Black Sea Coast, Sile to Eregli Toronto, Canada July 6th, 2003 We left Sile at 1000, June 12th, the morning after I returned from Canada. On leaving the entrance, we saw a Turkish navy buoy tender at anchor about a half mile off. We headed 090 up the coast on a quiet windless morning, but within 20 minutes a Turkish coast guard rigid inflatable boat came alongside to inform us this was a naval exercise area, and to head 7 miles off the coast. I was wondering what that barge with twin towers we saw a few miles ahead was, and now realize it was the target barge for missile launches. Rather than head out at 90°, we angled out, only to be hailed again in 20 minutes to head straight out. At that time we were given a maplet of the exercise area, and realized that rather than a box configuration, it was a semi circular one, and our oblique course was taking us to the top of the area rather than outside it. So off we went. It was a pain to have to go so far off shore, adding an hour out and an hour back in as we neared our anchorage at Kefken Adasi (41 12.8N, 030 40.4E) after a 37 mile motor through light force 1 zephyrs. It is a large sheltered harbour with only a few fishing boats and a couple of government work boats. The reported fish farm in the northeast corner is no longer there. We were the only yacht and the only boat at anchor in the large harbour. Shortly after anchoring a local fisherman came over to sell us a kilo of his freshly caught sardine size fish. We have seen them around, but had never tried them before. They were not to our liking. There was nothing on the island but the lighthouse and some work sheds, so we didn't bother to go ashore. Kefken Adasi is an island off a point of land, the passage between being wide and open. However, when we left next morning, we did not take the passage, but went around the outside of the island as the pilot warned, "After the earthquake of 1999, substantial changes have occurred in the sea bed… and the passage between the island and the mainland is no longer recommended due to many rock pinnacles which have appeared." Judy did not want to chance it. On our 41 mile run next day to Akçakoca (41 05.4, 031 07.4E) we saw a few dolphins feeding, but they did not come over to play. We motored all the way into another light Force 1 northeast breeze. Bear in mind that our course along the Black Sea coast is east or a little north of east. We have only sailed for a few hours over the past month. On entering the harbour, there would have been room to anchor, but we went alongside the town fishing dock. On shore there was a small carnival with a few rides, candy floss and games of chance. The most interesting aspect was a new mosque with modern architecture. It had angles instead of rounded domes, projecting in modern triangular configurations. The minaret was also an angular tower, knifing above the village. Quite interesting! Several people came over, few of whom spoke any English, but hospitable and curious. We explained we were from Canada, and living on the boat. Children all seem to take some English and the standard phrase is "What is your name?" They see very few yachts, let alone foreign yachts, in the Black Sea. We were also interviewed by a reporter who spoke no English, but had a list of questions which we were able to answer with Judy's limited Turkish, after which she took a couple of pictures for her paper, the Hurriyet. We were serenaded with rather loud Turkish music, but it only lasted until 2300. We noticed the fishing boat astern of us unloaded several bags of what looked like sea shells, but just left them there overnight. We couldn't figure out what they were, as we assumed if it was a form of sea food they would be picked up, but they were still there when we left next morning for Eregli (another motor all the way through light NE winds), 20 miles along the coast. Eregli is a large port, with ships serving coal and steel industries, a naval station with a destroyer and a few supply ships alongside, a fishing camber alongside the well developed pedestrian and people friendly waterfront, and a wide bay divided by a fuel jetty, fringed by restaurants and the sailing club. After taking on 112 litres of diesel for 155,500,000 TL (about $1.40 per litre Canadian), we anchored off the sailing club (41 17.2N, 031 24.6E). Fuel now is becoming a major expense as it is so expensive and we are using so much of it. We are a motor boat with a big stick! We left Sprite at the sailing club, where we were welcomed, assured the dinghy would be safe, and were able to fill up a couple of water containers to top up our water tanks. We have a water maker that we operate when we are under engine power, but the produced water is so pure that it is flat, and has no taste, like distilled water. So adding municipal water occasionally gives our on board water a bit of life. We don't bother with bottled water, as the municipal water in Turkey is very good. We use local water, mostly, with no problems. The worst was in the Bahamas, where the water was so brackish we didn't put it into our tanks, and on a few of the Aegean islands the water is too heavily chlorinated. We have two water tanks under our port and starboard settees containing about 55 gallons or 220 litres. They have wide opening clear plastic viewports on top so we can see the water levels and easily open them to hand clean them of sediment every once in a while. One of our reasons for visiting Eregli was to visit the caves to Hades by the River Acheron (an actual river, or rather, dried up stream bed, just north of Eregli), reputed to be the site where Hercules completed his 12th and last labour, to capture Cerberus, the three headed dog guarding the entrance to Tartarus, the underworld. As described by Apollodorus, the Roman scribe, "Heracles (Hercules) found the dog chained to the gates of Acheron, and resolutely gripped him by the throat - from which rose three heads, each manned with serpents. The barbed tail flew up to strike, but Heracles, protected by the lion pelt, did not relax his grip until Cerberus choked and yielded". This translation was taken from The Greek Myths: 2, by Robert Graves (a Pelican Original by Penguin Books). There were actually two caves by the river bed. One was a former temple for the Romans and place of worship for the Byzantine Christians. The other, the "entrance'' to Hades was a large but deeper cave with a reflecting pool and some interesting crystal sediment cataracts. The supposed entrance was a crevice, going deeper, closed by a recent rock fall barring the descent to Hades. Those of you who have been following my logs may remember me referring to the gates to Hades when we were going down the Greek Peloponnesus a couple of years ago. This is another reputed location for Hercules' 12th labour at Cape Taenarum near Cape Matapan. We passed offshore from this location, but did not visit it. We are also following the voyage of Jason and the Argonauts in his pursuit of the Golden Fleece, an odyssey which took him from the Aegean, up the Dardanelles, across the Sea of Marmara, up the Bosphorus, and along the south (Turkish) coast of the Black Sea to present day Georgia where he finally acquired this mythical garment. We are reading a book by Tim Severin called The Jason Voyage in which he, the author, reproduced a ship of that era and followed in the tracks of Jason and his Argonauts. We have been to several locations where they are reputed to have stopped en route as our voyage takes us quite closely to his route, the best way to transit the area in a small boat still today. We have seen some landmarks from the story that are still evident, such as streams, capes, rocks and mountains mentioned over 2500 years ago. In town, after spending an hour or so in the very good archaeological and ethnographic museum, we picked up some groceries and a phone card to top up our mobile phone. We can buy credits for the mobile in various denominations, and have been using such during our voyage. We have a four year old Nokia for which we purchase a new "sim" card for each country, and then buy credits to put on it. I am still looking for a mobile I can hook up to my Dell Inspiron 2500 la ptop and send E-mail from the boat. The service personnel at the store were quite helpful and dialed the necessary numbers to register our credits for us. In addition, noticing the face cover had a crack in it, they replaced it and would not accept any money for it. This kind of courtesy is not uncommon in Turkey. One of our grocery purchases was a half kilo of strawberries, a specialty of this area. They were having their Strawberry Festival this coming weekend, but we couldn't wait around for it. They were delicious! Walking back to the Sailing Club, we strolled along the wide waterfront promenade, enjoying the semitropical shrubbery, especially the rich triangular golden cedars and the tall slim cypress trees, stone sculptures and dome shaped fountain sprays. The concrete gazebos over the water provided elegant platforms from which people were fishing, or leisurely enjoying the ambience of the fishing boats on their moorings, and the smaller open boats dragged up the sloping shoreline on skids, with the fishermen sewing their nets or sitting around smoking, playing backgammon, or reading newspapers. There were several sidewalk entrepreneurs with their wares sparkling in the sunshine from mini stalls, stone walls or blankets spread out on the sidewalks or lawns. From pictures we saw in the museum, this area is reclaimed land, creatively using fill from the mines and furnaces. It has transformed what was probably a bleak mining and industrial town into a delightful community with the industrial port area off to the southwest side of the harbour and this delightful promenade ringing two thirds of the downtown shoreline, over to the navy base on the northeast side. Eregli has made good use of its waterfront for people-friendly usage. Back on Veleda, after supper I took Sprite for a spin around the entire harbour, looking at the naval vessels, then over to the industrial docks. The docks were for large bulk carriers with modern conveyor systems and piping able to accommodate the largest of ships. One very large crude carrier (VLCC) was in port, and another anchored offshore. Of course I had to dinghy around each of them. They are massive steel walls especially when viewed close up from a small inflatable dinghy. These behemoths are over 1000 feet long, and their draft marks were indicating 18.5 metre draft at bow and stern. That's a depth of about 60 feet! It was approaching sunset when I dinghied the mile or so out to the one at anchor. I went down the port side from bow to stern gawking up at this monster, its steel walls looming out of the water. No one was visible. It was an eerie experience seeing this silent apparition, with its 70 foot pink freeboard topped by the 100 foot white stern castle, its bridge platforms extending over the sides, supported by curved steel arches, and its orange, fully enclosed, bulbous lifeboat, perched on stern rails, ready to be launched. Coming up the starboard side I saw a few seamen who waved to me, possibly desperate for human contact to break the monotony of the isolated existence of being anchored on this steel island of Monrovian registry. The sea was flat calm, and as I motored back to the harbour entrance, I saw some dolphins breaking the surface. There were six or eight of them leisurely emerging in their smooth fluid motion as they fed. They were around me to seaward about 40 metres away. I shut the engine off and just drank in the tranquil scene, these graceful creatures silently emerging from the undulating glassy water, individually and in pairs, the sun setting on the reddish tinged horizon, and the large ship at anchor on the calm sea. When I started up the engine, they did not disappear, but kept on leisurely surfacing. I went back to Veleda and returned with Judy to enjoy this quiet seascape of setting sun, anchored ship and the pod of dolphins still silently feeding. After sunset, they moved further offshore as Judy and I slowly motored back to Veleda, savoring the beauty of that peaceful panorama.
		Next log coming soon