On to İskenderun...

This morning we leave Mersin. Each place we visit becomes a little more difficult to connect to the internet and İ am posting this morning from an internet cafe. The Turkish keyboard is a bit of a struggle so please forgive any errors.

We are contactable on SMS txt only +6421723200.

We are loving news and feedback from home.

We have put an offer on a boat this morning... it will be a goodie if it comes off!

Tshikula e Derim!!!

Photos
Berthing (stacking) Iskenderun
....Zia and Rumpus have a close encounter for a photo shoot as we round Karatas Point and the sun goes down. See more on the Rally at www.zialater.com
Capn Buck and Pippy thriving on this experience.

Our EMYR book tells us that our next destination, Iskenderun is the terminus for the Iraqi oil pipeline and main port for the southern province of Antakya (Antioch). Consequently there is a lot of shipping (oil tankers) coming and going which we do not wish to tangle with in the dark, plus we would rather sleep than sail overnight.

In any case, we decide to stop and anchor overnight on the western side of the Iskenderun Gulf and cross over to Iskenderun early the next morning. The moon is very late coming up and it is a dark night as we carefully find our way to our choice of recommended anchorages well up the harbour of Yumurtalik, past the unlit fish farms we see on the chart. Zia follows cautiously some distance behind us. The breeze is light and we are under main only making around 5 knots in very calm water.

There is a moment of drama as we tangle with an unlit fishing buoy and line despite the fact that I am on lookout on the bow and do not see it, and the orange ball of the moon suddenly appears from behind a bank of black clouds off to the north east, slightly improving our night vision. It is not a major and we are soon free and dropping anchor for the night around 11.30 pm, tucked into the southern part of the inlet behind a large expanse of salt marshes.

23 May 2008

We have a peaceful night and are awake early for a swim and depart 7.30 am but not before Zia reports sighting turtles in the water around their boat. We sight Iskenderun around 10.20 am as a high mountain range appears suddenly out of the morning mist. We read in the EMYR 'bible' that this region was "given" to Syria after WW1 and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. It is still indicated as part of Syria on Syrian maps, but was taken by Turkey in 1939. There is no marina here for us to use so we moor in the fishing harbour. The fishing boats have kindly moved over for us and are moored several deep on the southern wall.

The local people extend a warm welcome to us with open curiosity as this is a large city but not a major tourist destination. For the first time we have difficulty finding someone who can speak English as we explore the back streets looking for an internet cafe. We buy a large pot of yoghurt for around NZ$1.50. There has been quite a high incidence of stomach problems on the Rally but Richard and I are fine so far and wonder if our daily dose of yoghurt is helping.