Merhaba

   Life has been busy as we’ve made more friends here at the marina.  It’s nice.  And if you ignore the weather forecast and just look outside in the morning, you can tell if it’s a laundry day or not.  We’ve actually had some sun since Saturday so I’ve pretty much caught up with the laundry…for now.

   Last Thursday afternoon we were told that everyone on Dock B would have to leave their boats between 2 and 4 pm Friday as there was to be a huge ceremony welcoming the Turkish sailing boat Usaklar back from Antarctica.  We could either have DoraMac moved from B Dock for that time (a royal pain for everyone) or we could join other folks upstairs at the restaurant overlooking where the ceremony was to take place just across the dock from DoraMac.  We went to the restaurant, found a spot with the news media,  and I took a bunch of photos though I was not so impressed as maybe I should have been as I’m not really a sailor.  But then I read an interview with Uzaklar’s captain and I was so impressed with what he said, that now I am impressed!

Ru

First Turkish Sailors in Antarctica

UZAKLAR II

Vessel’s Details

Ship Type: Sailing Vessel

Length x Breadth: 14 m X 4 m

Speed recorded (Max / Average): 8.8 / 6.9 knots

Flag: Turkey [TR]

Call Sign: YM 8176

IMO: 0, MMSI: 271020000

“Osman Atasoy and Sibel Karasu have gone down in history as the first Turkish navigators to reach Antarctica, covering 8,500 miles in their 14-meter craft, Uzaklar II. We had a pleasant conversation recently with Karasu and Captain Atasoy well in sight of land.

What sort of experience was Antarctica for you?

The air got a little colder, the wind a little stronger and the waves a little bigger with every mile we covered as we headed deeper into the South Pacific. You leave behind waters crowded with people and enter the vast deep. The only thing of another color in the stark whiteness that completely covers Antarctica was our claret red boat, Uzaklar II, and the red and white Turkish flag on its mast!

What was the purpose of your voyage?

As the world’s most dangerous body of water, the South Pacific exercises a strange fascination over sailors. Once you’ve fallen under its spell, you can’t not go there. Even fear, the most powerful emotion there is, is no obstacle to that desire. You are afraid, and yet you go there.

     What gave you the most trouble in your confrontation with nature?

Man was designed and created to live on land. Living on the sea is no easy task because it is a life or death struggle in a world rife with uncertainties as well as beauty. At the same time, the oceans are still fraught with unknowns. You have to adapt to conditions and have unyielding respect for the law of the sea. As long as you approach it in that spirit, your friendship with the sea will not easily be broken and you will be prepared for surprises.

What impressed you the most on your Antarctica tour?

When we reached Antarctica there was no need for the usual formalities you have to go through when you enter the port of a normal country. No customs agents waiting on land, no passport officials, no need to deal with all the confusion and disorder associated with land.  All around us there was nothing but whales, penguins, sea lions and albatrosses.

How was the return voyage?

We went for 53 consecutive days and nights without seeing land. By the time we reached the island of Madeira we had put 6,500 nautical miles behind us. Every sailor who sets out on the ocean, no matter how big and powerful the boat under him, always wonders… The rules and criteria we are used to on land lose meaning in an instant on the open seas. Especially if it’s the South Pacific.

THE UZAKLAR DOCUMENTARY

Osman Atasoy and Sibel Karasu’s adventure-filled voyage, for which Turkish Airlines was transportation sponsor, is being broadcast as a documentary program, ‘Uzaklar, Antarktika’, on Turkish State Radio and Television’s (TRT) Turkish Channel every Monday evening at 10:20. The program is repeated on Saturdays at 9:10 a.m. and 5:20 p.m. and on Sundays at 4:35 a.m. and 9:30 p.m.

TO FOLLOW UP

For more information, visit the website at www.osmanatasoy.org    and read Osman Atasoy’s captain’s log.

Welcome to Marmaris Uzaklar 2

Uzak means distant and lar makes a noun plural so I’m guessing that maybe you could translate the ships name as something about great distances or many faraway places. 

An escort of Turkish Coast Guard ships and some local sailboats lets you compare the size of UZAKLAR II with other boats.

Pulling up to the dock just down from where we are berthed.

The Turkish Deputy Prime Minister was to be one of the speakers at the welcoming ceremony so for security reasons all boats along B dock had to be vacated between 2pm and 4 pm.  We were invited to spend that time in the restaurant overlooking where the ceremony would take place.

The claret red sailboat

Sibel Karasu tooting the red horn and Captain Osman Atasoy steering the ship.

Blue glass Turkish charms for good luck adorn the bow sprit.

Lots of filming was going on from the restaurant balcony.

The Turkish Coast Guard welcomes Uzaklar 2

Hugs, kisses,  and flowers

The news media host,  Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinҫ,  Captain Osman Atasoy and Sibel Karasu

More filming

It was a fairly large crowd.

We sat upstairs and took photos: my new zoom did well!

Looking back to the bridge that leads to the marina complex from our spot on the restaurant balcony.

Security stationed at the bridge

Security along B Dock: You can see DoraMac with the American flag.

Our dock was just across from where Uzaklar 2 docked and the ceremony was just the other side of the lovely purple foliage.

Ὂzgὒr UḠAN (phone in hand) Front Office and Harbour Chief, and our “go to guy” in the Marina Office, making sure things are going smoothly at the ceremony.