EMYR First Report

Since last posting, the crew have been “flat-out”. After a night at our favorite restaurant at Kalecoy, we joined our fellow rally participants at nearby Ucagiz, where we were all at anchor, and took the dinghy ashore for cocktails. The rally then sailed on to Finike, Kemer and to Alanya on the Turkish coast before an overnight sail to the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus at Girne or as it is also known, Kyrenia. There we saw ancient castles high on mountains and visited Farmagusta, an old walled town by a sea port. Then another overnight sail, in heavy weather, saw us here in Mersin, a large city and commercial port again on the Turkish south coast. The rally is proving to be great fun though somewhat exhausting as the social programme is very full with cocktail parties and formal dinners in each port; and preparations for the transit between ports take up what little time remains. There are 65 yachts from about 14 different nations, including Japan, Israel, most European nations, USA, Canada, two Australians, and a South African. It is a fascinating mix of people; the accents and languages all make for a wonderful experience when combined with the exotic places we are visiting. Yachts are “dressed” with signal and other flags when in port making the marinas very colourful. And you will imagine that the task of organizing the entry and exit of 65 yachts can be something of a challenge. Still, we manage it all without too much difficulty. While here in Mersin we took the opportunity for a tour to Cappodocia, a fascinating area inland. There we saw an ancient underground city, and extraordinary geological formations in a landscape unlike any other we have seen. The highlight of that trip was a balloon flight over the fascinating landscape