Karpaz Gate Marina, Northern Cyprus

Turkish & TRNC Flags

We have made it to our free berth at Karpaz Gate Marina towards the northern tip of North Cyprus, or to give it it's full name, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. (TRNC for short) We left Fethiye about a week ago as the weather had started to deteriorate and we decided to just come straight here and get ourselves sorted out. We first had to go to Girne in TRNC to check in, as for all intents and purposes this is a separate country, although one only recognised by Turkey! Southern Cyprus belongs to Greece and is part of the EU. Relations between the two are strained and have been since the 1970's. The UN police the 'green line' which divides the country.

Karpaz Gate Marina (look for the yellow boat)

We left on the back of bad weather as after that the wind died off completely and we didn't want to have to motor the 250 miles to get here. At Turkish diesel prices it would have cost us about $600! As it turned out we needn't have worried, the forecast winds of 25 knots continued to build to gale force once we were out at sea, and we had 30 -45 knots behind us for the first 30 hours. Not a comfy trip! Neither of us got any sleep as the boat was rolling so much as we surfed down huge waves, in fact I even fell out of the sea berth at one point because we were getting thrown around so much! By the time we arrived in Girne we were both battered and exhausted. We anchored outside the breakwater and Alan went off in dingo to check in . He returned to say we had to go into the marina as they wanted to inspect the boat! The marina gave us a special rate of 25 Euro a night. However as we were on the fuel dock with no power or water it wasn't much of a bargain! We spent the first night going to bed very early and catching up on some sleep. 

Girne Old Harbour

The next day we went into Girne to look around. It's a very historic place, also called Kyrenia. Place names in Cyprus have both Greek and Turkish names which can be very confusing, so Girne is the Turkish name and Kyrenia is the Greek name! However the first thing that struck us was that all vehicles were a mixture of left and right hand drive and everyone drove on the left due to previous British colonialisation!

We did a quick tour, Alan got scalped by a Turkish barber who lured him into his shop and despite my protests gave him a short back and sides, circa 1950 and reminiscent of Dad's Army! I am calling him Sean until it grows back!

.

We did the compulsory supermarket shop and were surprised to see lots of British goodies like marmite, Heinz baked beans etc. Another colonial legacy no doubt!

We had planned to leave that afternoon and anchor out again, but we were still both very tired and didn't fancy a rolly night if the wind shifted so we forked out another 25 Euro and left at 7 am the following morning, having had nobody come anywhere near the boat to 'inspect' it! The last leg of the journey was 50 miles which we had to motor as the wind was on the nose and we also had a 2 knot counter current, so despite doing 7 knots through the water we were barely making 5 knots over the ground. The last short leg took 10 hours and we started to wonder if coming such a long way for a free berth was really worth the bother! The shoreline showed hardly any signs of habitation so it is clearly not a built up area of the island.

KGM entrance - work in progress everywhere

The marina sent out a RIB to guide us in and there were lots of hands to help us reverse into our berth. The marina is all sparkly new, as it only opened in June and there are about 50 boats here in a marina designed for about 400! Works still continue though and the planned resort and hotel haven't even begun to be built yet.

No Electricity or Water until the rewiring is finished

Sadly, in August a worker was  electrocuted on one of the docks due to faulty wiring so the whole marina is being re-wired, so for now no power and no water (it uses an electric pump) but at least it isn't costing 25 Euro a night! The Wi- Fi isn't great, as it is designed to be boosted from the power points for each berth (which aren't working) They tell us next week one dock will be ready and we can move then, but we gather from some of the longer term residents that they have been hearing this for some time! The mini mart is not open and the village is 3 miles away uphill with no public transport, the nearest ATM is 40 kilometers away, so we are really very isolated. However we did know this before we arrived and figured as we would be leaving the boat it didn't matter anyway, and by the time we return it should all be sorted! The restaurant is open, but quite pricey, especially by Turkish standards, $9 for a burger and $22 for a steak, lamb chops are $15. I dare say we will try it but we won't be eating there regularly! The marina will take a grocery order and the restaurant will obtain the food for you. They also have a deal on car rental which is $50 for one day or $80 for 3 days, so we will give that a go. We may try and share the car with some other cruisers.

Anyway, we have plenty of jobs to do, so the isolation isn't really a problem, at least it's harder to spend money:) The weather is fine and sunny, the country side beautiful and the water so clear you can see the sand grains on the bottom of the harbour, most unusual for a marina! We will get Sunflower settled into her new home for the next 5 months before heading off in 4 weeks time for adventures of a different sort!

Now it's time to head for Cyprus

Michael enjoying a quit moment

We have just finished hosting our first guest on board Sunflower since 2007, so were a bit out of practice! Needless to say a bit of re-stowing was required to clear some sleeping space in the V berth! Michael, a friend from England came out and he had never been on a boat before! We spent the week exploring the myriad of little bays and perfecting the new anchoring technique required here, of dropping anchor in very deep water and then tying a line from the back of the boat to a bollard ashore. This allows yachts to anchor where it would otherwise be too deep and also to fit in more boats. The scenery is spectacular, with pine clad mountains dropping straight down into the ocean. An occasional herd of goats wander past announcing their presence with the tinkle of brass bells.

Pancakes being made at our boat

The yachts here are well serviced with daily fresh bread deliveries, ice cream boats, rubbish collection boats, mini market boats and even fresh pancakes! We tried them and they were delicious! A little old husband and wife on a traditional boat, he drives ,she sits up front in front of her round gas pancake plate, a big grin on her face gabbing away in Turkish the whole time.

After a week of this idyllic life and Michael suitably relaxed,it was back to Fethiye on Monday to rent a car for the day to go exploring and drop Michael at the airport.

Kayakoy

First of all we visited a deserted village in the mountains called Kayakoy. It is a village of about 450 houses all built of stone, with several churches and schools. Up until 1923 it was occupied by the Greeks. Then when Turkey became a republic most Greek Christians were repatriated to Greece while the Turkish Muslims living in Greece returned to Turkey. Although for some reason the Turks never settled in this village and it gradually fell in to disrepair. The roofs were all thatch and timber frame so nowhere near as sturdy as the stone walls. Then in the 1950's a huge earthquake hit the area and whatever timber was left was scavenged to repair occupied buildings elsewhere. Slowly the village became more and more overgrown, now it is a tourist attraction and referred to as the ghost village. A few years ago there were plans to restore the houses as a holiday development but the government decided to preserve it as an historic monument. It is quite eerie walking around and peering into the houses, imagining people living here. The mountain views are spectacular and the village boasts the fact that the houses are built so that none block each others views (something today's developers could learn from!) There were very few people there which added to the eerie feeling. The roads were all made from big stone cobbles and it was very hilly so the knees got a good work out. There were wild fig and pomegranate trees everywhere all heavy with fruit.

Once we had seen enough we got back in the car and headed a few miles down the road where there was another village of a completely different kind. Instead of the stone bones of an old village on the hillside there was a massive development of new shiny 'villas'. The main street was a pedestrian zone so we got out and walked. There was a Dell Boys bar, an Irish pub, a London bar, restaurants offering a full English breakfast, fish and chips and karaoke. You get the picture! The shops were even showing prices in pounds, not Turkish lire. We were quite bemused to find an 'English' village transplanted into the Turkish mountainside. Who on earth lived here? It was also a bit of a ghost town with hardly anyone around.

We had plenty of choices for lunch and surprisingly prices were much cheaper than on the coast. Apparently it has been a British enclave for about 20 years! It might be a bit cooler being in the mountains although still plenty warm enough to hop in the swimming pool. Anyway we had seen enough and motored off into some lesser known mountain roads. The scenery was spectacular and we slowly made our way to the airport, getting lost quite a few times as Turkish road signs leave a lot to be desired.

Fetiye fruit market

On Tuesday we had the boat back to ourselves, but had to make an emergency dash to a dentist as Alan had broken a tooth earlier in the week. We thought he would need a crown and wondered how much it was going to cost! The tourist office recommended an English speaking dentist and we got an appointment that afternoon. The surgery was lovely, bright and modern and spotlessly clean. We even had to put plastic covers on our shoes before we were allowed in! The dentist (whose surname means 7 stars) spoke good English and confirmed our diagnosis. Luckily Alan had already had a root canal on the tooth and a post had already been inserted, but we still thought the cost of a filling and crown was a bargain at around $100! We go back on Tuesday to have the crown fitted.

New anchor chain in the dinghy

Yesterday we went shopping for new anchor chain. Ours has rusted to the point where it is making a horrible mess all over the deck. We thought if it spent 5 months in the anchor locker over winter it would become an unusable rusty lump, so we thought we had better replace it now. Alan found a good deal, so it was off in Dingo to collect it! The bow looks so much better now, especially as we have cleaned all the rust stains off.

All we have to do now is make the final voyage of 250 miles to Cyprus where our free marina berth is waiting for us!