarette butts on our deck and neither one of us slept well that night.  For the first bad experience with the Turkish people though this wasn’t too bad.

This is the French sailboat that has been stopping at the same spots we have.  He anchored out at Cakikoy also and is headed towards Yalova, which is a port outside of Istanbul.

We had a big bay to cross with nothing between here and there so we got up early and started trucking.  We motored the entire way and at one point had between 0 and 0.7 knots of wind as the average.  The sun came out and it got pretty warm.  Half way there and we got a call on the VHF radio which has rarely happened.  I called Dad up on deck and it was the Coast Guard saying we had to move farther away from the penal colony we were passing.  Imrali Adasi is an island in the Sea of Marmara and is a penal colony.  Our book said we had to be 3 meters off shore when passing the island and we were, but when the Coast Guard called they said it was now 4 meters so they gave us a course and we followed.

This is the penal colony we were told to stay away from.  We weren’t sure if there was an actual prison on the island or if they just dumped people there with a shovel and bag of seeds and said “See ya”.  It was a hazy day which made it a little bit eerie.

We went through a shipping lane at some point and there was an empty ship that looked like it was on a collision course with us.  When Dad checked AIS is was going 0.4 knots and when we looked at it with the binoculars there was no anchor chain out.  It was either stalling or nap time on board.

I have learned how to tell an empty ship from a full one.  The ship sits way out of the water and the water line is visible when empty, as shown.  This is a big ship and not something you want to get in the way of.

We had two choices for places to stay and we choose to check out the first one since we were bored, hungry and tired of traveling.  Katrili is the harbor name and is described as a small fishing harbor where a yacht can pull in alongside (side to like in the states) on one of the walls of the breakwater or can back in with an anchor.  We were shooting to come in alongside since it’s easier and crossed our fingers it wasn’t full.  After staring at the breakwater for 30 minutes we found the break water, took the sails down and came on in.  There was a harbor master here to help and show us where to go, a handful of fisherman to catch lines, and men, women, and children walking along the promenade.  We docked without any trouble at all and the harbor master introduced himself in good English, showed us where the power box was, and brought us a hose to use to fill up our tanks and for anything else we would need water for.  We were in the process of filling up our water tanks, which had dried out drastically, when the harbor master came walking up with two glasses of Turkish tea and cookies to welcome us to Esenkoy (the actual town we are in).  We were shocked and pleased.

Dad had to rig an electrical cord that would work in the two prong outlet on shore, but it was the only power outlet on the entire quay so we aren’t complaining and like I said there is water right here too which is wonderful.  We went to check in and find out how much it would cost to have such luxury and 35TL later we went in search for dinner.  There are only a few restaurants open in town so we chose one that had people in it and is apparently run by a family called Cumhur.  We both got the Turkish Kebap which is ground lamb and beef grilled on a stick.  It was delicious.

The town is bustling with family activity and is a very comfortable place on our first impression.  There is no laundry services or Turkcell offices that offer internet dongle resources, but other than that it’s great.