We motorsailed through the evening and night and arrived off Turkish republic of North Cyprus early the next morning.
We moored in Girne (Kyrenia) Delta marina, which we later learned had hauled all the local boats out of the water onto the yard to make room for the arrival of our fleet. Imagine that in Poole Yacht Club!!
But, can you believe that one of the rally yachts wanted a discount of the 2 euro fee for water, because they were only a little boat????
It is blissfully non-touristy here, friendly and inquisitive like Turkey but with a little laid back tourism. As a result of the leftover British influence, they drive on the left, have British electricity sockets and a British legal system. But the Turkish and Cypriot influence predominates.
Have been reading about the history of the island- what a complicated problem they have to solve, but the will is definitely there on the north side of the island. There is now much more freedom of movement
between the north and south than just 10 years ago. Anyone can now cross the N-S border, and the locals make use of the new rule to go and visit the property that they had to leave in 1974 when the Greek military staged a coup, and the Turkish army invaded to protect the Turkish Cypriot community from a bloodbath.
Our first evening was spent at the beautiful Girne castle, a leftover from Crusader landings, and a visit to the museum which hosts 2300 year old wreck of a boat full of olive oil and wine amphorae. Impressively
preserved in Mediterranean brine, analysis showed it to be already 80 years old when it sank in a storm off this coast.
Our international presence here was really appreciated by these people, whose state is unrecognised by all countries except Turkey – and since the failure of the Annan plan, even the EU seems to think the problem might just go away.
Belly dancing entertainment!
The next night was the much awaited Pirate Party at a posh waterfront hotel. Of course, Stuart loves fancy dress, so much effort was made and the boat trashed in search of the necessary adornments for the outfits.
We started with a flag parade through the town, causing all the locals and tourists to stop and look and take photos as 200 pirates paraded through the old harbour streets.
Next day, after shaving off the beard, we hired a car with friends Glenn
and Lynn from Steel Sapphire, and drove to the divided city of Nicosia
and the old port of Famagusta which lies just on the dividing line of
north and south. It was a quick trip, and the citadella deserves more
attention at a later date.
We were treated to a trip to Bellapais in the hills above Girne to the ruins of a monastery, where a piano recital was held for the evening. It was very beautiful and a lovely setting to hear a world class classical young French pianist perform.
For an understanding of the background of the 'troubles', Lawrence Durrell's Bitter Lemons of Cyprus is a very good read.
Next day we set off back to Turkey, 108 miles overnight. On route we heard that one boat had left early to do it's own thing, failing to check out of Northern Cyprus correctly. An easy mistake to make, but
after sailing 10 hours north, had to return to have one paper stamped, and therefore avoid rally wrath and disgrace, and avoid considerable fines if they returned. More than anything else, the officials had gone
out of their way to make our visit easy and uncomplicated, sitting most of the day in the heat, instead of their comfortable offices, to check in 65 boats. Breaking the official rules of immigration puts the whole
future of the rally in jeopardy. The boat soon caught up a couple of days later and face was saved on all sides. Gule, Gule as they say in Turkey – Go Smiling!
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