Samsun to Asmara

Our journey west from Samsun continues. A great overnight sail in moderate winds to Sinop, one of the best harbours on this coast, but crowded with fishing boats as well as having a small ship building and repair yard. It was fascinating seeing a large tug being hauled out of the water on a wooden sled towed by a bulldozer using a huge steel blocked six fold pulley. The old town, on a narrow isthmus, was overlooked by ancient fortifications and had a maze of narrow crowded streets. From Sinop we sought shelter from a large swell generated by a storm in the central Black Sea and anchored in a lovely bay at Aklimani before sailing on to Caylioglu, a small village where not much happened, it seemed. Then on to Inebolu, a town beside a small commercial port where we barely squeezed into the only vacant slot on the quay, the remainder of the harbour being closed by dredging. And on to a beautiful small almost landlocked anchorage surrounded by high steep hills at Gaidaros, before arrival here at Asmara, another old town built over a narrow isthmus and again with ancient fortifications and old ottoman houses. This is a popular tourist resort, the streets are lined with bauble shops and the beach is packed.
But the coastal scenery! Forget your Great Ocean Roads and Big Surs, the scenery on the north coast of Turkey is simply stunning. Unfortunately, our little camera can`t do it justice, and, like much of this part of the world, on a still day the whole place is covered in a smokey haze.