CESME

Arwenofbosham
Rob and Jacky Black
Mon 3 May 2010 19:12
38 19.3N 26 18.2E
1st - 5th May Cesme
We delayed sailing from Sagacik until Saturday as the forecast was again for strong north west winds and we had been warned that the channel between Chios
and the mainland of Turkey usually has 2 Beaufort forces greater than the forecast! That certainly proved to be the case for us when we finally reached there
having had some lovely sailing in a force 3 - 4 from the NW the wind picked up to a 6 as we entered the narrow channel and we were beating into a short steep
sea to get through. Fortunately the sun was shining and the last bit of the passage didn't take us long - we were all tied up in Cesme marina by 1300 having left
Sigacik around 0600. Unfortunately we are moored on the wall right next to a building site and across the road from the Mosque!! The boat is covered in dust and
we are woken at 0400 again at 0530 and several more times during the day by the recording of the Muezzin calling the worshippers to prayer. Thank goodness for
wax ear-plugs is all I can say! The new marina here will be finished at the end of May but is still very much a builders yard. We step off the boat onto concrete
blocks, jump down onto a mixture of rubble and sand and make our way across a patch of ground which is used to dump hardcore, building blocks, sand for cement,
and today slate type sheets for crazy paving which is being laid further along the jetty! None the less the place is nice and we have had a good 'nose' around the shops
- it has all the usual touristy type places but with some very good shoe shops (still hunting for that pair of shoes to wear to a wedding in August). We had a very good lunch out at a
restaurant in town mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide - Imren Lokantasi it was full of Turkish families so a good choice we felt.
Yesterday evening the rest of the Rally boats arrived having sailed down from Istanbul so now we have 9 boats here all 'dressed overall' so quite a sight.
We had a 'pot-luck' supper tonight so got to meat everyone and here about where the various boats have come from, where they wintered etc.
Only one other UK boat so far and they used to keep her in Eastbourne marina (small world or what?).
We were planning to go on a tour with the rally to PAMUKKALE & APHRODISIAS but disappointingly it was cancelled due to lack of support. One of the other boats with a
total of 5 on board hired a car and went any way but we decided to put this on the list for next year when we hope to get back this way again.
Rob went off on the bike this morning to find the Carrefour we had been told was on the road out towards Izmir. He duly returned with some lovely chicken and other produce including
almost green bananas (we like them like this as they ripen so quickly in the heat!). I in the mean time had cleaned the inside of the boat - we've decided it's not worth doing the outside until
we are about to leave as it will just get filthy again each day from the building work.
We had a briefing from David (one of the rally leaders) this morning and he gave us some more general information about the organization of the event. He also emphasized the Turks
position on flags and flag etiquette so as a result we have moved our club burgees and the rally flag to the port side (either side of the radar reflector which is on the flag halyard on that side)
and replaced our rather small Turkish courtesy flag with a new bigger one! We hope everyone will be happy with this!
Tomorrow will be a lazy day with a possible dolmus ride to the other marina or more importantly to the hot springs that are near bye. Then it's off back to Kusidasi on Wednesday.