Alanya to Girne (Cyprus)
Posted at 10:50 AM, May. 30, 2010
It is now late night Friday 28th May and I have drawn the pre-graveyard watch (0000 hrs to 0300 hrs) as we motor at around 7 knots on the 108 mile passage from Girne to Mersin back on mainland Turkey and continue the push to the east. The mountain peaks around Girne were shrouded in mist all day and as we headed out to sea we were enveloped by a sea fog, which currently is filtering out the full moon and making it impossible to distinguish the horizon. So I am harnessed up, Ipod playing Katie Melua, headlight on and with the bimini up keeping out the heavy air laden moisture so the only thing missing is the wind! So it looks like another diesel burning trip. A repeat of the trip from Alanya to Girne but without the rolling uncomfortable sea. We have one yacht in sight a mile behind us (Godspeed of the USA) and two yachts on the radar about 2 miles ahead but not visible by eye. The diesel quality in Girne is reportedly good and much cheaper than mainland Turkey – 3.20 lire versus 1.70 lire on Cyprus. Consequently most boats took the opportunity to refuel but with the limited facilities it took 6-7 hours and we were among the last few boats to refuel so our planned departure time was set back some hours.
Pam posing in front of some of the rally yachts at Girne
We did get away from Alanya late afternoon a few days ago and allowed 15 hours for the passage but managed to get the genaker up and had thoughts of arriving very much ahead of schedule. During this exercise we did ascertain that the A sail flies a lot better when both the tack and clew remain attached to the boat – Jo’s hand bears witness to her vain efforts to hold the tack while adjusting the tack height. However the early arrival thoughts vanished with the wind an hour or so later by which time we had already caught up with a lot of the smaller boats. So it was a night of close watch on the radar as we motored through the clear night, in a rolling sea, in close company with around 40 other yachts.
Looking down onto Girne - castle and port, from St Hillarion castle
The arrival into Girne saw the rally occupy the first commercial port – translated this means that we pretty much rafted up and double banked boats by group (size) into the most complicated patchwork quilt of boats I have ever seen. For us it was rigging up a stern anchor as we edged the bow into the gap between the bows of two other fellow group 6 boats – they were pleased we had folded the anchor back I think. Then it was about running lines between boats and nearby fixed objects (like a local ship) to provide some mooring security. This all worked quite well until an unexpected 20 knot easterly blew up late yesterday afternoon and general mayhem ensued. We were away touring at the time but by the time we returned our anchor had been relaid, more lines were everywhere and with quite a joggle there were a lot of watching and waiting concerned owners. Last night was the much awaited pirates party and we, and several others, stayed on board waiting for the wind to turn which it did over the space of 30 minutes when it went through 180 degrees and then died out. So the by then happy owners remaining managed to get to the party shortly after it started.
Another hour has gone by and busy as a nice 8 knot SW developed so it was up with the main, headsail out and motor off. What a pleasant change. A few boats have motored on past us so it looks like we will be one of the last arrivals into Mersin unless the wind strengthens and goes aft a bit and we can get the A sail into work.
A little about the rally. There are 71 yachts, 228 people on them and 17 nationalities represented. At each of the formal dinners a nominated flag bearer for each country has to carry their flag up to the podium and after introducing dignatories each country representative steps forward with their flag and makes a thank you speech – the quality and content varies enormously. Jo was the NZ representative at the last function as she leaves us at Mersin. Early in the rally a woman came up to me from a boat Kiwi Volante and asked if I was the Keith Goodall who had been head prefect at Te Awamutu College – when I replied yes she said she was Amanda Hurst she said she had been in Form 2 when I was head boy – what a small world, or maybe a small country! I did remember that her father was the local vet.
Well we can tick off Cyrpus and that is about it! A divided country since 1974 with the north occupied by Turkey and the south by Greece. The border is referred to as the Green line and is patrolled by UN troops resulting in Nicosia (or Levkosa to the Greeks) being the only remaining partitioned city in the world with the Green line running through no-mans land. On Wednesday 26th Chris and I had a lengthy board meeting by skype back to NZ so Pam and Jo went on the day long bus tour taking in castles, medieval temples, museums and a visit to Nicosia. The following day we rented a car and drove over the coastal mountain range then up though the interior (flat and boring) to the town of Famagusta on the NE coast. We did manage to find ourselves in a circuitous series of streets with high rise buildings that looked as though they were in the process of being demolished – we later found that area had been bombed in the war and the area abandoned. Castles abound – Famagusta is dominated by the huge castle walls surrounding the town built by the Lusignans (the French crusader knights). Nearby we visited the church and monastery of St. Barnabas originally built in 477 A.D. The attached museum has near a perfect display of ceramics and suchlike dating back to 2000 B.C. Girne is dominated by an impressive Crusader castle on the waters edge and on a nearby mountaintop is the equally impressive St. Hillarion castle looks out from ahigh.
Former christian cathedral now a mosque - Farmagusta
On the evening of our arrival we were hosted to a dinner at the castle by the President – who ended up not attending but had a representative there instead – speeches plus references to the hope of a successful negotiations for unity with the south by year end.
Flag ceremony at the castle - Jo on extreme left with NZ flag
The pirates night dinner is a major event and was held on the waterfront balcony of the Dome Hotel in Girne, Many very well dressed pirates, a slim extroverted belly dancer and a lovely female singer combined with superb food all contributed to a great evening.
All in all we found Cyprus slightly depressing as it is apparent that little has been invested in infrastructure for years despite significant holiday home development for the Germans and Brits who retire or semi-retire here. Probably the only place in Europe where people drive on the left in a mixture of right and left hand drive cars.
Back to trimming the A sail as we roll on to Mersin.
Cheers
Keith