40 24.091N 027 18.363E Karabiga, Turkey
Pipedream
Tue 10 May 2011 07:26
We made a short 20 mile jump from Kemer to Karabiga in about 8 hours. I thought we had made it through the opposing current but managed to find another stretch of about 2 kts. 25 kt wind, on the nose 3-4 ft chop 50 degrees, all making for a very long day.
Had a great night however; a Turkish freighter crew helped us dock in this commercial port (Karabiga, right hook out of the Dardanelles) and then invited us in for a 'real' Turkish dinner. I was a little apprehensive with Katie going on board their ship... visions of being Shanghaied. Great time. A fisherman brought over the fresh fish that the freighter crew cooked on an open wood fire on the dock and then dinner in the officer's mess. Garlic soup with fresh lemon, crunchy Turkish bread, big cabbage and onion salad, all the roast fish you could eat - complete with little bones, and bottled water. Tea afterwards where we talked about retirement ages, incomes in Turkey vs. the USA and the price of gas. A quick tour of the bridge. Pictures and then off to see the town before dark. The chief engineer who looked to be about 65 or so turned out to be only 53... hard miles.
After dinner we met the French super sailor (Anri ? from Brittany) comming down the dock who had been tacking through the maze of shipping on the Dardanelles that we mentioned a few episodes ago. He turned up in Canakkale as well. He was tacking all round us yesterday and anchored up here in Karabiga. He is heading to Yalova eventually so we will likely see more of him there. We went out after dinner to find a glass of wine ashore but ended up in our cockpit drinking the last of our red wine... no bars here. He is an electrician on an oil rig supply barge in the Congo. 5 months on 5 months off. He has lived on his 32 foot boat for 13 years now and is headed to Istanbul like us.
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We've heard about a new marina in Yalova (south and east of Istanbul, ferry and bus ride) where they are offering buy one, get one free 'specials' to try to fill the place up. With this weather I think we may opt for a cozy marina where we can plug in the heat pump and a bus ride to Transylvania. Maybe a couple of days in a hotel in Istanbul are sounding pretty good.
Sailing note: Bruce and Pat on Persevere opted to leave their boat in Gocek and rent a car to do Istanbul for about 700 TL? We had originally planned on doing the same out of Bozcaada. With $10 a gallon diesel fuel, plowing against the current around here is not for the faint of wallet. I need to see about taking on some fuel here or at our next stop... oh boy!