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2008 EMYR Schedule

Sunday, May 25th, Iskenderun, Turkey
                                            
I apologize for not updating sooner.  We kind of snuck out of our last overnight passage which is when I typically write the updates these days.  The Zia crew arrived in Iskenderun on Friday feeling relaxed and refreshed after a beautiful afternoon through evening sail, and a night at anchor.  "What?" you ask.  "There aren't any nights at anchor listed in the EMYR itinerary."
 
Scofflaws that we are, we slipped our mooring lines in Mersin as soon as we possibly could on Thursday, which was more difficult than you might imagine.  We were tied up against the seawall with Cenou rafted up next to us.  Behind us with about 20 feet of water between, was the motor yacht Troll.  Forty feet away, Maid of Wyven rested side to against another dock.  We couldn't move an inch until Cenou was ready to go.  Claude and Rike had some chores to finish up before we could leave.  We made the most of our time and hit the huge Carrefour supermarket.  The rally had organized a bus excursion there at 11am but we decided to beat the rush and take a taxi.  It was a worthwhile trip, although my quest for wasabi and hard taco shells continues. 
 
                                          
Rumpus had about a forty minute lead on us out of Mersin.  We motored along for the first hour or so in very light winds.  Around 4pm we get a call on the VHF from our rally chairman, Dave.  The Coast Guard was warning him of gale force winds overnight.  Would all those boats that have already left just stay where they are and stand by while he tries to get confirmation?  The wind had been slowly increasing anyway so we took the opportunity to stop the engines and start sailing.  About a half hour later we hear from Dave that the official forecast calls for winds up to 20 knots, although someone had received a report from a boat in route between Cyprus and Turkey who saw up to 30 knots.  "Just be ready for a little more wind than originally forecast."
 
Wind speeds started climbing up from 8 knots into the low 20s.  It was a tight reach with our big genniker but Rumpus was up there and getting bigger on the horizon in front of us.  We needed to make up distance on him on this stretch of the passage because our next two turns take us further downwind and that is where he kills us.  We overtook them just as the sun was setting. 
                                         
I got a big chuckle out of the crew by shouting "Zia later," as we went sailing by!
 
It was just our luck that the next leg of the passage was a little too tight for Rumpus to carry their cruising chute so we stayed in front for another fifteen miles.  The last twelve miles of the trip required a fifty degree turn downwind, making it a very slow point of sail for Zia.  As difficult as it is, the fastest thing to do in those conditions is to work the angles.  Sail out twenty, thirty or even forty degrees off the rhumb line and then gibe back and forth, keeping the wind further forward in your sails and the boat traveling faster.  It was late, I was napping and Joe was tired too.  He forgot about the angles and sailed deeper than he should have.  Rumpus was just passing in front of us two miles from our anchorage when they suddenly turned straight at us.  They had picked up a line from a fishing pot and were trying to free themselves.  When you are motoring this can turn into a catastrophe as the line inevitably fouls around your propeller which is spinning at 2500 rpms creating a real mess.  When under sail, the line will get caught on your keel or your rudder and it is usually just a matter of a few turns and pulls to get free from it.  At any rate, a race is a race and isn't it amazing that we managed to place that fishing buoy in exactly the right place?
 
But before we go on to Iskenderun, I have to tell you about Mersin.  Our marina was right downtown so we had the chance to walk around and explore the modern city of 1.5 million.  Larson and Gav enjoyed seeing a bit of modern Turkey with all the small grocery stores and clothing shops, coffee houses and döner stands.  They had their first sampling of the gyro like wrap filled with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, peppers and topped with spit fire roasted chicken or lamb called döner durum.  For about $2 this is the best "fast food" I've ever had.
 
In truth, it is a bit hard to drag yourself off the boat in the few hours of spare time you might be blessed with on the day of arrival after an overnight passage.  We find ourselves visiting historical Turkey much more than modern Turkey.  Touring the ruins of Salamis in Northern Cyprus.......
   
and the church of St. Barnabas, who was stoned to death for preaching Christianity on the island.
   
All the Christian churches in Muslim Turkey have either been converted to a mosque, or have been turned into museums, which allows them to maintain their Christian feel inside without it being an active place of worship.  St. Barnabas was turned into an Icon Museum, with works of art from the early 1900s.
                                       
 
We were treated to a cocktail party by the Mersin marina management on the night of our arrival.  You might wonder if it winds up being more of a drag than fun being required to attend all of these functions.  The truth is, you never know which party is going to turn out to be a blast and which a snore.  The Mersin cocktail turned out to be one of the best so far.  We had groups of performers to entertain us with traditional dances.
   
                                           
One particular performance involved a male and female character enacting a courtship dance.  This was particularly funny as the faces of the characters were sketched on the torsos of two young men.
                                          
                                            
After the formal dancing ended, the band encouraged the rally participants to get out and dance themselves.  Some of us took a little less encouragement than others!
   
We got the whole crew out whooping it up on the dance floor until exhaustion forced us to flee to the buses for the ride back home. 
   
 
Up between 7:30 and 8 the next day, it is sometimes hard to keep up a happy face in the heat of the day. 
                                              
Still, our attitude remains firm.  We likely won't have a chance to come back to this part of the world and we are determined to make the most of our visit by participating in all the activities and tours.  The motto of the rally is "Sleep is NOT compulsory." 
 
The proliferation of ruins scattered around the countryside is mind boggling.  We are beginning to feel a bit numbed to the wonder of it after visiting more than a dozen such sights. 
   
                                            
Some are more spectacular than others, and the remains of Kanlidivane, built around a huge crevasse in the earth were among my favorite.  You could hike a ways down into the gaping hole to get a closer look at the soldier figures somehow carved several hundred feet up, in one of the walls.
                                           
   
   
 
I'm going to forgo the history lesson this update, as I have already too much to talk about.  From the ancient Greek and Roman ruins to Medieval castles built on rocky islands, our tours cram in as many sights as possible. 
   
Some are very well narrated and others are absolutely pathetic.  Invariable, the lunches are wonderful.
   
We managed to sneak in a swim after lunch at this seaside spot.  We are pining away for a day of lazing around in the sun and swimming in a nice clean bay, but I'm afraid there won't be any of those opportunities unless we sneak them in as we did here.  I'm sorry for Larson and Gav, but I know we will be getting plenty of that back into our routine after the EMYR finishes. 
 
Iskenderun is on the easternmost coast of Turkey and virtually untouched by tourism.  The locals are wonderfully friendly and eager to practice their few words of English.  On our tour to Samandag and the modern city of Antakya we visited the sights amongst hordes of local school children who delighted in greeting us as we passed.  The Vespasian Titus Tunnel was dug by hand in 69 AD in order to protect the harbor from flooding with the spring run off from the nearby mountains.  The ancient capital city of Antioch which boasted half a million residents, has been replaced by the bustling modern city of Antakya.  The wealth of mosaics and artifacts dating back thousands of years is astonishing. 
   
Can you believe this tomb from 256 BC was found when excavating for a modern building in 1993?
    
 
The EMYR rally fleet is preparing for departure this afternoon from Iskenderun.  We have been stacked together along one wall of the fishing harbor in quite a colorful display of masts and flags.
   
Zia has enjoyed a relatively quite corner, perched against a short pier and tied off to as many buoys and rocks as possible.  It's been a welcome break from the constant rafting up.
   
The forecast is throwing everyone for a loop.  We expect 20 knots of headwinds overnight.  Some are opting to stay and head out tomorrow rather than beat into the choppy seas in order to maintain the rally schedule.  We are inclined to leave regardless.  What's a little wind on the nose compared to missing a day of touring in Syria? 
 
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Many thanks to our friend Craig Homenko for his assistance in setting up the website.
We also would like to thank our buddy Scott Brunner who has been kind enough to host the website on his server.
 

 
   

 
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